Category: Iran

How the U.S. Should Respond to Attacks by Iran-Backed Houthis on American Ships

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/how-the-u-s-should-respond-to-attacks-by-iran-backed-houthis-on-american-ships;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The Americans are trying to tamp down the possibility of an escalation of the war, by sending a diplomat to Israel to persuade Jerusalem not to raise the level of violence in Lebanon. Instead of doing that, the Bidenites should try another tack. They should first of all respond to the attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis on American and other ships. On October 10, a missile attack from Yemen targeted a guided missile destroyer, the USS Mason, but both missiles fell short; neither hit the ship. Nonetheless, the Americans did not at once respond by hitting Houthi targets in Yemen to discourage future attacks. On November 10 the Americans did send an MQ-9 Reaper drone toward Yemen, but the Houthis shot it down before it got to the country. And there have been no American attacks, as yet, on the Houthi bases in Yemen.

Now the Houthis have struck yet again, seizing a cargo ship in the Red Sea. The ship has been described as British-owned and Japanese-operated, but the Houthis claim it is “Israel-linked,” because, they assert, the ship is “owned by an Israeli.” This may be true: the ship, the Galaxy Leader, may only seem to be “British-owned” because it was registered in the Isle of Man, but it was to a company, Ray Car Carriers, which is a unit of Tel Aviv-incorporated Ray Shipping, according to LSEG data. In any case, even if the Israeli connection can be proven, seizing ships on the high seas, holding onto both them and their cargo, is a violation of international law. Israel and the Houthis, a stateless terror group that is a proxy of Iran, are not formally at war.

Why doesn’t the American military launch a major series of airstrikes on Houthi targets, both in response to the Houthi missile attacks on the USS Mason, to the shooting down of the MQ-9 Reaper drone, and finally, for its act of piracy in seizing the Galaxy Leader? Such an attack would be welcomed by Israel, which at the moment has its hands full in Gaza and would be much relieved to have the Houthi problem taken care of by the American military. Saudi Arabia and the UAE would also welcome an American attack on the Houthis. That would be one less worry for the region, and one more worry for Iran.

Finally, the American ships in the two carrier groups off the coast of Lebanon are well-positioned to attack Hezbollah. On what grounds could Washington do so? The Americans have a score to settle with Hezbollah, which back in 1983 blew up a Marine barracks near Beirut, killing 241 Marines. Hezbollah, like Hamas, is a designated terror group. 

As long as those American carrier groups are in the eastern Mediterranean, Hezbollah is unlikely to provoke a major war with Israel. It has already seen the severe American attacks on Iranian proxies and allies in Iraq and Syria, in response to attacks on American bases in those two countries. It will continue launching missiles at Israel, about 30 a day, as it has been since October 7. All it takes, however, for such a war to start is if another Hezbollah attack were to kill a large number of Israelis in northern Israel, or for Kataib Hezbollah, the pro-Iran militia in Iraq, to kill American soldiers, which so far it has not managed to do. Hezbollah now fears not just the IDF, which has demonstrated in Gaza the ferocity of its war-fighting capabilities, but also those powerful American carrier groups in the eastern Mediterranean that could inflict such huge damage on the Islamic Republic. Would Iran enter such a conflict on the side of Hezbollah, which would mean facing both the IDF and the American military? I don’t think Iran has a death wish. Do you?

China Justifies Hamas’ Terror Attack on Israel~Xi’s solidarity with Iran.

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SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/china-justifies-hamas-terror-attack-on-israel/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.


[Make sure to read Joseph Klein’s contributions in Jamie Glazov’s new book: Barack Obama’s True Legacy: How He Transformed America.]

The Communist Chinese dictatorship refused to condemn Hamas’ invasion of Israel and the terrorists’ savage massacre of approximately 1200 Israelis on October 7th, including babies, children, women, and the elderly. Instead, it denounced Israel’s military counter-offensive against the genocidal monsters and has repeatedly conducted a ceasefire that would keep Hamas intact to conduct further brutal attacks against Israeli civilians.

Palestinian acts of violence fit the Chinese regime’s paradigm of so-called “people’s resistance” against Western imperialism and oppression. Thus, it treats Islamist terrorists like Hamas with kids’ gloves. And the regime’s leaders herald their solidarity with the Palestinian terrorists’ state sponsor, Iran.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, for example, had a phone call with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian eight days after Hamas’ slaughters and abductions. During the call, Mr. Wang Yi offered the same justification for Hamas’ brutality on October 7th as Hamas’ ardent supporters have done in their protests around the world. According to China’s own official government readout of the call, China’s Foreign Minister “emphasized that the fundamental reason for the development of the Palestine-Israel situation today is that the Palestinian people’s right to statehood has been put on hold for a long time, their right to survival has not been implemented for a long time, and their right to return has been ignored for a long time.”

However, when the Chinese regime perceives a serious challenge to its own authority from dissident groups such as the Uyghur Muslims, the regime’s official line is to treat them all as if they were dangerous extremists. Uyghurs have been severely punished for resisting the government’s actions to forcibly wean them away from their religion and culture.

For example, after Uyghur Muslims were accused in 2014 of killing about 29 people and injuring over 130, China’s President Xi Jinping did not hesitate to label the Xinjiang region where the Uyghurs live as China’s “frontline against terrorism.” Xi called for an all-out “struggle against terrorism” and to show “absolutely no mercy.”

The state-controlled Global Times ran an article entitled “Nothing justifies civilian slaughter in China’s ‘9-11.’” The article declared that “A nationwide outrage has been stirred. Justice needs to be done and terrorists should be punished with iron fists.” The regime’s mouthpiece added that “Anyone attempting to harbor and provide sympathies for the terrorists, calling them the repressed or the weak, is encouraging such attacks and helping committing a crime.”

Hamas slaughtered at least 1200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, in one day, which has been described as Israel’s 9/11. This would be equivalent to killing nearly 40,000 Americans based on the comparative populations – about 13 times the number of people that al Qaeda’s terrorist attacks killed on 9/11. Yet when Israel undertook its counter-offensive, showing no mercy for the terrorists, President Xi called for an immediate ceasefire, which would allow the terrorists to regroup and rearm for more October 7-like attacks that Hamas’ leadership has threatened.

