Hamas and the murder of hostages, Part I: the background
[NOTE: I plan for this to be a two- or three- part series, sparked by the terrible news of Hamas’ murder of six Israeli hostages who had survived almost a year in captivity.]
First, a bit of background on the early post-10/7 days.
When the enormous carnage and torment (as well as kidnappings) wrought by Hamas on ordinary Israeli citizens (plus a fair number of resident non-citizens, such as workers from Thailand) was revealed, the reaction in Israel was intense grief and rage. Some of the rage was against Hamas, of course. But a great deal was also against the government and the military that had failed to protect its people. That reaction got even more intense when it was learned that there had been multiple prior warnings about what was about to happen, and those warnings were brushed away, although they later turned out to have been spot on.
Not long after 10/7, Hamas threatened to execute hostages. This possibility was always part of the equation, as with any kidnapping by a violent (and in this case sadistic and fanatic) group. It’s easy to forget these threats – after all, so much has happened since. But I remember them, and here’s a refresher in case you’ve forgotten. The dateline of the story is October 9, 2023, two days after the attack:
On Monday, Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades, the terrorist group’s military arm, chillingly declared it would begin killing its prisoners if the Israeli government continues bombing Palestinian lands.
“Any targeting of innocent civilians without warning will be met regretfully by executing one of the captives in our custody, and we will be forced [sic] to broadcast this execution,” said Abu Obeida, a Qassam Brigades spokesman.
“We regret [sic] this decision, but we hold the Zionist enemy and their leadership responsible for this.”
That statement brought into sobering view one of the main reasons Hamas seemed so intent on capturing innocent civilians: the leverage it could provide.
“The cruel reality is Hamas took hostages as an insurance policy against Israeli retaliatory action, particularly a massive ground attack and to trade for Palestinian prisoners,” said Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The only reluctance Hamas has had to killing the hostages is the need to parade them as well as to use them as negotiation leverage against Israel, and for the latter purpose live hostages are better than dead ones, although dead ones will do in a pinch.
I bring all of this up to remind us all that in the early days it was reasonable to assume that we’d be seeing these televised executions, and that the abductors would be taking a leaf out of the book of Daniel Pearl’s killers. After all, inherent in kidnapping and hostage-taking is always a good possibility of murder if the abductors’ demands are not met. But in this case those public executions never happened, because Hamas is smarter than that. They are playing a public relations game, and so far they are winning. So in the post-10/7 phase of the conflict, Hamas has been careful to walk a tightrope of pretend magnanimity versus bloodthirstiness.
The pretend magnanimity came last fall during the hostage-for-prisoners exchanges, in which Hamas gave up the hostages seen as most vulnerable, the ones most likely to garner worldwide sympathy: mothers and children, and older women. In return Hamas got a great many prisoners.
But that’s not all Hamas got. It also was able to give the impression that future negotiations with Hamas (through its proxies such as Qatar) would bring Israel even greater dividends, as time went on, and that all the hostages might be released alive if only Israel gave up more and more. Hamas had every reason to believe that over time the pressure from the Israeli public and the world (including of course the present US administration) would increase to the point where Israel would be pressed to give up just about everything. And in fact, the metrics of the 2011 Shalit deal, in which Israel released 1027 prisoners for one Israeli soldier who’d been held for five years (including 280 prisoners with life sentences, who altogether were responsible for the murders of 569 Israelis) would lead them to believe that. It’s no accident that among those released prisoners was Sinwar, future mastermind of 10/7. If Israel had been willing to agree to a deal so lopsided for one Israeli – and a soldier at that – what might it give up now? It’s easy to understand why Hamas was motivated to take as many hostages as possible on October 7.
