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2006-07-27 Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF: Nasrallah talk less bellicose
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Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-07-27 12:21|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 Mor analysis here from "Captain Ed" Morissey:

This isn't much of a surprise, except for the speed in which Israel has tapped into Hezbollah's internal communications. Nasrallah admitted that he didn't anticipate the overwhelming Israeli response, a miscalculation that certainly has contributed to the declining morale in his organization. After all, Nasrallah made this sound like a milk run, and now the jihadis have another Israeli invasion on their hands.

It also sounds like Nasrallah had to make an accounting of his actions in order to convince his men to continue their fight. Having a commander communicate an apology of this sort indicates a growing dissatisfaction with leadership in the ranks. Nasrallah so far has done nothing to convince anyone that he has a grasp of either strategy or tactics. He has proven that he has no understanding of his enemy, nor much of his putative allies in the region, almost all of whom have declined to rush to his side in this fight.

Nasrallah had better have a victory to show them soon, or he may find himself replaced with wiser counsel.
Posted by Mike 2006-07-27 13:05||   2006-07-27 13:05|| Front Page Top

#2 Why would Israel release this information?

This seems to make the NYTimes security leaks look trivial.

Posted by mhw 2006-07-27 13:07|| http://hypocrisy-incorporated.blogspot.com/]">[http://hypocrisy-incorporated.blogspot.com/]  2006-07-27 13:07|| Front Page Top

#3 Possibilities:

1. Haaretz is the NYT of Israel (unlikely).

2. Israel wants to use the intercept to undermine pan-Arab support for Hezbollah and the morale of Hezbollah and its sponsors (Iran & Syria), and judges this political objective worth the possible loss of a source of intercepts. (Could be.) With respect to that latter point, it's possible that:

a. Israel has a mole in Hezbollah who provided the intercept, and wants Hezbollah to think their code is broken so as to defect suspicion from the mole; hence, the sourcing to "IDF intercepts." (Possible.)

b. Israel is reading Hezbollah's mail and wants Hezbollah to think there's a mole in its ranks, thereby sowing fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) and maybe provoking fratricide. (Possible.)

c. The whole thing is a fabrication, aimed at FUD-ing the Iranians and Syrians and their meeting with Nasrallah. (Lost less likely than (a) and (b) above, but if it's true, oh my, are these Mossad boys good or what?)

d. Mike has read his Tom Clancy novels and his copy of David Kahn's The Codebreakers too many times. (Definitely!)
Posted by Mike 2006-07-27 13:41||   2006-07-27 13:41|| Front Page Top

#4 "IDF: Nasrallah talk less bellicose"

He'll be even less bellicose when he's hanging by the neck at the end of a rope. Hunt the fucker down and kill him.

Posted by Flinelet Angavitle5908 2006-07-27 13:41||   2006-07-27 13:41|| Front Page Top

#5 Haaretz is the NYT of Israel (unlikely).

I'm not so sure about that. My understanidng, it is supposed to be pretty liberal and anti-government. Anybody from Israel able to comment?
Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-07-27 13:48||   2006-07-27 13:48|| Front Page Top

#6 Why would Israel release this information?

This seems to make the NYTimes security leaks look trivial.

mhw: Do you happen to work for the NYT? :-)
Posted by gorb 2006-07-27 14:14||   2006-07-27 14:14|| Front Page Top

#7 While shouting 'Death to Israel' for years to his followers, Mr. Nasrallh forgot to mention that an attack on Israel would be no 'cake walk'. Now reality is setting in as Israel continues to kick their asses.
Posted by Master Chef">Master Chef  2006-07-27 14:18|| http://www.friedgreenblog.com]">[http://www.friedgreenblog.com]  2006-07-27 14:18|| Front Page Top

#8 gorb

nope - I don't work for the NYTimes.
I never have.
In fact, I've never worked for any daily, weekly or monthly news pub
Posted by mhw 2006-07-27 15:11|| http://hypocrisy-incorporated.blogspot.com/]">[http://hypocrisy-incorporated.blogspot.com/]  2006-07-27 15:11|| Front Page Top

#9 "I'm not so sure about that. My understanidng, it is supposed to be pretty liberal and anti-government. Anybody from Israel able to comment?"

Theyre definitely on the dovish side, no friends to West Bank settlers, perpetually hopeful about Abbas, etc, etc. But this war even the doves (like Yossi Beilin) are supporting. I doubt theyd leak something they thought would harm national security. Note its sourced to a senior officer.
Posted by liberalhawk 2006-07-27 15:24||   2006-07-27 15:24|| Front Page Top

#10 Israel is reading Hezbollah's mail...

