Olmert says "war" on militants in Gaza to continue (Reuters)Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday ruled out dialogue with Hamas Islamists who control the Gaza Strip and vowed to press on with the army's "war" against militants firing cross-border rockets into Israel.
Olmert's closest confidant said Israel's strategic goal was to topple the Hamas government in the coastal territory through continued military and economic pressure.
Yeah, great strategy, MacArthur! Let's create a Mogadishu right next door to us. Because that's exactly what Israel needs: an ungoverned, arms-saturated failed state right on its border.
Is anyone paying attention to this? How many more stupid things must Israeli leaders do or say before we cut off aid completely?
On a side note, I get so sick of reading this crap all the time. From the same article:
Olmert appeared to play down prospects of a ceasefire deal with Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in June after routing forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas did not "seize control" from Abbas. Hamas pre-emptively struck at the Fatah forces that were being armed and trained by Israeli and American puppetmasters to stage a coup and seize control from Hamas, which was, and still is, the democratically elected leadership of the Palestinians. I am so god damn tired of shoddy reporting like this, and its not just Reuters: you read it in the AP, in the New York Times (possibly the worst offender), Yahoo! News, and in just about every major news organization that covers world events. I can only assume the so-called "reporters" who write these articles are either cynically lazy at best or paid propagandists at worst as it sometimes seems they just look up the current talking points issued by the Bush administration and incorporate them into their articles by rote. No wonder the public is losing confidence in the press, and even the press itself is none to proud of their own work.
Of course, the real reason for Israel's problems, the OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE, is neglected until the end of the article:
"If the occupation commits itself to stopping all forms of aggression against our people, only then the factions may discuss this issue. But until then, there is no discussion among the factions over a calm," Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said.