On the Israel-Hamas War

This was originally written 10-18-2023:

To understand what is going on,  you have to understand who and what the players are.  We know who the Israelis are.  But many do not understand who and what Hamas (and Hezbollah) really are!  We need to include Hezbollah,  because very soon they might enter this war,  too.

These are terrorist organizations masquerading as religious jihadist groups,  that are really proxy armies for Iran,  and whose role is to cause chaos and death wherever the Iranian government wants it.  When I say “Iran”,  I am talking about their government,  a terrorist dictatorship masquerading as a democracy.  Not the Iranian people.

There are other similar terrorist organizations masquerading as religious jihadist groups out there (Al Qaeda and ISIS come to mind),  but it is Hamas and Hezbollah that belong to the Iranian government who largely funds them,  and certainly gives them training,  weapons,  and marching orders.  This has been going on for some decades now,  it is no secret.

I classify them as extreme terrorist groups,  because that is exactly what they do.  These groups kill anybody and everybody.  In point of fact,  they kill more Muslims than anybody else,  because those are the most numerous potential victims in the countries where they typically operate.  We’ve all seen these vicious crimes going on for many years,  and now Hamas terrorists beheading little babies in this war. 

What else is this but simple murderous terrorism?  It needs to be eliminated from the face of the Earth,  there is no question about that!

The start of this current war has Iran’s fingerprints all over it!  Iran is a sworn enemy of Israel,  but also a sworn enemy of Saudi Arabia (no secret there).  Israel and Saudi Arabia were getting close to a peace agreement that would have effectively put severe restrictions on Iran’s freedom-of-action,  so Iran had to start a war involving the Israelis to put a stop to that.  They did that by commanding Hamas to attack in great force,  which demands an invasion of the Gaza Strip as the response.

Hamas has been attacking Israel from the Gaza Strip for many years.  This usually takes the form of an unguided rocket barrage,  or a few terrorist troops crossing the border,  but rarely both,  and never before in the quantities and coordination seen at the start of this war.  That suggests the planning and supplies came directly from Iran!  Most of the weapons do,  we’ve already seen some stockpiles of them on TV.

As for the explosion at the hospital in southern Gaza,  consider that logically there are 4 possibilities:  (1) Israel did this deliberately,  (2) Israel did this accidentally,  (3) Hamas did this deliberately,  and (4) Hamas did this accidentally.  The point of such an attack,  if deliberate,  would be to stir up anti-Israeli sentiment among not just the Arabs,  but around the world.  Which we have seen! 

We have not seen any evidence as of yet,  regarding which of the 4 possibilities might really be true.  We have seen some suggestions that this was a misfired Hamas rocket (possibility 4). But no evidence has shown up yet in public. 

Instead consider motivations.  Why would Israel want such a thing to happen?  It could only stir up resentment against them.  Hamas,  on the other hand,  would like that resentment against the Israelis.  That suggests possibilities 1 and 2 are rather unlikely,  while possibilities 3 and 4 are rather likely.

So the odds favor that Hamas did this,  deliberate or not.  I cannot rule out deliberate,  because Hamas is the elected government (such as it is) of Gaza.  And yet Hamas has a repeatedly-demonstrated proclivity to use as human shields the very people it supposedly governs! 

Israel did not expect an attack on this scale.  That much is clear,  because it was absolutely not prepared ahead-of-time to invade.  In the past,  an air raid or two was sufficient response.  But not this time! 

I suggest that they invade,  kill all the Hamas fighters they can find,  and corral the civilians.  The women-with-children and old men can pretty much be presumed innocent civilians.  Younger men in the company of women-with-children are likely civilians,  too.  But young single men,  and single-women-without-children (a rarity in typical Arab cultures),  need close scrutiny! 

Why?  Because you do not want to kill innocent civilians,  but you do not want to take any Hamas prisoners!  Why waste the resources to keep alive that which you so sincerely want dead?  And if Hezbollah comes across the border from Lebanon,  don’t take any of them prisoners,  either!  This scourge needs to be wiped clean from the face of the Earth.

