Anyone Just a Little Tense?

 

May is getting really close. That is the day that President Trump is ready to no longer renew waivers on sanctions against importers of Iranian oil. That is the red line Iran claims will result in their closure of the Strait of Hormuz. That waterway is the chokepoint of almost one-third of the world’s oil. The United States has vowed they will keep the waterways open no matter what it takes. The United States has two aircraft carriers in the region, one in the Persian Gulf and the other in the Mediterranean Sea amongst others including an Amphibious Assault Unit. These have been supplemented with other weapon systems deployed around the region.

 

One has to consider that Iran technically controls all government decision making over an area near that of the United States, from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea over which they can threaten a broad array of countries. Granted, the United States has placed a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in Israel, which can provide a fair-sized umbrella of protection. Additionally, there are any number of support vessels supporting each carrier which includes defensive anti-missile technologies. We hope that everyone has thought this through to a conclusion and realize that, as the WOPR defense computer stated in the movie War Games, “Strange game. The only winning move is not to play.” We guess some in the world have yet to figure out that war is always a loss of resources simply for the destruction of resources already in use. Yes, the rebuilding provides work, providing the workplace is not a smoking, radio-active bombsite. The problem in this scenario is that one side may be under-estimating what the other side has in the way of offensive capabilities. Everyone knows that the United States has almost any weapon system you could ever need in surplus. What is unknown is the extent to which Iran is close to equal in their capabilities. The United States has the brighter, shinier and larger vessels, but Iran uses hundreds of dedicated individuals willing to ram those nice shiny ships and blow both of them up, one completely and the other a great gash in the hull. Iranian missile technology is another unknown as they are known to have ballistic missiles, but what is unknown is whether or not they have ICBM’s capable of striking the United States mainland. “Strange game. The only winning move is not to play.”

 

War Games WOPR Computer

 

But that is one of the problems when something such as this is started, one side has to blink before the other and preferably before too much of the planet is destroyed either economically or literally. Living in Israel makes one even more attuned to these situations because we are always a handy target to get somebody’s point across, and Israel will shoot it down anyway. Well, they will, won’t they? Well, we sure hope they can and do. It would ruin a whole week or more if one got through depending on the target and accuracy. There are two more unknowns though the accuracy question is the Iranian missiles can be extremely accurate. But isn’t that why the United States placed a THAAD system in Israel? Actually, that is only part of the reason. Another reason is that the United States often places or provides systems to Israel because we are more likely to need them and thus serve as an actual live-fire testing ground. It was just such testing that provided some vital information about a weakness, a blind spot, in the F-16 fighters. Since then they have all been upgraded with side-view mirrors so they can basically see behind their tail which can be quite vital to not being shot down. OK, so that wasn’t all that high tech, why do things have to be complicated. Sure, they could have placed a camera in the tail and a monitor in the cockpit such that when the picture cuts out, there is probably something on your tail shooting at you.

 

F16 with After Modification Rear-view Mirrors

 

There have been many other upgrades which have come from Israeli use of weapons such as the around the corner gun, a rifle with remote firing and a camera looking down the barrel so the soldier does not need to stick their heads out to see if it is clear. Unfortunately, when war comes to Israel, the civilians are the target group and the safest place is on an IDF military base. This, amongst a million other obvious arguments, is why Israel has spent so much on rocket and missile defense. We love when people ask why Israel is not spending billions of Shekels countering the anti-Israel propaganda war being fought against her. We simply ask them if they lived here, which would they prefer Israel invest, fighting words or fighting incoming projectiles. When it is put that way, it becomes amazing how quickly people realize that you can really only fight one war at a time and one type of war is always coming and kills people, the other is made up fabrications which truth will hopefully win in the end. We know that is wishful thinking, but we will live with things as they are and be glad should we ever need those defenses.

