Shortcut to Statehood————

A Commentary

By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

There apparently is more than one way to become an independent nation. People can rebel against an unjust ruler and fight an honorable, voluntary war of independence for freedom, as we did. Countries can seek independence from their colonial rulers. Another apparently would be to launch a sneak attack on your despised next-door neighbor, murdering them while they slept, torturing and mutilating those who woke. Recall the lurid details. Some pregnant women had their fetuses ripped from their bodies and were dragged through the streets while Hamas members and many Palestinians cheered and danced in the streets.  Hundreds of Israelis, including Americans, were taken hostage to be used as bargaining chips. Infants were roasted in ovens while their parents watched.

Painful as it is to review these sordid, inhuman events, it is necessary in order to ensure that Hamas and other Iranian proxies do not survive to ever fight again or rule anything. The only option should be unconditional surrender. The world is rightly sickened by the bloodshed and suffering of the victims of this brutal war of attrition, but Hamas will never agree to those terms. And so it is a waste of time to try negotiations again, as I have said numerous times.

President Donald J. Trump has promised to end this war.  He has not succeeded. He seeks a deal with his name on it.  The world cares nothing about his “deals”. They want an end to the killing and a two-state solution. That’s been tried before, and it doesn’t work.  Hamas negotiators simply lie and stall for time to regroup and plan future attacks.  Israel, the strongest economy and closest ally in the Middle East, has said “enough,” and has demanded unconditional surrender and release of all the hostages. No “deal”!

So over 140 sovereign nations have taken matters into their own hands and recognize a Palestinian state anyway. Over 12 are European nations. Some say that they will detain Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others designated by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China do not recognize.  Now, France, our traditional ally and NATO member, has joined the group to recognize a state of Palestine.

Palestine favors a two-state solution.  This should not be on the table or even in the room, for discussion. It will prolong the war and is a slap in the face to Trump. It calls for strong sanctions. Hamas is pledged to the death of Jews and Americans and is thus an enemy of the U.S.  Higher tariffs alone may not be enough.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in a post that “the urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops, and the civilian population is saved.” It is not an urgent thing for us. The urgent thing today is that Hamas and other Iranian proxies not just be defeated but destroyed, and that there are not more October 7ths.

Mr. Macron’s approval record at home is a pathetic 17%. He is no longer much of an influence. The UK has joined France in planning to recognize Palestine as a state.  This is a shortcut to statehood. It would not work and mean defeat for Israel’s costly war of attrition and seen by many Palestinians as justification for the October 7th attack. Iran and its proxies must be permanently defanged.

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The Silence of Our Citizens—————-

A commentary

          By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

            Our national economy is booming again. It may not seem so to Joe Sixpac who struggles to pay the rent, put food on the table, or doesn’t own a table to put it on or a roof to put the table under. There are, in that respect, two economies, Main Street and Wall Street. Born during the Great Depression when Herbert Hoover was president, we were sometimes known as the silent generation. We were too young to serve in World War II. However, we were far from silent.

            We supported the war effort in every way we could. It seemed like it was our duty. We recycled newspapers, old tires (after they were worn to the fabric), batteries and scrap metal, carrying it in our red wagons and using the money we made to buy savings bonds and stamps. We were involved and loud about it and supported family members and friends in uniform. Our cars wore “A” stickers and we nursed each drop of gas.

            We wrote songs and musical comedies with memorable lyrics because they made sense and contained a moral message. Today’s lyrics, if you can understand them at all, are quickly forgotten by most of us who don’t understand them. Some of the finest American music was produced by that generation of composers including Oklahoma!, Carousel, Show Boat and South Pacific that ran for years on Broadway and later became blockbuster movies. Classical composers like Samuel Barber, Jerome Kern and Richard Rogers became world favorites.

            High school graduation music featured the sweet strains of “When You Walk Through a Storm” by Rogers and Hammerstein II. Who could forget Cyd Charise dance in Carousel or Shirley Jones and Gordon MacCrea sing anything together. Paul Whitman’s orchestra accompanied, of all people, crooner Frank Sinatra’s performance of “Old Man River”. Lena Horne’s beautiful voice pierced the summer night with a sweet rendition of “Summertime” (and the living is easy). Jerome Kern produced hit after hit and George Gershwin gave us “Rhapsody in Blue”, “Symphony No. 1” and “Porgy and Bess”.