Aside from evincing the surging anti-Semitism in China that we are seeing worldwide, the Chinese regime’s pro-Hamas stance can be explained in terms of its geopolitical, economic, and domestic objectives.

China has a close alliance with Iran, as well as with Russia and North Korea, which reflects these authoritarian governments’ shared opposition to what they perceive as Western powers’ imperialistic control of the rules-based world order. As part of its strategic challenge to the United States’ number one superpower status, China has been steadily expanding its footprint in the Middle East.

China has pointed to its role in brokering the normalization of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran as proof that China can be a more effective peacemaker in the region than the United States. “China’s success in brokering Saudi Arabia-Iran talks may serve as an exemplary role in solving Palestine-Israel conflicts,” boasted a reporter for the Global Times a day after Hamas’ attack.

China is Iran’s number one customer for oil. At the same time, China is Iran’s major supplier of military technology, small arms, tactical ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles. Iran uses oil revenues from its sales to China, facilitated by the Biden administration’s lax enforcement of sanctions against Iran, to finance Hamas and Iran’s other terrorist proxies.

It is true that China has also maintained a lucrative trading relationship with Israel. However, China’s dependency on Iran for a discounted supply of oil and its attempt to supersede the U.S.’s influence in the Middle East has moved China into Iran’s corner and, by extension, into the corner of the terrorist proxies that Iran supports.

“China supports Iran, Iran supports Hamas, and Beijing has a hand in this as well,” Gatestone Institute senior fellow Gordon Chang said in a televised interview on October 16th.

Last February, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi in Beijing to further strengthen China’s relationship with the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism. “In the face of the current complex changes in the world, times, and history, China and Iran have supported each other (and) worked together in solidarity and cooperation,” President Xi said. “No matter how the international and regional situation changes, China will unswervingly develop friendly cooperation with Iran,” he added. They met again in August while in Johannesburg, South Africa to attend the BRICS summit where President Xi extended his congratulations to Iran for becoming a member of BRICS.

In between President Xi’s two meetings this year with his Iranian counterpart, President Xi welcomed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Beijing where they agreed to a strategic partnership. Xi said that he supports “the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights.”

The Chinese regime is using Israel’s conduct of its war with Hamas as a wedge issue to divide the United States and the Arab countries that back the Palestinians’ demands, including Saudi Arabia. The Chinese propaganda machine is portraying the United States’ opposition to an immediate ceasefire as proof to Arab Muslim countries, including those that the U.S. has helped to move closer to Israel, as proof that the U.S. cannot be trusted. China also sees the benefit of siding with the Sunni Arab countries in their support for the Palestinian cause as a way to dissuade them from publicly objecting to China’s repression of the Uyghur Muslims.

Staff reporters for the Global Times, the regime’s state-controlled propaganda outlet, wrote that the Israeli-Hamas conflict was “partly caused by Western colonization and exacerbated by US-biased Middle East policies.” The writers followed the party line in portraying China as impartial and willing to facilitate negotiations to resolve the conflict.

China’s notion of “impartiality” is to demand that Israel agree to a comprehensive ceasefire now, placing its civilians in danger of more deadly attacks by rejuvenated Hamas terrorists. The Chinese regime expects Israel to take the terrorists’ word that they will abide by the terms of a permanent ceasefire, even after Hamas has promised a “perpetual war” to destroy Israel and slaughter more Jews.

“China always opposes all forms of terrorism,” President Xi said in 2015. Another big lie from the Chinese Communist regime, as proven conclusively by China’s criticism of Israel’s fight for its survival against Iran’s chief Palestinian terrorist proxy, Hamas..

As Iran Wages Proxy War on Israel, Biden Mulls Giving $10 Billion to the Mullahs

When you can't make it clearer where you stand on the Hamas-Israel war.

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SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/as-iran-wages-proxy-war-on-israel-biden-mulls-giving-10-billion-to-the-mullahs;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.


[Make sure to read Robert Spencer’s contributions in Jamie Glazov’s new book: Barack Obama’s True Legacy: How He Transformed America.]

Old Joe Biden couldn’t make it clearer where he stands on the Hamas-Israel war if he screamed “Allahu akbar” and blew himself up in a crowd of Jews.

The alleged president demonstrated, for anyone who was paying attention, which side he is really on in the Hamas-Israel conflict when he went over to Israel in late October and met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He took the opportunity to announce that he was giving $100 million to Gaza, which means, despite his denials, $100 million to Hamas, as there is no entity in Gaza that is not controlled by Hamas and could both receive this money and keep it out of the hands of the terror group. As if that weren’t bad enough, now Old Joe and his henchmen are considering sending $10 billion to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the chief funder of Hamas. Yes, it’s so far beyond outrageous that it is coming up on outrageous from the other side, but it’s true nevertheless.

The Washington Free Beacon reported Monday that “the Biden administration may approve a sanctions waiver on Tuesday that will allow Iran to access at least $10 billion in previously frozen funds held in Iraq.” Displaying an admirable talent for understatement, the Free Beacon noted that this is “driving concerns that the Biden administration is maintaining financial avenues for Tehran as the country’s terrorist proxies foment chaos across the Middle East.”

Now, why would the Biden regime even consider freeing up billions for Iran while the “Death to America, Death to Israel” regime is bankrolling not only Hamas, but Hizballah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in their jihad war against the Jewish state? There are three possibilities: the regime is either stupid, or evil, or both. In this case, the most likely answer is the third: the sinister, senescent, faux-folksy corruptocrat and his cronies are as clueless as they are immoral. Oh, and wrongheaded, and a hundred other things.

Biden and his team are stupid insofar as they apparently still believe that showering money upon the Islamic Republic will lead that rogue, terror-supporting regime to moderate its practices and possibly even grow friendly toward America and possibly even Israel. This is a ridiculous idea for the State Department wonks and foreign policy “experts” to have, but they have it nonetheless; in fact, American diplomacy has largely consisted of efforts to buy friends internationally for many decades now.

