About the Latest Mid-East War, A Couple of Questions

Is this just just a very expensive, in money and human lives, election campaign?

Barak is sounding tough:

Barak: We'll deepen and widen operation as much as needed

What's an "operation?" OK, that's the translation from the Hebrew מבצע mivtza-campaign/operation, פעילות pi'eelut-activity. The official name is: "מבצע "עופרת יצוקה Operation "Cast Lead" – a phrase taken from a well known Chanukah song which refers to "cast-lead draydels." (article) But seriously, what are the war aims?

Defense Minister Ehud Barak convened a news conference in which he said that the operation has three goals: "to hit Hamas hard, to change the situation radically and to prevent the continuation of rocket fire at Israeli civilians." "The IDF also wishes to inform the Israeli public that it must prepare itself for continued rocket fire by Hamas."

Did you catch that? What in the world does he mean?

At the same time, Israel is sending mixed messages to the Arabs, by letting in supplies and attacking.

Cabinet Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the aid was to let the people of Gaza know that Israel does not consider them its enemy.
"We are sending them a message that the Hamas leadership has turned them into a punching bag for everyone. It is a leadership that has turned schoolyards into rocket-launching pads," Ben-Eliezer told Israel Radio.
Israeli newspapers reported that the gesture was also in response to international pressure on Israel to lessen the impact that an invasion would have on Gaza's civilians.

Why now, davka? After years of Arab terrorist missile attacks? Could the timing have something to do with the upcoming elections? Barak, especially, is under attack by his party, Labor, because of their consistently low showing in the polls.

So far, the one good thing was trying to keep the start a secret to catch the enemy unprepared.