Day: December 26, 2024

Nuclear-Armed Pakistan Developing Long-Range Ballistic Missile Capabilities

What could possibly go wrong?

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According to Reuters, nuclear-armed Pakistan “is developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that could eventually allow it to strike targets well beyond South Asia, making it an ’emerging threat’ to the United States.” Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer identified the nuclear-armed states with missiles capable of reaching the United States: Russia, North Korea and China. And Pakistan “is striving to join” them, while helping to destabilize the region and fueling the Axis of Evil. The Brookings Institution put forward the idea of appeasing Pakistan so as not to inflame it and escalate, but history demonstrates that appeasement never works with states that advance jihad. Any “close ties” between Pakistan and America were always based on falsehoods to begin with. Pakistan has always played a double game, steadily advancing terrorism as a state funder.

Pakistan is also as virulently against Israel for being a Jewish nation as it is against India for being a Hindu nation. It has become increasingly problematic and threatening to free societies. Consequently, the US has updated a travel advisory for Americans considering visiting the country:

Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting transportation hubs, markets, shopping malls, military installations, airports, universities, tourist attractions, schools, hospitals, places of worship, and government facilities. Terrorists have targeted U.S. diplomats and diplomatic facilities in the past.

In response, the U.S. has levied sanctions. Eurasian Times reported on December 21, 2024:

From sending its armada to support Islamabad during the 1971 war against India to sanctioning a Pakistani state-owned enterprise trying to develop long-range ballistic missiles that threaten Washington, US-Pakistan relations have come full circle.

As per the Pentagon’s assessment, Pakistan is striving to join a small list of adversaries – Russia, North Korea, and China that can strike United States territory. Islamabad’s sophisticated missile development program that brings territory outside South Asia within its striking range is inimical to the interests of the United States.

It is the first time that the US has sanctioned a Pakistani state-owned enterprise tied to missile development. Sanctions have been imposed on four Pakistani entities, including the state-owned National Development Complex (NDC), for their role in advancing Pakistan’s missile program….

As per the US assessment, the NDC is responsible for Pakistan’s development of ballistic missiles, including the Shaheen-series ballistic missiles….

The four “entities” named in the American sanctions for contributing to Pakistan’s Ballistic Missile Program are: the National Development Complex (NDC), located in Islamabad; Akhtar and Sons Private Limited, Affiliates International, and Rockside Enterprise–located in Karachi. The US Executive Order “targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.”

Pakistan’s reaction to American sanctions was an expected one. Similarly to Iran, it downplayed its nuclear intentions:

Pakistan considers the US decision to impose sanctions on NDC and three commercial entities as unfortunate and biased. Pakistan’s strategic capabilities are meant to defend its sovereignty and preserve peace and stability in South Asia. The latest installment of sanctions defies the objective of peace and security by aiming to accentuate military asymmetries. Such policies have dangerous implications for the strategic stability of our region and beyond.

With a nuclear Pakistan, America must act. Ironically, The Guardian called for peaceful diplomacy with Pakistan in 2017, which it accused Trump of “shunning.” In the words of The Guardian: “attempts to strong-arm Islamabad could push it deeper into a growing alliance with China and Russia, and lead to more instability.” Yet after four years of an appeasing Biden regime, Pakistan has escalated its threats. Trump had it right when he considered a “harsher stance” to deter Pakistan for its support of jihadist groups in Afghanistan.

Appeasement never works with jihadists, but leftists are immune to accepting this reality.

This Chanukah and Christmas, We Need Some Supersized Miracles and Joy

One of those is the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

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We definitely need some miracles and extra joy this Chanukah and Christmas.  I’d take an order, supersized.

As a holiday most profoundly based on a series of supernatural miracles and a major military victory by the Maccabees over Syrian-Hellenist enemies, this year more than ever, we need to continue to see the supernatural miracles that have taken place, the light amid the darkness and suffering, even (or especially) amid the fear and angst that war has brought.

