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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (20280)	3/1/2002 8:51:14 AM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 281500

think they would be better off to just pinpoint the groups of terrorists that they want to take out, announce them publicly, and then go after then daily without tieing it in to a retaliation I agree, the strategy of bombing empty buildings is worthless. I think Israel was hindered from more proactive approaches by the bad hits it took on the PR front (the Palestinians are certainly masters of 'shoot'n'whine' tactics); but now, the fighting has dropped off the front pages. Since both sides are nervous about sudden escalations (the Palestinians, lest they get 'too lucky' and the Israelis scream for war; the Israelis, lest the Palestians win their international monitors), things tend to just ratchet up. According to debka, Sharon has just started a new strategy, going after the Al Aqsa Brigades, which means attacking the refugee camps on the West Bank, where not even the PA ever had any control.

To: LindyBill who wrote (20280)	3/1/2002 9:16:33 AM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 281500

Israeli analysis of the IDF move into the refugee camps, from the Jerusalem Post: Shattering the myth of sanctuary Analysis By Arieh O'Sullivan (March 1) - The IDF action in the Balata refugee camp had a number of aims, but above all it could be a brilliant strategic move signalling a new phase in the 17-month conflict with the Palestinians. The army realized it needed to take the initiative after the Palestinians destroyed a Merkava tank, killing three soldiers, on February 14, and killed six soldiers at the Ein Arik checkpoint near Ramallah on February 19 without a fight. It also realized that despite the excellent intelligence and heavy police guard, it could not stop the wave of suicide bombers and attackers and had to go straight to the heart of Palestinian terrorism. That heart was in Balata, the West Bank's largest refugee camp. Military sources said the camp is not only flooded with weapons, but also has factories which make Kassam rockets, mortars, and bombs. Until now, the camp of some 20,000 people has been an independent enclave inside the Nablus city limits. It was a lawless place off limits to Palestinian Authority security forces and run by five gangs, including various Tanzim, Hamas, and PFLP factions. The last time PA security forces ventured into Balata was in September 1999, and they were promptly kicked out. Military sources said most of the hostile actions in the area are carried out and directed by terrorists in in Balata. Among the attacks traced to Balata were those on a bat mitzva in Hadera in January that killed six people, the bombing of Jerusalem's Sbarro pizzeria in August that killed 15, and the latest shooting in the capital's Neveh Ya'acov section that killed a policewoman. The IDF's ostensible message to the Palestinians is that there are no sanctuaries, no place is off limits, and there is no place to hide. But there are also other underlying messages. It shows the IDF has learned how to operate in the warren of narrow streets and plentiful hideouts, which make it difficult to use the armor it had relied on so heavily in earlier incursions into Palestinian cities. It also destroys the myth the army is hamstrung by a fear of casualties. The Palestinians see Balata as their Bastille, and the stand by the gunmen there marks the first time Palestinians actually tried to stop an IDF advance. The Palestinians have threatened every time the army moved into the cities, but they always fled, knowing the IDF outgunned them with its armor and attack helicopters. Tulkarm (minus the refugee camp) was captured last month with barely a shot fired. The army knew Balata would be different and last week started the operation by taking over four four-story buildings on the outskirts of the camp to serve as sniper and observation posts. It was a complex operation involving hi-tech equipment, combat intelligence, and advanced command-and-control coordination between the many squads operating from house to house. The IDF, however, has not yet taken control of the entire camp or started destroying the bomb and rocket factories. But it is working on it. The army knew the streets were booby trapped with bombs. In fact it was a bomb which killed St.-Sgt. Haim Bachar. Instead of moving on the streets, the paratroopers are cutting their way through the walls as they move house by house across the camp, military sources said. Brig.-Gen. (res.) Ephraim (Fine) Eitam said the fall of Balata will break Palestinian resistance. "If we carry out clear cut missions in two or three refugee camps, the rest will crumble," Eitam said. "They'll run away and after that they will understand there is no military benefit to their conflict. "The IDF is a good army, and the Palestinians are exactly what I think they are. I don't disregard them, but they are no military power. We had been acting like scared children, but now this action will encourage the IDF. We don't need brilliant actions, but continuous and simple missions." Eitam said the IDF should be praised for the way it has carried out its many actions against terrorists in crowded areas, generally without harming civilians. "You don't have to turn everything into Stalingrad," he said. "The moment the Palestinians see we are determined to use the IDF, the IDF will come back to its old self and the nation will return to itself. But not in the way that the leftists are saying we have to get out of Judea and Samaria and Gaza, but by understanding we have to fight for our very lives here." The army says the refugee camps are the main bases for terror. Until this operation, the Palestinians saw them as a sanctuary. The mission was to destroy this myth. The message may be clear, but if the IDF doesn't follow through to the end, it will have the opposite effect.