Or should I say, “Back at Jack’s Shack, Mac!”

I’m too tired to get there tonight. You all do me a favor: Go read at least one link and then post about it in the comments.

C’mon. This is a blog. Readers are supposed to take part in the conversation, right?

Right?

People?

In a few days, when various human rights groups and assorted Israel-bashers start the outcry against Israeli military escalation in the Gaza strip and the inevitable innocent bystanders falling prey to our attacks on the Hamas, Jihad, Popular Resistance Committee and other gangs of the Gazan alphabet soup of wannabe martyrs, let’s remember the story of the recent strife in a few easy steps:

1. The ever smoldering enmity between Hamas and Fatah, exacerbated by the family feuds, erupts into several clashes and in a few days becomes an open warfare between these two biggest factions wrestling for power in Gaza.
2. It looks at first that Hamas have the upper hand, but some more informed observers consider the outcome far from certain, some even suggesting that Fatah units are winning.
3. Tens of people, including completely uninvolved bystanders, are killed, hundreds wounded.
4. Seeing the initiative being taken away, with the merest semblance of Hamas-led statehood becoming a travesty, Hamas does what Hamas does best - turning the attention to the common enemy. The rocket scientists of Gaza open their warehouses, where the latest calm allowed them to accumulate a sizable reserve of ready to launch sewage pipes filled by explosives (after all, the area is entering a dry period, and another sewage flood is not expected till November, at least).
5. Israeli government, torn between the various response options, each one worse than another and consumed by its own frailty, elects the pinpoint IAF attacks on the Qassam launch teams.
6. Unfortunately, there are inexhaustible reserves of the launch teams (there is no need for a prolonged training) and the sewage piping, apparently prepared in huge quantities in advance or being ripped out of the ground on the go.
7. At the moment it seems that the rocket scientists became completely autonomous, disregarding their political branch and the elected PM Ismail Haniyeh and even the real capo di capi in Damascus - Khaled Meshaal.
8. During the last 7 days around 130 Qassams landed in the Western Negev, terrorizing the citizens of Sderot and other communities bordering the Gaza strip.

Where does it lead? Israel is not submitting any formal protests against the relentless bombardment, probably expecting the public opinion getting there on its own (a stupid plan if there ever were one). Right, the Pope issued a condemnation. On the other hand, the Pope also “appealed in God’s name for Jerusalem to use moderation“. Meaning the famous “proportional response”, probably.

The game plan followed by Hamas is clear in the short term. To distract attention of the Gazan street from the internal strife and to focus it on the common target - this works most of the time, especially when the inevitable civilian victims will start coming to the emergency rooms. And even if they don’t: what is the difference between a dead civilian and a dead terrorist, aside of the gun and the ammo belt?

The long term goal of the current round of violence is something that is more difficult to see. Hamas may make a serious mistake, not taking into account that our weak leaders are more prone to rash decisions and that IDF may be sent into Gaza. Unlike the leaders, IDF will come prepared, and the consequences of a full-scale invasion of the Gaza strip will be not necessarily beneficial to the Hamas gang, including its “political” figureheads. Unless martyrdom is the ultimate goal of this crowd.

There is no telling what turn the events in the near future will take, but there does not seem to be a bloodless scenario on offer.

And this may be indeed what Hamas is counting on. But meanwhile, the sewage in Gaza flows free, unfettered by the unnecessary pipes…

Cross-posted on SimplyJews.

Update (after having actually listened to the podcast): It’s another really excellent one. We’ve hit our stride. Go listen and enjoy. Tomer made me laugh. A lot. Wicked sense of humor, that boy.

Stolen shamelessly from the SNN podcast site:

Podcast attends Indoctrinate U

Shire Network News is back after a two-week hiatus, raring to go and firing on all cylinders. “Tom Paine” in Melbourne sits in for Brian of London at the anchor desk, due to a family bereavement. Brian should be back next week.

The feature interview this week is with filmmaker Evan Coyne Maloney, whose documentary, “Indoctrinate U” , examines the extent of political bias in American higher education.

We have a commentary from Laurence Simon on the death of Jerry Falwell (he’s not a big fan), Doug Payton tells us which Palestinian mouse is the leader of the gang that slays for you and me, and controversial commentator Tomer Israeli congratulates Serbia and utterly ruins a minutes silence for the Nakba. Splendid.

In Blog News, Senator Hillary Clinton, she of the changing political positions, hairstyles and even accents, appeals to visitors to he website to vote on what her campaign song should be. The temptation proves too overwhelming for Tom.

Senator Fred Thompson takes on Michael Moore. You need to guess at the result? Tom’s brother in New Zealand sums it up.

The Palestinian civil war continues in the Gaza Strip. Meh.

The World Wide Fund for Nature says the planet has five years left to avert climate change catastrophe. Once again, meh.

John Bolton is interviewed about Iraq on the BBC. The results are…as you might expect. They may have the blood hosed off the walls by the end of the weekend, but those carpets are going to have to be replaced entirely.

A Gitmo detainee alleges “mental torture” by evil AkeriKKKan guards due to…er… unscented soap and balls that are not fully inflated. Oh the humanity!

If you enjoy this podcast, why not share it with your friends? Send a link to Shire Network News to anyone you know who might also get a kick out of robustly-expressed free opinion. And e-mail the big bloggers about us, get them to link to us, we’ve been ignored for long enough!

Laurence Simon is currently brandishing his spear and shield on this very topic at his blog…

There’s been an absence of support from conservative/right-wing bloggers and podcasters out there for Shire Network News, with most of them engaging in the usual mutual-admiration society circle-jerk around a certain falling star of a hub site named after bedwear.

It’s time to fight for survival.

Y’all know how much to promote stuff, but I’m ready to flood the zone of IMs, emails, Twitter, Jaiku, Digg, and other networks to get this son of a bitch out there in the open.

And y’all need to be a part of that, or this thing is going to be the best damn podcast nobody’s ever heard, and it’s going to ultimately podfade from lack of support.

We will recruit Reynolds. We will recruit Malkin. We will recruit Hawkins. We will recruit Althouse. We will recruit Graham. We will recruit Moxie. (Howard Dean scream)

We will recruit them all and take the hill with mightiness unseen since the rise of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones!

Survival is at stake. Greatness and glory, or an untimely and unjust demise.

ARE YOU WITH ME, SPARTA?????????????????????

Er…well, quite. So go and do what he says, okay? You don’t want Lair coming after you, trust me. SNN is the premier center-right political podcast in the English speaking world, we’ve been around for two years now, but the big bloggers seem to to realise we exist. Help us change their minds, okay?

From Meryl: Plug this one, people.