Hamas Prefers to Rage

Raging in the streets only underscores the fact that these stateless Arabs who occupy the Gaza strip are wholly impotent in regard to the future of the Middle East. They will have no role and play no part in it. Their fate remains in the hands of others. This has been their choice all along.

The future has been put on hold long enough and it's time to recognize the reality that there is no Palestine and there hasn't been a Palestine for a very long time. There are no Palestinians any more and there hasn't been any Palestinians for a long time either. The people who stand in their place and claim the name haven't any more resemblance to Palestinians than todays Turkey to the Ottoman Empire. Their claims are spurious and are only held as real by their Saudi backers and the American Liberal Press, aka: The ALP Freedom Front of Palestine.

After President Clinton offered Yasser Arafat everything he was asking for to make peace and Arafat still refused, there has been no reason to negotiate further. That was back in 2000, 17 years ago. How long is civilization supposed to wait? How long are the civilized supposed to cater to the uncivilized?

It's time to move on.

The United States, under President Donald Trump, has finally done what it has long promised but never delivered. It has declared that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

Negotiate for a piece of the future or Rage and be left behind.

The Gazan Dictatorship has elected to Rage.

But they are more alone than ever.

The Saudis are having mounting and costly problems of their own.

The Arabian grip on the worlds supply of oil has been broken and the spendthrift rich and bored House of Saud has had to do a bit of belt tightening. Some of them I hear are down to their last 3 Mercedes Benz'.

The Saudis are further taxed by their intervention in Yemen and conflict with arch enemy Iran. This leaves little room for the great unwashed of Gaza. In fact, this little charade they have been backing for decades has outlived it's usefulness to them.

The Saudis Need Israel

The Middle East now needs a real functioning economy that goes beyond oil. That means they need trading partners who preferably have an economy of their own. Israel just happens to have a bustling economy. It's a growing state and a going concern. It also helps that Israel and Iran don't get along well...to say the least.

This leaves the "Palestinians" in a tough spot. THEY don't have an economy beyond local olive growers. They've NEVER had an economy beyond local olive growers. All they've gotten good at is building rockets and digging tunnels. This hasn't been a winning strategy for them.

They've had their chances and they've been offered many more but Hamas, the un-elected armed group of militant Muslims that run Gaza has refused to negotiate. Should the world wait for them?

Look upon the shining cities of Israel like Tel Aviv and then gaze at the shoddy concrete bunkers their Muslim counterparts live in and have lived in for decades in poverty and want. It should be enough of a difference to behold that even the most fervent Muslim fanatic should say to themselves; "I'm doing something wrong!"

But I guess not.

So Hamas and the unfortunate Gazans will continue to fight a war they will never ever ever win. Not in one million years. They are poor dependents and you can't go to a poor dependent when you need money. They will continue to spin their wheels in the soft sands of a Jihadi Neverland, no closer to their pipe dreams of laying claim to Jerusalem than they ever have been and now they are farther away than ever. They never had a legitimate claim to begin with and until Hamas decides to negotiate in good faith for a homeland...somewhere, they will just stay right where they are without a real government, a real economy and any hope for a real future.

For the Gazans, poverty is a poor bargaining chip. But regardless, it looks like they've chosen, once again, to be left behind.

So leave them behind.

U.S. Self-Defeat in Middle East

There is no doubt about the lost confidence of the United States in the Middle East.

It is a failure on so many levels: A failure of arms, a failure of coordination but above all, a failure of diplomacy.

Think about it. Before there was a Russian ship in the harbor, before there was a Russian boot on the ground, Putin’s diplomatic core had already secured the blessings of Iran and Iraq. In order to shoot dozens of missiles over 1000 miles to their intended targets in Syria, they had to have it. There could be no large scale strategic planning without knowing if these countries would cooperate. This wasn’t done overnight. How Russia impressed Iran, a country that trusts NO ONE, to participate even a little is a feat in itself. 

On the U.S. side of things we have Secretary of State John Kerry, a legend in his own mind, willing do to whatever it takes to see his name live forever in the annals of U.S. diplomacy. Oh, and it will. What a difference it makes to have the right man in the right job. I'd easily trade Kerry for Sergey Lavrov's understudy any day of the week. 

This isn’t a game to Russia. War to them is still serious business and not a business unto itself like it is in the United States. To us, it’s all about the money war generates. To Russia, it’s still about WINNING and it's about holding onto their civilization which stands to be overrun if they don't do something. That's the difference. Russia is on the front and we in the U.S. are WAY over here across the Atlantic Ocean playing on our iPhones and texting while driving. 

So 14 years after the United States dropped its first Daisy Cutter way back in October 2001 we still have little to show for the effort except thousands of soldiers dead and irreparably wounded and a vast amount of uncounted debt. Nobody really likes us and nobody’s minds have been changed as to our continued presence in the region beyond the collaborators who will be thrown off a three story building if we leave and don’t’ take them with us.

