|
Trending Topics
|
Gen. Petraeus Envisions Israeli Counterinsurgency Campaign in Gaza
(Army Times) Todd South - U.S. Army Gen. (ret.) David Petraeus, who led a surge of U.S. troops to help turn the tide of the Iraq War, said on Nov. 30 that a similar, counterinsurgency-based approach could work in Gaza. Petraeus said that Israel has determined Hamas is the equivalent of the Islamic State, meaning it is an irreconcilable, extremist organization. "You have to, therefore, destroy them." Israel cannot allow Hamas to reconstitute as a militant group and it also must dismantle the group's political wing. "But...you can't kill or capture your way out of an industrial-strength insurgency. The campaign should be a counterinsurgency campaign. Don't clear and go on. Clear, hold and build." He added, "There needs to be a vision for who's going to oversee Gaza." While Israel may not want that job, it might need to do it, at least temporarily.