Side-By-Side in Gaza

The latest series of pictures, Scenes from the Gaza Strip (Big Picture), has some pictures of the conflict that have squeezed out of the area, despite the blockade on reporters in the area. Two that stood out in particular for the contrast were these two:

The Hamas rocket lies in the road in which it barely made a dent on impact. The winter ice in upstate New York does more damage to a road than that rocket. Not to make light of a metal tube falling out of the sky, but it’s no wonder these things have killed so few people over the last eight years. You literally have to score a direct hit with a home-made rocket with no control mechanism in order to kill anyone with it. A lot of fireworks sold in Europe pack more firepower than that warhead.

The second picture shows a street in Gaza after an airstrike. When you get hit by an F16-airstrike, you know it. Look at those craters! Trucks destroyed and pretty much everything in the area reduced to rubble, down to a depth of at least ten feet. Now that’s how you make a rocket. Shed a tear of pride for good, old American know-how and military technology.

Technologically, there’s no comparing the two “armies”. Though the Gazans are technically using rockets, it’s no wonder the Israeli media tends to call them “annoying” rather than “dangerous”.