Hamas

Israel’s Revenge

by Dave

Netanyahu said it best, as this is Israel’s 9/11. I hope they handle it better. George Bush was right in many ways. We had to harden our defenses at home. And we had to go after terrorism abroad. These were right responses. But the nearly 20 years (2001 to 2021) of fighting the Taliban yielded little. We did not want Afghanistan to be a haven for terrorism. Noble causes sometimes do not end like we want.

We really have to detach emotions, and the desire for easy solutions to get an appropriate response. We are a nation of enormous power, when we chose correctly. But, when we act high and mighty to the rest of the world, and join with Israel in their brutal revenge, we lose our own integrity and independence.

Josh Paul is a State Department official who resigned yesterday over our military response to the attack by Hamas. He had served in the State Department for 11 years. As reported in CNN today:

“Let me be clear,” Paul wrote. “Hamas’ attack on Israel was not just a monstrosity; it was a monstrosity of monstrosities. I also believe that potential escalations by Iran-linked groups such as Hezbollah, or by Iran itself, would be a further cynical exploitation of the existing tragedy. But I believe to the core of my soul that the response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response, and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people – and is not in the long term American interest.”

Paul goes on:

Decades of the same approach have shown that security for peace leads to neither security, nor to peace. The fact is, blind support for one side is destructive in the long term to the interests of the people on both sides.

Link: State Department official resigns over Biden administration’s handling of Israel-Hamas conflict

Stay tuned,

Dave

Iran again

by Dave

Ok.  It’s almost like the Geico commercials.  Perhaps 99% of everyone has heard about enough.

But, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameni  made a speech yesterday,  about Israel not being around in another 25 years.    Lousy timing. “With Allah’s help, there will be no such thing as as a Zionist regime in 25 years,”  is what Khamenei said.   And the US is still the “Great Satan.”

The guy is 76 years old.   For sure, he’s not going to be around in another 25 years.   His hard line rhetoric  is contrasted with the President Rouhani and very importantly Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.  His title as “Supreme Leader” is a farce.  He  is all bark and no bite.  He is the spiritual leader of the past, not the real leader.

Next point- a lot of false statements were made by Republicans  about how Iran sponsored terrorism around the world.   But many of the speeches by House Republicans were ridiculous, because radical Islamic groups have thrived while the assets of Iran have been frozen and their economy is in dire straits.  This is a fact.

Where does most of the money for terrorism come from?   Experts will point first to Saudi Arabia, particularly in their aid to Hamas.  The worse group of terrorists in the world,   ISIL,  has many sources of income, ranging from the sale of artifacts and oil,  goods they acquire from looting of shops,  to selling of kidnapped foreigners, and private contributions.   Iran has supported the government of Syria and Hezbollah,  which are fighting both  ISIL and Al-Nusra (El Qaeda affiliated organization).

Bottom, bottom line- the sanctions were put in place because Iran was not complying with the nuclear non-proliferation agreement.   Lifting the Iranian sanctions  will  not help  ISIL  because Iran’s money is  going to organizations which are fighting  against ISIL.     The US is likely to put more troops in Iraq but has only limited options in Syria, if we don’t want to make things worse.

We can not economically wrestle countries to the floor and make them do what we want.  Sorry Dick Cheney, it doesn’t work.

Yes, the Iran deal will go through.  It is likely to strengthen the  moderates, who now run the country.   Forget the barking dog, please.  Time to move on.

Stay tuned,

David Lord