Comment by whacko_quacko

Comment by whacko_quacko 10 months ago

15 replies

View on Hacker News

Why would you use 80s technology that allows you to circumvent Israeli tracking, and get that from Hezbollah if you're not in cahoots with them? People in Lebanon can afford smart phones.

With the people next to the blast radius you have a point, but when targeting guerilla fighters that blend in with civillian populace it's hard to not inadvertantly target innocents too. But a small explosive device that is used by enemy soldiers and kept close to their bodies is the best way to avoid innocent casualties.

Also, Hezbollah hiding between innocents doesn't mean Israel shouldn't defend themselves. If you hide behind civillians you're the one to blame for casualties, not the party that defends against you

easyThrowaway 10 months ago

I guess you've never been in most of middle east. Pagers, shortwave radios and "80s technology" are still widely deployed among the general population.

Reply View 1 reply
  • pvaldes 10 months ago

    Hospitals at least use it extensively still in Europe.

    Reply View 0 replies
34679 10 months ago

The NSA fights terrorism. Terrorists use encryption to evade the NSA. That does not mean that everyone who uses encryption is a terrorist.

Reply View 12 replies
  • dlubarov 10 months ago

    This isn't about pagers generally, this is about a particular batch of 5,000 pagers ordered by Hezbollah. They weren't distributed to random Lebanese citizens.

    Reply View 11 replies
    • 34679 10 months ago

      Where is your evidence for your claim? Doctors and children are among the dead.

      Reply View 10 replies
      • dragonwriter 10 months ago

        Hezbollah employs doctors (heck, it runs hospitals) and Hezbollah personnel (in any of the political, armed, or social services parts of the organization) presumably fairly often live in households with children.

        "Doctors and children are among the dead" isn't inconsistent with "this came from an order of devices specifically for Hezbollah" (it does cast doubt on "this was a precisely-targeted attack on Hezbollah combatants", but that's a very different claim.)

        Reply View 0 replies