This seldom works with anyone, but it is particularly doomed to fail when tried in the Islamic Republic of Iran, where the rulers believe the Qur’an when it says: “And the Jews will not be pleased with you, neither will the Christians until you follow their religion.” (2:120) Efforts at winning hearts and minds are often seen through this prism, as cynical attempts to begin to lure pious Muslims away from Islam. But of course they have no idea of this in Foggy Bottom, where they’re all bound to believe the iron dogma that Islam is a religion of peace that not only has nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism, but nothing whatsoever to do with contemporary geopolitics.

The evil part of this bargain comes from the fact that if the regime really does manage to send $10 billion to the mullahs, a large part of it, if not all of it, will go for the jihad against Israel. When Barack Obama sent pallets of unmarked bills to Tehran in the dark of night, much of it ended up going to jihad terror groups. What are the chances that at least some of Old Joe’s $10 billion would end up with Hamas, Hizballah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad? Oh, about one hundred percent.

In response to such concerns, the Biden regime is pretending yet again that the American people have no idea of the most basic principles of economics. It insists that if it does send this $10 billion, it will be earmarked only for humanitarian purposes. The basic lesson of economics here is that getting $10 billion from the United States will free up $10 billion that the Iranian regime would have spent on food for its people, but which can now go to kill Israelis.

The new speaker of the House, in a classic example of failing to notice about fifty elephants in the room, just said that there wasn’t enough evidence to impeach Joe Biden. Well, the fact that the regime is even thinking about sending money to an avowed enemy ought to get Old Joe not only impeached but tried for treason. But for that, we’d need some genuine opposition that had some guts.

How Iran Fuels the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Why the Islamic Republic has to keep the fire going.

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SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/how-iran-fuels-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.


Many observers suggest that the elimination of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), or ending their role in Gaza, could lead to lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Proponents of this view often assume that Hamas and PIJ are autonomous, unitary actors, overlooking the influence of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has played a significant role as a peace spoiler in the region. As long as the Islamic Republic’s peace-spoiling efforts are not fully acknowledged and countered, peace between Israelis and Palestinians will remain elusive.

The Islamic regime in Iran, founded in 1979, espoused “the most radical anti-Israeli or anti-Zionist” position in the Muslim Middle East. In a theological innovation, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the new regime, asserted that liberating Jerusalem from the “Zionist enemy” and its return to Muslim hands was a precondition for completing the Islamist revolution and the return of Mahdi, the Shiite 12th Imam.

The regime has started to practice “redemptive anti-Semitism,” a highly virulent form of antisemitism that considers the physical annihilation of the state of Israel to be one of its highest callings. The obsessive focus on Jerusalem has also served a realpolitik purpose. Since the Saudi Kingdom, the main rival of Khomeinism, was the custodian of Mecca and Medina, Khomeini tried to even the playing field by declaring the Muslim shrines of Jerusalem to be of equal value and essentially appointing Iran as its custodian.

Having created this mission, the regime took actions ranging from using merely abusive language to violently foul actions to point out its commitment to obliterating Israel from the face of the earth. Calls for the destruction of Israel, referred to as “the Little Satan,” were a feature of Quds Day, a large annual event to express support for the Palestinians and opposition to Zionism.

However, the new regime had limited resources to confront powerful Israel directly. Instead, they adopted the low-cost strategy of engaging in conflict through proxy groups, which allowed the regime to avoid direct confrontation. The Islamic Republic has spent the last four decades building a network of nineteen terrorist organizations on Israel’s borders, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as 16 other terror groups in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. These proxies enabled Iran to engage in conflict with Israel from multiple fronts.

This highly successful strategy helped the regime to make significant inroads in the Middle East and to encircle Israel from all fronts. Through this strategy, the regime was able to gain strong influence in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, as well as in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad have morphed into radical sub-state actors, virtually able to control their respective territories.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its foreign terror operation unit, the Qods Force, provide these proxy groups with money, training, and weapons to use against the Jewish State. Iran not only provides terror proxies with advanced rockets and armed drones but has also helped them develop drone and missile production facilities of their own, creating a sophisticated arsenal within range of Israeli cities.

The IRGC trained proxy groups to use several asymmetrical tactics against Israel (and the US forces in the region), including kidnappings, hijackings, and suicide bombings (also known as the poor man’s smart bomb), as well as roadside bombings deployed against US and IDF forces to inflict maximum casualties. The IRGC also trained proxies to disperse weapons, infrastructure, and fighters among the civilian population and in local houses and public institutions, mosques, and hospitals to minimize the cost of their actions. They use civilians as human shields, regardless of whether they are killed when the enemy bombs those infrastructures in retaliation.

On several occasions, Israeli leaders were willing to make peace with Palestinians. However, the Iranian regime has categorically opposed it and used its proxy networks to undermine peace efforts.

For instance, when Palestinians and Israelis engaged in peace talks in Oslo and Madrid in 1990 and 1991, the regime in Tehran was greatly alarmed by the prospect of a peace deal and rushed to create a “rejectionist front” to scuttle the deal. As a matter of fact, regime leaders admitted that peace in the region would further isolate them, and challenge not only their revolutionary ideology but also their geopolitical ambitions. For instance, Masoud Eslami, an official in the Iranian Foreign Ministry, wrote, “If the Arabs were to get closer to Israel, Iran would become even more isolated. And then Israel would be in a position to turn itself into a major problem for Iran.” Thus, the regime had no recourse but to order Hamas and Hezbollah to derail the peace talks.

After the initiation of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the Islamic Republic promptly organized the International Conference in Support of Palestine in Tehran. At this conference, they offered financial support to Hamas and the PIJ. The regime declared Iran’s readiness to engage in jihad for Palestine’s liberation and pledged to combat Israel alongside Palestinians if necessary. Following this, Palestinian jihadi groups escalated their activities and intensified suicide attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. They also abducted and killed numerous Israelis, aiming to undermine the peace supporters in Israel.

