Hamas: Gaza war rockets aimed at Israeli soldiers, not civilians

Your honor ,we found these rockets embedded in our rooftops ,lounges ,kindergartens and knew not whence they came from so we sent them Gaza way we are awfully sorry but s-t happens .

Hamid Karzai ,democratically elected,Ahmadinejad ,also elected the same way ,Hamas also elected the same way ,so what news networks does a Paddy watch ,Al-Jazeera ,or Al-Manara or maybe the IRA one ,it figures ?

Maybe it was the Islamic version of July the 4th or Guy Fawkes,one never knows with the fascists?

The twisted demented Islamic logic shows clearly that they do operate from amongst the civilian populations of their own brethren ,Al-Qaeda ,Tali ban ,demented female suicide bombers so why the suprise that they targeted Jewish/Israel civilians ?

Dumb logic as the Iranian satellite with it,s worms and rats and a turtle might land on Mars or the moon for that matter.

Most Israelis stayed in bomb shelters off and on for six or seven years, NOT three weeks. The UN, like the BBC, wants to separate these three weeks of Israeli's response from the years of attacks that brought about this response. Which other UN member state with the ability to defend itself would have shown restraint for years while rockets rained down on its civilian population? How many rockets did Cuba fire into America before Kennedy threatened to start WW III ? [The answer is zero]

From what I recall Hamas missiles hit two nursery schools and two secondary schools. Is this based on the Hamas view that all Jews theoretically eventually serve in the IDF and are therefore counted as a military targets? Of the 1,300 Gazans who died Israel claims 900 were Hamas militants, but as Hamas are terrorists they are all theoretically also civilians. The goalposts have moved, but the rules haven't kept up.

They consider all non-Muslims (as well as Ahmadiyas, Shias, and less-Naziesque Sunnis) as combatants, never as civilians!

Ok, now we can move on. They both agree that neither committed any war crimes.

OR, MAKE THIS LIE INTO A COMEDY.

tool of human rights abusers who ignore Hamas activity. The UN GA is a rubber stamp for Arab wishes so it will not be easy and maybe no amount of investigation will satisfy them. The question is should Moslem states be allowed to dictate to the world via the UN?

Do you want to be like these ridiculous Hamas liars, or would you rather take a long, honest look at allegations about IDF actions during Cast Lead? You get to choose.

Was it just Hamas/Israel who did (or didn't) target civilians? Was it each Palestinian/Israeli citizen? If not all, then what percentage of the enemy engaged in "legal" warfare? Is it possible to isolate those, among the enemy, who broke the "rules" of war? Can/should those individuals be prosecuted? Which of these is the "one important question"?

How come no posting on this one?

Hot of the press from the Human Rights Watch: "Hamas' claim that rockets were intended to hit Israeli military targets and only accidentally harmed civilians is belied by the facts," the New York based group said. "Civilians were the target; deliberately targeting civilians is a war crime." No sane person would argue with that conclusion. As no sane person would agree with the position of the jew State that it is guilt free of committing war crimes. To The Hague with both if independent impartial investigations are not launched soon.

Paul Freedman:"Look, if Hamas knew they no guidance systems and fired rockets anyways, then they knowingly were firing on civilians." Then the question should also be asked why so many Gaza civilians were killed by Israel's precision weapons during Cast Lead.

Who believes this, when all evidence is to the contrary? I'm a goy who has been to Israel many times. I have been to where the rockets fell during this conflict. I saw only civilian istallations where these Gaza launched WMDs landed. At the time of these rocket launches from Gaza my son was a student at Ben-Gurion University in Be'er Sheva. Eventually he had the flee the university campus after it repeatedly received incoming rockets from the Gaza Strip. Not too, too many Israeli soldiers were at BGU at the time- mostly students, mostly Israeli citizens, not soldiers, with a large contingent of foreign national civilian students as well. Give me a break! This is like an old saying "I shot a rocket in the air, and where it landed I know not where!". Baloney.

What do you mean? Israel didn't respond?

no one can say they haven't learned from the best. "but because they[qassams] are unguided, they hit civilians by mistake"-hamas they actually managed to go one better than their mentor with THAT little addition.

by them? The definition of occupation which involves excersize of government functions as performed by Hamas? or You?

