I am not trying to keep up a running commentary of the day’s events, but there are some things that run so deep that they must be accounted for in real time.
I saw this tweet from H.R. McMaster:
Bari Weiss is right. “Statements of sorrow from the leaders of the free world are insufficient. The message to terrorists and those who support them should be that the defenders of civilization will defeat them. No matter the cost.”
I like Bari, but I am not a big fan of McMaster — too interagency for me — but my first reaction was “Heck yeah!” and then I realized what he was saying was in reality what he was condemning, cheap sentiment that is insufficient.
Let’s start off by saying that we use the term “defeat” for all sorts of things like cancer or the urge to eat too much ultraprocessed foods. It has lost its punch. Also I think that just about everyone in the world, especially after our performance the past 20+ years, doubts our will power to defeat anyone.
An American overseas was kidnapped, held for nearly a year, probably tortured in ways I cannot describe on a family blog, used as a human shield against the laws of war, and then murdered. When I travel abroad, I’m always aware of two things; the first is that on my passport is the message from the Secretary of State:
The Secretary of State of the United States of America hereby requests all whom it may concern to permit the citizen/national of the United States named herein to pass without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all lawful aid and protection.
The second is when I cross back into the US and go through Immigration, the official at the desk hands back my passport and says “Welcome home.”
Hersh Goldberg-Polin was never rendered all lawful aid and protection and he never came home. That means something on a very emotional level.
We look after our own. I didn’t care for Britteny Griner before she got picked up and railroaded by the Russians, but I’m glad we got her back. Cost us a lot on trade, but we can settle the Russians’ hash some other ways. We look after our own and to her credit Ms. Griner has shown her gratitude.
There needs to be something very personal and visceral to balance the scales with the murder of Mr. Goldberg-Polin, for and on the behalf of all Americans.
One of the most important rules in life is that when it comes to business or revenge, one must never negotiate with himself. So I will state my very reasonable demands up front. First, all American hostages in Gaza will be placed on a bus and driven through the Rafah checkpoint. The second is that following them is a second bus, filled with the people who were responsible for Goldberg-Polin’s murder, from the guy who pulled the trigger up to the one on Sinwar’s staff who authorized it. Those vile miscreants will be extradited to the US, stand trial for murder, but instead of a death sentence and the martyrdom they crave they will be given life sentences and sent to the hellhole known as the Florence SuperMax where they can rot.
The ugly secret is that the psychology of terrorism is not so much rooted in ideology or religion as it is status and power. Your low- to mid-tier terrorist isn’t that much different than a gang member in Chicago, they take on a dangerous job for the status it confers and the promise of greater things to come, whether earthly riches and power or martyrdom. In Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS (and Houthis) they are having the time of their lives. In Florence, they will find none.
That’s my opening offer. I will show my hand and state that I can be eventually bargained down to a drone strike, but only in exchange for the harshest concessions. There is no more important thing in American foreign policy, no “prudence” in any conflicting action regarding interests, than the protection of Americans abroad.
And yes…. we must hate.
Of course we will never get that from Biden-Harris. That is also why Trump’s killing Solemani is so satisfying.
Oh one other thing, Whistle up for me Reps. Omar, Tlaib, and AOC, and I want them on camera and asked their thoughts about Americans murdered in cold blood by Hamas. Not a released statement or comment from a spokesperson, I want their face on the screen either denouncing Hamas or supporting the killing of Americans.
You will never, ever, EVER get a complete, clear, and coherent statement from Omar, Tlaib, Occasional Cortex, etc. Not only are they incapable of making one, it runs completely against everything they’re ever learned about how to deflect, distract, discombobulate, and otherwise dodge any issue.
You could literally hold a knife to their throats and threaten to cut their heads off, as their compatriots in ISIS, Hamas, and Hezbollah have done to innocent human beings, and would still not get a clear response.
They are collectivist, statist, authoritarian Marxist/Communists. They cannot be shamed, guilted, or humiliated. Accusations of hypocrisy are utterly meaningless to them since they have exactly no standards by which they can be held. Their only “principle” is “whatever it takes”, or “by any means necessary”, which naturally include lying with a straight face. Until push comes to shove and they get the violent “revolution” for which they are constantly pushing (the outcome of which will almost certainly surprise them), about the only thing that works is to point and laugh at them…that gets under their lizard-skins.