Despite increased efforts, the Israeli intelligence and security services had little luck in preventing the jihadist suicide attacks from mushrooming. As a result, public opinion in Israel turned sour on the peace process, effectively ending any remaining hopes for peace.

Iran’s peace-spoiling blueprint was also visible in the collapse of the Camp David II talks. Despite a generous offer from Ehud Barak – a virtual return to the 1967 borders, a Palestinian capital in the Abu Dis neighborhood, and a condominium in the Holy Basin – Yasser Arafat strangely refused. Several assumptions were offered for Arafat’s sudden change of mind, among them possible intimidation from Iran.

During the late spring and summer of 2000, the IRGC-QF increased training and funding for Palestinian militants. When Ariel Sharon, the opposition leader, decided to visit the Temple Mount on September 28, the jihadists were ready to turn the mass unrest into a new Intifada. They received broad support from Tehran. Between 2001 and 2003, the Israeli Navy intercepted three vessels carrying Iranian and Hezbollah weapons, including Karina A. The latter was purchased by an associate of Arafat and loaded with Iranian weapons in the port of Bandar Abbas.

The goal of the Iranian regime has never changed. The regime continues to undermine peace and create a situation that prevents Israelis and Palestinians from reaching a deal because peace would further isolate Iran. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said his regime will continue to support Palestine and bless Jihad against the enemies of Islam, (a reference to Israel), and that the only solution for peace is “the elimination of the Zionist regime.”

Iran’s peace-spoiling blueprint was visible in the Hamas October 7th terrorist attack against Israel. The regime coordinated and ordered Hamas to initiate this conflict with Israel to complicate any attempts by Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel. The Islamic Republic views normalization between Israelis and Saudis as a devastating blow to its revolutionary export doctrine.

Every time Israelis and Palestinians (and Arab nations) work towards a peaceful Middle East, Iran’s Islamic regime intervenes to disrupt these efforts. From a theological standpoint, a peaceful Palestine undermines the regime’s objective of liberating Jerusalem. Consequently, regardless of the destruction of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as long as Tehran’s regime exists with its eschatological beliefs, it will vehemently oppose any solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and attempt to thwart it.

Farhad Rezaei is a senior fellow at the Philos Project.

Forty drone and rocket attacks launched at U.S. forces by Iranian-backed militias in three weeks

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/forty-drone-and-rocket-attacks-launched-at-u-s-forces-by-iranian-backed-militias-in-three-weeks;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

It’s now laid bare for the whole world to see: the Palestinian “resistance,” funded by Iran, and openly supported by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, is all about Islam. Israel was left with no choice but to defend itself from attempts to obliterate it by Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and surrounding jihadist groups. A confrontation between Iran and the US is already escalating. America is sliding toward the brink.

In the last three weeks, “at least 40 separate drone and rocket attacks have been launched at U.S. forces by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.” One of the attacks was caught on camera in the tweet below:

Biden has now found himself in a situation where he can no longer afford to appease the Islamic lobbies with which he made a pact. Normative Islam is supremacist at its core, and will not compromise, as America and the West now face off against the jihadis in what was an inevitable battle. Israel’s battle in Gaza against Hamas will not stop with Israel. Islam seeks a global caliphate, and Israel, being the tiniest, lone non-Muslim state in the conquered Middle East, stands as an affront to Islam. Hence the persistent attacks by Arab states, which began upon Israel’s founding. Even before that, Jewish immigration to the homeland of the Jews was violently “resisted” by Muslims.

Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for the Middle East Dana Stroul confirmed: “Hamas has been using civilians as human shields, has blocked the delivery of humanitarian aid, and continues to hold at least 200 civilians.” And that the “department’s commitment to Israel’s right to defend itself from terrorism is ‘ironclad.’”

It isn’t new information that Hamas has been using human shields, while the Palestinian Authority teaches and hails “martyrdom.” Palestinian children even attend jihad summer camp.

It isn’t only the Muslim Brotherhood offshoot Hamas that is being fought. Islam and jihad conquest are central to this escalating Gaza battle.

“US forces under fire in the Middle East as America slides towards the brink,” by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Ahmed Rasheed, Reuters, November 9, 2023:

WASHINGTON/BAGHDAD, Nov 9 (Reuters) – A defective drone in Iraq may have helped keep America from being dragged deeper into a widening Middle East conflict.

The drone, which was launched at the Erbil air base by an Iranian-backed militia before sunrise on Oct. 26, penetrated U.S. air defenses and crashed into the second floor of the barracks housing American troops at about 5 a.m, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

But the device laden with explosives failed to detonate and in the end, only one service member suffered a concussion from the impact, said the officials, who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely about the attack. The U.S. had got lucky, they added, as the drone could have caused carnage had it exploded.

The incident was among at least 40 separate drone and rocket attacks that have been launched at U.S. forces by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria over the past three weeks in response to American support for Israel in the Gaza war, according to Pentagon data and the two U.S. officials….

 

Hizballah unveils powerful Russian-made anti-ship missiles as Iran proxies step up attacks on Israel and US

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/hizballah-unveils-powerful-russian-made-anti-ship-missiles-as-iran-proxies-step-up-attacks-on-israel-and-us;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Iran’s proxy war against Israel and the U.S. is escalating. Iran’s most powerful proxy, Hizballah, has now warned of a regional war if Israel continues its action in Gaza, and has unveiled “powerful Russian anti-ship missiles” as a “threat against U.S. warships.” This week, despite American warnings not to escalate, Hizballah fired 20 rockets into Israel, “setting off sirens in the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights.” Hizballah is calling Iran’s proxies the “Axis of Resistance.”

Meanwhile, at least 45 U.S. service members have reportedly been injured in attacks from Iran proxies, nineteen of them with traumatic brain injury. To Iran and its proxies, the exchange of fire with America and Israel is nothing less than jihad, while the West downplays the critical importance of this fact.

