By Shoshana Bryen, JPC November 6, 2023
The Biden administration, steeped as it is in military prowess and full of great military thinkers who understand both military strategy and tactics – and American military history – has dispatched General Antony Blinken to Jerusalem to help Israel fight its war against Hamas. Because the United States knows better.
First, according to General Blinken, the IDF should use smaller bombs to try to protect Gaza civilians “while still achieving its objectives of finding and finishing Hamas terrorists.” The US, according to The New York Times, is preparing to ship smaller bombs to Israel. Furthermore, according to The Times, U.S. officials have been encouraging Israel to use the tactics of US Special Operations forces against in Iraq: targeting Hamas leaders “using small teams of commandos, combined with precision strikes from drones and manned aircraft.” [Note: In Mosul, US and allied forces killed upwards of 9,000 civilians in the battle against ISIS.]
And then there’s that “humanitarian-pause-that-is-not-a-ceasefire,” even though stopping military operations is the actual definition of a ceasefire, regardless of the reason.
Israel rejected the first on military grounds – Hamas is thoroughly dug in underground in tunnels with the civilians sitting defenseless on top. Smaller bombs would still kill the exposed civilians but wouldn’t penetrate the hardened bunkers. How does that help the civilians of Gaza, General Blinken?
On the second, it was only back in July that the US asked for “clarifications” over Israel’s use of a UAV to kill 3 West Bank militants. “’The introduction of armed UAVs raises concern over the potential loosening of rules of engagement in an area that needs to see de-escalation,’ a US official told me,” an Israeli source reported.” [Note: The Obama administration ordered more than 542 drone strikes killing 3,797 people, including an American aid worker and his Italian colleague, and a 16-year-old American citizen who was in the car with his father, the target – and also an American citizen.]
Third, Israel rejected the “pause,” unless/until all of Hamas’s illegally kidnapped and illegally held Israeli civilian hostages are released.
On these and other issues, there is a fine line for the IDF and other ethical militaries to walk, and it does. It is part of Israel’s military training as it is American military training. General Blinken must know that.
What’s that? Antony Blinken is NOT a General? He is Secretary of State and has no military experience?
Well, then. A few months ago, Secretary Blinken thought he had a good idea. The Israel-Saudi conversation was moving forward quietly and productively, so he suggested “significant concessions” from Israel to Palestinian Authority (PA) strongman Mahmoud Abbas. Blinken, according to news source Axios, said Saudi Arabia would need to show the Arab/Muslim world that it got “significant deliverables from Israel for the Palestinians in return for a normalization agreement.”
Last week, Secretary Blinken told a Senate hearing that, after Israel succeeded in ousting Hamas, “At some point, what would make the most sense would be for an effective and revitalized Palestinian Authority to have governance and ultimately security responsibility for Gaza.”
“Effective” is an adjective never applied to the authoritarian and corrupt PA. Ever. So, what “revitalization” does Secretary Blinken have in mind? The part about PA incitement to violence? The part about paying terrorist “salaries” using funds the administration is sending them in violation of the US Taylor Force Act? The part about textbooks for West Bank children so hateful that even the European Union objected to them?
And if Secretary Blinken thinks PA leadership will be welcomed in Gaza, General Blinken, perhaps, would know better.
Hamas rules Gaza NOT because it won an “election” in 2006. It rules because it won the short but brutal Palestinian civil war in Gaza in 2007. The enmity between them continues – with Hamas having worked hard to insert itself into the cities and refugee camps of Judea and Samaria with the financial and weapons help of Iran. Israel’s goal in Jenin and elsewhere earlier in the year was to excise Hamas fighters from Judea and Samaria to help Abbas stay in power, at least for now. The US objected, urging Israel to “de-escalate, prevent further loss of civilian life…”
Moving the intra-Palestinian war from the West Bank to Gaza won’t help – if PA forces are not armed, remnants of Hamas will kill them. If they are armed, they will go for IDF troops. There is nothing de-escalatory here, politically or militarily.
President Biden has been verbally entirely supportive of Israel’s determination to root out the Hamas terror infrastructure in Gaza. But war is the only way to do it – and war is hard. War is ugly – war against terrorists who cower in bunkers beneath their own people and shoot them when they try to escape, is uglier. War against terrorists who would massacre 1,400 civilians in a disgusting, self-congratulatory orgy is, perhaps, the worst.
That understanding appears to be missing – and it would be wise, therefore, for General Blinken and Secretary Blinken to both shut up.
Before WWII there was the team of Hitler and the Mufti of Jerusalem.
Today we have the team of Soros and “the mufti of Washington DC”.
Two Europeans and two Muslims! All FOUR are “bonafide” antisemites.
History repeats itself!
Joey is only implementing the Soros/Obama agenda!
In the meantime Schumer, like Abbas, promises one thing to the UJAF and the opposite in the Congress!
I was listening tonite to CG (Caroline Glick) who clearly explains that the US (antisemitic Jews) are colluding with Qatar to impose on Israel, Hamas demands!
Qatar exists ONLY because of the presence of the US Al Udeid air base!
Qatar is financing all the jihadist wars all over the world (mainly ME)!
Israel needs to diversify its sources of weaponry and supply.
This is the full responsibility of the IDF. What do they NOT understand!
Btw, CG confirms that the Intel was responsible for the Oct 7 failure, while the left is accusing Bibi!
Despicable.
I suspect that “the open border policy” (Open Society) must have been a Soros’ idea! He is known for hating both S/satans!
@dreuveni, I agree with your last sentence.
Shoshana Bryen brilliantly summarizes Blinken’s weaknesses. He fails to understand the nature of Islamic terrorism, appearing deaf, dumb, and blind to the genocidal intent of the PA and Hamas, their use of their own people as human shields, their use of civilian structures for weapons depots, their determination to destroy every single living Jew in Israel, and their determination to destroy the State of Israel itself.
Either Blinken is really plain stupid or he is working on behalf of the Islamic terrorists while purporting to be Israel’s friend and ally. This is the act Obama has perfected. Obama pretended and still pretends to be a cool, civilized, Ivy League Professor when he’s really a bomb throwing Islamo-fascist who did everything in his power to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, stir up racial hatred in the US, empower the Russians against America in giving them access to an ocean port inside the wire at Cape Canaveral, Florida at which they can store their Club K Missile System, and spied on his political opponents using the power of the US surveillance system. He pretended to be Israel’s friend when, instead, he acted like a snake and betrayed Israel every chance he got.
Biden has followed in Obama’s footsteps, appearing to help Israel after spending the entire time he’s been President in empowering Iran to attack Israel through her proxies.
So when we see Blinken, Biden or Obama, we should be realizing we are looking at Iranian agents in disguise. Whenever they purport to be talking about “not harming Palestinian civilians”, they are really talking about their goal of achieving Islamic supremacy.
The suggestion that either Blinken has a choice is naive to say the least. This smells badly of the same ideology Obama promoted so successfully.