Over time – and as I write this post, it’s been about a month short of a year since 10/7 – many hostages have died. We don’t know the exact number, but Israeli intelligence has learned a lot. Even prior to the recent murder of six of the young adult hostages (I’ll be writing more about that in Part II), the dead bodies of some hostages had been found and taken back to Israel for burial. Some were known to have been murdered on October 7 in Israel and Hamas operatives had ghoulishly brought their bodies to Gaza to be used as negotiating currency. Some had died more recently, and Hamas claimed – of course – that they’d been killed by Israeli bombs, although the autopsy evidence and condition of the bodies didn’t indicate that. Then there was the terrible case of three hostages mistakenly killed by Israeli forces during a firefight. And always there was the threat of Hamas murdering more hostages.
Meanwhile, the IDF and/or Israel’s intelligence forces managed to rescue some hostages unharmed. This was cause for great celebration in Israel, and probably a great deal of anger and chagrin on the part of Hamas. There was a basic pattern to the successful rescues, however: nearly all the hostages whom Israel had managed to free previously were in above ground houses, which made it easier to surprise their captors and easier to get intelligence on the hostages’ whereabouts because neighbors might inform or unknowingly give information. The only hostage found alive in a tunnel was the recent case of Farhan al-Qadi, an Israeli Bedouin grandfather who was found alone and apparently had been abandoned by his minders as the IDF closed in – although we don’t know for sure. It doesn’t appear that the IDF knew of his exact whereabouts to begin with, and my guess is that he was guarded by less fanatical Hamas members compared to those guarding the six Israeli captives who were later murdered in the tunnels as the IDF approached.
Unlike many hostage situations, the one that began on 10/7/2023 is apparently somewhat decentralized. Some of the hostage-takers were originally what I call free-lancers, meaning that they were not Hamas regulars but rather Hamas sympathizers trying to cash in on the deal. Not only that, but the hostages have not been kept in one place, and one reason for that was that it guaranteed that at no point could Israel do something heroic to rescue them all or even most of them. All the rescues have been bit by bit by bit. And it is my belief that, at present, the vast majority or maybe all of the living hostages are in the tunnels being guarded by the most coldblooded of minders, because Hamas has learned that rescue is almost impossible under such circumstances – because not only can Hamas kill them as the IDF approaches, but the hostage guards can get out alive afterwards through the warren of tunnels that Hamas has constructed over the years.
Therefore I don’t think we’ll see any more rescues of living hostages, although I hope I’m wrong. And I think we’ll learn of more hostage murders, much like the ones we learned about over the weekend.
Hamas murdered the hostages to further psychologically torment Israelis and their sympathizers, as well because it knew that another result would be that the pressure on the Netanyahu government to surrender to Hamas and/or resign would increase to a fever pitch. That is exactly what has happened. There was a general strike (it’s over now), and the anti-Netanyahu forces have strengthened their protests and machinations. I plan to deal with that phenomenon in more depth in Part II, but till then I suggest you watch the following video by Caroline Glick (especially around minute thirty and after, although the whole thing is well worth watching):
Or if you prefer, please read this very informative article of Glick’s that covers much the same territory.
It’s early days, but apparently questions are emerging concerning the relationship of Farhan al-Qadi to the murdered six. Was he with them at any point? Was he with them when they were killed, or just before that? And so on. Time will have to pass before answers will be forthcoming.
I will leave a longer reaction to this post by Neo after I’ve had a while to digest it. Let me just say at the outset — this thing with Hamas sickens me. There is no solution that works. Hamas seems to have pulled off the perfect crime. My gut reaction is that someone needs to set Iran back on its heels. Big time. Kargh Island gone and offline for years. Total freeze on any payments. Total block on petroleum exports. Strong support for domestic critics. Get India on board to criticize and oppose Iran publicly. And so on.
But what I wanted to bring to Neo’s readers right now is that I just saw Joe Biden at a rally for Harris. His eyes are spacey. He talks spaced out. Whoever is measuring out the meds to dope him with is gonna kill him if they don’t back off. He is a total basket case. Who TF is running the country? Why are we not invoking the 25th Amendment? We are in dire straits!