People like you are beyond understanding, what kind of mentality does it require to make reference to "international law" when Israel has shown complete contempt for such laws? Also, reference your previous "contribution". Hamas is not a de facto government, they are the democratically elected, legal government of Palestine. And as such has the legal right to drive occupiers from it's lands. As for your claim that Israel is a "member state of the UN". If you check the "terms and conditions" of Israels inclusion, you will find that Israel has NOT fulfilled it's obligations, therefore Israel is only a "de facto" member of the UN. How do you spell "CHUTZPAH"?

Vga: "Mary Hughes, I cant aim at soldiers so I murder civilians" But, of course, that is the exact opposite of what Hamas are claiming i.e. Hamas are claiming "I'm always taking aim at the soldiers, but the damn rockets just keep going every which-way". As claims go it lacks all credibility, sure, but at least it isn't self-incriminating. Vga: "Try this answer in front of a judge lady." That argument would be a hopeless brief, which is exactly why Hamas are not offering it. Only you are doing that, Vga...

... Hamas and Israel are just about quits... ... but in the final analysis, we are so excessively better equipped to inflict harm, that this tit-for-tat is ridiculous...

... Israelis! Even Allah who allows lying to infidels is embarrassed over this ludicrous Hamas concoction scraped from the bottom of their buffoon barrel!

Mark, you are contradicting Hamas. If Hamas hit Sderot 100 perceont of the time it would be hitting a civilian target 100 percent of the time. Artillery has an accuracy of greater than 50 percent plus or minus 50 meters surrounding a military target. If Hamas had hit Sderot 100 percent of the time it would be hitting a civilian population 100 percent of the time. Your posts are not making any point.

L: "I`d like to have the specifics. What IS permitted under this law?" Better to ask what is PROHIBITED. The laws against a bombardment of a civilian location are these: Hague Regs IV, Article 25: "The attack or bombardment, by whatever means, of towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings which are undefended is prohibited." Additional Protocol 1 to the Geneva Conventions, Article 59 (1): "It is prohibited for the Parties to the conflict to attack, by any means whatsoever, non-defended localities." Those two laws naturally hinge upon the definition of "undefended". In addition, you are required to avoid shooting at civilians (the "principle of distinction"). You can't attack if you expect the INCIDENTAL civilian deaths to outweigh the ANTICIPATED military advantage (the "principle of proportionality"). And, of course, you can't attack anything with a "prohibited weapon".

YIP, the UN will find it an honest and credible account of 'the facts'. Hamas would never do anything to harm innocent people.

This is a sorry attempt to take the blame away. The towns hit for eight years by Hamas were military towns? Really, where were all the soldiers? Stupid, really stupid. And if they think that is believable or believed- think again. They are dumber than I thought.

Actually, on a second thought, I am not that surprised with their response. It doesn`t bother them that the only aim of Hamas was intentional murder of kids.

Try this answer in front of a judge lady.

the later you can be outrun and bombed in battle, no questions asked. The former tends to procreate... where is that "freeze" of our president off hamaz and his leftie friends?

CJK: "under no circumstances can a group or de facto government fire missiles into the sovereign territory of a member state of the united nations." They certainly can, Cipora, under the doctrine of "self-defense", and there can be no question that: a) the IDF is besieging the Gaza Strip. b) the state of Israel has declared Gaza to be "a hostile entity". You are claiming that Israel's membership of the UN give it carte blanche to act in that manner *and* be safe from any retaliation from the forces inside Gaza. You are wrong; Israel blockade of Gaza is itself a violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, and with that goes its claim to be acting under the "self-defense" provision of Article 51.

You can be hiding in the USA,but you are not an American,you are a 'pa;' brownoser.First,the Israelis are not accupying the gaza strip.They had to isolate it because of the hamas terrorists.Second,when one lobbies rockets and mortars against A CIVILIZAN CITY LIKE SDEROT,ONE HAS TO PAY FOR THE CONSEQUENCES...Third,If the civilian population of the strip wants to avoid being hit,THEY SHOULD NOT SHELTER THE TERRORISTS AND SHOULD NOT ALLOW THEIR CHILDREN TO BE INDOCTRINATED.Fourth,nice try abdullah...