A prime example of what the U.S. war in Afghanistan was all about was the first battle of Fallujah in 2003. Fallujah was surrounded by U.S. forces. Rather than leaflet the place and then level it in spectacular fashion, which would be an example of the U.S. trying to win an “Ugly War”, George W. Bush instead decided to have our troops fight door-to-door in a massively costly manner in time, money and human loss. In other words, for either political or monetary reasons, he wasted our resources namely the best and brightest that the United States could produce, our soldiers. The object was a more “Humane” war of some sort but it wasn’t humane and, as time has proven, not effective either. 

Libertarianism and War

Libertarianism is not an Anti-War platform. If there is going to be a war, say if the United States is directly attacked, a country that we have an alliance with is directly attacked or if U.S. interests like our shipping or invited businesses overseas are under attack, we are going to fight to defend ourselves and our commercial interests.  If there is to be a war, it should be swift, total and have a total commitment to its successful conclusion. There should be a beginning and an end. We don’t fight wars to win them anymore and it shows poorly. War can only be an ugly affair of last resort, one that destroys and makes people lose the will to continue. One side must win and one side must LOSE. Without this, nothing changes.

Our leaders have squandered the good will of the American people by carrying on their endless wars for interests other than national defense. They have made America war weary, indebted and have contributed to a loss of national stature in the world.

We should only pull the sword when we are prepared to dispatch an antagonist quickly, humanly and decisively so that they will hesitate to confront us again. We ignored this principle at our own peril.

And here we are.

Libya Bites Obama in the Ass

By intervening in the Libyan Civil War on the side of the opposition, the United States has lost all moral high-ground when it comes to criticism of Russia in Syria.  Once there is an intervention, there is not much difference whether it’s in support of the opposition or the established government. The difference is that if Assad’s regime survives, it will be more stable than if the fractional and diametrically opposed opposition should prevail. If Assad should fall; only long years of fighting and dying lay ahead for Syria and the people who wish to control it. 

Assad is the “Devil We Know”. He is also the Devil Russia Knows and they will hold onto their port in the Caspian Sea only with Assad in power.

So what can the Obama Regime really say about all this? It was Obama who played God in Libya so to say Russia is wrong in Syria is laughable at best.

NATO Loses Perspective

With its spectacularly stupid tirade and threats to “defend” their allies in regards to Russia’s “violation” of Turkish airspace either real or imagined, NATO puts itself in opposition to a real solution in Syria. What NATO should be doing is fighting ISIL in the region and not Russia.  Get in the game and on the right side of the conflict and leave the saber rattling to the U.N.  Are we in a fight for the preservation of civilization or are we not? Get serious will you?

The Unreliable United States

How can any nation trust what the U.S. is going to do now? Who are we going to back? Who are we going to shoot? Nobody knows.

We have ignored the history or the Russia/Syria relationship. We have brushed aside Russia's concern with their own national defense. We have just gone on like we are the only people that matter in the region even thought we have no vested interest there. None. What U.S. interest are we protecting? Hmm? We're only there because we had an axe to grind 14 years ago! What the United States is right now is a disinterested third party. And it shows. 

There is no consistency in policy, hell, there is no policy. It’s one improvisation after another. The U.S. has demonstrated no leadership and is now attempting to play catch up and thereby making even bigger mistakes in an effort to stay relevant in the region. Witness the Doctors without Borders bombing. One can picture a hastily called Whitehouse meeting in which the military was urged to do something decisive quickly.

And they did.

There is no one currently in the U.S. government to look towards that inspires confidence in their word or decisiveness in their actions. We are a ship without a rudder.

The U.S. should recognize the changing political landscape in the Middle East, step back a bit to avoid any more missteps and attempt to function as a cooperative force. All the pouting and distracting criticism of Russian actions only looks like sour grapes.

Russia's bad, we get it, now what?

If the United States cannot get past its political agenda long enough to be relevant to a mutual determination of what a successful solution in the region should be, we should just get the fuck out of there. 

Isn't this what diplomacy is supposed to be for?

Hamas Losing Control of the Message

Hamas wants it both ways. They want to be free to bring in fuel and food through the Rafah Crossing with Egypt AND the rockets they use to shoot at Israel.

“How can they want a cease –fire when they won’t let us smuggle in weapons?” complained a Gaza “civilian” of Egypt. “Israel says they want to be our friends but they won’t let us shoot at them!” seethed another.  “As long as Israel continues to keep us from importing rockets and other weapons to shoot at them, there will be no peace!”

Logic like this is hard to argue with.