But what I wanted to write about now
The wages of not going to quick extreme violence and termination of barbarians is the death of hostages. Unexpectedly!!!!
Just saw that Hamas is going to release a video of the murdered hostages. Depraved Animals. Rabid Dogs have to be put down. Same with Hamas
Benjamin Netanyahu, “Maximum pressure should be put on Hamas.” — video of 1 min. statement at link: https://x.com/netanyahu/status/1830729141676609849
demons exist in the world, ghuls or djinn in their vernacular, I could refer to the relevant passage in the Koran, but when they cite Khaybar you understand exactly what they mean,
the problem is this regime is almost entirely compromised to qatar and iran, the twin heads of islamism sunni and shia, the malley spy ring is not talked about as if it didn’t happen,
An excellent analysis of the issues as usual.
It amazes me that so many people in Israel are demanding a cease fire at all costs. Or are they just enemies of the Netanyahu government?
I understand the grief and anxiety of the families of the hostages. They want action of any kind, at any cost, to bring their loved ones home.
But the greater Israeli population is under threat of eventual extermination buy Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian Mullahs.
Many don’t seem to recognize that. Nor do they seem to recognize that Hamas cares nothing about the hostages- they are lives to be used as bargaining chips for advantage on the battlefield and in the court of international opinion.
In dealing with such an enemy the leadership and their citizens have to harden their hearts and not be blackmailed by Hamas into actions that give Hamas any leg up. It’s an awful situation, but in the long run being steadfast against the blackmail is the proper, though difficult, course.
yes that seems to be the case, but as ben david would point out, this largely a self selected group from the left, many of those at the nova festival where on that side of the fence, and yet they have not learned the painful lesson,
when they speak of settlers, realize they mean all those places that were stained by blood and sinew,
this was the place that norman podhoretz saw in lamentations nearly 40 years ago, this is why Oslo was a street without an end, to paraphrase Bernard Fall, about Dien ben Phu, many of those that put Israel in such a place, are dead or out of Office, those that persist in this delusion like Barak, Gantz Lapid, are awfully cynical, as they lend themselves to the eventual fall of Israel
Just look what this dim-wit Kamala HaukTuah2024 has to say:
https://x.com/VP/status/1830652137216373177
“Ceasefire” and “hostage deal” with “end the suffering in Gaza” are all code phrases for “Victory for Hamas“. Such is the “payment” Sinwar can expect.
Generally speaking, The Left in America views Trump, and Netanyahu, as a more diabolical threat to humanity than it does Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. The Left continues to bend over backwards not to offend the terrorists, and, their enablers in the press only embolden that pathetic stance. They keep pushing for a cease-fire as if Israel is the bad guy in this, are happy to spread propaganda for the terrorists, and are willing to ignore obvious anti Semitism percolating on College campuses.
None of that is organic or grass roots, this is intentional.
I think her judgment is failing her at points.
==
Some of Netanyahu’s critics are being unpardonably refractory, however.
I’m with Glick in regarding the Israeli left as unconscionable. Israelis must hang together or hang separately. May God support the remaining hostages. There are no options for them in this life, alas.
I’m not sure why Israel hasn’t got busy blowing up the tunnels.
J.J., it amazes me too. As best as I can tell, people are substituting feelings and desires for rational thought. They are unwilling to recognize the inevitable consequences of giving Hamas what they want.
The flip side is the tremendous love, responsibility, and concern Israelis feel for the hostages, almost like family members. The neighborhood where the family lives emptied out today onto the sidewalks and street corners to pay respect to Hersh as his family rode to the funeral. Thousands and thousands of people lined the streets and waved Israeli flags. Many thousands more were at the funeral. And the scene was no doubt repeated in five other places in Israel.