            The opposition party today is loud in volume but silent in substance. A recent CNN poll put the Democrat Party favorable rating at a record low 30%. Small wonder since it nominated a socialist to run America’s largest city who was quoted as saying that seizing the means of production is something we “firmly believe in”. He refuses to disavow the slogan “globing the intifada”. Demonstrations get noisier but don’t change anything except to inconvenience productive people trying to get on with their lives. This is not a path to winning in the midterm elections. Democrats are obviously out of useful things to say.

            Today many campuses spew anti-semitism and chant senseless slogans. Schools are still maintaining different standards for applicants depending on race. For example, 93 public medical schools were surveyed for 2024 admission data. 22 0f them responded, admitting that accepted black students had lower MCAT scores than Asian and white applicants that were not accepted. In other words, little has changed since 2023 in this regard.

            Another thing that hasn’t changed is the size of the Navy battle fleet and the lack of a sufficient maritime fleet or the defense infrastructure to build one. Both parties can take the blame for this and it is probably too late to catch up to China and yes, numbers do matter. We have many bases that are vulnerable over a wide area. It remains a mystery where the shipyard workers will come from for the shipyards we say we are going to build when we can’t staff the ones we have. Again, the silence is deafening.

            It will take an economic miracle of growth and strong enough alliances to deter Beijing. Pray for miracles. 

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A Ship By Any Other Name——————–

A commentary

            By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

            “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” 

                        -William Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet)

            Liberals have their hair on fire over the renaming of the Navy’s replenishment ship USNS Harvey Milk, who was assassinated in 1977 while serving as a City Supervisor in San Francisco following a tour of duty in the Navy.  Mr. Milk was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California and he was discharged from the Navy at a time when the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was in effect.  He had been critical of the Navy’s policy, as were many others, so the naming of a Navy ship after him was somewhat controversial at the time.  The USNS Harvey Milk was built at NASSCO ship yard in San Diego and its commissioning was a high- profile effort. 

            I’m personally not in favor of changing the names of historic places like streets, schools, public buildings, and especially ships regardless of who they are named after.  They are part of our history.  But does it matter to the crews or sponsors?  You bet it does so a brief bit of history over the ship naming process may be in order.  The US Navy is probably the most tradition bound of the armed forces.  The Army may be older having won our independence from the Brits but the Navy traces it traditions and customs back to the Royal Navy of Jack Aubry’s “Master and Commander” days.  The customs and traditions are almost superstitious and many a brawl has erupted over an insult, imagined or real, involving a ships name.

            The secretary of the Navy is responsible for naming ships and the protocol was largely standard practice.  Aircraft carriers were named after famous battles or sometimes Presidents and sometimes prominent friends of the Navy or a Navy hero like Chester Nimitz.  Small carriers were named after small battles, and those that were built on the hulls of cruisers usually retained their cruiser name.  Battle Cruisers were named after territories (at the time there were 3: Hawaii, Guam, and Alaska).

            Heavy cruisers were named after larger cities or state capitals. Light Cruisers were named after smaller cities (some are no longer small and some are no longer large). “Large” and “heavy” referred to the size of the main batteries, not the weight of the ship, which was determined by the weight of the water that the hull displaced. Destroyers were named after Navy or Marine heroes or foreign maritime leaders like Winston Churchill or multiple members of a gold star family like the USS The Sullivans.  Escorts (now called frigates) were named after them as well.  Oilers and other replenishment ships were named after rivers or mountains, destroyer tenders after US national parks.  I had command of USS Dixie, a destroyer tender. Was the crew fond of their ship? You bet they were.  Tank landing ships were eventually named after counties. I was executive officer of USS Westchester County, after years of her being known only by her hull number, LST1167. (Ships are female gender.)  Submarines were named after fish, later after cities and some after states. 

You get the point. I’m sure there was politics involved but not as much as today.  Most people who followed the Navy war news knew what kind of ship they were talking about by its name. Sailors were proud of their ship’s name. Some connoted the warrior-spirit (e.g. USS Strong, USS Bull, USS Gladiator, etc.). Others, not so much: (USS Sister Souljourner, USS Nuthatch, USS Pokomoke, and my all-time favorite, USS Woodpecker, for a wooden-hull minesweeper. (I’m not making this up).  To make it more confusing, it was and still is customary to announce the arrival and departure on board of the captain or other officer in command regardless of rank by just the name of his or her command such as “Woodpecker arriving/departing” (sounds like bad news for a wooden ship.)  It was known as quarterdeck honors and was also intended to alert the quarterdeck and duty officers that the captain was returning or departing or that some other officer in command was arriving or departing after a visit. When a ship was named after the City of Corpus Christi, Texas, Catholics were opposed to naming a lethal warship after a saint. Actually, it was named after the city.  The name had to be changed to the “City of Corpus Christi”.

