Khaled Meshal, the Damascus-based head of Hamas' political bureau, has been calling for a cease-fire for two days now.
Yet a little further down, Hamas welcomes an Israeli ground invasion:
But Hamas officials and analysts said Monday that the organization would actually like Israel to launch a ground operation; it hopes this would let it inflict such heavy losses on Israeli tanks and infantry that Israel would flee with its tail between its legs.
Yeah, that's the ticket. And pretty unlikely. What's Hamas going to do, bleed on the Israeli army as it rolls in? The world is filled with jihadi grave sites filled with the corpses of fanatical men who welcomed ground combat with American and Western soldiers in Afghanistan or American soldiers and Marines in Iraq. And the Israeli army hasn't been too shabby either--except for that disastrous performance in Lebanon in 2006 against Hezbollah.
Analysts who claim that jihadis welcome ground combat have a point. Many jihadis probably do welcome close combat. They say it a lot. But would it hurt for these analysts to wonder if those 7th century nutjobs are correct to believe that God is on their side and will lead them to smite their Infidel foes?
Because if you ask me, lately the jihadis have been enduring repeated ass-kickings on the battlefield. Even Hezbollah's decent performance in 2006 was only made possible by an Israeli army that fought poorly and on Hezbollah's terms.
I say the Israelis should give Hamas what they wish for--send as many of them as want it to Paradise. If Israel can't overrun the Gaza Strip with armor, airborne, and seaborne troops and do a better job than Russia did in Georgia, then Israel has bigger problems than Hamas.