CJK: "guidance or no guidance makes no difference hamas has no right under international law to fire missiles into sovereign israeli territory." Untrue. Hamas certainly *do* have a right under international law to fight the armed forces of a sovereign state that is besieging it. Israel declared that Gaza was a "hostile entity", and that means that ISRAEL is insisting that there is "a state of belligerency" between that entity and Israel. So sorry, but that means that Hamas does have a right to keep shooting until there is a ceasefire AGREEMENT between the two of them. You can argue that Hamas don't have a right to fire rockets at a civilian target like Sderot. Sure. But that is a completely different argument to the one that you are making i.e. that Hamas have no right to direct their firepower (such as it is) into the sovereign state of Israel. They do, Cippie.

suicide bombs in markets on the buses, in a discoteque, in resturants in shopping malls in the street, killing in yeshivas, now they want to show that their qassams were not sent to civilians? LIERS! always liers, and i hope that nobody believes this. Hamas is a criminal terrorist organization that always target civilians full stop.

Has anyone ever been to sderot? Natalie? I`ve been there twice. Just a regular working class town. No army bases around, I don`t think I ever saw a soldier there even walking the streets. How do you explain the thousands of rockets that landed there. Oh I know, must be bad aim. That explains it !" Weird how you'd figure that IDF soldiers would be in a place so dangerously close to Gaza yet the IDF are all over the territories. I think maybe there is no presence there for a reason, otherwise why wouldnt the IDF take over such a hazardous place like they do with palestinian property for Military purposes? Sounds like a shame to me putting those people there to be used as targets.

with this childish excuse? I can understand they are not accustomed to bear responsibility for their killings in Gaza and Israel,but definitely they should ask for help some friends in this TB if they don't want to rot in jail.

"If you believe this one I have a bridge to sell to you." How much? :-D

Try Thousands of rockets!!!!!!! I live in Nesher and there isn't any military bases around me and yet the rockets were coming in hot and heavy. Hamas' explanation is just one more of their MANY LIES!!!!!!

hamas has no right under international law to fire missiles into sovereign israeli territory.

SiB: "hamas response to un" But isn't it interesting that they are bothering to respond to the UN? Does al Qeida send a dossier to the UNSC explaining away its actions? Did the Baader-Meinhoff Gang ever attempt to excuse its actions by sending a letter to the Secretary General? SiB: "So if they knew their rockets were unguided and falling among civilians why did they continue to launch them?" Yeah, Seymour, their excuse is nought but a transparent fig leaf. But the important thing is that they felt the need to make any excuse at all, instead of a swift "f**k you all". SiB: "This excuse is supposed to be taken seriously by the civilized world?" No, it isn't. But that they bothered to send an excuse is a message in itself.

so did Hamas investigators go into Israel to question Israeli civilians? probably not. Israel has the same response when civilians are killed. there is more blood on the hands of the IDF than there is on the hands of Hamas.

That the excuse is pathetic is no surprise: every man and his dog knows that Hamas aim these things at civilians. What is surprising is that Hamas felt the need to offer up any excuse at all. How many other "terrorist groups" feel the need to excuse their tactics? After all, denying that you are out to "terrorise" makes the whole "let's terrorise 'em!" tactic rather pointless, doesn't it? Bin Laden, for example, never tried to claim that all the planes were aiming for the Pentagon and those towers just, you know, got in the way of two of 'em. So very odd that Hamas responded in any way OTHER than saying "f**k you and f**k your mother, Ban. We don't have to explain ourselves to the likes of you."

stephen, attending the world economic forum at davos, lets us know that socialism is the new world order. we should not be surprised. obama did not hide that he would have a socialist agenda. those who did not understand were willing to be fooled by rhetoric and sleight of hand.

Hamas are liars outright. I expected nothing from them and got nothing.

Cynical clowns at best...Most of their qassams hit Sderot.No military installations...Quite a few hit the neighborhod of Askelon,where there are no military installations...Some hit school playgrounds,where milk bottle warriors do military training...And this galstone "jurist" and his u.n. gang will accept the hamas garbage

hamas did and declared that it targeted and fired thousands of missiles and mortars into the civilian centers in the state of israel. under no circumstances can a group or de facto government fire missiles into the sovereign territory of a member state of the united nations.