            I won’t even get into all the differences in rank and rank devices.  I’ll save that for another tutorial in Navy terminology. For instance, a Navy captain is equal to a colonel in the other services; a Navy lieutenant to a captain.  Commodore is not a rank; it is the title of an officer in charge of a group of ships. Rear admiral officers (upper and lower half) in the Navy both wear two stars and are often referred to as just “admiral”.  The Navy tried calling the lower half “commodore” which was very unpopular with these officers who wanted “admiral” in their title.  The Navy reverted to the rear admiral (lower half) title.

A ship, rank or title by any other name would definitely not be the same. Customs and traditions matter.

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When Our Cause Is Just——————–

A commentary

            By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

            There is a large group of Democrat anti-Trumpers who oppose everything that President Donald Trump does or says. There is a correspondently large group of conservative Republicans who agree with everything that he does or says. Both are misguided and are to blame for much of the rancor that divides us. Mr. Trump is not a threat to democracy. He was elected by the voters twice with a mandate. The voters were concerned with the lack of leadership during the Biden administration and they wanted someone who could get things done. But Mr. Trump is not superman. He is a human being and all of us are fallible but he does get things done that needed doing.

            But not everything did. It was unnecessary, for example, to lash out at Israel using a profanity on national TV for heavy bombing strikes on Iran just before the cease fire that he prematurely had announced was to take effect. It was decidedly un-presidential. That’s Trump being Trump, his supporters will say. Well, I for one, do not want my president throwing F-bombs around when the family is watching the evening news. He did criticize the Iranians as well for the same thing but, as far as I’m concerned, they deserve criticism for indiscriminate bombing of Israel. Israelis at least attempt to avoid civilian casualties which is nearly impossible when the terrorists hide among them and use them as human shields.

            Mr. Trump wants credit for a deal to end the war. He also seems to crave a Nobel Peace Prize. There’s too much ego involved here. A true leader is more concerned that the job gets done than who gets credit for it. We shouldn’t have to kiss Mr. Trump’s backside as well as his ring to stay in his good graces. I give most of the credit to the Air Force and the Navy for the successful bombing of the hardened Iranian Nuclear targets but, of course, I’m biased, too.

            Our cause in this conflict is just. It is to eliminate a threat to us and the western world and an existential threat to our ally, Israel by the world leading exporter of terrorism. It is also to support Israel, the Middle East’s only democracy with every reasonable request without trying to manage Israel’s war for survival from comfortable and safe offices in Washington. That’s how we lose wars like Vietnam.

            Mr. Trump wants the parties to negotiate a deal brokered by him so we may be heading back to a so-called peace process with promises by the mullahs that aren’t worth the paper they’re written on because they lie and stall to buy time to regroup and attack again. We deny that we seek regime change but of course we wish it. Much of the public seems to believe that the Iranians would welcome American continued intervention much as the Russians expected the Ukrainians to welcome their Russian brothers but I’m less optimistic. The Iranians have had half a century to revolt since the Shah was overthrown. We overthrew the Brits over a tax on tea.

            The Iranians are not a homogeneous population. It is a complex mixture of Persians, Shia and Suny Muslims many of whom believe that God is on their side and chant death to the Great Satan and to Isreal the little Satan. To disagree may be considered apostasy and punishable by death. In Tehran there has been an “Israel Clock” which counts down the time until 2040 which is the date by which some of them believe that Israel will cease to exist. The Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has already indicated that surrendering to any nation is already out of the question so this will be another exercise in futility.

•  *     *

A reader excoriated me for” launching a broad, sweeping, patronizing, pompous screed against women, complete with instructions” as to how they should behave. (Letters, June 25), I respectfully disagree. I specifically wrote that they could ignore this advice which was intended to be humorous. The truth is, I spent much of my active duty time advocating for women’s causes and my essay “Women in Warships: A Right to Serve” won me a 1980 U.S. Navy Institute Author of the Year award. I wrote it while commanding a Guided Missile Cruiser and said that any women, properly trained, was capable of performing any duty on a ship such as mine. I later helped manage the integration of women in ships while assistant chief of staff at COMSURFPAC and was the point of contact for CINCPACFLT. This was at a time when women in ships weas not popular with much of higher authority. I also commanded one of the first ships with women assigned. I was recognized for these accomplishments by a women’s advocacy group. I’m proud of these accomplishments. No good deed, it often seems, goes unpunished, but thanks for the comment.  

