What's Hebrew for Napalm in the Morning?

Well that's over with. The Palestinians celebrate. Let them. The Arab is delusional. Did you know that the average Egyptian thinks they won the Yom Kippur War? Yes, yes, as they explained to an irate STAVKA, the Egyptians studied Soviet tactics, lured the Jews into Sinai and then waited for winter. 

We'll be posting an analysis of Operation Guardian of the Walls this weekend. But we'll say this here, Israel won. Here's a meme representing the outcome:

And brand new from the Soviet press, here's a latest bit of collusion with Moscow: 'Last week was a bad one for President Biden. Powered by a year’s worth of pent-up demand and runaway money printing, inflation has topped 4%. The border remains in crisis with 178,000 illegal aliens apprehended in April. Hackers shut down the Colonial Pipeline causing gas shortages in the American south reminiscent of the 1970’s oil shocks. Ironically Biden posed for a rather odd photo with former President Jimmy Carter, who presided over late 1970’s stagflation, whereby the economy stalled but prices rose anyway. Then on Friday the Centers for Disease Control...' Click on through.

Those of you who know us know we have a nagging fear that the Feds will accuse us of spreading Soviet disinformation. One morning a few months ago there was a black SUV parked out-front and we shouted, 'It's happening!' But after Joe approved the Nord-Stream pipeline waver, we worry no more. Collude with this you dottering old fool.

Below, your Friday Flag, Robotech, SDF-1. Note the right hand carrier, Dedalus, used to devastating effect. Watch the clip.

Monday not-Metal late entry. Also, bombs away

More sustained bombing last night, the Israelis hit 40 targets, including the Hamas Metro system (schedule E). Bibi says the operation will continue, there's no 'stopwatch' he told an assembly of ambassadors. Hamas targeted Israeli air bases and hit nothing.  This strikes us as desperate, Hamas trying to produce a few images of burning aircraft. Overall Hamas has launched 3700+ rockets. Looks like Hamas' trick d'resistance was an attack on the Tamar gas field rigs. As usual the Israelis figured it out. Do we even have to say it?

[You do-Ed]

The Imams are right, the Jew is clever.

We're going to come out and say Hamas screwed up, big time. They thought a few rocket barrages would make them look like the defenders of the al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Instead it brought on an overwhelming and disproportionate response that has destroyed their technical infrastructure, their massive tunnel system, and their elite naval unit. Hamas thought they could swamp Iron Dome. Hamas was wrong. Israel gave Hamas a whoopin'. 

Hezbollah, Bibi.*

We've been saving Monday Metal, or in this case Monday not-Metal for the Israeli Eurovision entry, Eden Alene, who has advanced out of the first round. Remember, there are a quarter million Ethiopian Jews in Israel. These are direct decedents of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. 

More and lots of good work on '76 yesterday. Things are really taking form and we're getting a good feel for what must needs be done to make this book printable. We got a good idea we'll talk about on Sunday. We've added scenes making Haig the hero, or a hero of the Korean War. The South Koreans and Japanese are still doing most of the work. 

Actually a lot of making '76 work is simply adding throw away lines in the opening scenes. 'Yep, they're building a jet fuel refinery up in Prudhoe,' and the like. 

*If anyone knows what movie we're referencing....😉

Israelis and Alternates

The Israelis destroyed nine underground rocket launchers last night and 65 to date. A shift in tactics. There was a lull in rocket fire last night, but the barrage continues this morning. The IAF launched another series of sustained strikes against the Metro. Overall 3400 + rocket launches.

Yesterday Bibi told Joe that Israel will continue Operation Guardian of the Walls till their goals are met. There's mounting international pressure and we've heard some complaints about the Israelis losing the PR war. Idiots. Israelis don't win PR wars. Jews aren't allowed good PR, so stop worrying and learn to love Operation Guardian of the Walls.

The Jerusalem Post tells us that riots continued last night and Arab-Israeli organizations have declared a general strike for today. Riots bad, general strike fine. Were we Bibi, we'd appoint a special reconciliation commission chaired by a high profile Arab. The government has got to figure out a way to reach out to Arabs. They're a quarter of the population. 