First off, how can a people occupied be charged for war crimes for resisting an illegal occupation and blockade? Secondly, Israel should treat the rocketeers as criminals, instead of collective punishment on the entire people of Gaza. Thirdly, Israel's argument for Cast Lead is just absurd and all around illegal.

was aimed at targets. There is an acceptable degree of innacuracy with artillery,it was used to return fire.It is NOT Israels fault if the fire comes from or right next to a school or appartment block. Random Hamas type fire from Israel,in the battle ground Hamas chose,would have caused many times more deaths than occured during the incursion. How do you explain that away? For "innacurate" missiles Hamas got plenty of direct hits into Sderot etc over the yearsThat Hamas did not kill more Israelis was strictly good luck and bomb shelters.They could have killed many thousands. Did the UN HRC lift a finger? It does not stop fellow travellers comparing casualties and crying over reaction

So if they knew their rockets were unguided and falling among civilians why did they continue to launch them? This excuse is supposed to be taken seriously by the civilized world?

We dont need a terror state. No thank you.

Did the IDF claim that they hit unintended targets or that the illegal placement of Hamas military installations within civilian populations resulted in the destruction of Cast Lead? Some posters erroneously claim that the IDF blame inaccurate weapon systems for the collateral damage. That simply isn't the case. Hamas fighters used civilian buildings as launching pads for their rockets. Their rockets, intended for or not, killed Israeli civilians and destroyed civilian property for 8 years. Goldstone and Cast Lead opponents concluded that intent had nothing to do with the results. So their statement in this case is inconsequential. Defenders of Hamas should also be reminded of their "Democratically elected" government's bomb making factories within the very same structures that families call homes - and of the damage caused by amateurs playing in a expert's world...

I'd like to have the specifics. What IS permitted under this law?. It seems to me that in not being specific this law can be interpreted arbitrarily, which makes it useless. Besides, is therte an enforcing arm on the law brakers or is that also arbitrary? Even god's law that say's thou shalt not kill is being subverted because HE is not enforcing it, He never did, did HE? What independent body, for instance, would determines if Hamas actually aimed their rockets at anyplace other than civilians?

this would all be great fun, except that a lot of kids have been killed. Other than that, well done Hamas. You are learning well.

"This is a joke right?" - ben I wish it was ben. I wish the IDF were joking about its abysmally bad accuracy as well I think that Islamic Jihad and Hamas rocketeers did as best as could be expected given their weapons. Which is to say almost half of the time they hit their target Sderot. The IDF, with several magnitude better weapons also insists that they didn't target what - and whom - they did. That is also a joke. I cannot take an oh so Moral attitude on this. My nation used to burn one Japanese city a night. We dumped 3.5 times as many bombs on Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos than we did on the Axis. We damn near expunged every town in North Korea. It is easy to kill civilians, and I have no respect for those who do so and call it a 'great victory.' It is an incredibly bad joke ben.

"Remarkable similarity of reasons and excuses from both the IDF and Hamas. Both claim they can`t hit what they aim at and that they didn`t mean to hit what they hit." - Mark of Lewiston Isn't it? Amazing, we are not to think that both sides in Cast Lead were totally incompetent. Their leaders might have been, but I think the soldiers on both sides did what was ordered and did it to their best ability. The Qassam is a feeble weapon with abysmal accuracy. Yet the evidence suggests that when the fire is directed at Sderot, despite the abysmal Circular Error Probable of the weapon, almost 50% of the rounds can hit the city they were aimed at. It is too bad if one of the world's finest armed forces with excellent weapons and good training manages to hit the wrong target most of the time. . . "Neither Hamas nor the IDF wants to face their own public`s inquiry openly." - Mark of Lewiston And would you if you were in their place?

The sad thing about this ridiculous claim is not the claim itself.. its the idiots who give it any credence or equate it to Pal casualties caused by Hamas hiding their cowardly selves in civilian areas and behind civilians..

Their intent is still to kill = murder = SIN. Whether soldiers or civilians... people are people ! Killing IS killing ! EVIL IS EVIL !

Remember the UN HRC did not even want to investgate them and the UN GA still does not want to look outside the Gaza incursion period,letting Hamas off the hook completely for the thousands of missiles fired leading to the incursion. So what 'movement" are we you talking about? PS The Israeli enquiry is not over.

What trash from hamas, who have said previously that everyone in Israel are military targets because of compulsory military service. In any event, they have admitted to being guilty of war crimes because they were indifferent about the accuracy of their missiles. Perhaps Hamas could also inform the world of the miliatry targets in Sderot. And the world expects these thugs to get a state - laughable if it weren't so damn sick.

knowing full well there will be return fire and civillians will be endangered.