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Too Late for Negotiations—————–

A commentary

            By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

            As this is written, Israel and Iran had finally gotten around to slugging it out in an air war, negotiations having repeatedly failed. The Mullahs, as usual did not keep their word and continued to enrich uranium to near-weapons grade, preach death to Americans and Jews, and remain dedicated to driving the Jewish state from the Middle East into the sea. Nevertheless, President Donald Trump, anxious to get credit for a deal, and Bejamin Netanyahu have agreed to a cease fire.

            Israel had quickly gained control of the air space above Iran. The Islamic Republic could do little about it, having suffered extensive damage to its missile launchers and air defenses from Israeli precision attacks. Air superiority could have enabled Israel to finish the job of ensuring its survival, not just for awhile or until the new “sheriff” left office in 2028 but for the foreseeable future. The world and the United States could have benefited from a more permanent removal of a leading source of international terror. Negotiations, I believe, must involve regime change. It’s really late for negotiations to end this conflict permanently. The victors should now decide the terms of surrender. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s only choices should be three: (1) unconditional surrender now or (2) resume fighting until they do or (3) there is nothing left to surrender.

            Even with regime change and total destruction of its nuclear facilities, it could take generations to socialize radical Iranians to stop teaching their children to hate Americans and Jews and praying for their destruction. The radical Islamists believe that God is on their side. Israelis can’t live with a threat like this this forever and neither can we. Sooner or latter you have to believe they actually mean it. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, of course, is unlikely to agree with these choices so a continued war might have been Israel’s best option for now and with control of the airspace and none of their boots on the ground it would have been like shooting fish in a barrel, which is not to trivialize the risks and the tragedy of continued loss of lives. It should, however, have gotten gradually easier as Israelis took out more air defense facilities and infrastructure and displaced Iranians fleeing Israeli attacks experience what it’s like to fight another nation determined to defend itself much like what the Russians have discovered in Ukraine.

            If this sounds harsh, well, it is. War is hell. It needed to be deterred but that failed, too. It’s an article of faith that it’s better to keep adversaries talking than fighting. Not always. Not when one side uses talks to regroup and prepares for more attacks. Congress must have forgotten how to declare war but they still refer to bloody conflicts like this as wars. There are 535 members of Congress. I’ll wager well over half consider themselves defense experts. Aside from some committee members, that’s not part of their traditional functions which include legislating, funding the armed forces, and approving articles of war when requested by the Commander-in-Chief, the President of the United States. Many members of the mainstream media and some of the demonstrators seem to believe that they are defense experts, too.               

            Having sustained devastating losses from Israeli air attacks, it is little wonder that Iran sought a return to negotiations. But that train should have already left the station. It’s too late for negotiations. We shouldn’t be negotiating with terrorists anyway, particularly when one side is pledged to the other’s death and destruction.

            Israel is the only Jewish homeland. Its population of about nine and a half million is squeezed into a country slightly smaller than the size of our state of New Jersey. It has a prime coastal setting but was otherwise barren before Israeli settlers turned it into a beautiful, productive area. The Islamic Republic of Iran with its population of 91,567,538 is many times larger at 836,772 sq. miles and is oil-rich. Yet, Israel has the most powerful military in the region and a strong economy. It is truly amazing what this tiny nation has accomplished and I believe that it will change the way wars are planned and fought for decades to come. The lessons learned are already pouring in.

            There is no reason why Israel should not have taken advantage of its current military advantage until the threat of terrorist attacks from Iran and its proxies no longer exist. It was important that Trump didn’t go wobbly and look for deals that aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. It’s essential that he supports our strongest military ally in the area with whatever it needs to prevail. He’s to be commended for using the GBO-57 30,000 lb. bunker busters and the B-2s to transport them. Ridding the world of this menace permanently, would go a long way toward repairing the damage to our prestige and trustworthiness as an ally caused by the disgraceful botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.

