Bernie Goes Boom

Just to keep track of all the artillery being fired into Gaza (see here for my prediction of what would happen when Ariel Sharon made the brilliant tactical decision to remove Israelis from Gaza)...If I were the fundraising type, I'd start a paypal campaign to solicit donations to buy more artillery shells.

From Ha'aretz:

IDF fires more than 5,100 shells at Gaza
IDF artillery batteries deployed along the Gaza Strip border have fired more than 5,100 shells at "launch areas" for Qassam rockets since March 31, mainly in northern Gaza, according to the army's figures.

The IDF stepped up its response to Qassam rocket fire two and a half months ago. Most of the artillery response consists of explosive shells fired by a battery deployed near Kibbutz Nahal Oz.

Southern Command officials claim that the shelling has reduced the number of Qassam rockets fired at the Negev and, more importantly, has reduced their accuracy. They say the missile operators are afraid to remain in the targeted areas and therefore do not take the time to aim the launchers precisely.

Five Palestinian civilians have been killed as a result of IDF artillery in the past ten weeks, including a young girl and a teenager.

The pattern of Israel's shelling changes frequently. Usually, a heavy Qassam bombardment will provoke a few hundred IDF shells within a 24-hour period, but occasionally the shelling is suspended for some days.

The artillery shelling was initiated by former prime minister Ariel Sharon shortly after the completion of the IDF's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in September, though Sharon had been talking about the need for a beefed-up response to Qassam rockets long before then.

The IDF has since reduced the distance of its artillery fire from Palestinian homes and farmland, from 300 meters to only 100 meters. Several human rights groups petitioned the High Court of Justice over the change, but the justices refused to order a suspension of the shelling.

Kahane, Hi

I've probably alluded to my fondness for Rabbi Meir Kahane at least one before here. I not only share many points of view with the martyred Rabbi Kahane but I also met him once, in the mid 80s, and had the opportunity to speak with him. I found him to be a very intelligent, rational man with about as clear a vision of the world as I've ever seen.

I've had one of his books, "Listen World, Listen Jew" for several years and have never read more than a few pages at a time. It's not that there's anything wrong with the book (it's quite good, in fact); I'm just not much of a reader. I have no patience for reading after about 10 minutes of the activity.

I picked up the book again this weekend and was a bit surprised at what I saw. The first edition of the book was published in 1978 and when one considers the world situation then, what Rabbi Kahane wrote was incredible. It's very much on point today, nearly 30 years later, and anything other than the Bible that has that kind of longevity when it comes to middle east affairs is a miracle.

Here's one of the passages that I found so interesting (and since I am retyping this, I apologize for any typos...they aren't in the original).

Indeed, there are no allies and the United States itself will cut its bonds to Israel as its interests dictate. In the end, Zion and Zionism stand alone with the almighty G-d who created them.

We tremble before mere men today and place our trust in other men. We tremble before our ally and prostrate ourselves and sell brethren in Syria and other lands, even as we throw to the enemy parts of the Land of Israel. We lift our eyes unto Washington and from there expect our salvation. We place our hopes in political swindlers and diplomatic liars and in snarling politicians. Foolish Jews, frightened Jews, Jews of little faith!

Do we believe that our ally, who places above all else his own interests, is the worthy repository of our fate and trust? He will turn on us and he will betray us the moment he is convinced that his own self-interest demands it. We once trusted France and she betrayed us and we trust today in in Washington and she will betray us because of self-interest. We, the people who survived a hellish Exile of two millennia only because of our deep and unshaken faith in G-d, suddenly forget Him, ignore Him, term Him irrelevant. One listens to the foolish speeches of the frightened Jewish leaders in Exile and in Israel and strains his ears hoping to hear a mention of G-d. There is none. Happiness in the support of bedraggled intellectuals; dancing for joy at the crumbs of politicians-but G-d is nowhere to be dealt with.

Our enemy, in the long run, becomes the weariness of fear. It is against this that we must struggle. We must gird ourselves with tenacity and determination never to tire of what appears to be a never-ending struggle. For that is what it may very well be-a struggle for Jewish existence and a Jewish state that will never cease to be a struggle. A realization that between us and the Arabs stands a massive barrier that may never be breached, a determination by two peoples to live in a Land that at least one will never compromise on. There will grow the weariness of having to send our children to the army without stop. There will grow the weariness of having to leave each year for reserve duty. There will grow the weariness of terrorist attacks on the border or at Lydda or at the Tel-Aviv bus terminal. There will perhaps, again, grow the weariness-and the heartbreak-of victims of a new war of attrition. There will grow the weariness of all this that rises to a crescendo with the frustrating cry of: When will it finally end?

Only weak people succumb to such frustrations and surrender to Time. Strong and tenacious people know that there may never be an end to the struggle and the sacrifice but they also look about and see what their refusal to surrender has accomplished. A State-and today, a big one, in much of our Eretz Israel; a Jewish state with over three million souls and many more to come; the creation of a new and proud Jew. None of these things would have come about had we listened to the weary and the frightened.

