Israel Prisoner Swap

[sterlingice]

Ok, this probably doesn't even really merit it's own thread, but what the heck.

Israeli soldier freed in swap for 1,000 prisoners - Yahoo! News

So, why again would you trade 1 soldier for 1000 prisoners? "Hamas agreed to release Schalit in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, many of them serving life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis. " That seems like you just infused your opposition with the ability to take a lot more soldiers hostage and kill a lot more of your soldiers.

Is there something that I'm missing here?

SI

[stevew]

They will just go and hunt down and murder these 1000 people because Israel tends to play fast and loose with the rules.

[whomario]

There´s been multiple analysts here in Germany who said that for Israel this is basically the first step towards some sort of agressive or diplomatic act against the Iran...

Both parties involved also simply needed a little breathing room, basically it´s good PR for both to distract from the troubles elsewhere (the Hamas is loosing their major stronghold with Syria)

Still, it´s so unusual that there is no way both aren´t having some sort of strategy associated with this.

[britrock88]

One way to think of it is this: Israel requires its young people to serve in the military, so they are willing to go to great lengths to rescue all soldiers in order to maintain confidence in the forced conscription policy.

[SackAttack]

My foreign policy would probably be limp-wristed by JiMGA's standards (as in, I'm a diplomacy-first instead of kill-them-all-and-let-God-sort-it-out type), but I think he'd probably agree with me on this one:

If I got to the point of saying "Okay, we'll release your prisoners in exchange for our soldier back," there would be some seriously draconian riders attached.

Like, "if they ever take up arms against us again, the Mossad will track down and eliminate their entire family, root and branch."

OTOH, I suspect Jon would be in favor of subcutaneous GPS implants so that the Israeli army would know exactly where to go to eliminate entire cells as soon as the prisoners had been repatriated. So even my example might be too effeminate for him.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

OTOH, I suspect Jon would be in favor of subcutaneous GPS implants so that the Israeli army would know exactly where to go to eliminate entire cells as soon as the prisoners had been repatriated. So even my example might be too effeminate for him.

GPS my ass.

Surely there are some scientists somewhere that could come up with a highly potent time-release explosive that's still effective in the bloodstream.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

GPS my ass.

Surely there are some scientists somewhere that could come up with a highly potent time-release explosive that's still effective in the bloodstream.

Weren't the Germans working on something like that in the early 40's?

I get the whole thing about valuing the life of a soldier that was captured, but to release over 1000 prisoners for it? That kinda sets a precedent. What's to keep the same captors from taking another guy hostage tomorrow. Rinse, repeat. I'm more of a "Release him now or we will find and kill you all. If he is harmed, the families of these 1000+ can claim the bodies at the prisons at which they are held."

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

GPS my ass.

Surely there are some scientists somewhere that could come up with a highly potent time-release explosive that's still effective in the bloodstream.

1) That trick works exactly *once*.

2) You better hope you get every last one, because an escalation that provocative means that future kidnapped soldiers probably don't get off as easily as the one you just got back. Or, that more soldiers get kidnapped.

"You want these guys back? Okay. Give us 1,000 prisoners back. We'll sequester them for a period of time we're not going to share with you, and if any funny stuff happens, the other six are getting mailed back to their families a piece at a time."

3) The GPS method allows you to track movements. Which means, yeah, you figure out where meeting places and such are, but you can also track them back to their families, and possibly track unimplanted members back the same way, once you know who they are.

Then, the next time someone gets kidnapped, you round up the family members. Preferably family members of folks still on the outside. "No, we won't release 1,000 prisoners. But if we don't get our man back in 12 hours, we'll hang ten of your male relatives every hour until his freedom is secured. If you harm him, we'll hang them all."

That would put a stop to future kidnappings in a hurry (but might be a little bit on the barbaric side).

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by M GO BLUE!!!

I get the whole thing about valuing the life of a soldier that was captured, but to release over 1000 prisoners for it? That kinda sets a precedent. What's to keep the same captors from taking another guy hostage tomorrow. Rinse, repeat. I'm more of a "Release him now or we will find and kill you all. If he is harmed, the families of these 1000+ can claim the bodies at the prisons at which they are held."

Yeah, this is the part I just don't get. I mean, maybe 10. But 1000 for 1? That just seems to be an extreme showing of weakness from a country and army that never seems to show weakness. That's why I was wondering if there was something more going on that I just didn't get.

SI

[stevew]

Using this ratio, Palestine only needs to kidnap 4000 or so Israeli solders and it can have its own free state.