 

There is one thing which is an integral part of living in Israel, that is becoming nervous when things look as if they may boil over and spill into your own back yard. This is definitely one of those times as Iran has promised that in the case of hostilities with the United States, they intend to strike Israel first. This was the same threat given by Saddam Hussein when he was facing against President George Bush, both of them. They both attacked, Iraq and Iraq launched ballistic missiles at Israel. Fortunately, the vast majority were intercepted and the few which struck Israel did minimal damage and resulted in almost no losses of life. We are not sure what it is that makes these Middle East dictators threaten to strike Israel if the United States does anything as if such a threat would mean anything to the average American President. Their view is that Israel can take care of themselves just as long as they do not attack their aggressor. So, when Saddam Hussein launched a series of scud missiles at Israel, the United States demanded that Israel stand down and they would take care of the launchers of the scud missiles. Needless to point out, they missed a number of them which struck Israel for close to a week during the first Gulf War. President Bush was far more concerned with keeping his Arab allies than having Israel retaliate. There have been rumors that Israel was permitted to strike a single town from which the scud missiles had been launched and even then, only for one day. Further rumors claimed that this town ceased to exist in a single day. We are unable to confirm nor deny these rumors and present them simply for discussion.

 

Iran is a completely different matter as for them to strike Israel, they will need to use some of their furthest reaching and best guided missiles, at least as their current abilities are considered to be capable of launching. Further, these are their most advanced missiles according to current intelligence and they can carry biologic, chemical or nuclear warheads. This will require that every single missile be intercepted otherwise Israel could be facing a mass casualty strike. The entirety of the Middle East, even the Mullahs of Iran, that should Israel be attacked with any WMD, weapons of mass destruction, be they chemical, biologic or nuclear, will be responded to by Israel with the sole Israeli WMD, nuclear warheads. Israel unofficially has a few nuclear weapons capable of serious damage. Many intelligence sources claim Israel has between seventy-five and two-hundred nuclear warheads they could place atop a Jericho ballistic missile and deploy such to anywhere in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and if necessary, Israel is capable of striking anywhere on the globe. But Israel, and most Israelis, would prefer to never need to respond to an attack, especially using any WMD’s even in response to such an attack upon Israel. We want peace and quiet without the threats of terrorism, invasion, genocidal WMD attacks or any other form of violence of which one could think. We would far more appreciate being the source of discoveries, technological developments, cures, vaccinations, hybrid fruits and vegetables, plants capable of being grown in the desert with minimal water needs or a myriad of other advancements for the benefit of all mankind. But, despite the demand to design anti-missile systems such that Israel is capable of intercepting very short range projectiles, medium range missiles and rockets, long range rockets and missiles and ballistic missiles and even ICBM’s plus even the Trophy Systems for all varieties of military vehicles from main battle tanks to the generals field Humvee, there is a video at the link which is short and gives an overview of the Trophy System, and yes, you can add this threat defense system to the list of military advances Israel shares with the United States. The Trophy Systems as well as Iron Dome, Arrow Anti-missile Defense, David’s Sling Ballistic Missile Defense and other Israeli systems are currently protecting Israel and United States equipment and other critical assets.

 

Living in Israel is usually not very frightening and, despite what the news reports, you are less likely to be attacked including terrorism in Israel than one would be in the United States. Just like the United States, one can reduce their vulnerability simply by not traveling through specific areas. Our lives here have been quiet, peaceful and rewarding. We have found groups of friends and many activities which would have been next to impossible in the United States. People in Israel are mostly very friendly and willing to assist others. Charitable giving in Israel would be impossible to monitor as beyond the collection box at Synagogue which goes to charity and would be trackable, people are quite generous to those who are unable of finding employment to such an extent that one could afford modest accommodations and sufficient food from the generosity of others. Even many store owners have developed relations with people such that they are provided with goods. Even the coffee store where we purchase our coffee beans, yes, we are coffee snobs, he gives ground beans to a number of individuals who provide meals for those in need, organizations who have a meager budget and pay what they can and others who are just people of limited means. Perhaps it is knowing that at any moment war can be thrust upon Israel from every direction with the possible exception of from the west, but even the Mediterranean Sea could be part of an offensive upon our very small nation.

