#366 — Urban Warfare 2.0

Sam Harris speaks with John Spencer about the reality of urban
warfare and Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza. They discuss the
nature of the Hamas attacks on October 7th, what was most
surprising about the Hamas videos, the difficulty in
distinguishing Hamas from the rest of the population, combatants
as a reflection of a society's values, how many people have been
killed in Gaza, the proportion of combatants and noncombatants,
the double standards to which the IDF is held, the worst
criticism that can be made of Israel and the IDF, intentions vs
results, what is unique about the war in Gaza, Hamas's use of
human shields, what it would mean to defeat Hamas, what the IDF
has accomplished so far, the destruction of the Gaza tunnel
system, the details of underground warfare, the rescue of
hostages, how noncombatants become combatants, how difficult it
is to interpret videos of combat, what victory would look like,
the likely aftermath of the war, war with Hezbollah, Iran's
attack on Israel, what to do about Iran, and other topics.


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