The Israelis want Hezbollah to know that they know all about Hezbollah's tunnel network. Quote The Times of Israel: 'The Hezbollah terror group has dug a network of tunnels hundreds of kilometers long from Beirut to southern Lebanon, the Kan public broadcaster reported Monday.' There's the existential threat. Hezbollah, Bibi. 

Lots of messy work on '76 yesterday. But things are looking pretty good. We need more intro for the novel's themes. This includes laying the groundwork for the war and also the political machinations that take place in the second half of the book. Bobby Byrd is languishing at the Greenbriar with surviving members of congress. We need a limey victory parade scene or something. We've got a scene showing US Army troops embarking in Brest, and another showing the fleet in Subic Bay. What else? Where else, what and who?

Dirty Tricks, Hamas, Israeli

The Israelis hammered the C Phase Hamas' Metro tunnel system and also hit numerous rocket storage and launch sites. Fifty + aircraft struck dozens of targets in a 20 minute period. They assassinated a senior PIJ commander. The IAF has spent a considerable amount of time attacking Hamas naval resources. Hamas has stated they're trying to attack Israel's Tamar gas field rig. Last night the Israelis destroyed an unmanned submarine. As this blog speculated, Hamas had some surprises. What's left? Prediction, Hamas' final barrage will include rockets that can hit Haifa in the far north.

Hamas has fired 3150 rockets, 460 of which fell within Gaza. The IDF says they're intercepting 90% of rockets targeted. 

Meet Israel's unit 9900. Incredible. Weaponized autism used to be an internet joke, but the Israelis have actually weaponized autism. The Imams are right, the Jew is clever.  This blog likes how they say hi to Hezbollah at the end.

Hamas invested massive resources in Metro knowing what the Israelis did to their tunnel system in 2014.  Did Hamas believe it could keep them secret or that the tunnels were so deep the Israelis couldn't hit them? Or did Hamas build the Metro system expecting it to be destroyed?

The Jerusalem Post has a report on Hamas manufacture and importation of rockets. Check this out: 'Inbar noted a statement by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in December 2020 when he said: “Most of the weapons, missiles and facilities that Palestinian resistance groups have in Gaza are supplied by the IRGC Quds Force. The Islamic Republic used its diplomatic relationship with Sudan to establish a weapon factory for Gaza in Sudan.' JFC, it's like they read Israel Strikes, War of the Red Sea.

The Israelis have quelled the riots within Israel. There's been a lot of kumbaya between Arabs and Jews. Debka File has this troubling report: 'Most worrying, however, is the combined call of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and the Supreme Council of Israel Arabs to stage simultaneous “general strikes” on Tuesday in Judea, Samaria and Israel, to include staging violent confrontations with Israeli security forces and police. This is the first time the Palestinian and Israeli Arab authorities have cooperated in lining up behind the extremist Hamas. The peril posed by this development to Israel’s internal security may even surpass the menace of the Gaza rockets.'

Yesterday the cabinet said Operation Guardian of the Walls will continue. We see no reason to stop. The Israelis are winning, bigly. Readers don't suppose that Bibi wants to continue the battle because it helps him politically? Noooooo, he would never do that. 

Wil's Good idea for the Week of 5/16/21

The Israelis really fucked up Hamas last night. As of this writing it appears the IAF struck tunnels, arsenals, and launch sites. Lots of bunker busters. The IDF says it attacked 'Phase B' of the Hamas metro tunnel. They say there will be more phases and claim 45 launchers destroyed.

The international outcry mounts (screw them) and the security cabinet met this morning. Reports are that Bibi and have rejected a ceasefire. Good. Which is easy to say from a couch in New Jersey.

Last night Hamas responded with a massive barrage and the rocket total is now 3,000+.

We've heard a lot of bellicose talk about toppling Hamas. Ok, nice in practice, how's it done though? A massive ground invasion would be a disaster. Never occupy an Arab city. Ask the US Army. And whose gonna replace Hamas, the PA? This blog doubts very seriously that Mamoud Abbas wants anything to do with running Gaza.

