John Lott's Website: Israel's question: How to stop $500 rockets?

7/30/2006

Israel's question: How to stop $500 rockets?

Even before fighting escalated this month between the Jewish state and Hezbollah , US contractors had been working to supply Israel with countermeasures against the kind of crude but deadly rockets that the Islamist militia has rained down on the north of the country. Ideas include low-cost interceptor missiles from Raytheon Co. , and a laser system from Northrop Grumman Corp. that the US Army has mothballed for lack of development funds.

The efforts reflect some limitations of the Israeli military, despite having Raytheon's Patriot missile in its arsenal. The Patriot, which can cost around $1 million apiece, is hardly a cost-effective way to knock down the $500 to $2,000 Katyusha rockets that Iran has been supplying to Hezbollah, said John E. Pike , director of GlobalSecurity.org, a defense research group in Alexandria, Va. . . . .

4 Comments:

Guav said...: I think it's worth noting that the katyushas which have been "rainging down" upon Israel are being launched as a response to Israel's bombing of Lebanon, and are not all that deadly in practice—Hezbollah has launched thousands of them by now, and killed only about 2 dozen people.

Israel killed more children than that today with one bomb.; 7/30/2006 9:24 PM
Anonymous said...: There's always an Islamo-fascist apologist around when you need one ;-)

Recursing into the 'justifications' for 'responses' is a fraudulent waste of time...trying looking at the actual *intent* of each party involved.

There will always be a need for a 'solution' to the Israeli 'situation' as far as Hezbollah are concerned. They will constantly find fault with every proposal. They will constantly betray every agreed resolution, and defraud their implementation. They will continue to fire missiles at Jewish civilians, then scream with outrage at the collateral damage *they themselves* invite into the Lebanese people. Hezbollah are solely responsible for every 'innocent' man, woman & child killed by the IDF.

Israel is going to extraordinary lengths to minimize civilian casualties, despite the sickening disregard Hezbollah has for the well-being of their own people.

Claiming katyushas are "not all that deadly" is the icing on your brain-dead cake...would you like to juggle a couple of them? Let your kids play near them? 100lbs of explosive is most definitely a *deadly* weapon...and they are being cheaply mass-produced and lobbed with gleeful abandon at innocent Jewish men, women & children.

I look forward to the day when the world realizes that these Islamic psychopaths occupy an untenable position in relation to the rest of the civilized world...and that if they cannot or will not evolve, then they must be exterminated for futures' sake.; 7/31/2006 1:45 PM
M. G. Schalz said...: Insofar as 'katyusha' rockets have been raining down upon the Zionists, I must point out the tactics of terrorist groups have not changed at all...

Hezbollah, as they are known, have employed many tactics which the mainstream media, as we know it, have for so long ignored.

To wit: Hiding behind innocents. Manipulating the media (especially in recent decades), and taking advantage of 'Instant News'.

That, Dear guav, is what you have seen, and heard. That, in and of itself, is not the truth, but what has been presented to you, for their benefit.

I must assume that Josef Goebbels, wherever he is, must feel vindicated in his actions.

Hezbollah cannot stand against the IDF in a real battle, so they must resort to tactics which benefit them.; 7/31/2006 6:09 PM
saturdaynightspecial said...: All is fair in love and war.

Israel and any other entity has a right to defend itself; Arab patriots have a right to defend their values. In a power struggle the powerful win. War is the final arbiter.

We should mind our own business - but a famous fool refuses (Bush.)

We supply Israel with weapons and financial aid; now we spend taxdollars on aid to Lebonese refugees. The American taxpayer funds most of this insanity because it's low IQ leader (dictator) Bush can't resist meddling as if he knows and Israel or Arab patriots don't. He wages a brutal and futile war in Iraq against terror (arab patriots) but cannot avoid inserting his two cents worth in Israel by telling them to cease-fire ! What's the difference between Iraq and Lebanon? Should he stop in Iraq if he insist the Israelis stop in Lebanon - thousands of Iraqi children are dying in Iraq.; 8/02/2006 5:31 AM