After retiring from the military I spent a number of years advising the US government on counterinsurgency operations in Iraq. I was in country with the Marines in Anbar province in 2007. I can state that the enemy was most certainly embedded in the population. At no time did the US forces ever contemplate using the tactics currently employed by the IDF in Gaza. Our forces were successful while employing strict rules of engagement that minimized civilian casualties. While this was often frustrating it is what civilized countries do. Israeli has crossed the line and needs to be held accountable. In addition to withholding offensive arms shipments I believe the US should strongly consider sanctions against members of the current Israeli government.
To All: Vice P”resident, Kamala Harris, on Sunday, called for “an immediate cease-fire in Gaza”, “because of the immense scale of the suffering.”This is a major development in the administration policy. It’s moving in the right direction.
I agree with Joe Cirincione and Matt Duss. Sympathy for the Israeli victims of Hamas terrorism cannot justify the slaughter of innocent women and children by Israeli forces in Gaza. The US must use its influence to oppose the policies of Netanyahu.
Joe and Matt- We will live to regret (if we don’t already) our complicity in this slaughter. We have supplied the weapons and as have given the Israelis cover at the UN and on the world stage.
Ignore the political consequences; forget the election. Basta. How many kids have to die before we do the right thing? We can’t stop the killing but we can stop the transfer of the arms that do the killing.
It seems reasonable to wonder why America has to defend Europe and fund Israel.
If the Israelis can't defend themselves with their own resources are they really a country?
America is considered an irreplaceable partner to Ukraine. Why? Counting the current struggle in Ukraine, this is the 4th time over the last century or so that America has had to defend Europe from other Europeans. One wonders, when are Europeans going to learn how to defend themselves??
In 2022, the European Union's GDP was $16 trillion, according to the World Bank. World Economics estimates Russia's GDP to be about $6 trillion. The EU is almost 3 times richer than Russia. Why can't the EU defend itself?
I support NATO and America funds to Ukraine, but still, we should be asking questions like this.
What I hear Netanyahu, and perhaps Neil Hansen, saying is this....
The conflict between Israel and Hamas will continue until one of them is dead. If true, then a ceasefire in the current Gaza war will not bring peace, but only a pause in a long pattern of fighting.
Netanyahu's plan, whether right or wrong, seems to be to bring the never ending pattern of conflict to an end by exterminating Hamas. Netanyahu is the Prime Minister of Israel. His job is to protect Israelis, not to stand back and consider the interests of everyone involved in a balanced manner.
I'm not arguing for or against any side of the argument here, and agree this is a very troubling situation. But while I have no sympathy for Netanyahu as a person, the logic of his position does have some merit.
If it's true that this conflict will continue until either Hamas or Israel is dead, the sooner somebody wins and somebody else loses, the sooner the war between Hamas and Israel ends. If the conflict endlessly continues, sooner or later it will involve WMD, and then everyone on all sides will lose.
What Israel is doing in Gaza in not only justified but necessary because of what Hamas did. The IDF is destroying Hamas militarily, that is the mission it has been given.
What Kristoff and you seem to forget is in Ukraine the government there did not spend the years after the earlier Russian invasion embedding its military forces and infrastructure into the civilian population in order to maximize the civilian cost of any further Russian aggression. Quite the contrary, it made provisions to protect its civilians and successfully evacuated millions of women and children to neighboring countries that welcomed them. Compare that to Hamas and the reaction of Egypt (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar,…) which has steadfastly refused to entertain the idea of accepting refugees. Woman and children are dying in Gaza because Hamas fights in a manner to maximize such deaths not because Israel is acting indiscriminately.
Any diplomatic pressure should be directed at Egypt to accept women and children refugees and Qatar.
This is so predictable and pathetic. It is exactly what Hamas counted on when it perpetrated the largest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.
Voices in the West demanding Israel, not Hamas, surrender to protect the lives of Palestinians Hamas intentionally placed and continues to place in harms way.
Is it clear now Hamas knew better than all those voices, including mine, who were certain it had over played its hand on Oct 7.
What did you expect a war to destroy Hamas was going to look like? Hamas has spent more than a decade preparing a battlefield in Gaza meant to maximize civilian casualties specifically to elicit this reaction in the West. It knew those voices would not place the blame for the civilian suffering where it belongs but on Israel.
The only result your proposal will accomplish is to save Hamas from destruction and ensure the continued existence of a terror state in Gaza.
