Tony Blinken is back in Israel for his ninth visit since 10/7. I wish I had his frequent flyer points.
Humor has always been a part of warfare. In order to endure oftentimes unspeakable experiences or images, people sometimes need to find a way to laugh. There is a story of British warships preparing to engage a German U-boat wolfpack in the Battle of the Atlantic. A submarine commander messaged his destroyer counterpart that in the event of engagement with the enemy, he would plan to stay on the water surface. The destroyer captain dryly responded, “So do I (meaning not get sunk).”
The Gaza war has also intertwined some jokes and laughter along with the pain, tears, and suffering. Very early in the war was the “Lego Gaza City” set with all gray parts heaped in a huge mound—just like the real thing. There was the UberEats type delivery soldier bringing food on a bicycle to his comrades in a destroyed building in Khan Yunis. And who could forget the soldier who knocked on the door of a house in Gaza to no answer. When he moved away the camera showed that nothing but the door was left to the entire building. While rockets and drones were actively on their way from Iran, one fellow put up a short video. He begged the Iranians to attack the “Jewish holy sites” as he showed on a detailed map of Israel. Each site was a branch office of the Israel Tax Authority.
As Tony Blinken once again returns to Israel, the question is what is the endgame? Hamas kidnapped so many Israelis—both live and dead—in order to use them as their strongest bargaining chip in finishing off the war. I do not believe that Yahya Sinwar or anyone else in Hamas expected the war to go as it has, with tens of thousands of Gazans dead, many of them Hamas members. I don’t think that they expected the massive levels of destruction that have led to thousands of buildings being destroyed and many thousands more being in need of dire repair before anyone will use them again. I doubt that they expected Israel to easily grab the Philadelphi Corridor on the Egyptian border and thoroughly flatten Rafah as Israel has done.
Hamas ostensibly should be like Germany or Japan and simply say yes to whatever is offered to them. They—as the Palestinians always have—are certain that they are the victors. They “demand” (like a guy with a gun facing him “demanding” something) that Israel stop fighting, remove all troops and give Rafah back to Hamas for more weapons running. While the Saudis seem to have unlimited oil, the Palestinians seem to have unlimited chutzpah. Israel is supposed to just get up and leave Gaza as if nothing happened on 10/7 or thereafter during which over 300 Israeli soldiers have been killed fighting in Gaza. Hamas, or what’s left of it, is delusional. They want to go back to the 6th of October with a slightly less valuable real estate portfolio.
Just as the sun rises in the east, so too does the US and its coterie of international clowns demand that Israel accept whatever dish Hamas is serving. Israel, behaving rationally for once, is demanding to stay on the border between the barbarians and their Egyptian suppliers. Staying in Rafah would mean that Hamas would have no border access that did not involve Israeli presence. If Hamas wanted the Gazans to simply live, that would not be a problem. Thousands of trucks enter Gaza regularly, and in the future there would be no problem providing whatever they needed. Hamas sees a situation in which gun-running by land or by sea would be nearly impossible due to the new reality of Rafah becoming a big Israeli tank parking lot. Israel also has prepared a large swath of land in the middle of Gaza as a buffer between north and south Gaza, with access to the north with Israeli permission only. Someone who has fought in Gaza and whose opinion I very much respect said that if Israel caves and in any way physically leaves Rafah for some high-tech eyes-in-the-sky approach, then you should take out your calendar and circle the date when you expect the next 10/7 pogrom to occur.
America is only interested in a deal so as to put a checkmark in the “Gaza War Over” box. They want the blue-haired college mutants and their Islamist friends to go back to other forms of petty crime and stop their endless protesting. There are two problems. Forcing Israel to make a bad deal means that there will be problems sooner rather than later. Hamas fired some rockets last week at Tel Aviv. Making a bad deal means that such events will become more common. The other problem is that the college protesters will not stop protesting. Even if the war somehow ends with an agreement, they will continue as long as there is Iranian funding. Possible continuing topics: Bibi is a war criminal; Gaza is a big open air prison; Gaza is occupied though it isn’t. Etc. The Biden administration or whichever intern is running it this week, is desperate to get rid of the pro-Hamas protests. Their problem is that the other side is not in such a hurry. Watch Chicago this week for the latest installment.
The venerable B-52 has part of its crew in the cockpit, with other members in a windowless area below. Electronic warfare and weapons officers work in a cramped area of the plane lacking any natural light. A B-52 on a mission over North Vietnam experienced a surface-to-air missile that exploded just off of its left wing. There was significant damage and the pilots worked very hard to control the monster bomber and get it back to a US base. Because fuel tanks had been damaged, the plane needed near continuous aerial refueling until its safe landing. During the frantic and terrifying journey back to safety, the electronic warfare officer radioed his terrified comrades, “Hey, I’ve finally got a window. I can see outside the plane!” A big chunk of the plane’s left side had been blown off and at least one person found something to cheer about. Will the normally clueless Blinken finally see some light and support Israel’s right to hold land that it took with blood and treasure? Will Blinken scream at Hamas instead of at Bibi and Israelis? Will the US finally let Israel win?