[IMRA: After exploiting Holocaust Memorial Day to attack the national camp
(charging that their use of the slogan "we won't forget, we won't forgive"
in reference to the destruction of Gush Katif was an unacceptable abuse of
the Holocaust when virtually the same slogan was used by the Left in a
massive bumper sticker campaign after the Rabin assassination) COS Halutz
appears to take yet another step in preparation for a political career by
embracing the traditional "snapshot" mindset of Israeli politicians: The
retreat from Gaza was OK he argues, because, as of the moment he was
interviewed, the many rockets that have landed in strategic targets since
the retreats haven't yet - as of the moment he was interviewed - hit a
poison gas storage tank releasing a cloud that killed hundreds of people or
a yard of children, etc.. COS Halutz isn't going to claim that the rockets
aren't being launched. He isn't going to deny that - in large part thanks
to the retreat - there are now Katyusha rockets also in Gaza and that they
could do considerable damage.

When COS Halutz was back in the Air Force a near miss was treated with the
same respect as a hit.

But COS Halutz is no longer in the Air Force. He is now Chief of
Staff/politician in waiting.

So now when he is interviewed he doesn't have to worry about the near
misses.

If the moment he is talking to a reporter the shower of rockets hasn't yet
succeeded then they are more or less irrelevant.

As for going back into Gaza? Well, since the attacks from Gaza really don't
matter until they actually succeed, COS Halutz would rather engage in what
Israeli politicians are so good at: speaking loudly - with threats of
remote attacks. This after he is already on record as being resigned to the
need to respect human shields.

The message to Hamas: launch your rockets from school yards. Better yet:
have the kids watch the launch.]

Halutz: IDF reoccupation of Gaza won't end Qassam rocket fire

By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent 2 May 2006
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/711768.html

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz is currently opposed to a
ground force operation in the Gaza Strip, as it would not necessarily end
the firing of Qassam rockets at targets within Israel.

"We were in Gaza for 38 years. In all the years of fighting in Gaza, we
never managed to cut the number of Qassams to zero," said Halutz in an
Independence Day interview to Haaretz.

"There is one school of thought in the defense establishment that argues
that we need to reenter Gaza to curtail the Qassams. I oppose this. The army
is not the main advocate of this approach. Others within the defense
establishment are touting it. They believe that this is the only solution to
the Qassams, and they fail to understand the price that this would entail."

Halutz refused, however, to specify who in the defense establishment was
advocating the reoccupation of Gaza.

"I think it would be futile to reenter Gaza at this point if we don't want
to find ourselves back in the quagmire," he added.

That said, Halutz is in favor of declaring the Palestinian Authority an
enemy and attacking from a distance targets identified as belonging to
Hamas.

Halutz also rejects claims that the disengagement from Gaza harmed Israeli
security and lead to Hamas' rise to power.

"The question is what you count. In terms of the dry statistics of
casualties, it can be said that our security situation in Gaza has been
changed entirely for the better. Since the withdrawal there has been no one
killed on the Israeli side as a result of terror from the Gaza Strip. This
is no small matter compared to dozens of people killed every a year in past.
People are counting rockets, but before the disengagement thousands of
mortars were fired, which hit Gush Katif."

"I don't think that Hamas came into power because of the disengagement," he
added. "The elections, after all, were supposed to have been held in July
2005. Hamas would have received the same result then, perhaps a bit less."