 

One has to remember, though Israel is often cast by the media and others as being this powerhouse nation which could withstand almost any form of attack, Israel is not the United States, it is New Jersey in size and when it comes to warfare, size matters. Fortunately, we have a cold peace with Egypt and another with Jordan, though there have been demonstrations in Jordan demanding that they need to attack Israel and be rid of the Jewish menace in the Middle East, plus we are technically still in states of war with Lebanon (Hezballah) and Syria. Syria has more than sufficient problems that attacking Israel is something some of the forces supporting Bashir al-Assad will attempt, especially the Iranian al-Quds Force and Lebanon will not strike at Israel unless instructed to open up a front in order to draw attentions away from Iran. Thus, the main front which remains active is with Gaza where Hamas finds it easier and more profitable for their leaders to keep the people rioting along the Israeli border as they blame Israel for every problem within their society. Truth be told, it has been the misuse of building supplies intended for rebuilding moneys and apartment buildings but instead used to build bunkers, tunnels, rocket launching positions underground, and infiltration tunnels under the Gaza border into Israel intending to use them whenever they press to force another war upon Israel. So, how are Israelis taking the new confrontational situation?

 

This current face-off between President Trump and the Mad Mullahs of Tehran does have many in Israel concerned, and rightfully so. We know that both sides have a problem with backing down and that unless one does blink and back down, then there will be another Middle East active conflict. As mentioned, this would be a conflict involving two sides fairly evenly matched for region of direct control as Iran currently has virtual control over Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen and partial control in Syria including the border with Israel along the Golan Heights. Looking at the current situation, President Trump recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel was required in advance of the ending of the waivers for export of Iranian oil. President Trump knew that the first front which Iran would open up would be against Israel just to see what the United States would do as far as reacting to protect Israel. Were the American planners taking the smart road, they would barely react to such an attack at all instead depending on the Israelis to defend themselves and address any threat from out of Syria. Would Iran turn loose Hezballah against Israel with a stockpile of approximately one-hundred-fifty-thousand rockets and missiles, then the United States is likely to assist in the destruction of these threats before they could be fully utilized. One can be assured that Israel knows where these missiles are stored and the locations of their launchers, even including the mobile launchers. That is probably the reason for a carrier strike group sitting in the Mediterranean off of the Syrian and Lebanese shorelines.

 

We are all holding our breath, not really, but hoping that one side backs down, and we prefer for it to be Tehran as, should the United States back down, then Iran would figure they were the more powerful country and thus would increase the attacks they finance across the Middle East and the world. President Trump has placed himself in a precarious position as should the Iranians press the issue over who actually controls the Strait of Hormuz, that would place not only Iranian fast ships against the United States fleets ships but also land-based launchers and artillery against American air-power. Iranians possess both Russian anti-aircraft missiles as well as their own reverse engineered and presumably improved versions of these systems. Additionally, there is a group consisting of Iranian warships and support vessels of undetermined size presumably headed for the United States eastern seaboard. This is their response to the American fleet close to the Iranian shoreline and within the main oil shipping lanes including the Strait of Hormuz. It is entirely possible that some of their apparent support vessels might be outfitted with a system allowing for them to fire ballistic missiles as far as a thousand miles making the majority of American cities along the coastline vulnerable to attack should hostilities begin. Such an attack on the American homeland would cause an escalation with its conclusion as anybody’s guess. Everything turns on one supposition, does Iran already have a nuclear warhead which is usable and if so, how many do they have. Most sources assume that Iran has yet to develop a nuclear capable warhead as they have been unable to miniaturize their system. We believe that this is nothing more than wishful thinking and that any war between Iran and the United States would turn nuclear in a very short period after its commencement. We foresee an Iranian ultimatum for the United States to cease hostilities or else. The or else would be left unstated, but should the brain-trust within the CIA and Military Defense establishment believe that Iran is not capable of having any weapons which could be considered an ‘or else’ and the Iranians have a warhead and the missile with which to deploy it and strike the American mainland, even if it was from a ship in the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans, then such a conflict would become all but uncontrollable as the stakes grow ever larger. Imagine the American response were New York to be struck with a nuclear weapon taking out most if not all of Staten Island or Manhattan. It could be Boston or Washington D.C. being struck at the same time. They might even target West Palm Beach in order to destroy Mar-a-Lago and any of these would bring an American response which is currently unthinkable. This is the risk the world is facing and we advise everybody, especially the two adversaries, to be very uncomfortable and take great care in planning their next steps. This is a situation where one wrong move could start a spiraling confrontation drawing in more and more nations resulting in something well beyond what was initially envisioned. Such underestimations of the strength and capabilities of an enemy have resulted in broader and more damaging conflicts throughout history. But then history is one of those subjects not being taught properly thus most younger people have little knowledge of the past, which is frightening.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Kurdistan Independence Referendum

