Do the anecdotes coming out of Gaza suggesting that many of the beleaguered denizens of that wretched place are angry with Hamas for inviting this latest bit of destruction down upon their heads strengthen or weaken my arguments against the invasion? I'd say strengthen since if true anecdotes lend credence to belief that Hamas indeed left itself politically vulnerable with its brinkmanship and my strategy would have allowed Israel to both maximize exploitation of that vulnerability and minimize international interference, a key factor in any Israeli military calculation [viz: EU now suggesting maybe it's time to negotiate with Hamas]. Of course one can argue the other way, that without boots on the ground etc etc - but there does seem to be some indication that the Chief of Staff of the IDF shared my concerns re the invasion.
So, a victory for me, yes? Don't care who suffers just so long as I'm right...
Update: Predictably, Hamas lobbing missiles into Israel again - just enough to irritate [and rally dispirited population] but not enough to provoke, or so they hope I imagine, which seems to be the case. Again, I think this bolsters my argument that invasion raises the stakes and eventually will create more problems than it solves if you don't pursue to a logical conclusion implied by the raised stakes.