According to the doctrine of Mahdism, part of preparing for the reappearance of the 12th Imam is removing all obstacles and barriers to his return. Against this backdrop, Iran’s hardline clergy affiliated with the IRGC claim religious hadiths state that the “Jewish state will be destroyed before Mahdi’s arrival.” According to these accounts, which are legitimized through religious scripture, “Sh’ia Muslims will be on the side of the war against Jews” prior to the reappearance of Mahdi. As such, the collapse of
“Israeli regime and Zionist Jews” at the behest of “Iran and the Resistance Axis” will take place “prior to the emergence of Mahdi.”

The Mahdi is the Shias’ 12th Imam, aka the Hidden Imam.

Only a no-nonsense maneuver of deterrence could possibly keep Iran at bay. America’s longtime policy of appeasement under Obama and Biden is clearly ineffective.

“Hezbollah’s anti-ship missiles bolster its threat to US navy,” by Laila Bassam and Tom Perry, Reuters, November 8, 2023:

BEIRUT, Nov 8 (Reuters) – Powerful Russian anti-ship missiles acquired by Hezbollah give it the means to deliver on its leader’s veiled threat against U.S. warships and underline the grave risks of any regional war, sources familiar with the group’s arsenal say.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned Washington last week his group had something in store for the U.S. vessels deployed to the region since war erupted last month between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel, shaking the wider Middle East.

Two sources in Lebanon familiar with the Iran-backed group’s arsenal say he was referring to Hezbollah’s greatly enhanced anti-ship missile capabilities, including the Russian-made Yakhont missile with a range of 300 km (186 miles).

Reports by media and analysts have for years indicated that Hezbollah acquired Yakhont missiles in Syria after deploying there more than a decade ago to help President Bashar al-Assad fight a civil war….

Washington says its Mediterranean naval deployment – comprising two aircraft carriers and their supporting ships – aims to prevent the conflict from spreading by deterring Iran, which backs groups including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad….

Nasrallah said in a speech on Friday that the U.S. warships in the Mediterranean “do not scare us, and will not scare us”.

“We have prepared for the fleets with which you threaten us,” he said….

Senators to introduce legislation threatening to strike Iran if it expands conflict In Middle East

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/senators-to-introduce-legislation-threatening-to-strike-iran-if-it-expands-conflict-in-middle-east;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The jihad against the State of Israel does not stop with Israel. The phrase “First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people” indicates what jihad will follow. The explicit goal of Islam is a global caliphate. Israel stands as the one tiny non-Muslim nation in the Middle East and has been fighting for its existence since its founding for precisely that reason.

Open-door immigration policies have enabled a vast flood of Sharia-adherent immigrants and even jihadists to enter America and other Western countries at will. History has proven that when Muslim populations rise, so do the numbers of Sharia-adherent believers. Iran is the world’s chief Shia nation, the biggest threat to Israel, and is also a big threat to America. Should the Iran-backed war on ISIS-like Hamas escalate to include Hizballah, it will be catastrophic for Israel, as well as for American interests. Deterrence of Iran is as important as the war on Hamas.

“Senators To Introduce Resolution Threatening To Strike Iran If It Expands Conflict In Middle East,” by Nicole Silverio, Daily Caller, November 5, 2023:

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut are set to introduce legislation threatening to strike Iran if the country expands the conflict in the Middle East.

The two senators are backing the non-binding resolution as the Iranian-backed militia group Hezbollah has raised tensions on the Israel border in Lebanon and attacked U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq. The Pentagon recently sent 900 additional troops to the Middle East to combat the Iran-backed militia attacks on U.S. forces.

“Israel is begging us to deter Iran, they don’t want the war to widen,” Graham said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. “If any of our troops are killed in Syria or Iraq by Iranian-backed militias, I think that’s an expansion of the war. So the resolution puts Iran on notice that all this military force in the region will be coming after you if you expand this war by activating Hezbollah or killing an American through your proxies in Syria or Iraq and they need to hear that, they need to believe that.”

“It’s aggressive, but it’s absolutely necessary,” Blumenthal added. “And it’s not only in Israel’s explicit interest, they will support this deterrence and the key word here is deterrence. The purpose of the resolution is to deter Iran. By showing, we’re gonna be behind the president as he seeks to stop the war from widening or escalating.”…

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps top dog: Oct. 7 massacre was ‘greatest success of the Islamic world’

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/irans-islamic-revolutionary-guards-corps-top-dog-oct-7-massacre;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

“The Islamic world.” Not “Palestine.” Not “Gaza.” Not even “the Arab world.” Islam is central to understanding this conflict, yet all the mainstream analysts in the Western world, without exception, ignore it and pretend it plays no role in the conflict whatsoever.

“October 7 was ‘greatest success’ of the Islamic world – Iranian IRGC official,” Jerusalem Post, November 4, 2023:

The October 7 invasion and massacre of Israelis by Hamas is “the greatest success of the Islamic world,” Sardar Abolfazl Shekarchi, Iran’s deputy for culture and defense propaganda of the General Staff of the IRGC, said in celebration of the massacre, as per the Iranian state-owned Tasnim news agency.

The October 7 attack took the lives of 1,400 Israelis, including children and civilians.

Shekarchi’s statement read: “The greatest success of the Islamic world after the Al-Aqsa storm operation is the consensus of the nations of the world against the oppressive and bloodthirsty Zionist regime.” Hamas refers to the October 7 attack at the “Al-Aqsa storm.”

“Standing up against global arrogance is one of the greatest achievements of the Islamic Revolution, which has been gifted to the oppressed…of the world,” he continued.

“After the heroic, successful, victorious, and pride-breaking operation against Israel, most of the NATO member countries support Israel and their oppression of the oppressed people of Gaza has become more and more visible.”…

Islamic Republic of Iran says US will ‘be hit hard’ if there is no ceasefire in Gaza

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/islamic-republic-of-iran-says-us-will-be-hit-hard-if-there-is-no-ceasefire-in-gaza;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Funny how Rashida Tlaib and Nihad Awad are advocating the same course of action as Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani, Iran’s Minister of Defence.