I’ll believe something is being done when I see at least one of them doing the perp walk before being convicted of violating USC 18/Sec. 242 or 243, violation of civil rights under guise of law.
Law of War?
Do you think that all who involve in wars follow The Low of War?
USA invade Iraq 2003 how many low of war broken?
What was the civilised world reaction and punishment?
Israel have occupied land for more than 50 years also killed POW which clearly against law of war what was the civilised world?
In Qazza 2 millions Israel how may law of war broken?
Must we hate?
After 9/11 I hated President Bush for the way he was screwing up. I believed that he could and should have done much better, and I wanted to knock him into the dirt a few times, to put some sense into him.
But I did not hate Osama Bin Laden. I just wanted him dead.
Israel have occupied land for more than 3,500 years. I fixed it for you, you’re welcome.
On your earlier post: “you don’t hate the media enough.” I got to thinking and concluded that I really don’t hate the media. Hate would imply some level of acknowledgement which I simply lack. My reaction is more one of boundless contempt tempered by the same sort of wan sympathy I have for the vagrants panhandling at intersections, all but fully attenuated by the knowledge that their condition is a product of their own treacherous choices. It’s hard to imagine any circumstance that would engender anything resembling respect.
This pretty much parallels my attitude toward the “palestinians”. They have chosen to follow a succession of leaders for 77 years, each more stupid, more murderous, especially of their own people, completely impotent and more disastrous. The choices the people of Gaza have made were bad, they been paying the price and now the balloon is due.
In Qazza 2 millions Israel how may law of war broken?
You’re right. The laws of war are completely irrelevant in conflicts today. They were conjured up long ago when war involved fighting between European nations who looked forward to peaceful relations afterward. They fit poorly in a world with an endgame of extermination.
Thus, you shouldn’t be surprised that Israel is turning Gaza into an uninhabitable pile of debris. The Palestinians are reaping what they have sown. They’ve spent decades attempting to get Israel destroyed, by various means, failing miserably. Shrug.
I’d be much more sympathetic if I didn’t remember watching Palestinians jumping for joy after the 9/11 attack. Younger Americans may not remember that, but I do.
An American overseas was kidnapped…
Spare me. An Israeli citizen and IDF veteran who left the US when he was 8 was kidnapped. He was an emigrant from the US, much like how I’m also an emigrant from a different country, to the US.
I have nothing bad to say about him and I’m sorry he’s dead, but I find the reflexive characterization of him as American misguided.
Again, he emigrated from the US to Israel, surely with his family, being 8. He left the US. He left. He then served in the military of that country. I’ve read that his family begged for his life at the recent demonrat convention, which I find odd.
I left the country of my birth, with family, then served in the military of my new home- the United States- and reside here still. If I get kidnapped and killed, or murdered in a terrorist attack, or simply die in a fire, I’m pretty sure the country of my birth won’t notice or care.
Nor should they. Hence I find it bizarre that people can leave the US and get foreign citizenship and yet still demand the US save them when needed.
I’ve had enough of this, thank you. Not only that, but I’ve also read of a few Palestinians living in Gaza who are also US citizens. What happened to them?
Were they killed by the Israeli army when it rolled into Gaza? Bombed to death? Starved?
Why should I worry about the fate of Hersh Goldberg-Polin more than the fate of these un-named US citizens of Gaza?
Xennady @ September 3, 2024 at 9:35 am:
Hence I find it bizarre that people can leave the US and get foreign citizenship and yet still demand the US save them when needed.
There are clans who live overseas (mostly in the Middle East IIRC) while maintaining and exploiting American citizenship. They make sure the children are born in the US, but otherwise have nothing to do with the country. Except when there is some kind of danger or threat, when they want US diplomatic protection or to be rescued by US armed forces.
There also some clans who work the same racket against Canada.
Which really has nothing to do with Goldberg-Polin, except for the extension of citizenship.
Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead this was back in TRs day
Now we became a little sentimental even under Reagan we should have bombed the Baalbek barracks instead of the jizda that they arranged in the 80s
A reminder
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Learn-About-TR/TR-Encyclopedia/Foreign%20Affairs/Perdicaris%20Incident