My random thoughts
- I can't believe that the Israeli's didn't expect violence. The people on board have that protester mentality and the belief that they are fighting the good fight. I'm thinking similar make up to those that riot whenever the G8 or something happens. With all these people worked up, having soldiers fast roping in during the middle of the night provided the spark. I do believe at that point, the soldiers had the right to defend themselves otherwise they would be completely overpowered by the mob of people
- Although I haven't seen it here in Canada, modern SWAT teams use a paintball gun as a less than lethal tool. Usually, the balls contains pepper agent and meant to be used in crowd control and submission control. Crunch probably more qualified to speak on this though
- It appears that the soldiers definitely had the element of surprise as reports say the protesters never expected their ship to be stormed while they were still a distance away from Israeli territorial waters. I theorize that they intended to be stopped/challenged in Israeli waters rather than international. Surprise leads to panic leads to violence?
- I agree with many people on this board. Israel can't win no matter what they do
- While people are slamming this action, at least they didn't do what the French did with the Rainbow warrior...
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