Tag: Israel

The Cost of Ideology

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I know a woman who is extremely progressive in her beliefs and because of this orientation she is surrounded by people who agree with her on every single point of the narrative.  So naturally, she and her friends are squarely behind the Zionism = Genocide talking point.  But she has a very old friend who was also on the Left who is also Jewish.  And she was relating to this friend a story about a high school student graduating in America who was a Palestinian refugee and who spoke movingly about her experiences in living in and then leaving Israel and the Palestinian areas.  What she told me was that her friend became extremely angry by any attempt to portray Palestinians as victims and Israelis as aggressors.  She asked me if this attitude makes sense and whether she could somehow bring her friend around to her way of thinking.

I was adamant that her friend would never change her point of view about who were the aggressors and who were the victims in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.  I said that to this woman the Israelis were more than countrymen, they were tantamount to family.  And then I went further and said I thought it was very likely that her opposing opinions might mean that this woman might not even consider her a friend any longer.

I told her that I have lost friends and had angry confrontations even with family over deep differences in belief and ideology.  I am of the opinion that family still represents the most important relation and must override even differences in ideology but the way forward involves agreeing to disagree and avoiding the subjects that will trigger anger.  So, I hazarded the opinion that if indeed this woman was now unfriendly toward her, it would probably require an acknowledgement of the seriousness of the difference and an agreement by both to avoid this irreconcilable difference of opinion in the future to preserve the friendship.  Of course, I’m not sure how good my advice was but it was my honest opinion.

So, what’s interesting about this story?  I think the radical nature of the new progressives is causing considerable strain on the Left.  Just as the trans-ideology caused rifts with feminists and even lesbians so the Gaza orthodoxy is causing a very considerable portion of American Jews to revolt against this plank of the Left’s platform.  And even beyond this there is someone like Democrat Senator Fetterman who refuses to reject the Israelis even in the face of incredible abuse by his own party.  So, if the radical fringe of the Democrats continues to control places like New York City and Los Angeles I think they will continue to alienate significant portions of the Democrat coalition.  And that is all to the good.  It gives the rest of the country a clear idea of exactly what the Left will do if they take over.

So, I ran into a case where the radical Left is tearing up old friendships.  Possibly this will give some people pause.  But either way it’s an indication of just how toxic this new radicalism really is.

18MAR2026 – Iran Again

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Anyone who has been reading this site for any length of time knows that I’ve had enough war to last me a lifetime.  George W Bush was the one who saw to that with his horrific Iraq debacle.  So, what’s going on in Iran is not something I want to see continuing until disaster inevitably strikes.  But at the same time, me ignoring it doesn’t really make it go away.  So, I think I’ll make an observation today.  And that point is, the Israelis really know how to find their enemies and blow them up.

Today it was announced that they not only found and killed Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s supreme national security council but they also managed to blow up Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij force along with the whole top level of his command structure who were meeting with him.  Now this is just a few weeks after they blew up Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran.  And reports are circulating that his son who is now the Supreme Leader was also gravely injured in that attack.  Apparently, the Mossad has more than just good surveillance in Iran.  They either have an extensive network of informants or they’ve managed to embed electronic surveillance everywhere around Tehran.

What I read today is that they’ve placed bounties on the heads of all the most important Iranian leaders and informants are managing to provide pinpoint locations for these unlucky leaders.  And that is exactly what is needed.  The Basij force are the low-level thugs that the IRGC sends out into the streets to mow down protestors with automatic weapons fire.  And even these low-level goons are starting to feel the heat.  Somehow the Israelis have managed to attack Basij checkpoints on the streets of Tehran with armed drones.  I can imagine that tactics like these over the course of a few months could turn the Basij into an organization with a membership problem.  Shooting unarmed protestors is any thug’s dream job.  Standing around at a street corner checkpoint waiting for a drone to blow your head off is much less desirable.  The day may come when Iranians can be organized into a militia to take back their country from the ayatollahs and thugs.

Well, anyway that is the center of Trump’s and Netanyahu’s plan.  It sounds exciting on paper.  My only problem with it is this.  Are the Iranian protestors brave enough to organize and protect themselves with guns?  I’m sure the US and Israel would be happy to provide them with a few hundred thousand rifles and ammunition.  But where will they find the Iranians to organize themselves into a standing army?  The problem is that the Iranians who are willing to form an army already are the army.  The IRGC and the Basij are those Iranians.  We may be able to degrade the leadership and destroy a lot of the military assets of Iran’s armed forces.  But we can’t kill all of them.  So, we need a new Iranian army.  Are their men to form it?