 

Day before yesterday, the Kurdish People in Iraq voted in a referendum on whether they desire to declare their independence from Iraq or remain part of a nation which craves their oil but wishes them the worst. The vote was decisively for independence with over ninety percent of the Kurds voting claiming their desire for their own state at long last. As seventy-two percent of eligible Kurds voted, that brings the result to close to two-thirds of all Kurds eligible voting for independence. That is an overwhelming result in anyone’s book but should they act on this they will face Iraqi troops invading and a boycott or worse from Turkey along with a closed border militarily enforced. Iran may also invade in order to quash the movement. The Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, has ordered the Kurds to hand over control of airports and borders by Friday; the Iraqi parliament passed a thirteen-point resolution Wednesday aimed to chip at Kurdistan autonomy and posing new challenges with some expected threats. Fortunately for the Kurds, their Kurdish Peshmerga Militias who performed so admirably against the ISIS threat will also be the ones defending their freedom should invasions result. The similarities to what Israel faced on May 15, 1948 when declaring Jewish independence and what the Kurds are likely to face is unavoidable, especially when the friendship between the two peoples is taken into account.

 

Despite the fact that the Kurdish are mostly Sunni Muslims as was Saddam Hussein, when he was the dictatorial President of Iraq he regularly used the Kurdish population in military experiments as the subject or target of new weapons or simply for practice. The attack has been chronicled well by Aljazeera English quoted below.

“On the morning of March 16, 1988, Iraqi war planes and artillery pounded the Kurdish town of Halabja in northern Iraq with mustard gas and the deadly nerve agent sarin.
Some 5,000 people – mainly women and children – died on the day, and up to 12,000 have lost their lives since. The method was the same as the Ghouta gas attack in Damascus, on August 21, 2013, just over 25 years later.
In both instances a conventional pre-bombardment – to break windows and doors and to get people underground – was followed by the deadly chemical weapons, sarin and mustard agent.
Heavier than air – and with no windows and doors to stop the “gas” – it found its victims helpless and unprotected in underground cellars and air-raid shelters. These crimes against humanity were then followed up with a conventional bombardment to destroy the evidence.”

The Kurdish Village of Halabja, unfortunately, was far from the only Kurdish village attacked by Saddam Hussein though it was the most well documented and was used heavily in his war crimes trial. Saddam had also regularly had Kurdish farmers strafed while they worked their fields watching from his command craft enjoying the spectacle. And after Saddam was deposed and the United States prematurely abandoned the Kurdish to the new bosses, the Shia in the south were out for a little payback after Saddam Hussein. The best that can be said for the Shia government of Iraq, which is largely controlled by Iranian officers, is that they largely ignore the Kurdish areas other than Mosul from which there comes oil and a command over much of the central and all the northern highways thus controlling the infrastructure of roadways plus the large Mosul Dam and hydroelectric generating plants which produces a significant amount of the total electrical output in Iraq. The dam is also in need of repair without which it is in danger of failure which would cause major flooding and damage in Baghdad as well as Mosul and across the nation all the way to where it feeds the Arabian Gulf.

 

Montage of Saddam Hussein’s Chemical Gas Attack on Kurdish Village of Halabja

 

