Rocket War

The launching of rockets into an enemy's territory as is happening in Israel at this time is not a first for me. I recall when Germany was doing that to England with the V-1 rockets, which had a large payload, and later with the more elusive V-2 rockets. In 1940 the rockets were so worrisome that Londoners were sending their children to other countries for protection. Many came here to the United States, some to Canada and some to Australia. With the V-2 all that could be done was to hunker down and absorb the blow.

The RAF developed a technique against the V-1 of flying next to a rocket, placing one wing of the plane under a wing of the rocket, then lifting slightly and thus knocking the rocket from it's path and into a tailspin to crash into uninhabited areas. The V-2 rocket was designed to fly in a high arc which gave it a vertical descent onto the target. The V-2 was almost impossible to thwart and took many more lives than the V-1. There were rumors of a V-3 being developed and it was impetus for as early an invasion of Holland, Belgium and France as possible.

Back to Israel. Rockets have been shot into Israel for quite a few years and Israeli citizens have taken many a loss from them. The Palestinians have been trying to develop more sophisticated and powerful rockets and Israel has been trying to develop a better defense against them. The most recent rocket attacks have been with large payloads and, to the amazement of all, the Israelis have been able to shoot some out of the sky. This is ground-to-air defense similar to the vaunted Star Wars defense Reagan supported.

A new aspect has just begun in this recent rocket war, Egypt has fired rockets into Israel. This would not have happened if Mubarak was still in power for he honored Egypt's commitment to peace. The Arab Spring movement, supported by Obama, deposed Mubarak and that has destabilized the area. If Egypt continues to fire rockets into Israel will the Israelis invade Egypt to stop those rockets? We are going back to 1940 again.