Gaza invasion lacks exit strategy

Sounds familiar...where have I heard that before?

According to the Israeli defense establishment, the primary purpose of Operation Summer Rain is to free Corporal Gilad Shalit, captured by Palestinian militants on June 25.

Fair enough. They have a right to attempt to free a captive soldier.

But so far as anyone, including Israeli intelligence, knows, the 19-year-old tank gunner is being held in the south of the strip, far from the present bloody incursion. And the killing of at least 27 Palestinians since Corporal Shalit's capture, reportedly including six civilians, is unlikely to increase his captors' wish to free him alive and with nothing in return, as Israel demands.

Oh, they're going in the wrong way. Silly Jews.

The second rationale for the attack is to prevent Palestinian militants from firing homemade rockets into Israel, as some groups have done ever since Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in September last year.

It's plausible to want to stop people from firing rockets into your country. I can understand that. If my neighbor was shooting rockets at my house every couple of days I'd invade his living room as well.

Yet a previous Israeli invasion of the northern rocket-launching zone in 2004 - Operation Days of Repentance - killed more than 120 Palestinians, including scores of civilians, but failed to prevent the rocket fire even when operations were still under way.

Like we all don't know what's happening. Come on people, it's okay, I'll say it. The Israelis want to kill Palestinians. Why? I don't know, but probably because the Palestinians want to kill Israelis. There comes a point during the conflict when who started it, what it's a struggle for, what both sides hope to accomplish becomes quite irrelevant and the goal becomes simply putting as many of the other side as you can into the ground. It's bloodlust, on both sides. That's why I cut the middle east part out on all my maps. Cause in my world, that area was lost long ago.