To those who fear becoming entangled in another overseas war, here’s a breaking news alert as they say. We are already entangled. We have vulnerable bases and people in the area. The good guys need to win this one decisively and soon. China, Russia and North Korea will be watching as will our allies. If this cease fire and negotiations fail as they have in the past, remember you heard it here. Ayatollah you so.

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Profanity for Beginners—————–

A commentary

            By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

            Have you noticed the increase in the use of profanity among women? I’m old-fashioned, I guess, but I find it very unbecoming.  The argument for it I suppose, is that it attracts attention. But it just makes me wince.  I spent over 30 years in the Navy, back when I was advocating for assigning women to warships and certain other combat roles, I cautioned women service members that they really didn’t need to imitate male behavior and they just should be themselves and get the job done. They already had the authority they needed. Most males that use excessive vulgarity were probably vocabulary-limited anyway, and couldn’t think of anything more constructive to say.

There have been some recent examples of females resorting to excess vulgarity in public meetings and it looks like we’ve got trouble right here in RiverCity and it starts with “F” and it rhymes with a swear word and it stands for fool.  A speaker was expressing her views at a recent meeting of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors which according to an article in the big city newspaper across the bay, was punctuated by vulgarity and a threat.  Specifically, she used the “F—” bomb and also said someone’s days were numbered. 

According to the article, nobody flinched, including any of the elected supervisors.  Experts say that such insults and language are not unusual at public meetings like those held by the San Diego Board of Supervisors.

Of concern here is not the random use of profanity or course language in everyday life although that is a turn off for many.  As a general matter, government may not regulate speech because it is offensive to some in attendance.  But when it’s disruptive and interferes with the purpose of a meeting by a legislative body, steps should be taken by the chair to remove the distraction.  The right of free speech is not absolute.  There are times and circumstances where fighting words, threats, and sexual vulgarity are so shocking to some attendees that it can’t help but be distracting.  Rude, obscene, and fighting language discourages those who might otherwise run for public office or volunteer on committees or commissions.  The remaining years of the Trump Administration afford an opportunity for those wishing to serve to determine what style works best.

As a long-term advocate for women in command and in certain combat and non-traditional roles, here is some free advice which, as usual, you are perfectly free to ignore.  Don’t try to imitate men in your choice of language.  Just be yourself and get the job done.  You already have the authority.  Swearing like a drunken sailor gains you nothing and it is a turn off to many.  Oh, and don’t use the term “drunken sailor”, that’s part of the old culture and dates you.

If you disagree and really feel like you need to use vulgarity for emphasis, here are some other suggestions for profanity for beginners. Practice sounding natural, start slowly in front of a mirror.  Try “you betchayourass I mean it.” (the order). Don’t use the “F—-” bomb. It really makes you descend into the gutter.  Remember some men are already there and they have just run out of things to say.  Try gentle profanity like, “dammit”.  It’s sort of like an oral punctuation mark.  Or if you want to be really inclusive, try “dammit all”.  Then try, “godahell” to someone you disagree with and if you strongly disagree try, “kissmyass” (ass is a word). 

I hope this has been helpful.

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Suicide Bridge—————–

A commentary

            By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

            It is fashionable in some circles today to rename landmarks like streets, statues, bridges and schools, thus trashing much of their history. I have a candidate. Let’s rename the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge “Suicide Bridge” as a memorial to the lives lost by people committing suicide by jumping from the bridge. By some reports, over 400 people have jumped to their deaths placing it in contention to be the most dangerous bridge among the many in America including the Golden Gate, which I’ve heard often is to be fitted with suicide nets some day. The argument against this appears to be that they are not attractive. But neither are the remains of a suicide victim which somebody has to retrieve from the water.

            I have a particular interest in this matter for several reasons in addition to the tragic and unnecessary loss of human life. I worked as a Senior Vice-president at Great American Bank, at the time known as San Diego Federal S&L Association, whose president, Jim Schmidt, and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Gordon Luce, were part of the California Ronald Reagan Gubernatorial Administration and were instrumental in the construction of the bridge. Gordon was Transportation Secretary.

            I later commanded two warships and was Executive Officer in two others which frequently sailed under the bridge. I also taught a generation of young Navy ship drivers as a Master Marine Instructor at Naval Base, San Diego. The Navy and many of the residents of Coronado opposed the construction, at least at the beginning. The Navy’s opposition was based on the concern that a collapse of the span could trap a major portion of the Navy surface fleet in port. There was also concern expressed that commercial shipping including to and from the shipyards and the South Bay Auto import roll-on, roll-off terminal could be similarly impacted. The center sections are supposedly floatable. 