Since the United States withdrew under orders from President Obama, Mosul was taken over by the Islamic State. They were threatening to destroy the Mosul Dam just because. Did Iran with their military come and free the city or did their puppets in Iraq come with their military or the Sunni militias to free Mosul? They did get credit for doing so in the New York Times who gave the Kurdish Peshmerga Militias bare mention when truth be told, had the Kurdish Peshmerga Militias not cleared the entrance to Mosul and performed much of the heavy lifting, Mosul would have taken far longer to have been retaken, if it had been at all. The Kurdish forces also did a large part of the clearing of the northern half of Mosul of Islamic State fighters who remained hidden trying to merge with the population to attack at a later time when fortunes might be changed. Now the Iraqi government is claiming Mosul largely because Iran desperately desires to control this pivotal and central city. Mosul is at the core of the Kurdish hopes as they believe that Mosul belongs to them as many of the Kurds who were forcably removed under Saddam Hussein have now returned following the defeat of the Islamic State with a large and formidable Kurdish effort. The world owes the Kurds across the region much thanks as it was the Kurdish forces who put an end to the spread of Islamic State when it was known as ISIS and was swallowing up large swaths of central Iraq and Syria defeating every force they encountered until they were pushed to a halt and then backed right out of Kobani, Syria and that proved to be the turning point as after that the Kurdish YPG forces in Syria backed by Peshmerga started the push-back against the Islamic State which also contributed to the retaking of Mosul. Had Kurdish forces not proven that the Islamic State could be beaten, their reputation might have continued winning many battles for them by the Syrian or Iraqi military troops fleeing before their rumored advance. The Kurds are the reason the world is now talking about taking Raqa, the presumed Islamic State capital city.

 

Our Idea for a Proposed Kurdistan

 

What is so very disturbing is that much of the world is not prepared to give the Kurdish their due by backing them should they declare independence. The United States State Department requested the Kurdish officials postpone the vote as it was an inconvenient timing for the State Department and they informed the Kurds that they would get back to them on a better time to schedule their referendum. One can be assured that the State Department would promptly forget that the Kurdish People desired independence and would eventually sell them out to the highest bidder just as the British did after World War I when they reneged on their promise to back the formation of a Kurdish homeland. They succeeded in forcing the Kurds to accept Arab rule in much the same manner as they attempted to do with the Jews as the British also opposed a Jewish State and wanted the Zionists to accept Arab rule or shared rule with the Arabs having the majority vote. Israeli officials defeated the British finally in 1948 and ignored the United States State Department which requested that the Zionists wait until it would be a more convenient time for the State Department to be able to support a Jewish State, better known as never. The Kurds deserve their own state and the recognition of the world as well as their thanks for being the ones who stepped up and started the initial defeat of the Islamic State. The United Nations, United States, NATO, Russia, Iran, Iraq and almost anyone else you care to mention are against Kurdish independence. The Kurds have received support from some of the Sunni Arab villages along their proposed border preferring the Kurds to the Iranian and Iraqi Shiites. There has also been support from Saudi Arabia which is reasonable, as they will prefer anybody over the Iranians who are their enemies. Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Syria and seemingly the world is against Kurdish independence with one obvious exception, Israel. That is the single supporting state which has quietly provided the Kurds with intelligence, equipment, logistics, weapons and training all in a very clandestine manner.

 

The final item we believe and feel we absolutely need to express, should the Kurds in Iraq declare their independence, we hope that more nations and organizations than just Israel and Saudi Arabia recognize their declaration. Hopefully the fact that Israel and Saudi Arabia recognize the newly formed Kurdistan, assuming the declaration is approved, will prevent any military attempts at intervention by the government in Baghdad, Tehran, Damascus or Ankara. Further, it would be very helpful if the United Nations would at least hold a General Assembly vote supporting the Kurdish independence as soon as possible as it becomes appropriate and have that followed by a Security Council recognition granting them recognition as a state by the United Nations. Finally, the map we posted above would be something for the far future as the current declaration is regarding only the Iraqi Kurds. The border would remain within the current borders of northern Iraq and hopefully move south to include Mosul. The rest of the Kurdish regions would need to be addressed separately and if they were to desire to also vote for independence and desire to merge with the Iraqi Kurds, the first item they would need renounce is their socialist political principles as the Iraqi Kurds have stated their desire for democratic elections and a capitalist free economy. One of the rules of joining an established system is that you must accept that system, not demand it alter to meet your expectations. One thing which is clear, if the Kurds desire to ever gain the recognition from President Trump, the first thing they must not become is a socialist run nation. President Trump kind of made his feelings known concerning anything tinged by socialism during his United Nations speech. Thankfully, the Kurds of Iraq desire a free state and economy unrestricted by the chocking restraints of socialism. All that remains is the final count of their referendum. Obviously, we are hoping they choose to be free and run their own lives and nation, as we now have seen. We can only hope and wish them the best and pray that other free nations will assist the Kurds in their bid for freedom, though as was proven by Israel, friends will be as scarce as hens’ teeth.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Taking Care of Syria Quietly Whether for Good or for Bad

