The scene was so compelling that I believe that it is not redundant to return to it.
After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Kamala Harris stepped forth like the new president. She stood before a row of flags and intoned an appalling example of moral equivalence.
Harris whined about civilian casualties in Gaza, and chastised the Israeli military for hurting civilians. Someone should point out that our own great military targeted civilians during World War II. It was part of the strategy, designed to break the Axis will.
Of course, Harris knows nothing about urban warfare. She knows nothing about the difficulties and challenges presented by war in Rafah. She managed to boycott the Congressional address offered by Prime Minister Netanyahu, where he made clear his nation’s efforts to avoid civilian casualties. And she did not hear that Hamas wants civilian casualties, the better to run its propaganda war against the Jewish state.
The result of this unfortunate posturing was a rocket attack in Northern Israel yesterday, killing nearly a dozen Druze children. Whatever Harris thought she was doing, Hezbollah got a slightly different message.
Two experts in the field, Jonathan Sweet and Mark Toth explain it all in the New York Post:
Harris’ self-serving decision to pander to Gen Z and progressive votes on Thursday after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office is turning out to have deadly results.
Harshly criticizing Israel as she did in front of Bibi at the White House might bag November votes – but they are also leading to body bags in Gaza and North Israel.
Now, Israeli civilians are paying a heavy price for her words.
In what could be described as a second Oct. 7, Hezbollah launched a rocket attack on a soccer field Saturday afternoon in the Golan Heights, killing 12 people, including children, and injuring 40.
The attack struck the village of Majdal Shams. Home to a large Druze community – an Arab and Arabic-speaking ethnoreligious group. Many Druze are Israeli citizens and proudly serve in the IDF.
Israel identified 30-plus projectiles crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory and has blamed the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group for the attack. Hezbollah denies the accusation, “firmly denying” they fired the rockets.
According to IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the rocket used in the attack on the soccer field was an Iranian-made Falaq-1 rocket.
The White House is reportedly urging Israel to provide a “balanced response” to the latest atrocity. That is not likely.
As for causality, the authors emphasize this point:
In telling Israel she has serious concerns, Harris unwittingly, yet predictably, sent a greenlight to all three Axis of Evil partners that it is open hunting season again on Israel and its civilians throughout the country.
Harris naively might have thought her ploy for votes in Michigan would lead to a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. But that ceasefire is not going to happen now and Harris, despite her team’s denials to the contrary, shoulders much of the burden of blame.
Israel is in damage control now. Harris is requiring a clean-up on aisle 9 – and now the IDF has a new and emerging mission in Northern Israel: destroying Hezbollah.
It is highly likely that in the coming days, we will start to see kinetically the beginning of the end of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
I think it fair to say that Biden administration interference, coupled with its constant criticism of Israel, has prolonged the war and produced more civilian casualties.
Iranian proxies can not merely act with impunity-- against American and Israeli targets-- but they see that the Biden administration and Kamala Harris has their back.
Why should they surrender-- the quickest and easiest way to end the war-- when the Biden administration is defending them and is working to defeat Israel in the propaganda war.
One remarks that the Antony Blinken reaction to the attack in Northern Israel was similar to that of Kamala Harris. He wanted Israel to call a cease fire, the better to leave Hamas in place.
The Wall Street Journal editorialized:
The earnest Mr. Blinken seems not to appreciate that U.S. pressure for Israeli restraint gives Hezbollah a green light to keep shooting, which makes it harder for Israel to avoid war. On Sunday Hezbollah launched more rockets.
As for how better to conduct policy, the Journal offers this:
The better way to make war less likely is to announce that American munitions transfers to Israel will be expedited immediately, as they were earlier in the war and as Congress has approved, and that all oil sanctions on Iran will be enforced again. Hezbollah and its controllers in Iran will get that message, even without a translator.
One remarks that Donald Trump, a man who unabashedly took Israel’s side, told Natanyahu that he wanted to let Israel finish the job. He seems to realize that the calls for restraint and the continuation of the war plays into the terrorist propaganda war.
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2 comments:
"Someone should point out that our own great military targeted civilians during World War II. It was part of the strategy, designed to break the Axis will."
Not sure how many people are aware of this, but the Americans and British also bombed occupied *France*, a country that had recently been an ally and would be again. Two objectives: first, to destroy factories that were producing for the German military, second, to damage the railway infrastructure to inhibit the movement of German troops and supplies. (The creation of a 'railway desert' in the area of the planned landings was a particular objective) There were on the order of 50,000 French civilians killed, and a lot of injuries and property destruction.
Would it have been better to skip the bombing and have the war drag on another 6 months, or possibly more?
Let us not forget that the first civilians killed in this war were... Israelis.
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