You have to hand it to Hamas. They do provide some comical relief from time to time.

Israel children and civilians in a city and for 8 years Israel showed restraint and shouldn't have.Hamas is a terror group committed to the destruction of Israel and to the destruction of the wider global influence of the US and western culture. They hate freedom and in their mosques and schools in Gaza they teach hate and are a cult of death. they care nothing about human life and do not distinguish between"infidel" being soldiers or innocents.As a matter of fact they love killing innocents and this is what radical political islam thrives on. they fool the naieve west for so long but soon people will wake up and political correctness will stop and extremism will be destroyed.Can't wait for the day when the people no longer worship Hamas and their cult of death

I mean really, I guess that just because they were being aimed at Israeli cities in time for the morning commute and school drop off's and pick up's that HAMAS really only intended to kill IDF soldiers, and not civilians. I guess that the suicide bombing campaign that targeted busses, pizzarias, and shopping malls also saw some targets of 'military strategic value' too. On to the next Pallywood excuse.

Both sidesw should forgive each other and set all prisoners free. A mild sanction for the aggressiv forces.

and i suppose the Un will nod their heads and say good boys Hamas, we forgive you for your mistakes. what lies, what rubbish, but they will be excused because no one expects any more from them

IDF - you are very very silly. Buying all these precision weapons - bad use of public funds. Hamas has the right idea - Imprecise weapons. how much more of an impact would it be simply unleashing on Gaza rockets with Random trajectory - I reckon it will be a quick way to get hamas voters to vote them down. And you can do it on the chip - no smart GPS, guided lasers, etc - just use Microsoft Windows Vista - it produces random enough actions by default. And like Hamas you can claim you were targeting military not civilians - and the fact that you keep trying after 1000, 2000, ..10,000 rockets does not show that you are careless with civilians lives (after so much empirical evidence that they seem too always (by magic) fall on civilians areas) -rather that you are persistent following in Edison ways - there is no way to genius other then hard work and experiment and yes, while 10,000 rockets seem an over the top level of experimentations you can't blame someone for trying to improve th

Hamas fired its rockets knowing it may hit civilians. It hasn't shown it knows where military targets are exactly to back the assertion. They could claim it was their intention, though no one can prove that. Israel claims it didn't intend to harm civilians but kept doing so. It's true, Hamas doesn't quite have the capacity to really hit military targets. In my view, Hamas tried to negotiate a cease-fire that broke down in November by throwing rockets. Barak didn't want to negotitate. Hamas miscalculated and Israel launched the war. Israeli civilians paid for it and so did Palestinians. They were pawns in the games of Hamas and the Israeli Government, though most don't realize it. Barak thought long before the cease-fire broke down to attack. It's all farce, and morally Hamas is a joke, too. I don't support them. They still launched suicide bombers in the 90s when so many Palestinians were against them. Still, destroying Hamas is not the answer, they have support.

Look, if Hamas knew they no guidance systems and fired rockets anyways, then they knowingly were firing on civilians. But the defense is ludicrous on its face since they regularly peppered Sderot and Sderot is not a military target and doesn't have any.

Not even worth a response. So pathetic. So sad.

The Israelis can't claim that their the ones targeting Hamas who live in Urban areas when the IDF themselves have been positioned in Settler Villages and Towns that have Arabs and Jews which can easily be targeted by Hamas who could easily accuse Israel of using the Human Shields. But Hamas never went that way. You'll notice that in any war with Hamas or a resistance group the rockets they use on Towns are the "Weaker" kind that are more likely to send Israelis into shock rather than kill them.

but then again, nahhhh, the idf won't be able to handle it, there are only so many tissues in israel.

May we all quickly and mercifully evolve into an adult species before we children all kill ourselves. Unbeliveable!

Those rockets can not be"aimed" that is one of the issues. This response shows that Hamas is no better than the IDF.

Place sanctions on both of them if they refuse to abide by international law.

Lol

whew, I was getting worried there for a second that a terrorist organization, which has in the past sent suicide bombers into Israeli market places and restaurants, may have indeed tried to kill innocent civilians. But now, case closed - Hamas clearly had no intention of hitting civilian targets, because they say so. That's good enough proof for the UN.

