By Col. Bill Connor ——Bio and Archives--December 16, 2023
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Since the Oct. 7 massacre and rape of over 1,200 Israelis by Hamas, Israel has been attempting to both free the over 200 kidnapped hostages and destroy Hamas. Because Hamas retreated back into Gaza after the mayhem and embedded itself among the civilian population, Israel has been forced to fight within those civilian areas.
Hamas has not only burrowed itself under and around civilian places like hospitals and schools but has ordered civilians not to leave and killed some of those attempting to do so. Under these circumstances, Israeli has warned civilians to leave areas before strikes against Hamas but has inadvertently killed Gazan civilians.
In a recent interview on CNN, IDF Spokesman Lt. Colonel Jonathan Conricus told Erin Burnett the following about a 2-to-1 civilian to Hamas ratio of deaths: “I can say that if that is true—and I think that our numbers will be corroborated—if you compare that ratio to any other conflict in urban terrain between a military and a terrorist organization using civilians as their human shields, and embedded in the civilian population, you will find that that ratio is…. perhaps unique in the world.”
To kill over 5,000 Hamas terrorists, around 10,000 civilians have died. These civilian deaths are being highlighted by Hamas supporters in a sustained “information operations” campaign against Israel with much success in inflaming many who miss the context. A question raised by primarily the political left in America is whether it is in the interest of America to support Israel. This demands a firm answer as to why our support for Israel against Hamas is in our national interest.
First, Hamas killed over 30 Americans on Oct. 7 and took over a dozen American hostages. Because Oct. 7 saw the most Jews killed since the Holocaust, many have missed the outrage of that many Americans tortured/murdered and taken hostage.
To give some perspective, in 1986 intelligence showed Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi was behind a terror attack which killed two people at a disco frequented by U.S. service members in Europe. President Reagan’s response was overwhelming and involved over a hundred U.S. warplanes and 60 tons of ordnance directed against Libyan military targets and Gaddafi’s residential compound.
Of note, Gaddafi was one of the most anti-Israel of all Arab leaders and fomented terrorism directed at Israel. The national interest was clear in the message: You kill Americans you pay a heavy price. Right now, Israel’s response against Hamas is helping American interest in sending the message that Oct. 7 will never be tolerated and those involved with be destroyed.
Second, Hamas is part of the worldwide Muslim Brotherhood Islamist movement which seeks to harm America, overthrow Arab governments, and rebuild a modern Islamic Caliphate. They seek to conquer and put all of what they believe to be Islamic land, including Israel, under Sharia law, in which non-Muslims (whether Christian or Jewish) are treated as second class citizens and rights of minorities and women are destroyed. They advocate violent “Jihad” against “Infidels” to spread Islam worldwide. Hamas is open in its 1988 charter in a genocide of Jews and the reason for the slogan “From the River to the Sea.” Europe is already suffering Islamist terror and coercion to support the aims of Hamas with an early ceasefire. As we learned on Sept. 11, 2001, the Islamist threat is not targeting solely Israel and will only become more emboldened if Israel is gone.
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Ironically, the Islamist movement is using many progressive Westerners as “useful idiots” to help further the Caliphate and Islamic conquest, even though that means the end of most Progressive passions like women’s rights and LGBTQ rights.
Third, Israel has been a stalwart ally of the United States for decades. It aligned with the U.S. against the Soviets during the Cold War, while Palestinians and other Arab nations were on the other side. After Israel’s victory in the 1967 war, the worldwide communist movement made Israel a target of Marxist terrorism. For example, the famous Israeli Airline hijacking to Entebbe, Uganda involved primarily German communists acting on behalf of the Palestinian cause. Before the 1991 Gulf War, Israel had destroyed Saddam’s nuclear capability. During the Gulf War Israel held off retaliating against Saddam’s SCUD attacks to help American interest then. Israel has provided the U.S. critical intelligence. It agreed to the peace plans the U.S. has helped broker, like the Multi-national Forces and Observers mission which I was a part in the mid-1990s. Israel and the U.S. are both allies against the Iranian regime which evidence shows helped Hamas plan Oct. 7 and helps groups attacking U.S. bases.
Lastly, Israel is the only true functioning Democracy in Middle East, upholding Constitutional rights of citizens regardless of religion (there are around two million Arab Muslim Israeli citizens in Israel while the Palestinian and other Arab lands have no Jews). This has helped set an example and allowed for American companies to thrive in Israel. We need to support Israel destroying Hamas for the interest of Israel and America. We may lose some tepid “allies” in the near term, but we will have furthered our long-term interests with our rock-solid ally.
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