The national Leftist newspapers like USA Today are trying to help Hamas control the spin on their latest campaign when they offer quotes from a Gaza resident as describing Israeli tank fire as “random” and that “even ambulances came under fire”.  Did the reporter SEE this happen? No, but he has it on good authority because somebody in Gaza TOLD him. This is important to notice. These are not off-hand quotes; they are ‘’weasel words” meant to tilt the opinion of the reader.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Hamas “doesn't give a whit about the “Palestinians”, all they want is more and more civilian deaths.” And it looks like the majority of the world is now more willing to believe him. They can see it clearly with their own eyes if they care to.

In an incredible display of the the bold-faced hypocrisy of their words when compared with their deeds, Hamas obviously thinks we’re all fools. But to be fair, Hamas didn't just jump to this conclusion on their own, the actions of the rest of the world all but convinced them that this is true.

Up until now the Gaza wing of the Arab Assault Force (AAF) on Israel has relied upon the intervention of the UN and other countries like the United States and the European Union to stop the Israelis from retaliating with full force once they initiate their attacks. 

Their whole propaganda machine is geared towards “showing” the world how unfairly they are being treated just because they have shot a few harmless rockets at Israel in frustration at being unable to get the materials they need to prosper. They would be “somebody” in this world if it wasn't for those spiteful Israelis, Goddamnit!

So the EU, the U.S. and Egypt negotiate a settlement, Israel stops it’s shooting and then Hamas re-groups and re-supplies and comes back just a little bit stronger, a little bit more resolved in their belief that they can fulfill their ultimate calling: Driving the Jewish State to its knees. So with the help of the rest of the world, who don’t seem to like the Jewish State much either, Hamas lives to fight on. This is a tiresome cycle. 

But there are growing signs that the world is tiring of their act and sees through the staged “destruction”, the human shields, the staged "man in the street" media interviews and the “casualties” who have been known to get up and walk once the pictures have been taken.

Even the politically ambitious and leather lunged U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry has come out to decisively straddle the situation when he said that Israel is justified in taking action to protect itself. 

This is a departure in message. Gone is the knee-jerk denouncement of Israel’s defense, replaced by "concern' over civilian casualties.

When you go to the well too often, the well runs dry.

Some have described Israel giving up Philadelphi Corridor, the 14km long, 100 meter wide swath of land that once separated Gaza from Egypt as a big mistake. Or giving up Gaza for that matter 2 years earlier but if those two events have lead the region and the world to where we are right now: Finally believing that it Hamas is the sole driver of this conflict. They have only used such concessions as an opportunity to import the rockets that fly over Tel Aviv today.

Had they held onto Gaza and the Corridor, Israel would always be on the defensive about the speculation of what kind of state the disenfranchised “Palestinians” could have achieved had they gotten the opportunity.

Well now we know don’t we? They have fashioned an armed camp out of what once was not and filled it with cannon fodder that pass for people. They have manufactured an incredible honey comb of a land where armed men and weapons can be moved across the area and never have to be exposed to the surface. They have fashioned a state so twisted in its single-mindedness of purpose to kill Jews that they have neglected to build any other industry of worthy of merit.

So the plan to keep arms out of the hands of Hamas never was workable since Hamas always manages to get the weapons. The next best plan then, is to make them pay a BIG PRICE when they use them.

To the radical Muslims there are no civilians in their cause.  Everyone is an enemy soldier and every State an obstacle. In order to defeat these people, their way of fighting and their immutable way of thinking is to beat them down and after that, to beat them down again until they come up, pardon the use of an American colloquialism, “a Christian”.  History holds many examples of where this strategy was applied with success. 

My philosophy professor in college opened our first class by asking the question; “Suppose you lived in a society that did not value life and when walking one day you passed over a bridge and upon looking down you noticed someone was drowning. What, given the society you were living in, would you be inclined to do?”

I answered that I would most likely have just stood there to watch that person drown.

I see no difference in that question and the kind of society that has sprung up in Gaza.

So now, regardless of how they actually feel, the world's politicians seem to be more inclined to watch how it’s done while Israel finally moves to at least attempt to solve their problems with a society upside-down in its thinking, upside-down in the purpose for which they live their lives and with the people who support it financially from the sidelines safely out of harm’s way.

Let's hope for civilizations sake that Israel prevails in their mission and that they maintain the resolve to take their fight to its successful conclusion. And afterwards, some reflection will be in order for Hamas, the UN, Iran, and Arabia upon their rolls in this conflict and the world at large but also reflection is called upon for the European Union and these United States. 

All the condemnation, all the scolding and all the threats towards Israel over the years for the crime of self-defense from an organized and sometimes praised hate group has had to be hard to bear for them.

And heaven forbid any nation should have John Kerry foisted upon them as much as he has been upon Israel. Imagine Mr. Kerry coming to your office and basically talking you to death. 

That is also a crime against humanity.