The Jerusalem Post points out the obvious, Iran and Hezbollah are watching and taking notes. The real show is up north, people. Two thousand rockets a day. Shiva no. That's where the ground war will be. 

This latest op just shows the futility of wrapping up the Israel Strikes series. The first two books are completely overtaken by events. We got nuthin'. It is now time for us to think seriously about what we're writing this summer. Do we plug along with The Great Nuclear War series? We are confident we'll have rough drafts of '75 and '76 by 1 July. Two other options, finish The Final Storm. Or crank out The Weser. Right this very moment we think crank out The Weser and Final Storm in the fall.

Saturday Rocket Updates

This blog spent the week chronicling the unholy ass-whooping the IDF is giving Hamas. We began a pessimist but are now extremely optimistic. Moments ago the IAF bombed the BBC and Al-Jazeera. Bravo! We look forward to intel leaks about what the Israelis knew and what they did in the weeks after the war. Negotiations are in progress.

But lets temper that optimism a bit. As we write, the rockets fly. About 2000 over all. The riots within Israel spread. These are a disaster. Are they a warning, or is it too late? Also, we'd be stunned if Hamas didn't have one last dirty trick to play. 

In the end these conflagrations come down to perception. Right now only a midwit would think Israel hasn't humiliated Hamas. This blog calls upon the Jews to line Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem with crucified Hamas, just to be dicks. But we doubt they'll do that. 

In the meantime, we did a lot of great work on '76. We were generally happy with the Korean war scenes we read (about half overall). And those with which we weren't happy we fixed. Were are adding to the Korean War section of the book. Here comes Haig and an ad-hoc force of one air borne, one air assault and one marine brigade. Where once there was one landing on the North Korean coast, now there are two. Overall the Great Salvation of 1976 stands at 65,000 words.

We're also working on a new chapter introducing the US military. One scene has Haig watching troops boarding a transport in Brest, France. Another shows Task Force 73 (Operation Frequent Wind) at anchor in Subic Bay. The brevet admiral is Captain Larry Chambers, who skippered Midway during Operation Frequent Wind.

Huh. Israel Strikes: War of the Red Sea is now 6th in overall book sales. Coincidence? Go to Good Reads and you'll see people pining for a third. I dunno man. We got nuthin.'

The Friday Kaboom

More of the same yesterday. Hamas launched 1050+ rockets the first 36 hours of the war, but has 'only' launched a thousand or so the last 72. Iron Dome remains magnificent. 

Yesterday Hamas attempted several suicide drone strikes. These accomplished precisely nothing.

We've been wondering if the Israelis were just bombing empty buildings and bouncing rubble. Far from it. Operation Guardian of the Walls is showing tangible results.

Last night Israeli troops massed on the border. Tanks and artillery bombarded targets of opportunity. Anticipating an attack, Hamas deployed ground troops. Then 160  IAF aircraft conducted a massive simultaneous strike on Hamas' border tunnel network, the Metro. We suspect the Israelis spent the week gathering intel on the network. It was a dazzling deception. Indeed the Jew is clever.

There were more Arab-Jewish riots in Israel. The Jerusalem Post reports: 'So far, more than 750 rioters have been arrested since the beginning of the violence, and more than 400 have had their remand extended, the police reported on Friday.' This has been long simmering, no? What a disaster.

In a development that stuns this blog, Naftali Bennett has entered negotiations with Bibi to form a government. Says The Times of Israel: 'In a dramatic decision Thursday that remakes Israel’s coalition-building arithmetic, Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett ruled out the option of forming a government with Yesh Atid chief Yair Lapid that would replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, citing the rioting and chaos unfolding throughout Israel as extremist Arab and Jewish mobs vandalize and terrorize numerous cities.' This blog, which was fed up with Bibi, agrees. In a time like this, he's the man you want. He's handled these situations before and he knows how to deal with an intransigent White House.

When fighting Arabs perception is everything. They must be shown that that they have lost. Ironically, given that Israeli spent the first 25 years of its existence frying his lamb kabob, the Arab tends to see survival as victory. You're average Egyptian thinks he won the Yom Kippur War. It is clear that Israel has struck a mighty blow against Hamas. 