            The bridge was built primarily to close the open water gap connecting Coronado-North Island with the mainland (San Diego). It connects State Route 75, part of the strategic highway system which was previously connected by a car ferry. The only other connection was the Silver Strand which added about 30-45 minutes to the trip and sometime more. Many are the hours I recall waiting for the ferry to move or the traffic jam on the Strand to finally clear.

            When a potential jumper is reported on the bridge, the first action is often to close one or more and sometimes all traffic lanes, usually causing some vehicles to be trapped on the bridge unless they can safely exit and make it to the Silver Strand or I-5. A wreck on the Silver Strand, however, can delay access for hours. Meanwhile, people trapped are trying to get home, or to hospitals, or to work or use a toilet. The only evacuation may be a helo rescue,

            With a potential jumper on the bridge, it’s usually considered necessary to close one or more lanes also for the safety of the potential jumper and provide space for negotiation. An impatient person may even encourage the jumper to jump and get it over with. A fall from the bridge usually results in death but not always. It is not a pleasant way to die. It is also a hazard for those in boat and ship transit beneath the bridge.

            It has become increasingly popular to use this busy bridge for recreational purposes like runs or walks for this or that charity or cause resulting in the closure of some or all lanes. This usually happens on a weekend but people work on weekends and have medical emergencies on weekends, also. This includes Navy personnel attached to the nuclear-powered carriers homeported at North Island.

            It’s past time to put an end to this unnecessary loss of life from suicides. The bird spikes are not effective. The bridge was constructed at great expense to facilitate access to North Island and Coronado, not for recreational purposes or to enhance the beauty of the bay. It may be great fun to walk or run over the bridge which was designed for vehicular traffic, not pedestrians but it can be a grave inconvenience to too many persons who don’t have time to run or walk for this or that cause. If you wish to support it, writing a check is more effective.

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The Danger of Dealing with Dictators———-

A commentary

            By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

            History repeats itself because we don’t always seem to learn from it the first time. President Donald Trump won the 2024 election on the promise of, among other things, ending the bloody and expensive war that Russia started by invading Ukraine. He said, moreover, that he would end it on day one, which he later slipped to within 100 days. He failed to do this. Anti-Trumpers would say that he lied, but it’s not a lie if he believed that he could. The surprising thing is that he actually thought he could and if he had been president, Putin would never have invaded Ukraine. Un huh.

            Mr. Trump is a real estate mogul, a former TV entertainer known for his propensity to fire anyone who disagrees with him. He is not Superman, nor is he schooled in diplomacy, foreign relations or history. In my humble opinion, he has a somewhat inflated view of his deal-making ability. But he is not the first U.S. president to attempt to deal with dictators like Vladimir Putin. The idiocy is that we just keep trying. Russia is the largest and most populous country in Europe. It is also the largest country in Asia and the in the world. It has massive land reserves which are still to be developed. It has a culture rich in music, literature, ballet and architecture. Whatever the outcome of this vicious war, Russia is not going away.  We have no quarrel with the Russian people except for the unfortunate fact that they are governed by a ruthless thug and former KGB agent who won’t hesitate to destroy an enemy.

As I said, Mr. Trump is not the first U.S. president that thought he could deal with dictators. It probably started with the weak presidency of Jimmy Carter, the 39^th president, who expressed shock and surprise when the Soviet Union under Leonid Brezhnev invaded Afghanistan and extended its presence in the Middle East. The collapse of the Soviet Union after the defense build-up of Ronald Reagan was a rare opportunity to continue that build-up as Seth Cropsey and Harry Halen recently opined in the Wall Street Journal. We did expand NATO’s jurisdiction up to Russia’s western borders which Putin considered a threat to Russia’s influence in Eastern Europe.

Under President G. W. Bush, Reagan’s VP, we fought a war of limited objectives to free Kuwait which Saddam Hussein’s Iraq had invaded but he spared Hussein’s elite forces. George W. Bush, his son tried to finish the job under the mistaken belief that Iraq had nukes. Bill Clinton kept the peace but did nothing of consequence to rebuild our maritime forces to prevail in a major power conflict. Or two. Or three.  