I discussed my perspective with a friend, A (who is probably center-left), a couple of months ago, that the fact is that giving Hamas what they want in exchange for the hostages puts a kidnapping target on the back of every one of us. Not long afterward, Hersh’s family sponsored an evening of singing together. Since it was promoted as non-political, with no speeches, just being together, I participated. Afterward I reported back to A how moving it was. She asked me if it changed my feelings about a hostage deal. I told her that whatever my *feelings* might be, the facts are unchanged. I have to admit I was surprised by the question, because to me facts are facts, and feelings don’t change those facts.
People who would make policy decisions based on feelings and desires are just different from those who advocate for hard-nosed realism.
Art Deco:
One reason may be that blowing up tunnels would kill the hostages. They have to clear a tunnel before they destroy it, and it’s slow and dangerous work. Do you know how many miles of tunnels there are? It’s a huge underground city. I once read that if the IDF did nothing but blow up tunnels, it would take more than three years. Many tunnels have been destroyed, but many more are left.
Ilana:
I think your analysis is correct.
Plus of course the left in Israel has Netanyahu Derangement Syndrome and finds it easy to blame him for everything. They think if only he were gone, there would be a solution. That’s easier than facing the terrible reality.
Do you know how many miles of tunnels there are?
==
About 330 miles. It’s not going to take three years to blow them up.
Look. There are a billion or so Muslims. Not many Jews. Some Muslims are sitting on vast reserves of oil. Who really cares about the Jews?
Wouldn’t it be a lot simpler if there were no Israel?
Tongue. Cheek. But I really think that’s the way a lot of the world thinks.
Art Deco:
There are estimated to be more tunnels than that , and a great many are very heavily fortified. Here’s an article that explains why it is likely to take years.
Also, here’s an article discussing only the cross-border Philadelphi tunnels and how very difficult they are to FIND, much less destroy
Neo – yes, NDS prevents rational thought.
Huxley – yes, I think you are right.
huxley:
I think you are right that vast numbers are indifferent and might just shrug. Many, however, are malevolent and would cheer.
Many, however, are malevolent and would cheer.
neo:
I don’t deny that and all too many are here in the good ol’ USA.
To my horror.
Olympic Games Munich 1972…
Moshe Weinberg…
Munich massacre…
US & Israel’s (Free Worlders) policy now is to wait and be hit before reacting, and has been for far too long…
Karmi:
Yes, that was the older Israeli policy. The way they get around it now is that they still don’t negotiate directly with terrorists, they negotiate with state governments who are surrogates. It has the effect of negotiating with terrorists, however.
huxley:
Not for a moment did I think you would deny it.
And yes, many of both kinds live here.
Hamas cruelly taunts slain hostages’ kin with haunting new video of captives before death, promises ‘last messages’
A waste of time and breath to negotiate with these animals. Still believe this is a perfect time to move Palestinian civilians (both Gaza & West Bank) to safety in Lebanon & Syria during this war, and kill the remaining militants and their shields. Israel is too small to have terrorist murderers in their midst.
Meanwhile, our leaders (including Trump) continue to ignore Iran’s war against us…what is that about!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? A policy of waiting to be hit before taking action is unbelievable…
I have not followed the left in Israel. However, I can’t comprehend a group of people the wish the destruction of their nation. Does this particular set of Israelis think all they have to do is give HAMAS what they want and the war stops? Get rid of Netanyahu and it’s all sweetness and light? They just are cowards? Can’t wrap my head around it. Particularly when their enemy is so close and tries to kill them everyday.
Richard Cook
Two items. Prior to Oct 7, the Israeli left shared some characteristics with the US anti-Trump folks: A quivering, spitting, near homicidal rage based on…..what? I exaggerate only slightly regarding some of my acquaintances. This rage came before, which is both the key and the puzzle, the presumed offenses. Such offenses as having or not having an affair with Stormy Daniels, locker-room talk, so forth. This from the party which had no problem with Chappaquick. BTW, anybody heard from her family? Ever? Could be a threat instead of a payoff.
