[hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm]

How do we know it is not rigged with an explosive like the Pagers?

Edit: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45763674

"Cohen (former head of Mossad) insisted that the publicly recognized success against Hezbollah was merely one element of a far wider, systematic deployment of sophisticated devices worldwide, although notably abscent in the Gaza Strip."

[ivl]

His claim there did not necessarily imply rigged explosives, but supply chain attacks either for surveillance or assassination purposes.

And his limiting it to "virtually every potential theater" would suggest that it's mostly present in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen, most likely Iraq as well.

But let's be honest here, this isn't civilian equipment that's been compromised. It's supply chain attacks where the buyer is manipulated into buying goods that they've tampered with, or re-engineered. They weren't pagers anyone could pick up at Radio Shack. (Everyone who got hit was a target, or a direct relative of a target.)

[SiempreViernes]

Or just standing next to someone in the line at the supermarket.

Also, lets be clear and admit that if your notion of "target" is "anyone close to a device I sold years ago", you're not the type of person that cares if the balled up paper made it to the trash can: so long as it left your hand you would be satisfied.

[yes_really]

The pager operation has been one of the most targeted ones in history for its size. The ratio of civilian by Hezbollah member casualties was very low compared to other military operations or a war.

[SiempreViernes]

The perpetrators of pager attack had no way at all to know who would be closest to the pagers when they exploded, nor any way to know that the nominal owner of a particular pager were a combatant in the first place.

So the perpetrators did not know they would actually hurt a lawful target, they just hoped it might.

Anyway, stop supporting the genocide dude.

[yes_really]

Oh yeah, just random chance that the Hezbollah combatants would have their military pagers close to them rather than with some random civilian. What an incredible coincidence!

[lorakamina]

Go get some life. I believe Hitler had the same mentality. Reducing casualty. He asked everyone to wear their stars if they had had circumcision and targeted them systematically. He could have bombed them all but decided to be more deliberate. Yes yes, flipping the script is antisemitism. Of course it is.

[hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm]

>And his limiting it to "virtually every potential theater" would suggest that it's mostly present in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen, most likely Iraq as well.

Except we don't know. "virtually every potential theater" is intentionally very vague language that could mean anything.

[lorakamina]

When Roman legions weren’t out killing others, they were in Rome doing a coup. What y’all armies do outside, they also do inside.

[magicalhippo]

Take it with you on an international trip or three. Surely those airport scanners will pick it up.

[hparadiz]

That's actually a great point. Out of the hundreds of pagers that were out in the wild you'd think one of them went through an airport check at some point and got flagged.

[embedding-shape]

Why would it get flagged? Weren't they just slightly modified pagers essentially rigged to overheat, rather than they actually put explosives in them?

Besides, if I was in a terrorist cell, had a pager for communicating, and was taking a vacation flight, I think I might leave that pager behind for a week.

[ivl]

No.

They weren't flagged because they went into Lebanon which has very little import security, and because it was a supply chain attack.

The batteries were swapped for a combination battery / explosive charge. The follow-up attack where Hezbollah moved to using walkie-talkies that were also rigged to explode was the real shocker, though.

[9991]

> Weren't they just slightly modified pagers essentially rigged to overheat, rather than they actually put explosives in them?

No

[hparadiz]

Lol no. They had actual explosives in them. Small but enough to kill and maim.

[ImHereToVote]

You mean the security theater complex?

[magicalhippo]

Yeah, I mean surely that would catch it, right... right?

[foolserrandboy]

We know because we're not shooting rockets at them.

[Panda4]

Today they are targeting people shooting rockets, tomorrow they will target people commenting on these posts, the day after they will target specific group of people.

So you may be safe today, what happens when they don't like your opinion ?

[hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm]

If only things were that simple and they weren't also helping ICE terrorise civilians.