The UN SC (or, failing that, the GA) should hand the whole mess over to the ICC and start the process of investigations, indictments and trials. All suspects, Israeli and Gazan, should be included.

Ok fair enough. Hamas you must put on uniforms so Israel can retaliate or will you still hide behind the innocent people. No need to answer, ND and her gang will stick up for you.

Yep, very true. While the soldiers were on the street to the barracks maybe, or during their weekly shopping. What a whole hip of rubbish those people come up with. And following the UN stand so far, they will probably believe them.

I dont know if I should laugh or cry. A terrorist group claiming to not target civilians... YEA RIGHT

it beforehand .

Allowing fundamentalist terrorists to take over Gaza was an atrocious mistake by our weak and corrupt political class. Gaza needs to be reclaimed, and re-settled more extensively than before, so that there is no repeat of this (Israeli!) land being used as a launching platform.

If the UN sends Hams to the Hague then they must do the same to Israel. Se youse at the Hague Livni/Barak/Olmert/et al Israeli war criminals with your Peers--Hamas. Sit back with a bag of popcorn and enjoy the show.

All the missiles as some claim were launched against Israeli towns or in this case against the city of Ashekelon. OK, lets all agree that Ashkelon is not San Diego, that is equal in size or population per capita. Lets just be fair. If Mexico, for instance, launched missiles against an American city, well, lets assume that the US Marines would have occupied Mexico City. Now, my dear talk-backers, would you or your various countries allow such violations of your respective sovereignty...? I doubt so. Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood, the Al Qaeda, the Extreme Islamic Challenge. Those that choose liberty, freedom, hatred or the shackles of womanhood cannot answer this post. It seems that Davos is a disaster. For the word socialism appears in the banking sector. Hello America, the American Dream is but a fantasy. The gracious president, has shown some strange ideas not unlike any other. Carter was a capitalist. Strange...? Yet you voted for him. Good night from snowy Davos.

That Santa Klaus is real, that the Easter Bunny is coming, The Tooth Fairy visited me last night...Toto, I have the feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.....

Has anyone ever been to sderot? Natalie? I've been there twice. Just a regular working class town. No army bases around, I don't think I ever saw a soldier there even walking the streets. How do you explain the thousands of rockets that landed there. Oh I know, must be bad aim. That explains it !

The PA is going to investigate, Hamas is going to investigate. And the IDF investigation has already used up all available whitewash. What are the Pals to do? Is the next major crisis to be the 'Whitewash War?" Trying to sell the idea that Sderot is a legitimate military target is going to take LOTS of Whitewash. There is some hope in a movement joined by all where they are too busy trying to hide what they have done to shoot at each other.

We know the real aim of Hamas, destruction of israel and the genocide of jews. If we are to believe this claim made today, we might as well believe that Islam really is the religion of peace. I think we all know this to be more taqqiya worthy of flushing twice.

Not once did Hamas fire a rocket or mortar at any of the IDF bases in the south where they actually would find soldiers. SO, the "soldiers" they fired at were the kids of Sderot, the shoppers at a mall in Ashkelon, the residents of Beer Sheva. Just more Hamas lies and bulls***.

for Cast Lead.

If you believe this one I have a bridge to sell to you.

What a nice joke. Goes to show what dishonest thugs these guys are.

Since Israel, with all its sophisticated weapons always claims it kills Palestinian civilians by accident, Hamas can't be blamed for using the same excuse, particularly since the US doesn't supply it with the kind of state of the art rockets we give Israel. Good answer

'Most Israelis in rocket range stayed in bomb shelters, avoiding further casualties.' Seeing as the 'biased and unfounded' Goldstone report revealed that those shelters were lacking in most of the non-Jewish communities that were in range, the question becomes, if someone is not-Jewish, and a citizen of Israel, are they considered 'Israelis' or not?

Remarkable similarity of reasons and excuses from both the IDF and Hamas. Both claim they can't hit what they aim at and that they didn't mean to hit what they hit. They must both have the same PR firm. Does Alan Dershowitz get paid twice for inventing the same excuse? Neither Hamas nor the IDF wants to face their own public's inquiry openly.

I would have hoped they could have come up with something more reasonable than that. I suppose they could always argue that what they need is more advanced targeting equipment...