Exploding Pagers - Lebanon

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Hezbollah started using pagers after one of their leaders was killed in a similar way, by the Israelis planting explosives in his mobile phone.
Whatever your views it was certainly ingenious.
Smart phones are easily tracked so they can target a vehicle or building.

Pagers don't give away their location.
 
Added benefit of this action is that they will have identified a large number of Hezbollah members they might not have known about.

No doubt there will be agents gathering data in the hospitals.

You have to admire the planning and execution of this. 007 and Mission Impossible in real life.

I imagine there's a huge number of pagers being dismantled by nervous terrorists across the Middle East at the moment.
If 'they' are clever enough to get the explosive in there, they will sure as hell have engineered an anti-tamper device!
 
Geez, all the ***** footing around discussing a UK government defined terrorist group. What is all the ‘without taking sides’? To me it’s like saying your not taking sides discussing a convicted child molester, or the Nazis, there is only one morale stand point.
 
Are you watching 'The Night Express' on BBC 1? A sleeper train has been hijacked remotely, very good writing with a novel plot.
I have to disagree with your "review" I'm afraid. I thought that it was a badly acted, badly scripted impossible scenario (2 railway tracks crossing at ninety degrees at the same elevation?!)
 
Geez, all the ***** cat footing around discussing a UK government defined terrorist group. What is all the ‘without taking sides’? To me it’s like saying your not taking sides discussing a convicted child molester, or the Nazis, there is only one morale stand point.
No there ain't, or we wouldn't be in this mess.
 
Geez, all the ***** cat footing around discussing a UK government defined terrorist group. What is all the ‘without taking sides’? To me it’s like saying your not taking sides discussing a convicted child molester, or the Nazis, there is only one morale stand point.
That's not the issue being discussed. And if it is discussed, it'd probably turn nasty. Best leave well alone.
 
I have to disagree with your "review" I'm afraid. I thought that it was a badly acted, badly scripted impossible scenario (2 railway tracks crossing at ninety degrees at the same elevation?!)

Newark Crossing on the East Coast Main Line (the Nottingham to Lincoln line is the other route), just north of Newark North Gate station, for example?
 
I have to disagree with your "review" I'm afraid. I thought that it was a badly acted, badly scripted impossible scenario (2 railway tracks crossing at ninety degrees at the same elevation?!)

Snap.
I said exactly the same to my wife.
Very wooden acting.
I happened to catch part of part 2 the following night, and got the impression that the director was giving the actors instructions, like "Look surprised!" - all very forced, similar to the inane expressions on the two blokes who "do" Master Chef...
 
I never did see the point of pagers which were apparently developed in the 50’s/60’s but didn’t become widely available until the 80’s as mobile phones also became accessible around that time too and had full two way communication. It seems they do have a few unique attributes not enjoyed by our phones which seem to lend them to being eminently suitable to nefarious types engaged in dodgy activities:
A) pagers are less affected by obstacles making them more reliable in remote locations or where mobile signals are weak.
B) As they only receive messages and don’t send them , it’s not possible to track them as they can’t send their location although as they use radio waves they do have an electronic footprint but it’s much smaller than that of a modern mobile phone and therefore also leaves them less vulnerable to hacking or surveillance.
At least , that’s what the interweb tells me. Personally they always struck me as a bit reminiscent of this:
 
What I failed to understand right from the start is why none of the "brains and egos the size of planets" folk didn't try the obvious - turn the power off.

Even if the main switches had been tampered with, it would have taken little to find a way to physically disrupt wires and gantry - small explosive charge, or a large truck/JCB + chain or rope.

Stopped watching after E2 - although wife has watched through to the end - a sort of shaggy dog story with the ending at the directors discretion.
 