 

One might even say that Israel is addressing all sides of the Syrian debacle. Israel has struck military targets, given treatment to those requiring medical attention, taken in a limited number of Syrian refugees and made sure their efforts were acceptable to the main outside, non-Muslim powers invested in Syria. That is most definitely a comprehensive and sensible Syrian plan. The nation doing what must be done and providing true humanitarian assistance is, most remarkably and surprisingly, Israel. What makes all that Israel has done is that there remains no peace agreement between Israel from the original 1948-9 war brought against Israel at her birth which included Syrian military and attacks across and down the Golan Heights. There is also no peace from the 1967 Six Day War or the 1973 Yom Kippur War or any of the other times Syrian forces tangled with Israel such as the air war and other confrontations in the early 1980’s in the First Lebanon War. Since the two nations are still officially at war and Syrian entities have launched missiles, rockets, mortars and bullets over the border targeting Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stationed along the Golan Heights, any actual fighting coming from Israel is once again of a defensive nature and simply securing the border and keeping weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of Hezballah as well as heavy weapons systems. But Israel has been crucial on many fronts in this fiasco called the Syrian Imbroglio.

 

The latest Israeli strike against Syria came midweek of the first week of September where Israeli air forces destroyed a military target presumed to be a chemical weapons plant. Syria reported the strike occurred just prior to three in the morning near the western town of Masyaf. The site also contained advanced missiles intended for Hezballah terrorists who are fighting at the behest of Iran supporting Bashir al-Assad. Israel had previously struck convoys carrying similar advanced weapons towards Hezballah bases within Lebanon, a nation now run by the Hezballah terrorists for all practical matters. Syria is claiming that this is a new first for Israel to attack a research facility while also making sure to mention there having been almost one-hundred Israeli sorties flown against Syrian targets. They admitted that the majority have been against convoys carrying resupply of munitions, not agreeing with Israeli claims that these were resupply of Hezballah positions in Lebanon which means they were intended to be launched at Israel. Striking dangerous items in Syria which are arranged and paid for by Iran is not a wholly new thing as there was the bombing of the presumed construction of a North Korean nuclear reactor for the production of fissile material, plutonium, in the Deir ez-Zor region of Syria (see before and after images below). The New Yorker magazine gave a complete story from the first suspicions through the entangled mess the United States almost made of the entire threat and the final Israeli striking without informing the United States out of fear of the surprise being blown. One telling following event was when the North Koreans leveled a complaint over the loss of at least ten workers and engineers during the Israelis strike at what was not a nuclear reactor, or was, the North Koreans denied the accusation at first claiming the structure was not a nuclear reactor but failed to give another description. Why such strikes as the nuclear reactor and the more recent strike on the chemical weapons missile production plant are left for Israel to perform and are not taken on by the Europeans or the United States is a question which will never be answered, and possibly seldom if ever asked.

 

Syrian Reactor Chamber and Support Structures
at Nuclear Processing Plant for Nuclear Weapons
Being Overseen by North Korean Nuclear Scientists
Before and After Bombing

 

Returning to the treatment of presumed civilians from the Syrian civil war which has more fighting groups than any civil war with which we are familiar. The solution was to allow each group to choose a secure section along the Israeli-Syrian border to leave their injured, be they fighters or civilians. Israel has then, no questions asked, treated the injured and ill returning them to the same locations where they were deposited for treatment such that the correct group receives their civilians and fighters (they are all presumably civilians as they are not in uniforms and are devoid of weaponry). Israelis have proven their high regard for life with repeated treatment of Gazan and Arab Palestinians even to include relatives of, as well as high-ranking officials, and just ordinary people in need of better medical care than available in their own hospitals. Treating people from the Syrian meat grinder of a war is just more of saving lives, something Israel has provided to many far and wide especially after disasters where Israel is often among the first to have a hospital up and running. But we are supposed to be talking about Syria, so back to the subject.