Trump and Iran

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So, I feel like I’ve been down this road before.  I remember when George W Bush said we had to go into Iraq.  And I was gung-ho.  We’d blitz Saddam and drag him off and then give Iran the same treatment and the world would be peaceful and quiet from then on.  And we’d do it by remote control like some big old video game where everyone comes home in one piece and that would be the end of that.

Well, that’s twenty plus years ago and we’re all a lot older and wiser now, I thought.  So, what the hell does Donald Trump think he’s going to do with this Iran thing?  Iran is bigger and uglier than Iraq was.  Sure, half of its people hate their own government and are celebrating the bombing of the Republican Guards and the death of Ali Khamenei.  All of that sounds great but when the missile launchers and the other long-distance weapons have been neutralized but the bad guys are still the ones with all the machine guns killing civilians what happens then?  Are we going to send in the Marines?  And what happens when the body bags start coming home?  That would be the end of the Republicans for another decade.

What occurred to me was that maybe the CIA and Mossad can funnel guns to the people who want to get rid of the Islamic State.  If they have enough actual men who are willing to go head-to-head against the Republican Guards then a small team of trainers from these intelligence agencies could stand up a credible force within Iran to overwhelm the Islamic State with the help of targeted aerial attacks from the Israelis and Americans.  But is that really going to happen?  I’ve read that Mossad is already on the ground in Iran and has been for years.  That explains how they’ve been able to sabotage things like the Iranian nuclear program and Hezbollah’s cell phones.  Maybe they really will be able to topple this regime in the next few weeks.  It’s definitely possible and Israel has an existential reason for wanting the Iranian regime to disappear.  If the Islamic State were toppled tomorrow, Hezbollah and Hamas lose their paymaster and greatest ally.  Most of the violence in the Middle East loses its sponsor.  Without the mullahs it’s even possible that Lebanon could become a normal country again.  And a peaceful and prosperous Iran would change the whole balance of power in the Middle East and might even stabilize the whole region.  Think of the amount of misery that would disappear from that tortured region.

Well, those are all the good words I can think of for a situation that is fraught with peril.  I just hope Trump knows exactly what he is doing and what to do in every one of a thousand scenarios that could happen in that insane corner of the world.  When I think of all the possible ways things can head south very fast and very badly It makes my head ache.  Okay, Khamenei is dead.  Good.  Now what?

Did Donald Trump End the Arab-Israeli War?

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You know, the longer I live on this planet, the less I think I know about reality.  I can remember as a small child in grammar school hearing about the various Arab-Israeli conflicts.  And it was always assumed that only the wisest and most sober of men would ever be able to untie the Gordian knot that was that conflict.

But Donald Trump will do it?  Look, I love Trump.  He’s some sort of bizarre cross between P T Barnum and Pericles by way of Madison Avenue.  He’s the first American politician since Andrew Jackson to side with the regular people.  He towers over his enemies like a colossus.  But how in the name of everything reasonable can he end an intractable war between peoples who hate each other so viscerally that death is preferable to compromise?  And yet, if the news is to be believed, Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first step of the Trump Peace Plan; return of all the hostages alive and dead and Israeli stepping back to some first line of withdrawal.

But how many different ways can this process fail?  The list is infinite.  Even with complete good faith on both sides I can imagine endless scenarios that could upend this effort.  And when in the history of the mid-east has there ever been good faith on both sides?  Never.

Now in Trump’s favor, this negotiation includes many Arab and Moslem countries acting as surrogates to prod Hamas toward ending the war.  There is a desire on the part of almost all of the middle eastern countries to end the ceaseless cycle of attacks and counterattacks that makes this whole region of the world hell on Earth.  Could this finally be the day when sanity and the will of the vast majority of people there manage to smother the fire of violence under their collective bodies and end this disgusting abomination of death and hatred?

I’ll have to confess, I just can’t come around to believing it.  It would require these people who have done horrific things to each other for more than half a century to somehow find a miraculous solution to their problem.  It’s as if both sides are forced to navigate through a minefield that both sides have mined but neither side still has reliable maps of.  At any moment disaster can strike and any disadvantage on either side can inspire the other side to press for a kill shot.

The whole thing sickens and disgusts me to the point where I just want to forget it exists and move forward without ever thinking of it again.  But the last time I did that, planes started flying through buildings in New York.

