It is extremely unfortunate that the Palestinian Authority did not fully understand what it was about when it held elections that resulted in Hamas winning a majority of seats in Parliament. A failure to have primaries in advance to the general elections yielded the results that we know of today. That, however, is no excuse for the violent take-over of the Gaza strip by the Hamas.
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Nor does this does exclude the responsibility of the Palestinian people to have known the MO of Hamas when they decided to vote for Hamas in the general elections. Furthermore, the Palestinian people, by their silence are condoning the rocket attacks against indiscriminate targets in Israel. As President-elect Obama has said, if someone is firing rockets into the bedroom of my house, I am duty-bound to protect my children at all cost.
Hamas should stop forever the firing of rockets into Israel, the use of suicide bombers, and the use of other forms of terror before any consideration is made to stop the bombing of Gaza. Peace will come in Gaza when the Palestinian people revolt against Hamas and chose to sit at the table and negotiate a lasting peace. Hamas has used the Palestinian people as bargaining chips; they have used them as pawns in every confrontation with Israel – knowing full well that any bombs that land within the close confines of Gaza will inflict great damage on the people of Palestine.
Other factors that give Hamas free rein to continue their evil ways are embedded in the response of neighboring Arab countries. Syria, Iran, and the people of other Muslim nations are demonstrating in the streets against the armed offensive mounted by Israel in response to the continuous rocket attacks against the Israeli people, but not once did they demonstrate against the rockets that Hamas fired into Israel. The chief complaint of Hamas is that they don’t want the blockage of the Gaza strip because it is a violation of their right of freedom of movement, but the past has shown that Hamas takes advantage of the freedom of movement to bring in new arms to support its fight against Israel.
Freedom of movement affords Hamas the opportunity to deploy suicide bombers in the streets and cafes of Israel. Israel has a right to protect its people and the borders of Israel are sovereign. The decision to restrict the movement of Palestinians within its borders has greatly reduced the incident of suicide bombings.
If it takes the rest of this year to rid itself of Hamas, Israel should take every opportunity to do so until that goal is achieved. Terror has no place within the civilized world. Terrorist are to be eradicated as if they are an infestation of vermin.
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2009
Saturday, November 22, 2008
The Threat Of A Nuclear Iran
During the course of my twenty year stint in the United States Navy I was in the Navy’s Reliability Program for most of that time. People in the Navy’s Reliability program have security clearances that allow access to nuclear weapons as part of their daily routine aboard ship. They have been scrutinized and found sound of mind and exhibit no outward indications that they would under any circumstances conspire to sabotage a nuclear device. They are reliable! In fact, in the early days before they realized that it was not the prudent thing to do, I attended a curriculum that taught me how to make, maintenance, and repair nuclear weapons.
For the pass three or four years the United States’ best intelligence has professed that the Iranians are as smart as I am, in that they are yelling at the top of their lungs that the Iranians have the capacity to make and will deploy a nuclear weapon any day now. Hmmm… didn’t we hear something similar to this just prior to the invasion of Iraq? If I am not mistaken, elements of this same highly technically proficient intelligence group produced evidence that contradicted the final report of the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) that there were no WMDs within the borders of Iraq. In fact, the IAEA had conducted two hundred fifty inspections at the behest of the Bush-Cheney Intelligence group into areas of Iraq that were singled out as sites positively accessed to have been used by the Iraqis to manufacture WMDS.
All of the factors that would have indicated the mass production of nuclear weapons by Iraq are now being deployed by this administration to support the case that the Iranians are doing the same thing. I should point out here that the detonation of a nuclear device by the North Koreans has yet to be decisively proven as an event that ‘did’ occur. Japan, windward of North Korea, never detected any of the elements that would normally be associated with the detonation of a nuclear device. In addition, analysis of debris at the Syrian site has yet to indicate the present of a nuclear reactor as claimed by the Israelis in justification of their attack within the borders of Syria. The only thing that can be positively indentified is residue from the denotation of a nuclear device – namely the Israeli bombs used to destroy the buildings at that site.
Is it a good thing for the Iranians to possess the capability to produce a nuclear bomb, or a nuclear bomb itself – NO! Given the irrational behavior of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, current President of Iran, and the history of Iran under the Grand Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, I would not want Iran to possess a nuclear capability. As to whether the United States or Israel should be the one that has to make the decision to attack Iran, if it can be proven beyond a shadow of doubt to be in possession of a nuclear weapon, is another question that I would not want to answer at this time.
War is ugly and we should prevent the possibility of war by practicing diplomacy to its fullest extent. It is this writer’s belief that the Iranians are definitely in pursuit of the knowledge to fabricate a nuclear weapon, however; I don’t see them ever getting to the point that they will have a weapon and the capability to deliver it accurately. There are reliable equipments that will detect the detonation of a nuclear device. Iran will not be able to hide that test on the day that they attempt to join a unique club. On that day the free world, and all others who would be concerned, will have to make a terrible decision that will affect the way we live thereafter.
For the pass three or four years the United States’ best intelligence has professed that the Iranians are as smart as I am, in that they are yelling at the top of their lungs that the Iranians have the capacity to make and will deploy a nuclear weapon any day now. Hmmm… didn’t we hear something similar to this just prior to the invasion of Iraq? If I am not mistaken, elements of this same highly technically proficient intelligence group produced evidence that contradicted the final report of the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) that there were no WMDs within the borders of Iraq. In fact, the IAEA had conducted two hundred fifty inspections at the behest of the Bush-Cheney Intelligence group into areas of Iraq that were singled out as sites positively accessed to have been used by the Iraqis to manufacture WMDS.
All of the factors that would have indicated the mass production of nuclear weapons by Iraq are now being deployed by this administration to support the case that the Iranians are doing the same thing. I should point out here that the detonation of a nuclear device by the North Koreans has yet to be decisively proven as an event that ‘did’ occur. Japan, windward of North Korea, never detected any of the elements that would normally be associated with the detonation of a nuclear device. In addition, analysis of debris at the Syrian site has yet to indicate the present of a nuclear reactor as claimed by the Israelis in justification of their attack within the borders of Syria. The only thing that can be positively indentified is residue from the denotation of a nuclear device – namely the Israeli bombs used to destroy the buildings at that site.
Is it a good thing for the Iranians to possess the capability to produce a nuclear bomb, or a nuclear bomb itself – NO! Given the irrational behavior of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, current President of Iran, and the history of Iran under the Grand Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, I would not want Iran to possess a nuclear capability. As to whether the United States or Israel should be the one that has to make the decision to attack Iran, if it can be proven beyond a shadow of doubt to be in possession of a nuclear weapon, is another question that I would not want to answer at this time.
War is ugly and we should prevent the possibility of war by practicing diplomacy to its fullest extent. It is this writer’s belief that the Iranians are definitely in pursuit of the knowledge to fabricate a nuclear weapon, however; I don’t see them ever getting to the point that they will have a weapon and the capability to deliver it accurately. There are reliable equipments that will detect the detonation of a nuclear device. Iran will not be able to hide that test on the day that they attempt to join a unique club. On that day the free world, and all others who would be concerned, will have to make a terrible decision that will affect the way we live thereafter.
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