As much as I typically love to say "I told you so"... I am afraid this time it is almost painful.
I was following up on Israel's already impressive gains in Gaza overnight, and found THIS article in the Jerusalem Post. It's not anything ground-shaking... but it is certainly close enough to MY sentiments voiced only days ago to make me think that my questions concerning the invasion of Gaza by IDF ground forces and its consequences were legitimate.
Egypt's "silent support" of Israel's anti-Hamas actions are now turning into a very vocal support of all things Palestinian. Quiet demonstrations of a few dozen women in the West Bank are now becoming violent riots where the IDF is forced to shoot at demonstrators. Hezbollah is rattling it's sabers from across the Lebanese border. Iran has declared Gaza an "Israeli graveyard".
The IDF's "divide and conquer" strategy has worked... Gaza is now broken into 3 distinct and seperate pieces that can be pacified quite nicely by infantry and armor units in a very short time, with no means to lend support or supply from one zone to another by Hamas. The question raised by the author of the article is a good one, though... does this action NOW give Hamas a "de facto" legitimate governmental status? Will such actions make the fact that France, or Italy, or Crete may have Hamas negotiators sitting across from the Israelis FORCE the world to recognize Hamas as an elected and representative government?
I have already seen even pro-Israeli media outlets refering to Hamas "military leaders" when refering to casualties among the terrorists in Gaza... that can't be good, right? How can they be a "military" when they wear no uniform, and fight without insignia or flag, and hide amongst civilian populations to avoid attack? That defines a terrorist, in my book... but this kind of action BREEDS recognition by the broader international community. This is EXACTLY why the British wouldn't deal with Sinn Fein on a one-to-one basis in the 80s and 90s (at least till Good Friday at Dayton, OH)... they didn't want to REPEAT the "mistakes" they made in 1922 when they sat down with the IRA. They only DID sit down with Sinn Fein when they had assurances that all the guns were turned in... and let's face it, that isn't going to happen anytime soon in Gaza.
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