“Iran’s chilling threat to America over Israel: Islamic regime says the US will be ‘hit hard’ if no Gaza ceasefire is implemented – after Tehran-backed Hezbollah terrorists warned of escalation on Lebanon border,” by Nick Craven and Summer Goodkind, Daily Mail, November 5, 2023:

Iran has issued a chilling threat to the United States, telling them it will ‘be hit hard’ if no ceasefire is implemented in Gaza, amid new fears that Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza could escalate.

Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani, Iran’s Minister of Defence, emphasized the urgency, stating: ‘Our advice to the Americans is to immediately halt the war in Gaza and implement a ceasefire, otherwise they will be hit hard.’

But Mr Blinken rejected a ceasefire, insisting it would only give Iranian-backed Hamas a chance to regroup following its horrific attack on Israel on October 7, killing 1,400 civilians and taking more than 240 hostage.

Instead, Mr Blinken pressed for ‘pauses’ in the fighting to allow civilians to evacuate from the battleground of Gaza City and the northern part of the enclave, which is being pounded with heavy Israeli artillery barrages as the war passes its 30th day.

The uncompromising tone was echoed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who pledged at an air force base: ‘There will be no ceasefire without the return of our hostages, we say this to both our enemies and our friends. We will continue until we beat them.’

Another senior Iranian government figure ramped up the tension with the West still further.

Mohammad Reza Naqdi deputy leader of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said: ‘If Israel’s crimes continue, we should strike America’s interests,’ without specifying how….

Two Dozen US Soldiers Injured in Iran-Backed Attacks Last Week

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/10/two-dozen-us-soldiers-injured-in-iran-backed-attacks-last-week;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The ayatollahs are getting impatient that their $6 billion check from Biden hasn’t arrived.

The ayatollahs are getting impatient that their $6 billion check hasn’t arrived in the mail. And they do like celebrating the 40th anniversary of their great triumph… the Marine Barracks bombing.

So they spent a little time trying to kill American soldiers. Again.

At least two-dozen American military personnel based in Iraq and Syria were injured in drone attacks last week that officials said were launched by Iran-backed proxy groups.

The largest attack carried out against a US base was on Oct. 18 when 20 troops suffered “minor injuries,” after numerous one-way drones targeted the al-Tanf Garrison in southeastern Syria, US military officials said, according to the Washington Post.

On the same day, multiple drones also targeted the US and its allies in two different attacks on Ain al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq that left four people with minor injuries, the Washington Post reported. Those injured also returned to duty.

A US citizen working as a contractor died the same day after he went into cardiac arrest during a shelter-in-place order at the base.

The Pentagon has said the groups behind the attacks are supported by Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

It’s natural to assume that this is a response to the current situation in the region, but the depressing thing is that it’s not even new.

The two elements that jump out at most people (1. Iran launching attacks on U.S. bases and (2. the White House not even mentioning it… have been around for quite a while.

Here’s my article on it from Jan 2022.

Two more terror drones targeted American forces deployed to fight ISIS at the Al Asad air base. The base has been repeatedly hammered by Iran-backed rocket attacks over the past year, most notably when 14 rockets struck the base over the summer causing several injuries.

There were repeated Iran-backed rocket strikes against Americans in Iraq throughout the last year totaling an estimated 25 separate attacks under the Biden administration.

On September 11, two drones launched an attack on U.S. forces at Erbil International Airport.

Then, as now, the Biden administration limited American military personnel to defensive preventative air strikes against the Shiite terror groups carrying out the attacks.

This was going on long before the current Hamas attack and the Israeli response. Or before we directed more forces to the region.

American soldiers have been killed and worse still, we’re funding their killers. And I don’t just mean with that $6 billion.

While some U.S. conflicts with Jihadists in the region are old news, Kataeb Hezbollah fired rockets at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad in 2019 and has bombed U.S. bases in recent years. Kataeb Hezbollah killed two American soldiers in 2020: Army Spc. Juan Miguel Mendez Covarrubias and Air Force Staff Sgt. Marshal D. Roberts.

Politicians and the media have mostly ignored the fact that Americans are continuing to be killed in Iraq, that the Iraqi government is funding their killers, and that we’re funding Iraq.

While Iraq funds Iran’s terror militias, the United States funds the UN Development Programme to “stabilize” Iraq and has invested over $100 million into “conflict, peace and security” funding.

The United States has spent over $1 billion financing the nation’s military while Iraq spends billions financing the Iranian PMU terror militias which are expected to approach a quarter of a million Jihadis.

Did you hear any mention of Air Force Staff Sgt. Marshal D. Roberts?

On March 14, 2020, Roberts lost his life when enemy fire engaged with his unit at Camp Taji. With rockets flying, Roberts and his friend took cover. They discussed running to a bunker but not without considering if they could make it to safety. Roberts told his fellow Airmen to go and get her body armor. As his friend left, a rocket landed, taking his life. In losing his own, Roberts saved another.

Her body armor.

Do we talk about any of this? No. And then suddenly we notice it and wonder what’s going on. Iran keeps attacking us and trying to kill us. And Biden keeps trying to cut a deal while warning against offending Iran.

Arizona House Candidate Abe Hamadeh Urges Biden to Declare Iranian-Backed Houthi Forces as Terrorists

GettyImages-1439034426-1-800x534.jpg

Arizona Attorney General candidate Abe Hamadeh participates in a border security roundtable with law enforcement officials at the Cochise County Sheriff's Office on November 04, 2022, in Sierra Vista, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

OAN’s Daniel Baldwin
2:30 PM – Monday, October 23, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/arizona-house-candidate-abe-hamadeh-urges-biden-to-declare-iranian-backed-houthi-forces-as-terrorists/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Republican Candidate for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District Abe Hamadeh has called on the Biden Administration to reclassify the Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen as a foreign terrorist group.

“What we’re witnessing right now in the Middle East is a complete lack of diplomacy and a complete destruction of the US State Department’s initiative in the Middle East,” Hamadeh told One America News.