Any American lawyer could fix that problem easily:

"This terrorgram contains information that is intended only for the recipient named and may be confidential and subject to the terrorist communications privilege. Inshallah, if you are not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering this communication to the intended recipient, or worse yet, if you are a Zionist occupier of Palestine, you are hereby notified that you have received this terrorgram by error, and that any review, dissemination, or distribution of this terrorgram is strictly prohibited by several suras of the Q'uran. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by telephone at 1-800-BOMB and delete the original without forwarding it to the Mossad. Thank you, infidel pig."
Posted by Matt 2006-07-27 15:45||   2006-07-27 15:45|| Front Page Top

#11 Thanks lh.
Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-07-27 16:28||   2006-07-27 16:28|| Front Page Top

#12 hahahahahhah LOL Matt!
Bad Lawyer! Bad Lawyer!
Posted by 6 2006-07-27 16:33||   2006-07-27 16:33|| Front Page Top

#13 Far too much handwringing, he "sounds" less bellicose.

Meantime, the missiles keep flying into Israel killing and wounding innocence, there are still two soldiers kidnapped, there were 8 soldiers who loved ones wish were still alive.

Nasal's best sounds will be his last.
Posted by Captain America 2006-07-27 16:37||   2006-07-27 16:37|| Front Page Top

#14 Several commenters at The Cap't's are reporting
It seems that among the treasures the IDF uncovered, was the information on the BUNKER SYSTEM. Which contained deeply buried reserves of missiles, launchers, food, and water. That's why there's been more bombing around and in Beirut.

I can find no other source about this. Anyone know if this is true? Thanks
Posted by Sherry 2006-07-27 17:04||   2006-07-27 17:04|| Front Page Top

#15 Blame Giulio Douhet! Italian military officer and early advocate of airpower. He was an early supporter of strategic bombing and the military superiority of air forces. He served in World War I, organizing Italy's bombing campaign, but was court-martialed for criticizing the Italian high command by publicly declaiming Italy's aerial weakness. He was released when his theories were proven true by the defeat of Italian arms by the Austrian Air Force at Caporetto. He was later recalled and was promoted (1921) to general. In 1922 he was appointed head of Italy's aviation program by Benito Mussolini. His book Command of the Air (1921) was very influential, especially in Great Britain and the United States and was regarded as a classic by early airpower theorists. He argued that command of an enemy's air space and subsequent bombing of industrialized centers would be so disruptive and destructive that the pressure for peace would be overwhelming. He maintained that control of the air could win a war regardless of land or sea power. Douhet's theories remain very popular, especially among military aviators. He is known as the father of airpower.

Posted by Besoeker 2006-07-27 17:12||   2006-07-27 17:12|| Front Page Top

#16 Ha'aretz thinks it is the NYT of Israel, and so does the NYT, which links to it as one of the international newspapers it recommends. That said, I think Ha'aretz is thinking in terms of "the newspaper of record" and not "on the other side." Whatever Ha'aretz's conceits, when my father moved to the US, he got a mail subscription to the Jerusalem Post, despite being so Labour that he was the #2 man in Israel's OSHA for a number of years after independence (hwas responsible for the northern half of the country including the Haifa docks, where he instituted the wearing of hard hats and steel-toed shoes, cutting deaths from 1 per thousand man-hours to less than 1/year (yes, I'm very proud of him -- subsequently he went into the biochemistry professor shtick)).
Posted by trailing wife 2006-07-27 17:25||   2006-07-27 17:25|| Front Page Top

#17 I think wretchard may have hit the nail on the head.
His hypothesis that the bombing in Beirut as well as the attacks on the border can only be understood as an attempt to disorientate the Hezbollah leadership (head) from the cadre (body). Releasing this statement would fit into that strategy of severing the head from the body by intimating that they are able to hack into the communication between both at will, in order to disorientate the group.
Posted by tipper 2006-07-27 17:30||   2006-07-27 17:30|| Front Page Top

#18 I've always found the JP to be much more to my liking than Haaretz. Haaretz still believes in Oslo. Yes, on reflection I would think they probably do see themselves as Israel's NYT while they see the JP as Israel's New York Post. They're wrong in that assessment but none are so blind...(just like the NYT).
Posted by mac 2006-07-27 17:33||   2006-07-27 17:33|| Front Page Top

#19 hearatz is a mouthpiece for socialist hegemony.

forget islamofascism, thats the appendage used by the brain trust at the top to cultivate armies of useful idiots, all the leaders of the opposition are socialists....surprised?
the cold war is on and the useful idiots are the religious fanatics. Every movement needs to coesxist within an economic system....guess which system they have all coallessed around! the one and only ....socialism; disease of the pseudo elite.
Posted by Shaiting Elmaper4311 2006-07-27 21:45||   2006-07-27 21:45|| Front Page Top

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