One of the things about which we especially need miracles and prayers is the immediate return of all of the remaining 100 hostages being held by terrorists in Gaza. There’s renewed talk about a deal to secure the hostages’ release being more imminent than ever.  Call me cynical, albeit I pray for it every day, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

We know that many of the hostages are dead, but many are believed to be alive and bringing them home to Israel must be an immediate priority. The imperative and pressure to secure their release must be on Hamas and all the terrorist enablers to do so, even though they have less motivation to do so now.

Fortunately, President Trump has made his position clear: that all the hostages must be returned by his inauguration, or there will be “hell to pay.”

Unfortunately, for the terrorists, holding hostages and instilling fear and grief is their currency. The hostages are basically all they have left after a crushing military defeat, albeit one that’s not yet complete. Ultimately, while Hamas can be physically defeated, their jihadi ideology needs a more out-of-the-box solution.

While it’s likely that Trump means business, and maybe the increased optimism for a deal is a result of anticipated pressure and/or consequences, the terrorists know that once they release the hostages, they will have no cards left to play. While all Israelis desperately want the hostages released and brought home, many Israeli commentators don’t believe that all the hostages will be returned. Hamas and its Iranian backers thrive and indeed exist on the suffering of others.

Americans of my generation remember well the previous hostage crisis in 1979.   Under an impotent Jimmy Carter presidency, Iranian Islamic terrorists took over the US Embassy in Tehran and held 54 Americans hostage for 444 days. That hostage crisis ended only once President Reagan was inaugurated in January 1980.

At that point, the Iranian Islamists behaved somewhat like rational actors. Getting their feet wet in controlling a whole nation following the Islamic revolution that overthrew the Shah, they had not yet become the global sponsor of terror that they became, and are now.  They cared about what President Reagan thought and might do.  No sooner had Reagan become president, and the hostages were on their way home.

Today, twice the number of hostages remain in Gaza, arguably suffering conditions that are much worse including starvation, physical and psychological torture, no exposure to light, humiliation, brainwashing, and more. Their families are also suffering more than one can imagine.

This year, as the first day of Chanukah and Christmas coincide, we need the miracles and joy for all the hostages and their loved ones, all the more. But there’s another reason why this week matters even more.

Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but as we celebrate Chanukah and Christmas together this year, we also mark the same 444 days that American hostages were held in Iran.

It’s refreshing to have an incoming president who seems to be making the hostages being released a priority. I have contended for the past year that any American president could have forced the issue to release the hostages by exerting maximum pressure on Iran and Qatar, both of which shelter and fund Hamas and its leaders. Any American president could and should have supported Israel in doing everything and everything possible to pressure Hamas, eliminate the terrorists, and find and bring the hostages home, not equivocate and send a mixed signal that only emboldened the terrorists.

Until now, while there have been negotiations, there’s been very little by way of pressure.

There’s a simple rule in dealing with terrorists: negotiation shows weakness.   It is not a tactic to defeat the terrorists, but to kick the can down the road.  The Biden administration has enabled the terrorists more than done anything to defeat them.  They pandered and funded Iran to the tune of billions of dollars, showing even further weakness.

Among the hostages there are still several Americans. It should be emphasized that the October 7 massacre by Hamas was the third largest slaughter of Americans at any one time this century after September 11.

Americans should want all the hostages released and be prepared to make that happen, including the Americans and all the others from many nationalities including Israel. We should not have to wait for Trump’s inauguration, weeks more of suffering, but it may be that way.

This should be an important national and international priority because if Americans are not safe anywhere, they are not safe anywhere. The same jihadis that took 54 Americans hostage in 1979 are now holding 100 others. Unless defeated, they will do it again.

This Chanukah and Christmas, we need to commit that every effort must be made to have all the hostages released. As we celebrate one military defeat centuries ago, and the ensuing miracles that happened then, we can pray fervently that there will be more miracles today as well.