Barack Obama disclosed to Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev during the famous open mike episode that he would have “a lot more flexibility” after his re-election. Joe Biden’s presidency was a disaster, The most remarkable thing about it was that we survived it but at great expense to our international reputation. Mr. Biden was only marginally qualified even when he had all his mental marbles. Far from preparing us for the growing risk of conflict with China, he continued to shrink the Navy, failed to rebuild the defense infrastructure and lost control of the southern border.

Now it’s Trump’s turn to be shocked and disappointed with Putin. His next step should be to acknowledge what others have learned. You can’t deal with dictators. They lie. They cheat. They’ll do anything to stay in power. There’s no gentleman’s agreement because they are not gentlemen of good will. A handshake means nothing except you should wash your hands well afterward.

As defense expert retired Navy Vice-admiral Charles Martgolio recently said, neither side has to win this war but neither side can afford to lose it. Putin’s life probably wouldn’t be worth a ruble if he did, so he will do whatever he has to do to salvage a victory out of this mess, which means keeping Crimea and the eastern areas he already occupies. That probably will never be satisfactory to Vlodymyr Zelensky, but he can’t possibly win a war of attrition against his giant neighbor who is already on a war footing.

Will sanctions work? They haven’t before. They would have to be rigidly enforced. They weren’t before. We don’t have a big enough Navy or Coast Guard. So what do we do now, Mr. President? You wanted this job. Keep in mind that Russia has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal and tremendous remote land reserves which would probably enable it to survive a nuclear exchange.   

One suggestion comes to mind. If most of Europe’s former colonial powers think that Ukraine must prevail, we should shift the burden of leadership, including the cost, to them while we focus on Asia and ensuring that Hamas never poses a threat to anyone again.

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Just Another News Brief

            A commentary

            By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

            Under the caption “In Brief”, a short blurb appeared, buried in a recent issue of a liberal, big city daily newspaper reporting that an Israeli woman, on the way to a hospital to give birth, was shot and killed in an attack by an armed gunman. Hamas applauded it as “a heroic act”. The woman’s husband was wounded. The baby survived after being delivered by emergency cesarean section but is in serious condition. The brief article further stated that a Hamas spokesman praised the shooting in a statement.

            The woman was a 30-year-old therapist and mother of three who are now without a mother. A heroic act? God help us. I ask my fellow citizens who spend some of their apparently ample free time demonstrating on behalf of the Palestinians or against the Israelis to take a breath and consider the savagery of this event which should sicken any normal person. What kind of culture could teach that killing a pregnant woman about to give birth is an “heroic act” to be praised, just as thousands of Palestinians praised as a great victory the October 2023 massacre of Jews which included raping pregnant woman, ripping fetuses from their uteruses, dragging their battered bodies through the streets, roasting children in ovens, taking captives and more attrocities?

            Can you honestly believe that all cultures are created equal and deserve equal respect? While the protestors march and prance around campuses and public streets like children, mouthing idiotic slogans and displaying a stunning ignorance of the facts of history, have they ever stopped to consider what Hamas did to provoke the Israeli response and why they never, ever must be allowed to govern any place on this planet? Do they ever stop to consider that they may be rooting for the wrong side or do they agree that killing Jews is an heroic act? The Israelis may have inflicted massive collateral damage because Hamas fighters hide behind civilians and under hospitals and schools but Israelis don’t rape pregnant women and roast children in ovens in front of their parent to name just a few of the differences.

            There are, of course many intelligent Palestinians of good will. Why do they tolerate Hamas rule? They could help end this war by rising up against Hamas. Apologists for those who say that they are powerless against their armed oppressors need a lesson in world history. The Western Hemisphere provides many examples, including of course, the United States. We fought two wars just to free ourselves from an oppressive British rule that taxed us heavily but denied us representation. We fought the war between the states to free the slaves and preserve the union. We welcomed immigrants to build our railroads, highways bridges and cities. The immigrants struggled against poverty, crime, protection rackets and discrimination but they didn’t seek asylum in some other country for safety or a better life. They stayed and dealt with the criminal gangs and sometimes grinding poverty. They worked hard to make life better for their children.

             The International Monetary Fund counts 150 countries as developing nations. What do their people most have in common? Well, they all want to live in the United States, Canada or Europe, but mostly the USA. Love it or hate it, they all want to live here. We can use a lot of the good ones but none of the bad ones and, unfortunately, we cannot accommodate all of the world’s huddled masses. We built America and did the grunt work that made us strong and secure and a wonderful place to live, mainly for the better life of our citizens. Our own homeless, disabled and poverty stricken get priority. So I suggest that those who think they have a right to break the law to come here illegally for a better life should stay home and try to make their own country a place for a better life. Eventually, people deserve what they tolerate and vote for. Freedom often requires sacrifice.

