Land That I Love

  By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

                Anti-Israeli protesters across the nation reacted to the unprecedented drone and missile attack against Israel by blocking bridges and highways and shouting death to Americans and Jews. The protestors were for the most part Americans also, actually calling for the death of their fellow Americans. I’ve been fortunate enough to have lived for over 93 years during which I have seen fifteen American presidents come and go. Never during that time have I seen such hatred directed toward one’s own country and countrymen.

Such behavior would never be tolerated in many other countries. One wonders why it is tolerated here. Freedom of speech does not include the right to shout “Fire!” in a crowded theatre as Justice Oliver Wendall Holmes, Jr. once opined. This is purely and simply hate speech. How, then, should patriots who love their country react? Those of us who served in the armed forces took a solemn pledge to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. If you hate America are you not its enemy?

Israel has been a target of hatred and violence by most of its Muslim neighbors since its inception as a Jewish state. The latest act of violence was the massive drone and missile attack of April 13. More than 300 drones and cruise and ballistic missiles were fired indiscriminately from Iran across Jordan into Israel. Most were shot down by Israel’s air defense system assisted by American and other friendly forces. No one was killed, thanks to these defenses, but those drones and missiles were designed to kill civilians. They were used in retaliation for an attack on an Iranian embassy which killed an Iranian general. The attack, attributed to Israel, was a surgical strike, designed to avoid civilian casualties. Iran’s attack, on the other hand, consisted of a swarm of drones and missiles fired indiscriminately into Israel, designed to kill civilians. The fact that they failed should not lessen Iran’s liability or make it less of a war crime.

Ever the loyal friend and ally, President Joe Biden immediately cautioned Israeli Prime Minister against retaliating, making it clear that we would take no part in it if he did. “Take the victory,” he was quoted as advising Netanyahu. Others described the engagement as a win for each side. What utter nonsense. This is not a win/win situation. A war of survival such as Israel is fighting does not end in a mutual victory when one side is dedicated to the total destruction of the other.

Superior American and Israeli technology was on display during this encounter. No one died but thousands could have, likely resulting, in a major war. Israel would not go quietly nor will it decline to retaliate. How could it? The next attack, if not deterred, may be successful. Moreover, Iran is getting closer than ever to becoming a nuclear power, thanks to the feckless behavior of successive U.S. administrations determined to negotiate with the mullahs an end to their quest for nuclear weapons.  Nuclear weapons in the hands of irrational mullahs dedicated to the destruction of Americans and Jews and placing the American homeland at risk would be a game changer.

Nations will inevitably act in their own self-interest. Tehran believes that it is in their best interest to become a nuclear power and to dominate the Middle East, a Middle East without Israel or an American presence. Ours and Israel’s is to prevent that from happening by whatever it takes. If we fail the future will be bleak for peace in the region. I have little confidence in Mr. Biden’s ability to deter our enemies or reassure our allies. His latest tough-guy threat, “Don’t”, comes across more like a plea to “quit picking on us”, words the schoolyard bully loves to hear from his victims.

Where are the leaders in this land that I love? Americans deserve better choices in November.

April 24, 2024

Biden Cannot Have It Both Ways

                A Commentary

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

What a difference half a year makes.  The October 7 massacre of 1,200 Jews by Hamus terrorists who crossed into Israel from Gaza, the worst massacre since the Holocaust, shocked the civilized world.  America pledged to help Israel respond to this outrage by defeating Hamus and rendering it incapable of attacking Israel again.  We pledged to support our closest ally in the Middle East however long it took, knowing that it could take months or even years and involved tracking down all those responsible wherever they hid.

Alas, we failed to take into account the short attention span and patience of Americans as memories of the unspeakable atrocities committed against women and children which included the torture and rape of women and the beheading of babies and other war crimes faded.  Perhaps they also forgot the Palestinians, 70% of them by some estimates, celebrated the massacre.  Some danced in the streets.  This time, the Israeli’s response was different.  “Never again”, they said, would they just turn the other cheek or allow another hostile state that was dedicated to the destruction of Jews and the Jewish homeland to exist adjacent to Israel.

There are those, including some of our own leaders, who now say that Israel wasted an opportunity to gain world-wide sympathy by executing more restraint.  This is nonsense.  Restraint would instead demonstrate to their few friends and numerous enemies that they accepted permanent victimhood stature and ensure that more attacks would follow.  Ask yourself if we would exercise similar restraint and accept permanent victim status if we were in their shoes?  Didn’t the bloody outrages of October 7 elicit enough sympathy?

It didn’t take long for President Joe Biden to go wobbly.  Pressure from the progressive wing of his party and the widespread antisemitism here at home and abroad was more that he could handle and caused him to cave and to put pressure for a cease fire on an ally, fighting for its very existence, to provide for the safety of Palestinian civilians. Presumably that included those who celebrated the massacre of October 7.

Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, took it upon himself to call for the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the middle of Israel’s fight for survival.  President Biden warned Israel that its planned attack on the remaining Hamas brigades in Rafah would be crossing a red line in the absence of a credible plan to keep civilians there safe.  The Hamas strategy, of course, is to intermingle their fighters among civilians and to use civilians as human shields, which is a war crime.

The Geneva Convention permits attacks against military targets which may involve civilian casualties. It’s called collateral damage and we inflicted plenty of it in World War II by firebombing German and Japanese cities and obliterating Nagasaki and Hiroshima.  The Israelis attempt to avoid civilian casualties, Hamas does not.

