Another Hezbollah bunker, busted

The New Neo Posted on by

Nasrallah’s likely successor and a whole bunch of other Hezbollah higher-ups were meeting in a bunker, and then:

A series of huge explosions rocked the densely populated neighborhoods just south of Beirut at midnight on Thursday as Israel kept up its bombing campaign aimed at Hezbollah leaders and weapon stores. …

Three Israeli officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence, said the explosions were Israeli airstrikes intended to destroy an underground bunker where senior Hezbollah leaders were meeting. The group included Hashem Safieddine, the presumed successor to Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime Hezbollah chief who was assassinated in a similar attack last week, the officials said.

The modus operandi seems similar to the approach that took out Nasrallah.

As Netanyahu said:

There is no place—there is no place in Iran—that the long arm of Israel cannot reach. And that’s true of the entire Middle East. …

As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice. And Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.

Just this week, the IDF destroyed large percentages of Hezbollah’s rockets, which were built with Iran’s funding for three decades. We took out senior military commanders who not only shed Israeli blood but American and French blood as well.

And then we took out their replacements. And then the replacements of their replacements. And we’ll continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met.

You can’t say they weren’t warned.

Judicial election interference

The New Neo Posted on by

From Gregg Jarrett, Fox News legal analyst, on Judge Chutkan’s release of Jack Smith’s new motion against Trump [my emphasis]:

Yeah [Jack Smith is] trying to have a damning trial of Trump without a trial in the face of the fact that he couldn’t get a trial before the election. And, you know, releasing this motion, this court filing, it sure looks like blatant election interference, Lawrence, you know, Trump’s lawyers urged the judge, keep it sealed, it will impact the election. The judge did it anyway with almost no discussion and there is no good reason to make it public. It’s premature. There isn’t even a trial date. So, I think this was done knowing full well media and Democrats would seize on provocative details, publicize it to [a]ffect voters and damage Trump, and sure enough, as I looked at television, the internet and newspapers, that’s what’s happening. …

At times it reads like bad detective fiction. A lot of it is irrelevant and inadmissible. Conversations that other people had that are not connected to Trump directly. So, it seems like deliberate election interference, and the incendiary details notwithstanding, Smith’s basic accusations are the same that we’ve heard all along.

The aim is to get those inadmissible details out into the public prior to the election. Mission accomplished. But I wonder if it will matter. Trump haters and Trump fans won’t change their minds, but perhaps the independents can see through such a transparent ploy.

From Megyn Kelly:

Another terrorist gone, another captive freed

The New Neo Posted on by

Do you remember the famous Ramallah lynching in 2000 of two Israeli reservists who’d had the terrible bad luck to wander into Palestinian territory, to be dismembered by the crowd who stormed a police station where they were being held? Remember the terrorist who leaned out the station window to triumphantly wave his hands dipped in their blood?

Well, that guy is no longer walking the face of the earth:

However, he had been in an Israeli prison until 2011, when he was one of the people (Sinwar being another) who was released in the Shalit exchange, which turns out to have been one of the worst decisions Israel ever made.

The Ramallah lynching occurred almost exactly 24 years ago, on Oct 12, 2000. Here’s a brief and somewhat sanitized description:

According to the Israeli civil rights organisation Shurat HaDin, Salha “repeatedly stabbed the dying Corporal Vadim Nurzhitz and threw his body from the window. Aziz [Salha], one of the leading perpetrators of the lynch [sic] in Ramallah, was not satisfied with the brutal murder. The bodies were then abused for hours to joyous reactions from the incited mob of supporters in the street.”

That was one of many indications of the bloodthirstiness of the Gazan mob, so that 10/7/2023 should have come as no surprise.

NOTE: This is good news: a Yazidi girl kidnapped by ISIS ten years ago in Iraq at the age of 11 has been rescued at the age of 21 in Gaza. ISIS had given or sold her to what is described as a “Palestinian Hamas-ISIS member,” who held her captive all these years. About 6,000 Yazidis were captured around that time (2014), and 3,500 have since been rescued or freed. The details of how this girl was freed have not been revealed, but apparently Israel and the US were involved.

More on the Helene aftermath

The New Neo Posted on by

It’s an ongoing disaster in North Carolina and also Georgia, and I’m reading varying reports on rescue efforts. It seems fairly clear that preparedness was lacking although it was known that the storm would be pretty bad in North Carolina, but I doubt anyone realized just how bad. There is no question in my mind that, had Trump been president, he would be blamed. But there’s a Democratic president, of whom nothing is expected anymore.

Quite a few tweets of this sort are being featured on Instapundit:

What’s going on? What’s the usual procedure for Good Samaritan aid efforts in a case like this?

And then there’s this:

In less than two years, FEMA has dropped more than a billion dollars on non-resident services, and now American citizens who are dealing with the effects of a natural disaster cannot be properly remedied. Harken back to the time George Bush was excoriated for the response in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The failures of this administration, after displaying layers of incompetence, are barely touched on by the media, and now the very agency designed to aid in disaster relief is broke due to placing its focus and funds elsewhere.

Georgia’s Governor Kemp has complained that FEMA’s response is inadequate, with the initial order including only 11 countries although about 90 were hit hard. The White House responded by adding 30 more to the original 11.

ADDENDUM: It’s being reported that Kamala Harris skipped her hurricane preparedness briefings. Doesn’t surprise me.

Iran the colonizer

The New Neo Posted on by

Since “colonizer” is a popular epithet used for Israel by Israel-haters, although the word doesn’t fit, maybe it’s time to popularize it for a country whose behavior merits it: Iran.