They have certainly come up with some very clever stuff in the past to eliminate their enemies.
.......and failed utterly in spite of the deaths. They are effectively running a recruiting campaign for Palestinian resistance movements and edging the world towards major war in the middle east
 
Snap.
I said exactly the same to my wife.
Very wooden acting.
I happened to catch part of part 2 the following night, and got the impression that the director was giving the actors instructions, like "Look surprised!" - all very forced, similar to the inane expressions on the two blokes who "do" Master Chef...
You'll notice I didn't endorse the quality of the acting, it's the premise and the possibilities that interest me....and see my response to Duner's 'impossible scenario'. Given time and sufficient interest I could cite more, perhaps not at exactly 90 degrees but adjacent enough to give credence to the scene and certainly 'underpant threatening'!
 
I never did see the point of pagers which were apparently developed in the 50’s/60’s but didn’t become widely available until the 80’s as mobile phones also became accessible around that time too and had full two way communication. It seems they do have a few unique attributes not enjoyed by our phones which seem to lend them to being eminently suitable to nefarious types engaged in dodgy activities:
A) pagers are less affected by obstacles making them more reliable in remote locations or where mobile signals are weak.
B) As they only receive messages and don’t send them , it’s not possible to track them as they can’t send their location although as they use radio waves they do have an electronic footprint but it’s much smaller than that of a modern mobile phone and therefore also leaves them less vulnerable to hacking or surveillance.
I used to work for a company that made paging systems. Not the actual pagers, but the systems that sent the messages to the pagers. Pagers did have other advantages:
  • Cheaper. At one time mobile phones were prohibitively expensive for most people, and the necessary infrastructure was cheaper for service providers.
  • Early availability. Mobile phones were not really available/affordable until a bit later than pagers. For example, I worked for BT in the mid/late 80s and was on call a lot of the time. BT permanently issued me with a pager but only rarely & temporarily with a mobile phone. If mobile phones weren't possible for BT, how many other companies could use them?
  • Text-based. (Initially numeric only). Mobile phones did not have text messages until the 1990s.
  • Cultural factors. For example, pagers were popular in the Middle East long after Europe had moved to mobile phones because it was (still is for all I know) considered impolite to interrupt people with a phone call. The polite approach was to page the other person, asking them to contact you.
  • Safety/acceptability. Pagers were sometimes allowed in places that mobile phones were not. For example, around flammable/explosive materials or in hospitals because of sensitive medical equipment. Whether that was ever justified I couldn't say.
  • Portability. Early mobile phones were much larger and heavier than modern models. A pager was like carrying a pack of cigarettes while a phone was like carrying a bag of sugar. There is a reason why early mobile phones were often sold as car phones.
  • Features. For example, pagers offered a way to send the same message to large groups of recipients when this was not easy, or even possible, with mobile phones.
  • Not regarded as a perk. This is a minor one, but some companies were prepared to issue employees with a pager but not with a mobile phone.
 
.......and failed utterly in spite of the deaths. They are effectively running a recruiting campaign for Palestinian resistance movements and edging the world towards major war in the middle east
I doubt it will lead to an all out war.
Most of Israel's immediate neighbours are unlikely to go to war with them. Iran might, but not on their own. Putin probably has enough on his plate already without getting involved in support for Iran in such a venture.
Hezbollah and Hamas are essentially militias, they can fire rockets and engage in attacks on a limited scale but not much more, and the former are in chaos now as a result of these operations. It will no doubt take them some time to recover.
If you look at it from a purely Israeli perspective they may well have scuppered any meaningful escalation in the immediate future by taking down many of the would be participants.
Of course Hezbollah will retaliate, how exactly remains to be seen, but I suspect any retaliation will be more for the sake of saving face and will do little, if any, serious damage to Israel.
The only certainty is that the killing will continue until someone can come up with a solution to the whole sorry mess.
 
Hezbollah are supported by Iran because they are Sunnis. They have access to better weapons.

Hamas are Shias. They have a common enemy in Israel but otherwise they'd probably be fighting against each other, like Iraq and Iran did.
 
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