So here we go again.  Good luck Donald Trump.  I guess if anyone can pull off the deal of the millennium it would be him.  But I almost think he’ll have more success with Ukraine than Gaza.  Sure, they’re almost as crazy there but as bad as it is I don’t think the level of hatred between the Russians and Ukrainians can ever come close to the savagery of what happened two years ago.  Maybe a little prayer would help.

Israel Attempts to Decapitate Hezbollah

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Israel uses “tens of tons of explosives in a missile attack on the underground headquarters of Hezbollah outside Beirut.  Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was believed to be in the building complex struck by the attack.  Based on the photos if he was there he’s almost certainly dead.

It appears that Israel is not interested in a limited response.  They seem to be preparing for a major confrontation with at least Hezbollah.

I guess the question is will it also include Iran?

Things may be getting out of hand.  I wonder what are the chances we can stay out of this thing.  Well, we’ll find out pretty soon.

 

 

 

 

Israel Frees Four Hostages in Raid on Hamas Captors

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Four Israeli hostages were rescued alive by troops from Hamas captivity in a daring operation in the central Gaza Strip earlier today, the military announces.

The rescued hostages are named as Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv. All four had been abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7 from the Supernova music festival near the southern community of Re’im.

Special forces had simultaneously raided two Hamas sites in central Gaza’s Nuseirat. At one location, Argamani was rescued, while Meir Jan, Kozlov, and Ziv were at the second location.

The rescued hostages are all in good condition, according to initial medical assessments. They were taken to Tel Hashomer Hospital for further evaluation.

Amid the operation, heavy airstrikes were carried out in the area against Hamas sites and in support of the ground troops. Hamas health authorities reported a “large number” of casualties.”

Most of the mainstream media sites are playing up the Palestinian casualties incurred during the rescues.  Yeah, I guess being a kidnapper or a kidnapper’s neighbor isn’t the safest decision you can make.  Pro-tip, live far away from Israeli captives.

Kudos to the IDF for pulling off a difficult mission.  Regrettably there was one IDF death.

What If?

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I was following some of the Pro-Hamas protests.  There is a “hunger strike” going on at Princeton.  One of the goofy kids there was a scrawny girl who said she has been on the hunger strike for almost one hundred and five hours.  She hasn’t had any solid food in all that time.  So, I guess she’s living on Gatorade and orange juice.  And I thought, “Well, she’s gonna lose some of those extra pounds she’s been trying to lose for the beach season.  That’s a plus.  And then they started telling us of all the innocent people in Gaza; women and children that were starving and being killed by bullets and bombs.

And that’s true.  While the IDF and Hamas shoot it out, the human shields that Hamas has emplaced will be killed.  Now that’s a horrible thing.  But when Hamas went on a rampage back in October, they were killing men, women and children.  And they weren’t trying to shoot IDF soldiers hiding behind these people.  They searched them out in civilian towns and murdered them face to face.  They killed parents in front of their children.  The murdered infants and then cut their heads off.  They raped women and then killed them for good measure.  Then they took some of these victims back to Gaza to add to their stock of human shields.

So, if the Israelis want to prevent the next massacre how do they do that without capturing or killing Hamas?  And if Hamas, as a policy, hides in the mass of Gazans how do you fight them without killing those they hide behind?  When we burned down Dresden and Hiroshima, did we separate out the women and children?  No.  Shouldn’t the Hamas fighters confront the IDF face to face, man to man?  Are they cowards?  And shouldn’t the “innocent” Palestinians sneak away from Hamas and leave them to their fate?

Most of these questions have no good answers.  War is horrific even when it is only soldiers involved.  What can you say about women and children dying in war?  There are no words.  But what do you do with an enemy that murders your women and children as a policy.  That makes the need to destroy this enemy an existential imperative that overrides most of the moral sanctions against extreme actions.

I wish there were a magic strategy that could be used against Hamas without harming a single Palestinian civilian.  If there were one, I’ll bet the IDF would be using it right now.  But there isn’t.

You know, I wonder what answer I’d get if I asked one of the “starving” hunger strikers a hypothetical.  Now, under the strain of extreme starvation maybe she couldn’t muster the clarity of thought to answer me but I’d ask, “What if you lived in a neighborhood and you had a family living next door that really hated your family?  They were poor and dysfunctional and hated you because you were rich and happy.  And let’s say that several times the police were forced to come and arrest members of this family for attacking one of your siblings.  And let’s say that one day the worst members of this family went crazy and broke into your house and killed your parents and raped your sister and cut your baby brother’s head off and kidnapped you little sister and took her back with them to their house.  And you called the police and told them what had happened and they went to the house where the killers were but they came back later and said that they couldn’t do anything because there were small children in the other house including your sister so it was too dangerous to attack them.  So, they were just going to issue a warning to the killers not to do it again.”

