Did Hamas Win?

This is what I wrote about Hamas, and the way it capitalized on Ariel Sharon’s unilateral withdrawal: “Hamas won the round, and then won the election, and then won the coup, and then, in a way, won the most recent war against Israel, and certainly the public relations war, which is the sort of war that really matters in the Middle East, and which Israel almost never fails to lose.”

So Andrew is right, in part, but, in thinking about this, I realized that I neglected one consideration, a natural thing to neglect, given that I don’t live in Israel: Since the Gaza operation, the rockets have pretty-much stopped flying. This is a temporary lull, I have to assume, but it is vitally important — and a sign of at least a temporary victory — if you’re an Israeli civilian living within Gaza rocket range. Deterrence is not an entirely-defunct doctrine.

Read the whole thing at Jeffrey Goldberg’s place at the Atlantic.