by Daniel Pipes
April 28, 2010
updated May 2, 2010
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said yesterday that Hezbollah now has “far more rockets and missiles than most governments in the world”, an apparent reference to Israeli reports that Damascus had supplied it with the latest version of Scud missiles, capable of carrying a 700-kilo payload more than 400 miles with a far greater accuracy than those fired by Saddam Hussein in 1991. According to a report by James Hider in The Times (London), “The new Scuds could potentially reach any target in Israel, and officials fear their accuracy could allow them to target military installations with far greater effect than the Katyushas fired more or less blindly in the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.”
To which, my question is: Why do the Israelis passively watch this arming of Hezbollah? Why do they wait for these to pour down destruction and death on their cities? Why not put down a red line and threaten to take them out before they can become operational? What is wrong with Westerners? (April 28, 2010)