Thus, nothing Bibi/Trump can do is right and everything up to and possibly including the law of gravity is malleable in making up one’s arguments.
The likely results, destruction of the nation, cannot be discussed since….”HE SAID PUSSY!”.
This is exaggerated in Israel by the small size of the population. You never argue with the bereaved, or in this case, the near-bereaved They’re in too much trouble already. But you don’t take them seriously in matters of policy. Being bereaved or near-bereaved doesn’t give extra clout to irrational ideas, requiring them to be taken seriously.
Israel has about one-sixteenth the population of the US. This means that the bereaved and near-bereaved constitute sixteen times the proportion of the population a similar number of victims would carry in the US.
The Israeli version of TDS, multiplied by the bereavement of so many of its people, make a heck of a lot of difference in that country, even compared to ours.
choose wisely
https://melaniephillips.substack.com/p/the-anti-jewish-candidate
of course Baat Yeor’s work about how Europe was compromised after the oil shock, is instructive, labeled as a conspiracy theory on wikipedia,
this is why the likes of Carville, who pretended to have objections to her, ring hollow, but you know how I feel about snakes, like Henry Jones jr*
*back in my youth, I was on a kick about zoology, who knews politics would have slithier toves,
as to the other thing, why is not Matt Lauer, and or Les Moonves not in the docket because the plaintiffs were bought off, like Epstein’s enablers, like Reid Hoffman, or
I don’t know the current director of the Central Intelligence Agency, what was he doing with this miscreant, when he deputy secretary of state and Ambassador, or as he currently enables Qatar, similarly with Barak, the ringleader of the get Bibi circle
Among the crimes that mrs netanyahu, was charged with, was having a meal prepared in the residence, oh the horror
Richard Aubrey
I understand, but, from what I’ve seen in history the usual reaction to indiscriminate killing of your people is to kill the enemy to make it stop. The opposition in Israel is so mentally ill that they sacrifice their country to Netanyahu Derangement Syndrome.
Thanks for the extended explanation.
This latest atrocity does NOT incline me towards giving in to Hamas. On the contrary, I am more than ever in favor of annihilating every one of these savages.
they aren’t in charge for now, maybe bibi will give more of an ear to gvir, and less to gallant, who has been behaving a little strangely,
yes the cover story to Munich, is rather odd, at the time there were very few prisoners, the majority of the refugee camps, were in places like Jordan and Lebanon, which oddly they didn’t integrate their bedouin brothers
in the movie version of Harris’s Black September which inspired the Sum of all Fears, there is a long passage by an Egyptian diplomat played by Walther Gotell, who is relating the sad history of the antagonist, a woman largely based on Leila Khaled the skyjackers, which is supposed to tug at the heartstrings, it left me cold, although i might have been more sympathetic when if first aired in the 70s on TV, not that I recall the film opens with a raid on the Fatah camp in Beirut, that Robert Shaw is leading,
If we see leftist priorities as leftists see them, and I believe in both cases — American and Israeli, for they have this in common — what is prior, what is determinative in politics, is power; possessing it, holding or maintaining it, and wielding it. Everything else is to be subordinated to getting and keeping power. Hence, as Bibi and his coalition partners stand in the way of total leftist control, everything the Israeli left does today is with a view to removing this obstruction to their ends. The opposition of the people of Israel, insofar as those people put Netanyahu in the way, is merely an obstacle to be overcome, by any means necessary. The demands of those Israeli people are wrong, ill-founded, because those demands do not accord with the grant of final and total power to the Israeli political left. This ought to guide our understanding of the matter. Listen to the leftists. They are quite open in these ways today, partly on account of their own understanding that they are so close to their goals they need no longer obfuscate. They are supremely confident. Hence, lacking the circumspection and prudence they formerly were used to keeping.