            Hamas released the last living American hostage, reportedly as a good will gesture. It was no such thing. Good will comes only from people of good will. People of good will don’t murder and rape. They love their neighbors. It was a bargaining gesture. They could end this war in a day if they would release all the hostages and agree to disarm and disband. But they must never be allowed to rule again anywhere on this planet. Meanwhile, Gaza can remain in ruins unless free-Palestinian demonstrators around the world want to contribute to a giant Go-fund-me account. A Palestinian state would not be viable, would be a continuing security threat to Israel and would require aid for food and medical care for the foreseeable future. But not one dollar of U.S taxpayer money should go for the reconstruction of Gaza.

May 30, 2025

We Remember

            A commentary

            By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

            We recently marked the 50^th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam Conflict, now usually referred to as the Vietnam War. Congress never formerly declared war in Vietnam but to those that served in the combat zones there it sure felt like war. We lost over 56,000 Americans in that war of limited objectives. My best friend at the time was one of them.

            Ken had served a combat tour as an Army Ranger in Korea, another war of limited objectives. His post-combat tour in Hawaii was an opportunity to be with his wife and four children as he began his three-year assignment on the ROTC staff at the University of Hawaii. Ken was a Captain and a West Point graduate. For Bobbie, his wife, who grew up in Hawaii, the daughter of one of the plantation families, it was also a cherished assignment and a chance to reunite with her relatives and friends and the islands she dearly loved. The year was 1959 and Hawaii was about to become a state.

            My wife and I met them when we bought a house close to theirs in the Ewa section of Oahu. We became close friends. Ken and Bobbie were a picture book couple. They looked like Barbie and Ken. We spent much free time together at the beaches and exploring the islands that Bobbie knew so well. Our kids played together.

            I had just finished a tour as Executive Officer of a Tank Landing Ship which included a lengthy WESTPAC deployment and was assigned as Assistant Ship Operations Officer on the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet at Makalapa, Pearl Harbor where I made Lieutenant-Commander. The situation in Vietnam was heating up and members of the Military Advisory Group (MAG) had been taken under fire. One day when Ken was about halfway through his tour of duty, he told me that he felt he should volunteer for duty in Vietnam. I was tempted to tell him that he should lie down until the feeling went away, but instead reminded him that he was only halfway through a post-combat tour which he richly deserved. So did his family. I urged him to think it over and reconsider his priorities There would be other opportunities to serve in combat.

            He did think it over and decided to volunteer because, he said, he had the necessary training and Vietnam was where the action was. Bobbie, predictably, was not pleased. Our families were about to take a two-week vacation together on Kawai where Bobbie’s grandmother had a beach house and a mountain house where we could stay. Bobbie showed us all the sights and we had fun but we knew that she was still depressed over Ken’s decision. Weeks later, Ken got his orders to Vietnam and his departure from Hickam Air Force Base was not a happy time. Ken asked me if we would look after his family while he was gone and if anything happened to him. I said I would.

            We and our mutual neighbors included them in our family events and activities. On News Year’s Eve, 1963, she came with us to celebrate the New Year at the Officer’s Club at Barber’s Point Naval Air Station. At that point she seemed more accepting of Ken’s motivation and patriotism. After we dropped her off, we saw a black military sedan parked in front of our house. Out stepped a military assistance officer who asked us to accompany him to help officially notify Bobbie that Ken had been killed in action, shot through the chest by a Vietcong sniper. He bled out while declining treatment until his South Vietnamese troops were treated.

            Bobbie’s grief was heartbreaking to watch. The children were in denial. Bobbie asked me to help with the arrangements, to help contact his friends and family in California and to act as her military escort at the funeral and ceremonies to follow. I did. Ken was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry and buried in the Punchbowl National Military Cemetery with full military honors. He was the first military officer residing in the State of Hawaii to die in Vietnam.

            During the drive back home, Bobbie asked me between sobs if she had sent him off properly and with love. I said that she had. It’s often said that we lost that war. Actually, there were no winners. Congress and much of the public just gave up on it and stopped the funding. Lesson learned: Don’t commit our service members to fighting wars or in conflicts, or whatever you want to call them, that you don’t intend to win.

May 26, 2025