Listen world: I am a Jew and a Zionist and it is time that you and Jews, too, understood why Judaism and Zionism-without allies-will triumph.

I've highlighted the portions that I thought were particularly prescient, especially since they hold true three decades after they were penned.

I don't believe that Rabbi Kahane was disparaging the United States. I do believe that he was stating a truth-that each country must have the ability to stand on its own and not be beholden to another country, or any institution, for all entities act out of self interest.

Rabbi Kahane was absolutely correct about the risk of fear and self doubt and the lack of understanding of the generational duration of the battle with Arabs. It's a lesson, and a warning, that has significant application today, to the United States.

Is Zarqawi Polish?

In the last week, the coalition forces in Iraq released a video of outtakes from a recent video by the darling of the liberals, al-Zarqawi. The video shows this terrorist leader not being able to get a basic squad machine gun to fire on full auto and was meant to show that he's not all powerful.

I think that the video does its job and it's an important bit of propaganda to show that Zarqawi is not all-powerful.

The NY Times, however, published an article today that, to my eyes, claims that it was wrong to publish the video. In fact, the Times goes on to DEFEND Zarqawi, pointing out that the operation of the machine gun is not so simple and most people couldn't do better than Zarqawi did.

WHAT THE FUCK?

Yes, it's true, my mother couldn't fire an M249 on full auto without a lot of training. Affepundit would probably load the wrong ammo in the M249 (and hence the title of this post). But anyone who has ever been around military arms knows how to set a weapon to fire on full auto and how to clear a jam (the two things that appear that Zarqawi can't do in the video).

These are basic operational matters and ANY soldier can do them. And that's the point of the video, to show that Zarqawi's basic military skills are SHIT.

So why does the Times devote a front section article to his defense? Gee...I wonder why. Ain't it ironic (and not in the Alanis Morrisete sense), that the Times would never provide such a defense for a Bush gaffe yet puts this much space into print to defend Zarqawi?

It makes me think that I was understating the point in THIS post where I joked about the Times putting out a video in support of bin Laden...

Here's the Time's story:

May 6, 2006
Not All See Video Mockery of Zarqawi as Good Strategy
By C. J. CHIVERS

An effort by the American military to discredit the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi by showing video outtakes of him fumbling with a machine gun — suggesting that he lacks real fighting skill — was questioned yesterday by retired and active American military officers.

The video clips, released on Thursday to news organizations in Baghdad, show the terrorist leader confused about how to handle an M-249 squad automatic weapon, known as an S.A.W., which is part of the American inventory of infantry weapons.

The American military, which said it captured the videotapes in a recent raid, released selected outtakes in an effort to undermine Mr. Zarqawi's image as leader of the Council of Holy Warriors, formerly Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, and suggested that his fighting talents and experience were less than his propaganda portrays. But several veterans of wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, as well as active-duty officers, said in telephone interviews yesterday that the clips of Mr. Zarqawi's supposed martial incompetence were unconvincing.

The weapon in question is complicated to master, and American soldiers and marines undergo many days of training to achieve the most basic competence with it. Moreover, the weapon in Mr. Zarqawi's hands was an older variant, which makes its malfunctioning unsurprising. The veterans said Mr. Zarqawi, who had spent his years as a terrorist surrounded by simpler weapons of Soviet design, could hardly have been expected to know how to handle it.

"They are making a big deal out of nothing," said Mario Costagliola, who retired as an Army colonel last month after serving as the operations officer for the 42nd Infantry Division in Tikrit, Iraq.

An active-duty Special Forces colonel who served in Iraq also said that what the video showed actually had little relationship to Mr. Zarqawi's level of terrorist skill. "Looking at the video, I enjoy it; I like that he looks kind of goofy," said the Special Forces officer, who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on military matters. "But as a military guy, I shrug my shoulders and say: 'Of course he doesn't know how to use it. It's our gun.' He doesn't look as stupid as they said he looks."

The release of the captured video reflected the dueling public relations efforts between the American-led forces fighting in Iraq and the terrorists and insurgents. It also reflected increasing interest by the military and civilian strategists in trying to ridicule Mr. Zarqawi.

"In Arab and Muslim societies, pride and shame are felt much more profoundly than they are in Western culture," said J. Michael Waller, a professor at the Institute of World Politics, a graduate school in Washington. "To find video like this that can cut him down to size and discredit him is a real way of fighting terrorism." A paper written by Professor Waller advocating the use of ridicule against the insurgents has been circulating at the Pentagon and among military commanders with experience in Iraq recently, according to several military officers.

But the retired and active officers said the public presentation of the tape did not address elements that were disturbing, rather than amusing: the weapon was probably captured from American soldiers, indicating a tactical victory for the insurgents. And Mr. Zarqawi looked clean and plump.

"I see a guy who is getting a lot of groceries and local support," said Nick Pratt, a Marine Corps veteran and professor of terrorism studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany. "You cannot say he is a bad operator." He added, "People should be careful who they poke fun at."