After retiring from the military I spent a number of years advising the US government on counterinsurgency operations in Iraq. I was in country with the Marines in Anbar province in 2007. I can state that the enemy was most certainly embedded in the population. At no time did the US forces ever contemplate using the tactics currently employed by the IDF in Gaza. Our forces were successful while employing strict rules of engagement that minimized civilian casualties. While this was often frustrating it is what civilized countries do. Israeli has crossed the line and needs to be held accountable. In addition to withholding offensive arms shipments I believe the US should strongly consider sanctions against members of the current Israeli government.
To All: Vice P”resident, Kamala Harris, on Sunday, called for “an immediate cease-fire in Gaza”, “because of the immense scale of the suffering.”This is a major development in the administration policy. It’s moving in the right direction.
I agree with Joe Cirincione and Matt Duss. Sympathy for the Israeli victims of Hamas terrorism cannot justify the slaughter of innocent women and children by Israeli forces in Gaza. The US must use its influence to oppose the policies of Netanyahu.
Joe and Matt- We will live to regret (if we don’t already) our complicity in this slaughter. We have supplied the weapons and as have given the Israelis cover at the UN and on the world stage.
Ignore the political consequences; forget the election. Basta. How many kids have to die before we do the right thing? We can’t stop the killing but we can stop the transfer of the arms that do the killing.
As to suspending arms to Israel...
It seems reasonable to wonder why America has to defend Europe and fund Israel.
If the Israelis can't defend themselves with their own resources are they really a country?
America is considered an irreplaceable partner to Ukraine. Why? Counting the current struggle in Ukraine, this is the 4th time over the last century or so that America has had to defend Europe from other Europeans. One wonders, when are Europeans going to learn how to defend themselves??
In 2022, the European Union's GDP was $16 trillion, according to the World Bank. World Economics estimates Russia's GDP to be about $6 trillion. The EU is almost 3 times richer than Russia. Why can't the EU defend itself?
I support NATO and America funds to Ukraine, but still, we should be asking questions like this.
What I hear Netanyahu, and perhaps Neil Hansen, saying is this....
The conflict between Israel and Hamas will continue until one of them is dead. If true, then a ceasefire in the current Gaza war will not bring peace, but only a pause in a long pattern of fighting.
Netanyahu's plan, whether right or wrong, seems to be to bring the never ending pattern of conflict to an end by exterminating Hamas. Netanyahu is the Prime Minister of Israel. His job is to protect Israelis, not to stand back and consider the interests of everyone involved in a balanced manner.
I'm not arguing for or against any side of the argument here, and agree this is a very troubling situation. But while I have no sympathy for Netanyahu as a person, the logic of his position does have some merit.
If it's true that this conflict will continue until either Hamas or Israel is dead, the sooner somebody wins and somebody else loses, the sooner the war between Hamas and Israel ends. If the conflict endlessly continues, sooner or later it will involve WMD, and then everyone on all sides will lose.
What Israel is doing in Gaza in not only justified but necessary because of what Hamas did. The IDF is destroying Hamas militarily, that is the mission it has been given.
What Kristoff and you seem to forget is in Ukraine the government there did not spend the years after the earlier Russian invasion embedding its military forces and infrastructure into the civilian population in order to maximize the civilian cost of any further Russian aggression. Quite the contrary, it made provisions to protect its civilians and successfully evacuated millions of women and children to neighboring countries that welcomed them. Compare that to Hamas and the reaction of Egypt (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar,…) which has steadfastly refused to entertain the idea of accepting refugees. Woman and children are dying in Gaza because Hamas fights in a manner to maximize such deaths not because Israel is acting indiscriminately.
Any diplomatic pressure should be directed at Egypt to accept women and children refugees and Qatar.
This is so predictable and pathetic. It is exactly what Hamas counted on when it perpetrated the largest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.
Voices in the West demanding Israel, not Hamas, surrender to protect the lives of Palestinians Hamas intentionally placed and continues to place in harms way.
Is it clear now Hamas knew better than all those voices, including mine, who were certain it had over played its hand on Oct 7.
What did you expect a war to destroy Hamas was going to look like? Hamas has spent more than a decade preparing a battlefield in Gaza meant to maximize civilian casualties specifically to elicit this reaction in the West. It knew those voices would not place the blame for the civilian suffering where it belongs but on Israel.
The only result your proposal will accomplish is to save Hamas from destruction and ensure the continued existence of a terror state in Gaza.