Israel is a sovereign state fighting for its very existence. It’s the only democracy in the region surrounded by Muslim nations, some of whom will not accept its right to exist.  What gives us the right to dictate its war-time strategies or to call for elections?

Even more than sympathy, the Israelis need to live in peace and safety.  Now President Biden demands that the operation to eliminate the last Hamas strong-hold, by attacking Rafah be placed on hold which will allow Hamas to regenerate and undoubtedly prolong the war and the human suffering.

How can Biden and Blinken call, with straight-faces, for a 2-state solution when it has already been offered repeatedly and met with rejection by the Palestinians?  And who anointed us with the power to make that decision and to serve as a broker?  Israel is a tiny nation the size of New Jersey.  The Gaza Strip is a sliver of land the size of Chicago.  Given the choice of governing Gaza, its people selected Hamas.  The Palestinians, most of whom detest the Jews, are clearly not ready to govern anything.

Meanwhile, Gaza is in ruins with more destruction likely to follow.  Over 33.000 Palestinians and about 1,500 Israelis have died.  Their deaths and the cost of this war must not have been in vain by allowing Hamas to attack again.  The Palestinians were offered a 2-state solution several times but it was never enough.  It never will be.

April 19, 2024

Acting Far Above His Paygrade———————–

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   A Commentary

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

                In the military, the expression, ‘‘acting above his (or her) paygrade”, was commonly used to describe the actions of someone that was not justified by that person’s rank or job description. It seems applicably applied to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer who gave a speech calling for elections in a foreign nation and the replacement of its democratically-elected head of government. Mr. Schumer clearly acted above the powers conveyed to him by his office as a legislator representing the people of the State of New York and his duties as majority leader.

                Among the powers given to the U.S. Senate by the Constitution are the power to legislate and to advise and consent, including the ratification of treaties and trade agreements and approval of certain presidential appointments, and to try impeachment cases. It is silent with regard to calling for elections in foreign countries or to otherwise meddle in the politics of sovereign nations. An individual senator does not speak for the nation. He represents the people of New York State. In fact, prior to 1913, when the 17^th Amendment was ratified, U. S. senators were chosen by their state’s legislature.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

                In his speech, Mr. Schumer declared that Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            had lost his way and criticized his conduct of the war to eliminate Hamas which, while it exists in any form, will pose a threat to the safety of Israelis. Every nation must ultimately act in its own best interest and that would be the safety of its people which is Netanyahu’s chief responsibility. Calling for the replacement of the elected leader of a sovereign nation while it is engaged in a war to eliminate a threat to its very existence is nothing short of outrageous. That this nation is our closest ally in the volatile Middle East makes it especially egregious. It gives aid and comfort to an enemy not only of Israel but of the United States.

                To compound the insult, President Joe Biden endorsed Schumer’s view that Netanyahu has “lost his way and must be deposed.” With friends like us, who needs enemies? Who is running this administration? Mr. Biden is under intense pressure from the left wing of his party to back off from fully supporting Israel’s goal of destroying Hamas because of collateral civilian casualties. Hamas employs a strategy of operating and hiding among civilians, using them as human shields. This is a war crime. Civilian casualties will be unavoidable if the goal of eliminating Hamas is to be achieved. Where is the world outrage over the Hamas strategy? It, not Israel, is solely responsible for the predictable carnage.

                In less than three months since the October 7 massacre, Biden has gone wobbly and favors a two-state “solution”. Seriously? The only solution that would provide would be to resolve any questions regarding our inability to learn from our past mistakes. Palestinians are not ready for statehood and will not be until their children are no longer being socialized to despise Jews and Americans and seek their destruction. Biden cannot have it two ways. He is either fully supportive of Israel and lets them finish the job or we will cave in to the world-wide bias against the Jewish State.  

                The best way to end the carnage and famine is to end the war by winning it instead of pausing it while negotiators dither. Having accomplished about 75% of the goal of eliminating Hamas leaders, it would be a huge and historical mistake to fail to take out the remaining Hamas leaders in Rafah. To leave any of them capable of regrouping would be to lose the war and waste the sacrifices of those they lost. How quickly the critics of Israel seem to have forgotten the horrors of October 7 when pregnant women were tortured and raped in front of their husbands and children and their bodies dragged through the streets. How quickly they seem to have forgotten the beheading of babies in front of their parents. Many Palestinians celebrated these events and danced in the streets. Where was the outrage among the many decent Palestinians who did not? How can the Israelis be blamed for saying, “Never again. Never again will we just turn the other cheek.” Hamas destroyed any guarantee of a morally equivalent response. What would that even be? I haven’t read of any Israeli soldiers torturing or raping pregnant women or dragging their mutilated bodies through the streets or beheading babies.

                Schumer’s status as the senior elected official of Jewish descent gives him no license to meddle in Israeli politics. He claims that many Israelis have lost confidence in the vision and direction of their government. Many have not, however, and support Netanyahu as a wartime leader. They’ll be time enough for elections when the war is won. In any event, it wasn’t Schumer’s call.

                Mr. Biden warned that an Israeli attack on Rafah would cross a “red line”. He reportedly left open the possibility that we may withhold some military assistance if the operation caused extensive civilian casualties. He needs to be careful about drawing too many red lines. His 1% increase in our military budget before inflation was not exactly a mandate to continue talking tough even to our allies. We need all the help we can get from them.

April 1, 2024