Tag: Netanyahu

Murderous Idiocy

Have a quick look at the video still below. In it, you will see that President Trump’s mouth is open (this is generally true of almost every photo or video in which the man appears) and, to Trump’s right, Vice President Vance assuming a studied, statesman-like pose. On Trump’s left appear the comedy team of Rubio and Hegseth: Li’l Marco assumes his rightful place behind our Supreme Leader while displacing Whiskey Leaks to the perimeter.

Trump, Vance, Rubio & Hegseth. Video still: C-SPAN.
Video still: C-SPAN.

Why were these important U.S. officials in front of the camera?

They were there to announce that the United States had bombed Iran’s nuclear sites in the middle of the night, just as war criminal Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu had urged them to do.

Not to worry, though. According to a post from Trump, “A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!”

The more important BOMBS in question were GBU-57s, or Massive Ordnance Penetrators, which weigh 30,000 pounds each. They were used to attack Iran’s subterranean Fordo (according to the Times) or Fordow (according to the Guardian) nuclear enrichment facility, and delivered by B-2 stealth bombers. Either 12 or 14 BOMBS were dropped.

Whatever the number, our Commander in Chief assured us that “Fordow is gone.”

This morning, Pete Hegseth, a.k.a. the Pentagon Princess and looking sharp in a tatt-concealing navy suit, held a news briefing of his own to reaffirm Trump’s steam of superlatives. All of Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites were obliterated, he said, and the attacks were “an incredible and overwhelming success.” BTW, the strikes were codenamed Operation Midnight Hammer. Gotta love our military nomenclature.

Pete Hegseth. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images.
Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images.

That Hammer might have missed some nails, though. After Hegseth spoke, top Pentagon officials said that it was too soon to say whether Iran still retains some nuclear ability.

Many commentators believe the American attacks will likely lead to seriously adverse consequences for the world at large, regardless of the BOMBS’ efficacy. Check this out, for example.

Once more, I must ask you not to worry unduly. In the conclusion of his Saturday night address to the nation, Donald Trump had this to say:

“And I want to just thank everybody and in particular, God, I want to just say we love you, God, and we love our great military, protect them. God bless the Middle East. God bless Israel, and God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you.”

We’ll conclude with the optimistic image below, from Dr. Strangelove: it shows Slim Pickens enthusiastically riding his BOMB to earth, completely confident in the blessings it will bestow. God was no doubt pleased.

Slim Pickens riding the bomb. Film still: Wikimedia Commons.
Film still: Wikimedia Commons.

A Sick Relationship

The anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel is rapidly approaching, so this seems an appropriate time to take stock of what, if anything, has changed in the never-ending Mideast horror show. The answer, unfortunately, is not much.

After October 7, there was a rightful condemnation of Hamas for the savagery and scale of its attacks on Israel citizens, and for the taking of Israeli hostages. Some 1,200 Israelis were killed, and around 250 were taken hostage. While some Arab and Muslim-majority countries (and some American college students) blamed Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories as the root cause of the attack, most global observers described the Hamas attack as terrorism.

Enemies of peace—U.S. & Israeli burning flags.
Enemies of peace. Source: independent.co.uk.

Almost immediately, though, Israel returned to the lopsided violence it has displayed from the time of the Nakba. Roughly 41,000 Palestinians have been killed to date, of whom nearly 18,000 were women and children. The actual number is probably higher. These people, mostly innocent civilians, were not just killed, they were killed with a vengeance—2,000-lb. bombs dropped on hospitals and shelters, in a campaign of indiscriminate destruction which has virtually leveled the entire Gazan infrastructure. And now the contagion of Israeli violence has spread to the West Bank, where “settlers” are murdering Palestinians with impunity. It is an old, old story: brutal force prevails. And it is a story in which Americans are strongly complicit.

(Americans, so far, have not been identified as complicit in the exploding pagers incident in Lebanon, a particularly sadistic example of Israeli belligerence.)

There is little doubt that Benjamin Netanyahu and his corrupt, right-wing government are guilty of numerous war crimes. Netanyahu is widely viewed as perpetuating the “war” (an inappropriate term for such a one-sided conflict) to avoid criminal prosecution, with no regard for Israeli hostages (or humanity in general) whatsoever. Regular Israeli citizens have repeatedly protested his government’s actions, to no avail. Netanyahu is doing what he is doing with American-supplied materiel and support, but this is not the only instance of the sick relationship between the two countries.

It is sickening to see Secretary of State Antony Blinken shuffling ineffectually back and forth, mouthing pieties about Israel’s right to self-defense and gently tapping Netanyahu’s wrist for various atrocities. It is sickening to see the elderly President Biden refusing to modify his support of Israel or significantly modify the American flow of weapons to the country, despite growing evidence of genocide in Gaza. And it is sickening to watch U.S. college students being arrested and punished for calling attention to that same genocide.

The U.S. presidential election occurs not long after the Oct. 7 anniversary. A Trump victory would only solidify America’s blind support of Israel. A Harris victory, though, might just tilt the relationship ever so slightly in the direction of justice.

The ultimate goal, as so many have said forever, is a two-state solution, where both nations are free and equal and Israel is no longer an apartheid state and an oppressor. That is the only way that Israel will ever be truly secure. This dream scenario seems as distant as ever, though. But that’s no reason why a new American president can’t nudge things toward the goal, by taking a firmer diplomatic stance with Israel and implementing a more rational policy of support, one which hinges on Israeli behavior.