Such is my belief, anyhow, for whatever it’s worth.
sdferr, I think you are right; but in this case, the Israeli left is operating as a suicide pact. Giving in to Hamas means accepting eventual extinction. Power won’t help them much then.
I believe the Israeli left would necessarily deny our (mutual) premise that their ceding ground to Hamas/Iran would result in the doom of Israel, Kate, surely. For we see the Israeli upper military echelons are chock-a-block with leftist politicos: it’s one of the bases of their social strength, after all, along with the media, judiciary and lawyerly class, the Universities, NGOs, and so on. That military does not believe they are on the wrong path strategically. They advocate today for withdrawal from the Philadelphi corridor, for instance, confident that they can retake it without o’erweaning difficulty and do this at their pleasure. They’re wrong in this by Netanyahu’s lights, but then, he cannot be correct “by definition”! He is always wrong! So he must go.
Addendum: Under the general head of POWER, see TJ’s post in the open thread on Robert Reich and Musk. This is but one instantiation of the phenomenon.
followup
https://melaniephillips.substack.com/p/lammys-lamentable-libels
“Meanwhile, our leaders (including Trump) continue to ignore Iran’s war against us”
Complete dishonesty as usual from Karmi trying to equate Trump’s Iran policy to that of the Dems who are trying to give them billions of dollars to kill Jews. Trump was President for four years and O’Biden have been in office for 12 so we have a lot of real-world experience to know what the difference is.
FOAF; Karmi:
Plus, when Trump was president, his Iran policy was very different than that of Obama or the Biden administration. He imposed sanctions and stopped the Iran deal. The former appears to have hampered Iran monetarily enough that it wasn’t able to fund the kind of terrorism that it could fund under Biden. It’s interesting that, if you try to Google “Trump Iran policy,” all you get (at least, till I got tired of scrolling down) are articles on the left saying what a disaster Trump’s policy was because it didn’t fix everything (change the regime, etc).
FOAF — Iran’s Army, Air Force, Navy, nuclear program, and terrorist funding were still intact when Trump left office, and they will still be intact when Biden leaves office.
UPDATE: neo – your searches should also show that Trump has been lying about Iran being broke and unable to fund Hamas & Hezbollah during his term…
I suppose the Israeli left is able to rationalize, in return for power, continued rocket attacks, isolated personal terror killings, and occasional mass barbarity as in October 7, 2023. It cannot, or will not, take Hamas and Iran at their word, which is, destruction of the state of Israel and elimination of all the Jews.
Karmi, broke is a relative term. It was certainly broke enough during Trump’s first term.
What would you suggest Trump should have done during his first term to eliminate Iran’s Army, Air Force, Navy, nuclear program? Bomb Tehran?
Trump’s foreign policy was effective, unless you enjoy endless war.
Karmi:
Gee whiz, you mean Trump didn’t fix everything regarding Iran?
Of course Iran was still able to do bad things. But it was able to do fewer of them because the country had fewer discretionary funds.
And of course when you do a search, Google directs the searcher to sources on the left that criticize Trump for not ending the problems.
Kate,
I’ve never been to Israel, so all I can do is try to compare their left to ours, or at least some of ours.
We’re going over the cliff! HE SAID PUSSY!
Either they know better and need some kind of rationale, or they’re so far gone they actually believe in the gravity of the Israeli version of HE SAID PUSSY as opposed to all other issues.
In the first case, there aren’t any realistically real rationales in sight. So something as lame as….whatever is imbued with the most horrifying weight and others are expected to buy in.
Or those even further out actually believe it.
Brian E: Yes, Trump hurt Iran’s cash flow, but he did not stop Iran from funding terrorist groups like Hamas & Hezbollah.
Have said it many times here – we need a president who will destroy Iran’s Navy, Army, Air Force, and nuclear capabilities (no need for boots on the ground). Trump slapped Iran on the wrist…
Are you suggesting that we are the ones who start these “endless wars”? That it is our fault that Iran is at war with us?! Or maybe we should just roll over and let our enemies have their way with us?
