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statsman

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Everything posted by statsman

  1. I’m not joking. It is my belief that the Israelis are decent people that believe in rights and the rule of law.
  2. US army troops committed an atrocity in Iraq, at Mahmudiyah, that shames me, as an American who bursts with pride in his country, usually. The men who did it were reported, and are in a hole in Kansas that they will never get out of. Justice? There is no justice for what they did, but this is the closest approximation. If Israel commits such an atrocity, turn them into Israel. Report it. Now, are you calling “collateral damage” (the euphemism for innocent civilians being killed by the war around them) an atrocity? John Kirby addressed that very question the other day, and I have no quibble with his answer. It’s Hamas’ fault.
  3. WSJ says Harbaugh’s new contract on hold https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/jim-harbaugh-michigan-contract-sign-stealing-21d5e1b6?st=smnpepz7ab9icmb&reflink=article_email_share
  4. “Israeli apartheid”- I have read up on it The closest possible example is the above-noted West Bank. PA is in charge, but there were bantustans that also had a nominal semi-autonomy, yet still were under the thumb of the South African government. A difference is that South Africa would not allow any foreign aid or international relations with the bantustans, while the WB (and Gaza) get both of those things. South Africa restricted movement of bantustan residents in ways that Israel doesn’t. The situation, to me, seems more accurately described as “like apartheid” than apartheid. Others may disagree. The issue comes down to Israel trying to autonomously institute the two state solution that the Palestinians refuse to accept.
  5. I guess that’s a satisfying answer for you, but not for me. “Apartheid” has a definition. It requires a formal and codified rejection of “The Rule of Law” (the idea that laws apply the same to everyone).
  6. Yeah, the Hamas terrorist that called his dad said, “I killed ten Jews! With my own hands!”, and not “I killed ten Zionist colonizers!” Or even “I killed ten Israelis!”
  7. This seems like a nonsensical response. He reported antisemitic slurs, and how he feels threatened as a Jew. I don’t understand your criticism.
  8. Ok, I’ve figured out that when anti-Zionists say that Israel is “occupying”, they mean the state of Israel, within Israel’s borders, should be “Palestine”. What is meant when Israel is referred to as an apartheid state? Israel doesn’t control Gaza (Hamas does), nor the West Bank (PA/Fatah does). Where is the apartheid?
  9. That’s fair. I, myself, feel that a ceasefire can be discussed…after the hostages are all released.
  10. I know enough about human history to say that “subhuman” is not the insult that many who use the term think that it is.
  11. I definitely have opinions, but this is a complex and awful situation with lots of conflicting angles. This is not an opinion post, but a difficult news story. Ramped up Israeli bombing is jeopardizing efforts to evacuate the hundreds of American citizens stranded in Gaza https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/americans-stuck-in-gaza-are-we-u-s-citizens-or-not-ffdb4ee9?st=xos4nk6m90qurzr&reflink=share_mobilewebshare
  12. I’m actually not opposed to a cease fire. I can see it as an element In resolution of this. I can’t see why any serious person can call for a ceasefire in THIS WAR THAT HAMAS STARTED without also calling for an immediate release of all of the hostages. Those people, the weakest attacked, are terrified and their families are terrified. I don’t see how anyone with a speck of empathy can say, “Israel, let’s slow your roll. Let calmer heads prevail. The hostages? Let’s not bring them into the equation. They’re just not a factor that helps.” I know taking them was Hamas’ strategy to keep Israel from attacking, saying they would kill them if the IDF attacked. They need to release them. That’s a no-brainer precursor to a cease fire.
  13. I have been called every kind of idiot for not understanding what they expect Israel to do, while they refuse to spell it out. I guess, Israel is to only use bombs that kill combatants, and not the innocent civilians next door? The soldiers are to use the rifles that only shoot bullets at the combatants, and are set to only stun the human shields? I’m starting to think that there is a quiet part they don’t want to say out loud.
  14. Have you ever thought that Hamas is committing genocide on the Palestinian people? That the best chance for Palestinian survival is for Hamas to be eradicated, as soon as possible?
  15. This is America. This moral dilemma has already been solved. The US was once faced with a vicious enemy that claimed not only willingness to die for their emperor, but also a desire to die in battle for their emperor. This enemy was sheltered among innocent civilian population centers. The US solved this Gordian knot by nuking two innocent civilian population centers, getting it through their thick skulls that they could all die, without killing any more US soldiers, and not accomplishing anything. This isn’t hard math. The Palestinians and their supporters are gambling that their foes possess more humanity and morality, more compassion than they do. History shows that’s a dumb bet.
  16. In the UN vote, Ukraine voted for condemning Hamas, and abstained on the vote calling for a cease fire (the U.S., Israel and 13 others voted against and it passed). I kind of get it- Ukraine is in the middle of an existential fight and doesn’t need to make enemies, Israel has unusual ties to Russia (there are a lot of Jews in Russia), but… it’s not a good look.
  17. The White House and Israel say Hamas is exaggerating the toll, but U.N. experts believe they are likely to be correct and even undercounted https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/palestinian-death-statistics-doubted-by-the-u-s-remain-a-subject-of-controversy-90ead302?st=my59eq1emxt48ol&reflink=share_mobilewebshare
  18. Ha-ha! You got me! I really am not the brightest. Since you have this all figured out, what should Israel do- its most hostile neighbors killing and stealing its citizens, and taking harbor in civilian population centers?
  19. Israel’s first concern is their children, maybe a couple dozen, taken and held hostage in Gaza. That is their first concern, and it should be. Think about them, Linux. Try to find a little sympathy for the Jewish children, terrified and captive. Go ahead, denounce Hamas as cruel monsters.
  20. When will Hamas release the hostages? You want Israel to act to relieve civilian suffering? That is a simple and reasonable thing to expect Hamas to do.
  21. 1948. And Nixon was damned late in 1973. And I don’t believe they have ever asked permission to assassinate an Iranian physicist.
  22. It’s clear the Palestinians have no interest in a two state solution. I will give them the benefit of the doubt, that they (most) would be ok with another Jewish diaspora instead of a Holocaust repeat. The idea is: make Israel so uncomfortable that, like the French in Algeria and the British in the Levantine, that they…leave. The problem with that idea is that there is no place for Jews to go, in the world. I used to think that Israelis would always be ok in America, but that doesn’t look sure any more. They are two generations from a genocidal event and Israel is all they have. They’re not going anywhere. In the west, “never again” means that we will never look away from a genocide (spoiler- ask the Tutsis if that’s true). To Israelis, “never again” means they will never, ever rely on another people or state for survival. So, it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
  23. Good point, and my comment about gas prices- there is an alliance of Iran, Russia and China, and of them- Russia wants higher gas prices. Russia supports Iran in their efforts to start trouble. Know who else wants higher gas prices? The 12th Man Foundation. Add them to the axis? (No CR)
  24. The last thing the WH wants in 2023 is a spike in energy prices (would hurt politically, and also help Russia). I suspect that affects the severity of the responses to Iran’s troublemaking
  25. College football badly needs NFL style headsets. As mentioned in Paul Wadlington’s podcast, we need to know which coaches are voting against them.
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