Hamas has shown in can manufacture missiles that hit Tel Aviv and the Israelis can't stop them from launching. This is not exactly news. We don't see that Hamas has any tricks left. 

From a couch in New Jersey we'd say Israel is kicking Hamas' ass. At this point Israel's challenge is to show that the campaign seriously hurt Hamas. 

Hamas to Israel: Ceasefire? Israel to Hamas: Drop Dead

Israel had a great day while Hamas had a bad one. As we went to bed the IAF was hitting Hamas banks and their Ministry of Finance. We wake this morning to see that the IAF has hit Hamas intel buildings. As of this writing the Israelis have taken out four ATGM cells in the last few hours. Hamas admits to the command level assassinations Israel claims. The IAF has conducted 650+ airstrikes overall.

As it had during the previous two days of fighting, Hamas tried to swamp Iron Dome. Here and there a rocket got through. But overall Iron Dome held. Once more the footage is spectacular. By the end of day two Hamas had fired about 1050 rockets. By the end of day three that total was about 1450. The IDF says 350 or so fell in Gaza and Iron Dome has intercepted hundreds. Do the math. Hamas rocket fire is greatly reduced. This blog doesn't mean to dismiss the rockets. The average Israeli in Beersheba must be terrified. But in the big picture, those rockets are a noise and light show.

Last night Hamas told Russia it was looking for a ceasefire. Israel rejected the idea. Breaking this very moment, Netanyahu says, 'The defense operations of the Iron Dome batteries give us room to attack. The IDF has already attacked hundreds of targets, we will soon exceed 1,000, and we continue to strike at Hamas while protecting our civilians.' Reports are that the IDF is going to launch a ground op.

In Israel the riots continued and spread. Reports the Times of Israel: 'After a night of violence that saw Jewish and Arab rioters wreak havoc in several towns, overwhelming local police, Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Thursday ordered a major call-up of Border Police reservists to bolster officers working to contain the unrest.' On the one hand this is horrifying. On the other, not rioting is a failed conservative policy. Jew Riot! The Jew Riots! Jew Riot, a riot of Jew's own. One Israeli source we follow said it's just a few thousand rioters. Okay, but how many rioters did it take to turn Portland into a dystopian mess?

Operation Guardian of the Walls

So it's hit the fan in Israel. Riots in Jerusalem, rocket barrages out of Gaza, and Israeli retaliatory strikes. Readers, we give you Operation Guardian of the Walls. That's surely a biblical reference, the Israelis always have great names for their military ops (See Operation Ten Plagues). Those interested in following the action can do no better than the Times of Israel or the Jerusalem Post. On Twitter, Aurora Intel for up to the minute info. Also, for a primer there's out own, Israel at War, which goes right up to the last Gaza War in 2014.

As of this writing 300 rockets have struck Israel. Iron Dome has shot down dozens of rockets (check this out), 90%  of those aimed at populated areas. The IDF has carried out 100 + airstrikes.

It will be interesting to see in the coming days if the palestinians will riot again in Jerusalem, just to give the Israelis another headache. One should also watch for an increase in stabbing attacks. Question, will the palestinians continue the incendiary balloon offensive? Or will being spotted on the border with balloons be a good way to get your head blown off?

Readers, the only way for the Israelis to stop the rockets is to physically go into Gaza. The Times of Israel reports that the Gaza division is being reinforced by the Golani, the Paratroopers Brigade and 7th Armored Brigades. That's like us sending in the Marines and the 1st Cav. 

By our count this is the fourth conflict with Hamas. These things usually play out till the Israelis feel they've inflicted enough damage on Hamas, regardless of international outcry.  During Operation Protective Edge in 2014, the Israelis hammered Gaza till they were convinced they destroyed every last tunnel.

Israeli has had nearly 7 years to plan for this and so has Hamas. Look out for new Hamas tricks and new Israeli tech.  Also keep an eye out for Israeli naval ops in the Med and even the Red Sea. What don't we know?

Exit question, the Israelis have a half dozen submarines capable of launching missiles, might they employ one against a big target as a test run for you know what? Remember, the Jew is clever.  

We make no predictions.

Below, your Friday Flag (supplemental)