Originally Posted by
sfm818
I view the current situation from the perspective of Israel's intervention in the Bekka Valley in '82 which, as you point out, resulted in casualties from American and French contingents of the Multi National Force. It was the loss of three USN jets in one day during airstrikes against Syrian targets which convinced Reagan to withdraw from the conflict. It was a very wise decision.
I got to meet Bobby Goodman back in the 90's, a very interesting conversation was had.
He placed a higher priority on protecting American servicemen than placing them in harm's way. There is a danger that America may once again be drawn into the region by Israel. What happened to the MNF effort in Lebanon should inform any renewal of the idea from Israel that an International peace keeping force would be a viable solution for Gaza.
Concur. There is no peace to keep.
However, that operation created a precedent, and a permanent reliance by Israel upon the United States for political, financial, and crucially, military support.
That's a fair point, in terms of a precedent set.
Originally Posted by
henra
Or they are not total idiots/tools and are watching if Hamas survives the IDF attacks before going to action themselves in order to assess their chances. They might be looking at replacing Abbas. Being massively decimated by IDF might interfere with such plans.
The issue of succession after Abbas is a delicate one for the Palestinians in his faction, and has potential ripple effects beyond that party.
Back to air power: with the Houthi launches of both cruise and ballistic missiles into theater from a goodly distance, I wonder what that does to force mix choices intended to neutralize that threat.
As an aside, if ever there was a case for trying out the boost phase intercept project, that might be just the one.