Two Thirds Done

Thoughts and experiences of an eighty one year old Wild Duck.

Avram Miller by the sea
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587 posts since 2006

Tag: ISIS

  • We must eradicate ISIS

    I was listening to On Point, or better said its podcast, about Sexual Violence under ISIS, and all of a sudden I realized this was not about politics. This was not about war. No, this was about evil.

    I have been following a lot of discussion amongst my friends and in the media about the wisdom of going after ISIS. After all, we have been in a war in the Middle East since 9/11 and many times before. The actions of George Bush in going into Iraq will have to go down in history as one of the greatest blunders of all time. As I supporter of Barak Obama (now I would have to say a feeble supporter), I was all for getting the hell out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Naturally, this would lead to the feeling expressed by many of my left leaning friends, that the ISIS situation is not something that America should have to deal with. It is a problem for the middle eastern countries. Others will say that if we do not fight ISIS now, they will just get stronger and someday attack us at home. So all the discussion is about what is best for us here in the USA.

    But after hearing in detail about how ISIS treats women that turned my stomach and made me sick. After hearing about the genocide practiced against Christians; after hearing about the mass execution of men, I could only think of one thing, the evil of the Nazis and Hitler.

    During the development of the Nazi movement in Europe, the USA was in an isolationist mode. They were dealing with the great depression. The problems of Europe seems far away. And even though the USA government knew of what was happening to the Jews of Europe, they turned a blind eye to that. I can never forgive America for doing that.

    There is something more important than just self-defense. There is something that makes us humans more than just animals. That is understanding that every human life has value and that every woman is a human being and not some object to provide gratification to men. The women that are being raped are mothers, sisters, daughters.

    Why is accepting what is happening in Syria and Iraq any different from ignoring what the Nazi’s did. Do we only have to think about our selfish, self-centered world and ignore the pain of others. Can’t we understand that evil exists and must be eradicated.

    Would we not be proud of our soldiers, if they did put their feet on the ground to save the lives of the innocents. What ISIS is doing is not war no matter how ugly war is. No, ISIS is a rapist that is raping children as young as nine years old. ISIS is evil and must be eradicated.

  • The Syrian Strategy: How the USA, Russia and Israel collaborated to keep Assad in power

    More than a year ago, Israeli diplomats engaged the Americans in a discussion about the situation in Syria. Obama had already issued his “red line” warning about the use of chemical warfare by the Assad regime. Then Assad when ahead and gassed his own people in the tradition of his neighbor, Iraq. Obama was not only concerned about this act but also concerned that these weapons could end up in the hands of Islamic Terrorist and be used against American targets and allies. Russia, on the other hand, wanted to keep Assad in power as he was one of the few world leaders over which Russia still had influence. Israel, who knew more about what was going on in Syria than any other country including Syria, did not want to see Assad go. He was the devil they knew.

    Israel was very concerned that if Assad were overthrown, Syria would be ruled by one or more groups of Islamic Terrorists including ISIS and Hezbollah. Israel shares a border with Syria. Furthermore, the whole mess could extend into Lebanon, which would result in chaos along the entire northern border of Israel. This mess would then extend into Jordan. At this time, Egypt was still being ruled by the Muslim Brotherhood, which as very close to Hamas in Gaza. Not only does Israel have a border with Gaza, but it shares a long border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula which was already home to small groups of Muslim Terrorists. And then, of course, there was the West Bank to consider.

    So Israel said to America “You are nuts to push out Assad. It would be even stupider than when you forced us to let the Palestinians have elections, and they elected Hamas. How do you think that worked out? Why not make a deal with Assad and the Russian? Get rid of the chemical weapons for a guarantee that you will take no military action against him. Get the Russian to help you with this. If ISIS and the other’s get control of Syria, you will wish that you had not killed Bin Laden.”

    Then another potential benefit of this strategy became apparent. Since the USA would not overtly help Assad stay in power, the terrorists would still control some significant territory. And what would they do? They would expand into Iraq. The Americans had lost influence in Iraq after wasting so much money and blood. Iraq was controlled by the Shiites that was to say that it was becoming a satellite state of Iran. The Americans had no ability to effect this. But ISIS could. The only people ISIS hated more than the long list of people they hated, including Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and Atheists, was the Shiites. They would form an alliance with the disenfranchised Sunni minority in Iraq. The only way for the Shiites to survive would form a more inclusive government which included the Sunnis, which meant moving away from the orbit of Iran.

    The ISIS strategy proved to be inspired. These people could not have played their designated role better even if they had come from Central Casting. Eventually, the Americans and maybe some European Allies will take care of ISIS through a combination of military action and payoffs. They will be able to attack ISIS in Syria, which will further strengthen Assad, bring stability back to Syria. Assad can keep his army engaged by killing Sunni’s. Israeli tourist can relax and visit the Golan Heights where they could watch the fighting below while having a picnic. The USA will end up having influence again in Iraq which they can use in their war of words with Iran. Russia can keep one of the few leaders that like Putin. And while this strategy plays out over the next few years, Russia can slowly take over the Ukraine.

  • Good for the Jews?

    When I was living in Israel in the 70s, there was no such thing as cell phones or even the internet. But there was the portable transistor radio and everyone carried one tuned to one fo the few radio stations that were available. Once an hour, the news would be played. If you were on the bus you would hear the same report being playing on many radios. The announcer would report on International News. For instance, something about the Vietnam War, which was going on at that time. Let us say the reporter said that Saigon had fallen to the Viet Cong, everyone on the bus would say “is this good for the jews?”.

    I can’t help thinking about this when I hear the reporting out of Iraq. The middle east is clearly in chaos. The ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) which is a Sunni Terrorist organization that is so brutal even Al Qaeda does not want to be associated with it has taken over the second largest city in Iraq. It is likely that Iraq will break apart into three countries. One country will be Shiite and associated with Iran. One will be Kurd, and one will be Sunni and make the Taliban looks like liberal. But the ISIS wants also to take Syria and Lebanon. That is a pretty scary thing from Israel’s perspective or is it. Don’t forget that Hezbollah located in South Lebanon is probably Israel’s most serious threat. They have tens of thousands of missiles aimed at Israel. But ISIS will certainly wage a war and destroy them eventually. But then Israel will face them on its northern border.

    For sure, Palestine is a looser in all this. With all this going on, no Arab state cares about them. And with all this going on, how can Israel be expected to accept an independent state in Palestine, which could easily be dominated by the ISIS.

    So I am left with the question “Good for the Jews?”.