Iran specializes in taking over already-destabilized Arab countries and establishing terrorist military presences there. Lebanon and Hezbollah are prime examples. It’s true that Islam often has bloody borders, but it has bloody insides as well.

Here’s testimony from an American of Lebanese birth. I highly recommend reading the whole thing, but this is an excerpt:

Syria and Iran, using Hezbollah and their own agents, began assassinating any [Lebanese] leader who opposed them. They killed Christians and Sunnis alike. In 2005, Bashar Al Assad ‘summoned’ Prime Minister Rafik Hariri (a Sunni Muslim) to Damascus and ‘ordered’ him to do something, threatening that if he did not toe the line, Assad would ‘break his head’. Hariri did not toe the line and was assassinated in February 2005. Hezbollah were the ones who committed the act.

The cowardly Iranian regime had established Hezbollah as a proxy to fight Israel. In essence, cowardly Iran used Lebanon to fight Israel, causing the destruction of Lebanon while Iranian territory remained safe.

So back to my first thought. The opposition cannot handle the truth. The only thing they can do is call us names.

I have thick skin. We have gone through a lot of trials and tribulations and adversity wreaked upon us by these savage terroristic animals.

Thank you, Israel, for Nasrallah’s demise. It may create an opportunity for peace, but only if Lebanese leaders have the courage to seize the moment.

I will repeat what the terrorists and their supporters don’t want to hear: The Iranian Regime, The Syrian Regime, all proxies of Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, ISIS, Al Qaeda, The PLO, Islamic Jihad, PJ, PFLP, Syrian Baathist Party, all the Communist parties, all of these and more have been CANCERS in the World. They oppress their own people and us alike. They are savage animals who are stuck in the seventh century with the mentality of brutal conquests and war.

Call me what you like. I was born a Phoenician, not an Arab. The terrorists took away my county, but God gave me America. I am grateful and I am blessed.

What will Israel do next? Many people say – and I agree – that it’s time to take out Iran’s nuclear sites. Biden, of course, says the opposite:

Here’s what Netanyahu said in response to Iran’s attack on Israel:

Rosh Hashana begins tonight

The New Neo Posted on by

Jewish holidays begin at sundown and end at sundown, and tonight is the start of Rosh Hashana, which is the Jewish New Year. It couldn’t come at a more appropriate time.

Out with the horror of last year, in with new beginnings and new hope.

What year is it in the Jewish calendar? 5785.

On last night’s VP debate

The New Neo Posted on by

Of course, the debate isn’t going to change the mind of anyone whose mind was already made up, and the vast majority of people fit into that category. But in a few days, polls will indicate whether those all-important “undecideds” will swing in any particular direction.

For now, suffice to say – from what I’ve gleaned from reading many online reactions – that Vance apparently did very well indeed, especially considering that he faced the usual three-against-one format of these ridiculous debates. I would expect as much from a graduate of Yale Law School and a person who’s been handling hostile interviews from the moment Trump chose him as his VP. Walz, on the other hand, isn’t used to matching wits with someone like Vance.

More importantly, though, it seemed Vance wasn’t the least bit “weird” and managed to be rather affable and “likable,” another apparently important characteristic by which voters make decisions. After all, most people weren’t previously all that familiar with him and he wouldn’t want the opposition to be the ones to paint his picture for the public. It also made him a potentially reassuring contrast to Trump’s volatility.

Harris’ pick of Walz is revealing because it shows her current decision-making abilities. Not especially impressive last night. But Trump’s pick of Vance, and Vance’s positioning as a stable and even-tempered guy who also happens to be smart and cool under fire, enhances Trump. And considering Trump’s age and propensity to be target practice for crazies, Vance’s capabilities are especially important.

I also saw quite a few women online mentioning that they think Vance is very handsome. I’ve never felt that to be the case; I’d call him attractive. But hey, I’m not the target audience. And the scoop on Tim Walz is that he looks like an unfunny Don Rickles.

Then there were Vance’s side-eyes:

And here’s an example of Vance’s being “kind” to Walz. It’s a thing of beauty:

Tonight is the vice presidential debate between Walz and Vance

The New Neo Posted on by

I haven’t yet decided whether I’ll watch it, but probably not. How about you?

Expectations are very low for Walz but beware – that is sometimes a setup to make anything the person does look good in comparison. Walz will also have the usual advantage of a compliant and helpful media. CBS will be doing the honors.

Jimmy Carter turns 100 today

The New Neo Posted on by

Carter is the first president to reach centenarian status.

I’ve written about Carter in many previous posts: in this one I compare Carter and Biden, in this one I discuss Carter’s role in the rise of Iran’s mullahtocracy, this one’s about Carter’s biggest regret, here’s one about Carter’s inadequate apology to Israel, and here’s a gem about Carter’s dialogues with Hamas. From the latter there’s this quote from Carter in 2006, when he oversaw the election in Gaza that ended up bringing Hamas to power, and he spoke with Hamas leaders:

Carter said “there’s a good chance” that Hamas, which has operated a network of successful social and charitable organizations for Palestinians, could become a nonviolent organization….The 39th U.S. president said he met with Hamas leaders in Ramallah, in the West Bank, after last week’s elections.

“They told me they want to have a peaceful administration. They want to have a unity government, bring in Fatah members and independent members,” Carter said.

Well, he wasn’t alone in that hope – some Israelis shared it. And Carter did add “What they say and what they do [are] two different matters.” But Carter also wrote a book in 2006 that popularized the word “apartheid” to refer to Israel.

I voted twice for the guy; what can I say, I was a Democrat at the time. I didn’t think he was anywhere near a great president even back then, but I later came to think of him as a very poor president. He’s been eclipsed in that regard by others since, of course. But one thing I can say about even his failures: I never thought he hated the United States.