Sure sounds like that is what you are inferring…
Karmi:
Your preferred candidate doesn’t exist.
Hey, maybe you should run. In the meantime, Trump is obviously better on this topic than Kamala would be.
I agree with Karmi insofar as which polity it was which went to war against whom. That, imho, was Iran, when they invaded our embassy in Tehran and took our diplomats hostage. They have been at war with us ever since, but we [the government anyway] refuse to notice. Both parties.
If elected, Trump should ask Congress for a formal Declaration of War. That doesn’t mean we need to occupy Iran. It merely puts the cards on the table and allows us to take measures like blockades. Not to mention prosecuting people like Valerie Jarett who have aided our enemies.
Richard Aubrey:
The Israeli left isn’t just doing the equivalent of “he said pussy.” They hate Netanyahu, and it’s true that there was lawfare against him on ridiculous grounds. But their big beefs right now are that he fought the leftist-dominated judicial system and therefore threatened their own power, and he failed to prevent 10/7. The latter is somewhat of a big deal, in that there was warning that was not heeded. The left ignores the fact that the main people who didn’t heed it were on the left. But the already-hated Netanyau is a convenient target rather than admit the left is highly implicated in the failure, plus I suppose it’s a version of the buck stops here, because after all it did happen under Netanyahu’s watch.
David Davies;
Trump certainly noticed. He didn’t go to full war with them in the hot war sense, however, if that’s what you mean – although he did kill Soleimani, which is hardly ignoring things, in my book. And he waged economic war on them. Biden ended that almost as soon as he took office.
It’s a false equivalence you are setting up. That neither approach has eradicated Iran doesn’t mean they are equivalent.
I think Hamas has won the battle. They will murder any hostages that the IDF get close to releasing. Murdering an American hostage only helps them out — American’s are notorious squeaky wheels. Pressure will mount more and more on Bibi, and eventually, despite the fact that he knows giving into demands for “negotiating” will mean a Hamas victory, he will eventually be pressured into giving in. Israelis from the left of center, who were into “Hamas delenda est” back in October, are now “Bibi must give in or quit” now.
I always though “Bring Them Home” was a stupid hashtag. It should’ve been “Let my people go!” The first makes the Israelis the agent, the second, Hamas.
(As an aside, “bring” in Hebrew is the causative form of “come.”)
Karmi, so how would the US destroy Iran’s Navy, Army, Air Force, and nuclear capabilities that would not be a violation of international law?
Part of what we want in a President is the ability to prevent wars, where possible.
While I hadn’t thought about it in the terms you are suggesting, it’s certainly plausible that some in the US government that were looking for a proxy war with Russia back in 2014.
Obama didn’t take the bait and Trump did enough to stabilize the civil war in Ukraine.
Then comes Biden, who enables Iran and promises aid to fund the proxy war with Russia, which has the effect of turning Iran from a client state with Russia to an ally.
The real damage we’re seeing today is the enabling that began with Obama to make Iran the regional adversary to any Sunni/Israeli detent. As Iran gained influence we’re seeing the pent up hatred of Israel on full display. Trump’s policy of just enough toughness to constrain Iran while working to form a Sunni/Israeli defense alliance was working. Had Biden immediately worked to add the Saudis to the alliance, it would have changed the dynamic. Don’t forget the Hamas attack on Israel was designed to prevent the Saudis from joining the Accord.
Iranians for Trump:
https://x.com/TrumpIranians/status/1831037766970532105
Count Trump lucky that at least Iranian-Americans discern where their interests stand. See the link for their full statement of intent.
Someone Else:
Once Hamas took the hostages, they won that battle. Israel had nothing but terrible options.
“Trump slapped Iran on the wrist”
Haven’t seen Soleimani waving to any crowds lately, have we? In any case even doing nothing would be vastly better than the policy of the candidates Karmi wants elected.