 

Israel has also had to strike numerous convoys which carried advanced weapons such as MANPADS and other high technology anti-aircraft missiles, larger missiles including some potentially capable of multiple warheads and other advanced weapons which could potentially change the balance of power between Israel and Hezballah. Never mind that Hezballah, thanks to Iran and Syria for funneling rockets and missiles into the terrorists’ hands, possess very likely over one-hundred-fifty-thousand rockets and missiles of varying lethality and range from small rockets with range of under twenty-five miles to their largest with a range of approaching four-hundred-fifty miles (see image below). These rockets and missiles provided by Iran and transported through Syria endanger every Israeli and also Jordanians and Egyptians should Iran choose to order such a strike as they have transformed Lebanon into an Iranian outpost. Still, Israel willingly treats people who very well may come back to attack and murder Israeli civilians, not just her military personnel. Such generosity is unusual to say the least but Israel honors life while they honor death, as we are so often reminded by Palestinian Authority spokespeople, Hamas and Islamic Jihad commanders, Hezballah leadership and countless others from Iran to Morocco, or so it often seems. Perhaps that is why there are so many rockets and weapons in these areas, many aimed at Israel and possibly even more they aim at one another, and so many hospitals and clinics spread throughout Israel and why Israel builds more anti-missile systems and shelters throughout the country. That is definitely why Israel treats those who need medical treatment regardless of their origins or how they came to require treatment.

 

Hezballah Rocket & Missile Threat

 

The truth is that often Israel has been known to act in a manner, which is obviously not the way, which would be considered normal anywhere else in the world. Israel goes to great lengths to save lives, even the lives of her enemies and even the people from a nation with which she remains at war with for the last sixty-nine years (Syria). The Israelis, actually the Jews, treasure life to an extent beyond reason. Still, there are limits even to the Israeli love of life and when the choice is directly between the lives of Israelis, all Israelis, are being weighed against the lives of her enemies, then Israel will act in what the rest of the world considered rational behavior should they face such a choice. That is when the world demands that Israel should have acted opposite the very direction they would choose and they demand Israel apologize for defending herself and protecting her own. One can only wonder what would happen if Israel acted as the rest of the world would when facing similar difficulties. Should Israel ever act as if she were a normal nation and toss the concerns for life to the winds of war, then there might be a cleansing, the very cleansing which Israel is accused of committing whenever a single terrorist is killed to end their murdering innocents. Perhaps the insane charges against Israel for even a single death of a terrorist is brought because the expectation of Israel is to be the marvel she can be in every situation regardless of what rationality dictates. Israel has shown magnanimity and generosity in so many ways and beyond any rational expectation that now, it appears that the world expects that to be the norm rather than the exception. Well, it would be nice if that were the reality, would it not? The reality is many in the world use Israeli generosity as the rod with which to beat her attempting to berate her into committing suicide. The world should be warned that pushing the good to a breaking-point is a senseless and dangerous exercise. The situation, largely thanks to the willful blindness of the world, has reached a point where Israel will have little if any choice should her enemies attack once more. The situation has reached a point where delicacy and fighting simply to push the inevitable back another few weeks or months has come to that tipping-point where such has become a suicidal act. The next war pressed by Hamas or Hezballah will quite likely have to be fought as an all-out effort as their arsenals have reached the point where they have a potential to completely decimate Israeli life. This will undoubtedly shock even Israel’s friends and there will be serious deliberations in the United Nations Security Council and somewhat less serious deliberations as the General Assembly has its most heated debate over what terminology is appropriate for this round of their condemnations of Israel. In the end, the United States will need use their veto or the world will treat Israel as a pariah amongst the nations. It will mean nothing in reality as the truth will be known by all even if they refuse to accept such, or so they will act. We need remember that it was the United Nations who derided Zionism as being racism and has never missed an opportunity, real or imagined, to discredit or denounce Israel. It is when some arm of the United Nations lauds Israel that the world should wake from their slumber and applaud the rarity. Perhaps the news about this time will allow them to take an honest look and begin to appreciate the nation who heals their enemies and does so for free.

 

Beyond the Cusp