Hamadeh’s push came after the crew of the USS Carney shot down cruise missiles and several drones launched by Houthi forces in Yemen. Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder claimed he couldn’t say “for certain” what the missiles and drones were targeting, but he said the missiles were “potentially towards targets in Israel.”

“It doesn’t surprise me that the Houthi rebels decided to fire off missiles,” Hamadeh said. “They see this huge power vacuum happening because of a lack of American leadership.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken removed the terrorist designation from the Houthi forces after President Joe Biden took office.

“Joe Biden, the month he took office, he decided to declassify the Houtt Rebels as a terrorist organization,” Hamadeh said. “By the way, we were still getting missiles coming from them when he decided to do that.”

“Designation of a foreign terrorist organization like Hamas is a critical part in order to put pressure on these groups,” Hamadeh continued. “So other countries are able to not be trading with them, not be banking with them. It also limits military sales to them.”

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US warship intercepts missiles/drones launched by Iran-backed Houthis toward Israel

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/10/us-warship-intercepts-missiles-drones-launched-by-iran-backed-houthis-toward-israel;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Iran is becoming increasingly agitated over the Israel war on Gaza and has now apparently decided to enter the war via its proxies. The regime is so desperate that it “strong-armed the Tehran Jewish community into condemning Israel on its Telegram channel for its efforts to defeat Iran’s ally, Hamas.”

Iran has been relentlessly bashing and threatening Israel since the launch of Israel’s Operation Swords of Iron. According to another report from Iran International:

The head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Peyman Jebelli, conveyed a message that they are preparing to broadcast news of Israel’s disappearance from the scene. He stated, “Israel is digging its own grave and won’t last beyond 2040.” His rhetoric echoes Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s previous comments from 2015.

Iran is the funding source behind Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hizballah, as well as other proxies in Syria and militias in Iraq. Iranian proxies are operational far beyond the Middle East. The world’s chief Shia nation is now so emboldened that its Syrian proxies are targeting American bases with drones as tensions in Gaza escalate. Hizballah, meanwhile, fired anti-tank missiles at IDF forces near Lebanon’s border as Lebanon prepares to evacuate.

Despite the West’s longtime appeasement of Iran, the Iranian regime has made no secret of its ambitions, nor of its own violation of the disastrous 2015 nuclear deal. Iran never had any intention of scaling back its uranium enrichment, which is clearly directed toward making a nuclear bomb. As the Israel war on Gaza escalates, it is important also to recall that Shia Iran ascribes to a doomsday theology, which has persistently been ignored by the mainstream media, despite its significance.

The Hidden – or Twelfth – Imam plays a dominant role in one specific form of Shi’ite Islamic theology, called “Twelverism,” which happens to be the primary belief system of Iran’s leadership. There is a messianic belief that at the end of days, the Hidden Imam will appear in the midst of a violent apocalyptic scenario played out on a battleground stained with infidels’ blood.

Western leaders must wake up if it isn’t already too late.

“US Navy Warship Intercepts Missiles, Drones By Iran-Backed Houthis,” Iran International, October 19, 2023:

A US Navy warship on Thursday intercepted three cruise missiles and several drones launched by the Iran-backed Houthi militants from Yemen.

While Washington is on heightened alert for activity by Iran-backed groups as regional tensions soar during the Israel-Hamas war, the Pentagon said that the projectiles were potentially fired toward Israel.

The Pentagon said the destroyer USS Carney was operating in the northern Red Sea on Thursday when it brought down the projectiles and there were no injuries.

“We cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting, but they were launched from Yemen heading north along the Red Sea, potentially towards targets in Israel,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters.

Earlier in the day, US forces in Syria also brought down two hostile drones, leading to some minor injuries. The attack took place on Wednesday against US forces at Al-Tanf base, near Syria’s borders with Iraq and Jordan. Unnamed US officials did not say who was responsible for the attack, but Iranian backed militia groups have targeted the bases multiple times in the past.

Obama, Iran and the Road to Gaza

We’re still living out the consequences of Obama’s worldview.

 by  

SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/obama-iran-and-the-road-to-gaza/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.


[Make sure to read Daniel Greenfield’s contributions in Jamie Glazov’s new book: Barack Obama’s True Legacy: How He Transformed America.]

In 2014, Hamas kidnapped and killed three teens, including Naftali Frenkel, an American 16-year-old. “I’ve murdered three Jews,” the killer boasted.

As Israel battled Hamas, Obama called for a ceasefire. “I have no sympathy for Hamas. I have great sympathy for ordinary people who are struggling within Gaza,” he argued while describing the terrorists as having behaved “extraordinarily irresponsibly”.

“The US goal right now would be to make sure that the ceasefire holds, that Gaza can begin the process of rebuilding,” Obama said and urged that there needs to be “some prospects for an opening of Gaza so that they do not feel walled off.”

After the fighting died down, the Palestinian Authority asked for $4 billion to rebuild Gaza, the international community pledged $5.4 billion with $212 million of it coming from America.

“The people of Gaza do need our help, desperately,” Secretary of State John Kerry claimed.

The ceasefire which allowed Hamas to rearm and rebuild was one in a series that led directly to the horrors in the Israeli communities near Gaza attacked by the murderous Islamic group.

Obama’s pivot on Hamas was part of his pivot on the Muslim Brotherhood. When he delivered his ‘New Beginning’ speech in Cairo in 2009, he specifically requested that the Muslim Brotherhood attend as he not only called for a ‘Palestinian’ terrorist state inside Israel and negotiations with Iran but also legitimized Hamas which is an arm of the Brotherhood.

“Hamas does have support among some Palestinians, but they also have to recognize they have responsibilities.  To play a role in fulfilling Palestinian aspirations, to unify the Palestinian people, Hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, recognize Israel’s right to exist,” he told an audience that included members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Hamas responded warmly to the outreach. Hamas boss Khaled Mashaal praised “Obama’s new language towards Hamas” and described it as “the first step in the right direction.”