How would that be?  Would that make everything all right?

Hey, Here’s A Guy Who Agrees with Me

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A couple of weeks back I said that the simplest way to knock out the Gaza tunnel system would be to pump seawater into it and flood it.  Well, here’s a guy trying to steal my idea!

I’d say great minds think alike but I’m too incensed that he got the idea linked on Real Clear Politics.  Oh well.  We geniuses are never recognized within our own lifetimes.  Well, there’s always my anti-gravity ray.  Maybe that one will take off.

17OCT2023 – Just Some Impressions of the Current Day

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In Israel military and political leaders are sweating blood trying to thread a needle that has no eye; how to rescue hostages, kill the Hamas leadership and its psychopathic foot soldiers, minimize “civilian” Palestinian deaths and protect their own troops from harm while accomplishing all this in an urban environment that resembles some hellish first-person shooter video game.  Chances to accomplish all of these objectives is objectively zero.  And they know that.  The real mission is to destroy Hamas while not failing catastrophically at the other objectives.

Of course, if they fail at that primary objective then all the other failures; deaths of soldiers, hostages and civilians will have been in vain and therefore infinitely worse.  And they approach this mission with the knowledge that Hamas orchestrated this cataclysm for the express result that they would get to kill a lot of Israeli soldiers without the Israelis achieving their goal of eradicating Hamas from Gaza.  I’m sure the IDF knows all this.  For that reason, I’m guessing that they will resist the pressure brought to bear by Israeli peaceniks, moderate Arab state leaders and Joe Biden, that the battle in Gaza be limited and without result.  But that’s my assumption.  All past experience has been that Gaza is an insoluble problem that cannot be resolved.  Time will certainly tell.

In the House of Representatives word is that many of the establishment leaders are bowing to necessity and approving Jim Jordan’s bid to become Speaker.  Here, I don’t even have an inkling about what will happen.  As far as I can tell most of these politicians are crooks who only follow orders from their paymasters so it’s impenetrable to me.  Maybe the need to come up with an aid package for Israel will force the establishment shills to accept Jordan against their wills in order to allow the legislation they want to proceed.  Possibly some good will come of this accident of timing.  I’ve heard Jim Jordan is supposed to be the one in ten thousand, honest man.  I hope he is and I wish him well.  What I do hope is that he draws the line at further funding for Ukraine.  After all I think it’s only fair that we restrict our support to one major war at a time.  Ukraine has had their chance.  Now let them work it out with the Russians.  If that’s still possible.

Joe Biden is going to Israel.  I’m sure he’ll regale them with tales of his service at the battle front in 1948, 1967 and 1973.  He might even relate the story of his hand-to-hand duel against the dastardly Arab terrorist Corn Al-Pop.  He was one bad dude.

Joe Biden in the Holy Land.  Surely the Lord of the Old Testament has some lightning, earthquake and brimstone saved up for just such a contingency.  I mean, Joe is like some local representative of Sodom or Gomorrah showing up after a local atrocity.  Turning Dr Jill into a salt pillar seems like letting him off light.  But politics makes for strange bedfellows.

The election and Trump indictment news moves along on the expected trajectories.  The more certain that Trump will be imprisoned the more certain that his support among Republican voters will increase.  It’s like some fateful confluence of irresistible forces is dragging us to a crisis that can only be resolved by a radical shift in the status quo.  Maybe it’s an illusion but it seems that we won’t be splitting the difference this time.  It appears that the system is breaking down catastrophically.  Now I say appears because as has been mentioned innumerable times before, there is an awful lot of ruin in a world empire.  But short of armed intervention by the military it seems like people are getting fed up with the dysfunction that has been imposed on the whole country.  But we’ll see.

Anyway, that’s what I have to remark on today.  More madness and more dysfunction.  More of the same.

Israel Tells Zelensky to Stop Chasing the Ambulance

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“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked to make a solidarity visit in the wake of the Hamas onslaught on Israel but was told “the time is not right,” Hebrew-language media reports.”

What they’re saying in a polite way is “Save your grandstanding for a time when we’re not still burying our dead and avenging their deaths.

Zelensky must be afraid that the United States might send some money to Israel without him getting his cut.

He truly is a pathetic and grotesque figure on the world stage.