David, you make really good points. We can find the skeletons of horrific and stupid decisions haunting and bedeviling almost every current conflict we face. The US has been uber creative in its destructive meddling for a long time. We have created some of the regimes we hoped to prevent. Stupid stuff. You provide good examples.
David, you make really good points. We can find the skeletons of horrific and stupid decisions haunting and bedeviling almost every current conflict we face. The US has been uber creative in its destructive meddling for a long time. We have created some of the regimes we hoped to prevent. Stupid stuff. You provide good examples.
But I live in the present moment. All that matters is what we do now. The three "H"s must be at the very least rendered relatively harmless - at best, eradicated. The Palestinians must have a home - a nation state. The Israelis must clean up their selfish and brutal act in the West Bank.
While I am in sympathy with much of your thinking. The idea that the October 7th attack was merely a "match set to a tinder box" is a tempting analogy. But it was a lot more than that. It was a large slaughter of a peaceful group of folks - many of home had been interacting with Palestinians in a harmonious manner. It was an unacceptable act of horror.
Hamas perpetrated something that is an emblem of their only political platform: to eliminate an entire nation and all its inhabitants. That platform and its proponents do not deserve to live. And the awful pain, suffering and deaths of the Gazans is the direct result of their allowing brutal murderers to rule them. Hamas has received billions from sympathetic actors like Qatar. Did they use that money to improve the lives of Gazans? No. They spent it on tunnels under civilian facilities and on rockets that were continuously rained down on innocent Israeli civilians.
I would argue that Netanyahu has handled this war very badly. But PLEASE don't downplay the importance of the October 7th atrocity. Gazans should not have to suffer as they are. But the harsh reality is that they allowed Hamas to thrive and metastasize into a cancerous and deadly entity that must be excised.
There are three Hamas leaders in Qatar - their wealth is estimated at $9 billion. How much of that is being spent on water and food for their people? How much of that is being used to buy rockets from Iran? Where is the focus on the relationship between Iran and Russia? America has been a bad actor - I totally agree. But I think right now, Putin and the Ayatollah are in the running for an Oscar - "best supporting role"?
David, you make really good points. We can find the skeletons of horrific and stupid decisions haunting and bedeviling almost every current conflict we face. The US has been uber creative in its destructive meddling for a long time. We have created some of the regimes we hoped to prevent. Stupid stuff. You provide good examples.
But I live in the present moment. All that matters is what we do now. The three "H"s must be at the very least rendered relatively harmless - at best, eradicated. The Palestinians must have a home - a nation state. The Israelis must clean up their selfish and brutal act in the West Bank.
While I am in sympathy with much of your thinking. The idea that the October 7th attack was merely a "match set to a tinder box" is a tempting analogy. But it was a lot more than that. It was a large slaughter of a peaceful group of folks - many of home had been interacting with Palestinians in a harmonious manner. It was an unacceptable act of horror.
Hamas perpetrated something that is an emblem of their only political platform: to eliminate an entire nation and all its inhabitants. That platform and its proponents do not deserve to live. And the awful pain, suffering and deaths of the Gazans is the direct result of their allowing brutal murderers to rule them. Hamas has received billions from sympathetic actors like Qatar. Did they use that money to improve the lives of Gazans? No. They spent it on tunnels under civilian facilities and on rockets that were continuously rained down on innocent Israeli civilians.
I would argue that Netanyahu has handled this war very badly. But PLEASE don't downplay the importance of the October 7th atrocity. Gazans should not have to suffer as they are. But the harsh reality is that they allowed Hamas to thrive and metastasize into a cancerous and deadly entity that must be excised.
There are three Hamas leaders in Qatar - their wealth is estimated at $9 billion. How much of that is being spent on water and food for their people? How much of that is being used to buy rockets from Iran? Where is the focus on the relationship between Iran and Russia? America has been a bad actor - I totally agree. But I think right now, Putin and the Ayatollah are in the running for an Oscar - "best supporting role"?