Obama had made a point of reaching out to Hamas and to both of its key backers: the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran. On taking office, he had received letters from both Hamas, which “congratulated Mr. Obama on his presidency and reminded him that he should live up to his promise to bring real change to the region”, and from key national security figures, Brent Scowcroft, who provided advice to him, Chuck Hagel, his future defense secretary,

Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter’s national security adviser, Paul Volcker, the head of Obama’s economic recovery board, along with other notables, urged him to talk to Hamas.

“I see no reason not to talk to Hamas,” Scowcroft, a longtime advocate of Iran appeasement, had argued. The national security figure was especially influential with Obama gushing, “I love that guy.” And what Obama offered was much better than words..

Earlier in 2009, the Obama administration promised to provide $900 million in aid to help “rebuild” Gaza after fighting that began when Hamas was caught digging a tunnel to kidnap Israelis. The donation was announced in Egypt by Hillary Clinton who promised that the money would not end up in the “wrong hands”, but made no mention of Hamas.

Despite that promise, Obama administration officials told Congress that the money needed to be allocated even if Hamas were to become part of a ‘unity’ government with the PLO. The unity government never happened. Instead, Hamas drew Israel into a series of clashes that ended with ceasefires and reconstructions funded by American aid that left the terrorists stronger.

In March 2014, Rob Malley, who had been dumped by the Obama campaign for his contacts with Hamas, was brought back in and made a senior National Security Council director and then the White House Coordinator for the Middle East. When Obama pressured Israel to stand down and accept a ceasefire after the kidnapping and murder of three Jewish teens, Malley was at the wheel. After Hamas survived, Malley moved on to become Obama’s lead negotiator on the Iran deal. He became Biden’s special envoy to Iran until he was sidelined when the FBI began investigating him for mishandling classified information.

Malley had described Hamas as a misunderstood organization victimized by “misinformation”.

When Obama took office, Iran was torn by internal strife and Hamas was struggling to hang on to Gaza. By the time he left office, Iran had benefited from sanctions relief and used that money to tighten its grip on Syria, Iraq, and Yemen (not to mention Lebanon.) Obama’s Arab Spring delivered significant amounts of weapons and rockets to Gaza from Libya, By 2019, Hamas was receiving $30 million a month from Iran. More recently it benefited from the trade in weapons abandoned in Afghanistan. All the negotiations made Iran and Hamas much more powerful.

And this was not an accident.

The Hamas atrocities in the last day of the High Holy Days were a direct result of Obama’s foreign policy which empowered Islamists and undermined American allies. Hamas was the beneficiary of not only regular rebuilding programs after every clash with Israel but also of the newfound wealth and power of Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Obama replaced Bush’s flawed agenda of democratizing enemy nations with something much worse, Islamizing allied nations. The Arab Spring and the Iran Deal had disastrous consequences for every allied country in the region. The effects on Israel were more subtle. It handled the Syrian Civil War on its border without being significantly affected by it and survived Egypt’s brief experiment with Muslim Brotherhood rule. Iran’s rise posed a grave threat, but also spurred some Arab Muslim Sunni enemy nations to form the Abraham Accords alliance.

And yet Obama’s foreign policy had a corrosive effect on Israel that few were aware of. Hamas rocket attacks increased in volume and range. Regular conflicts were settled with ceasefires. Israeli leaders came to rely on a defensive strategy, building up the Iron Dome program, while remaining confident that high-tech tools, surveillance cameras, drones, and sensors, would enable it to manage any crisis coming out of Gaza. That has proven to be disastrously wrong.

The mindset that made Israel so vulnerable came from the modus vivendi imposed by the Obama administration. Rather than trying to defeat or at least cripple Hamas, Obama had pressured Israel, as he had Egypt and the PLO, to make Hamas a partner. Israeli leaders were encouraged to find ways to incentivize good behavior by Hamas. Such programs led the previous leftist Israeli government to offer 20,000 work permits for Gazans to enter Israel.

Those Gazans scouted Israeli communities and took part in the brutal Hamas attacks.

Obama had corrupted both America and Israel into adopting the worldview that Islamic terrorism could not be defeated, only managed by making deals with even the worst possible terrorists. Hamas was treated as a rational actor that could be co-existed with as long as it had something tangible to gain from avoiding conflict. This same philosophy underlay the massive aid programs to rebuild Gaza after every war which provided Hamas with weapons and money.

It was and still is the philosophy behind the Iran Deal and in every attempt to reach an accommodation with Islamic terrorists. Foreign policy appeasers claimed to be realists and argued at every turn that the jihadists were reasonable and could be dealt with.

“We may disagree with them, but they have their own rationality, that’s the one thing to understand. These are not—none of them are crazies,” Rob Malley spoke of Hamas. “If you want to take Hamas at its word, its long-term objective is the destruction of Israel. But that’s not a practical or realistic goal, even for them,” Brent Scowcroft said dismissively.

The negotiations and agreements with Hamas and Iran, not to mention the Taliban, advocated by the realists fell apart badly. A political and military leadership, and diplomatic corps which had absorbed the nonsensical propositions of the realists was unable to see it coming. Its members refused to evacuate the embassy from Kabul until the very last minute because they were convinced that the Taliban were going to join a unity government. They are still trying to cut an interim nuclear deal with Iran. And they didn’t see a Hamas attack coming.

All the calculations of co-existence were wrong. The ideas that the Obama administration had passed off as reasonable, sensible, and credible were actually delusions unmoored from reality.

“Diplomacy is the art of saying ‘Nice doggie’ until you can find a rock,” Will Rogers had quipped.

That is still how our enemies practice diplomacy, but we keep saying ‘nice doggie’ without ever looking for a rock or realizing that we even need one. Saying ‘nice doggie’ has become a magical incantation that continues to be invoked no matter how often it fails.

Defeating Hamas and neutralizing Iran are more than military problems, they require the unlearning of the foolishly dangerous ideas injected into the establishment under Obama.

Barack Obama opened the road to Gaza with his outreach to the Muslim Brotherhood and the Iran Deal. Closing the door on Hamas will require also closing the door on Obama’s legacy.

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