Meanwhile on the International front....

Unpalatable historic fact. During the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto, the Jewish resistance used the sewers to move around out of sight, to infiltrate, to escape. The Nazis pumped the tunnels full of poison gas.

 

I can't "like" that post, but yes, you're right. It's unpalatable. Kind of tells you that the Nazis, and now the Israelis, were/are thinking of those in the tunnels as, oh, I don't know...rats.

 

Yeah, I didn't want to think that but it immediately came to mind. SMH.

 

There's one slight problem with that analogy ...

 

Bingo. The big problem is that for some time, perhaps since the beginning of this entire business, any answer other than "However the fuck it wants," is considered anti-Semitic (I think you could argue Netanyahu has built his entire political career on this statement). One of the many Gordian knots to attempt to untie here is how do you police a nation/state's response to an obvious and imminent existential threat, especially when that threat often goes out of its way to trigger negative public opinion.

One of the core problems here is that just about everyone's complaint is probably right. Was Oct. 7 full of unspeakable atrocities that demand vengeance? Probably. Is that vengeance, against a dirt-poor people who are literally boxed in on every side something ranging between indiscriminate killing and light genocide? Probably. Is Hamas hiding materiel and fighters in deliberate areas so as to ensure the IDF's response looks as bad as it possibly can? Probably. Is a ceasefire desperately needed to stem what is an ongoing humanitarian nightmare? Probably? Would, as the Biden Administration posits, Hamas use that as an opportunity to regroup, go further underground and launch attacks of opportunity as it sees fit? Probably. And so on and so on.

The United Nations and literally any other body that operates on a one-country, one-vote sort of system is inexorably going to be a victim to two factors: 1. demographics, 2. the motivations of its median member.

The No. 1 reason that the UN hates Israel is that there are roughly 25 (if my Geography Bee skills serve me right) countries and thus, votes, in the Middle East and/or with Muslim majorities who view the existence of an explicitly non-Muslim state in that particular part of the world to be something between inconvenient and cause for a holy war. Israel's actions, admittedly mostly in self-defense, have a lot to do with that, but Israel could have been on its best behavior for 75 years and if they floated a resolution to say that hummus is good, almost all of those countries would tell them to go fuck themselves, which is probably a part of the reason why Israel has encouraged so many of them to do the same over the years.

The No. 2 reason is also why a whole bunch of international sports organizations (FIFA, IOC) are blatantly corrupt. If you have a majority of your members who need/want the money your product generates more than they need good governance, that's a problem. And that's less a discussion on the dark nature of man than it is that there is a lot of poverty in the world and taking a kickback on TV rights or development funds or whatever is a great way to make your family's lives better if you can get away with it. The UN from top to bottom has a lot of people, around the world, focused on solving the world's problems and they're pretty damned good at it. Thanks to Norman Borlaug (#OneofUs!) and some other friends, we're getting really good at feeding people in need, for one example. The UN, from top to bottom also has a lot of people, focused on using those resources to solve their own problems (namely, my Mercedes doesn't handle well enough). There are still, however, more poor countries than rich ones, and thus the median at the UN is still not "good," whether it's on good governance or avoiding holy wars.

 

The Israelis might have come to the conclusion that they can't be held hostage by hostages.

 

State your point(s) instead of vague-posting. Thanks.

 

I understand that using repetition was part of what you were doing here, but referring to what Israel is doing as vengeance while ignoring the aspect of self-preservation here isn't great. Writing probably instead of definitely in answer to whether or not they should retaliate for Oct. 7 is ridiculous. Hamas would have hit them again by now. They keep bragging that they are going to repeat Oct. 7 again and again. Sometimes, we need to believe people when they tell us who they are.

 

Gaza: Israeli commanders among nine soldiers killed in Hamas ambush

 

Under Rules of War, ‘Proportionality’ in Gaza Is Not About Evening the Score

 

Good Lord -- that's 4 posts in a row with nothing but a link -- no excerpting of important passages, no summary or analysis. I know it's not a rule here (though it is on a lot of other boards), but it would add an awful lot if you'd provide some analysis/commentary when you post these links. You're a smart guy with important things to say. I know I for one wouldn't mind hearing it, even if I don't necessarily agree.

 

Yeah, that used to be a general rule here: We weren't supposed to post a headline without excerpting something or at least setting the scene.