Update 10-22-2023:

4 days after this was originally written,  we have still seen no evidence in public about who really blew up that hospital in southern Gaza.  The motivations still point to Hamas doing it either deliberately or accidentally,  and some reports finger a subsidiary Hamas terrorist group as the perpetrators.

On the other hand,  terrorists are now firing rockets at Israel from the West Bank,  and Syria,  if reports are accurate.  Everyone fears a widening war.  It definitely appears that Hamas and its sympathizers are the ones widening it.

The recommended solution is still the same:  wipe these evil people from the face of the Earth.  All of them.  But,  while doing it,  try not to kill the innocent civilians!

Update 11-2-2023:

Israeli forces are now in the Gaza strip,  surrounding Gaza city,  and hitting what they claim are Hamas targets with bombing,  while causing casualties among the civilians in and around these targets.  Meanwhile Hamas is still firing rockets into Israel,  and so is Hezbollah in Lebanon.  Plus,  other Iranian terrorist proxies,  are firing directly at American forces in Iraq and Syria,  and killing some of them.  The war has already widened,  whether you like it,  or not!  There are two fundamental points to make about this,  which so far are not being addressed properly in the press reporting.

Point 1:  the ultimate culprit here is the terrorist “government” of Iran.  All these violent groups are their proxy terrorist armies.  The Iranian government funds them,  supplies them,  and gives them strategic direction.  So far,  the government of Iran has not been held accountable for any of this destruction,  despite their being fundamentally at fault for all of it!  That is a very serious foreign policy mistake being made by all the western governments,  collectively.  And this evil crap will not stop until the terrorist government of Iran is deposed!  

That government is terrorist dictatorship that masquerades as a religious group to justify itself to the people it rules,  and it operates a sham democracy where the ruling “mullahs” can override anything any elected body decides.  They ruthlessly oppress and kill any of their own citizens who dare protest or defy anything. This has been going on since they took over in 1979 after the Shah fled. 

You’d think the western governments would have done something effective about this before now,  but they have not.

Point 2:  the calls for a cease fire are well-meaning,  but are strategically very incorrect.  The reporting on this is based upon the massive death and destruction of civilians in Gaza that is right in front of everyone,  and not at all on what underlies that tragedy,  and which overwhelms that tragedy in importance. 

That mistake on the part of most of the reporters is understandable,  since reporting on what is right in front of them,  is usually exactly what they are supposed to do.  But,  focusing on the appearance is not what must be done by those who actually have to fight the war!  The few reporters I have seen who actually interview a real war-fighter about this issue,  do not seem to understand,  or even listen to,  the answers given by these war-fighters,  since these answers disagree with the appearances.  And that is a very serious mistake being made by the news media.  Dig deeper,  please!

Unlike previous Israeli responses to Hamas attacks,  this time the Israelis have made their top objective the ultimate destruction of Hamas,  despite the human shield behind which Hamas is hiding.  Why should it surprise anyone that there are civilian casualties,  when to win,  the Israelis must go right through that human shield to get at Hamas?  If they do not do this,  they lose,  and so do we all,  since the world must be rid of these terrorist groups!  The real war crime here is not the Israelis going through that human shield,  it is Hamas using a human shield in the first place! 

And I do not see that crucial fact being adequately reported.

Update 11-6-2023:  For those who cannot see past the civilian casualties in Gaza,  consider this.  Israel telegraphed the "punch" that was coming,  to give the civilians who constituted the human shield time to get out of the northern Gaza strip.  Very few did,  most did not.  Some might have since changed their minds,  worthy of a short pause to depart,  but only very short!  The Hamas terrorists simply cannot be allowed time to regroup. 

Update 11-30-2023:

Please see the column by Jonah Goldberg and titled “China deflects world’s attention to Israel”,  which was published this date in the Waco Tribune-Herald.  He hits the nail right on the head regarding the strategy China has been using to deflect away criticisms for the many evils it does. 

The misplaced support so many very young people show for the terrorist “government” in Gaza,  called Hamas,  traces directly to their use of the Tik Tok social media platform,  where anti-Jewish disinformation (among other things) gets spread by the Chinese government.  China is not the only one doing this,  but right now,  they are among the worst.

Thank you,  Jonah Goldberg,  for pointing this danger out in public.