15 seconds is a long time. Or is it? [UPDATE: With missile attack on Tel Aviv]

That's fucked up.

Posted by Kerry at November 16, 2012 6:13 PM

Here in Jerusalem we have a little bit longer, since we are further away from Gaza. Yesterday when the siren went off, I was making dinner. Hubby was out on a bike ride. I flicked off the oven switch, grabbed a bottle of water, looked for my keys, found them, and ran out of our door and down 1.5 flights to the bomb shelter. When I reached the bottom of the stairs I heard 3 things: the siren had stopped; the muezzin in the nearby Arab village was sounding the evening prayer call; two distinct booms echoed in the distance.

Next time my keys and water bottle will be handy and I'll make it into the shelter before the bombs land. Or maybe the IDF will be allowed to do its job and there won't be a next time.

Posted by LauraS at November 16, 2012 10:21 PM

Rubble-ize Gaza.

Posted by Scott M at November 17, 2012 4:30 AM

I wish the Republican Party was as smart as the IDF. Great work getting this message out. And LauraS and everyone else -- stay safe, make it to the shelter on time!

Posted by Erik from Seattle at November 17, 2012 8:53 AM

I hate to be the pedantic nerd here, but that graphic with the missile stats is wrong. A 198 lb warhead is about 90 kilos, not 915.

And yeah, what LauraS said - this will be a job for the IDF. As long as the Paleos could wage jihad by launching bottle rockets and the odd mortar shell into the empty desert, they were a nuisance and could be tolerated. With their shiny new Fajrs, they are danger and must be stopped.

Posted by SteveS at November 17, 2012 12:19 PM

It's time for the IDF to decimate Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran can do nothing about it. (Their economy is in a shambles and they don't have the bomb yet.) The wild cards are the weak (or totally missing) Obama support and whether Russia or China will get involved. If the U.S. was in strong support of Israel, I doubt they would try to influence the issue. The beginning of the new rocket attacks so near to the election speaks volumes.

I'm sorry to say, in all probability this is just the beginning of a new, more powerful, more frequent terror campaign.

Posted by Jimmy J. at November 17, 2012 1:12 PM

The IDF, with the available counter-battery assets they have, should always have a reasonable (The IDF, with the available counter-battery assets they have, should always have a reasonable (

Drop a 500 pound bomb on it. Even if it is between a mosque, a school, and some apartments.

I fear the Israelis have evolved into a DoD culture; that is a sure recipe for defeat.

Posted by TmjUtah at November 17, 2012 3:47 PM

Sorry about the garbled post.

The IDF will know the origin of a rocket launch down to within 50M using radar; with drones and AWACS contributing they probably have real time visuals of most launches.

The Israelis should not waiting for 9/11.

They are now truly alone, after our election of Santa Claus.

Posted by TmjUtah at November 17, 2012 4:55 PM

Why don't they just carpet bomb the whole region and be done with it? Those asslifters and bomb-tossers will never learn. But, I sadly think the Israeli's have become too politically correct and more like a bunch of wussies to really accomplish anything! The strong leaders they had are no more!

Posted by Travelingman26 at November 17, 2012 9:53 PM

Isarel is really messed up. Whatever's happening to the world.. Tsk..

Posted by Alexis Marlons at November 18, 2012 1:01 AM

198 lbs is not 915 kg. Was it supposed to be 1980 lbs?

Posted by BlogDog at November 18, 2012 7:43 AM

Amazingly, it takes the US Army ten only seconds from the lauch of a mortar to identify the coordinates and land ordinace on it in protected urban areas, but the distances and times are longer with missle lauches. So there will be no point in the Israelis striking back at the launch point, because the lauch point will be gone. The only reason launches are made next to mosques or schools is in hope that they will be hit by the counterstirke.

Posted by james wilson at November 18, 2012 8:32 AM