The Israeli air raids on Hamas’s infrastructure along with troop movements around Gaza’s enclave and the shelling of Israel by the jihadist organization are both troubling developments in the Middle East but they are certainly neither new nor surprising. Dramatic images of bloody Palestinian civilians fleeing from attacks and pictures of Israelis rushing to the shelters while under fire will always bring chills to observers and depress the entire international community.
Sadly, it’s hardly the first time we’ve seen these images and tragically seven years after 9/11 they seem to connect with similar bloodshed in Mosul, Kabul and Mumbai. Even if both sides in the current Gaza conflict insist that their confrontation is at the center of the world, in reality it isn’t anymore. Car bombs and missiles in Beirut, Baghdad and Islamabad are all horrifying. There is no “top horror” anymore, even in the never- ending cycle of Gaza’s turmoil. It has all become part of the so-called “War on Terror” even though the Palestinian-Israeli quarrel is a conflict all its own. Still, why is this escalation so dramatic, why did it happen, who triggered it at this particular moment and what can we expect going forward? It’s too grandiose to claim that anyone has all the answers, but here is my take:
Israel completed its fifth day of air operations against Hamas in Gaza today. Meanwhile, throughout the Middle East, battle lines are being drawn between “moderate” Arab regimes like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt and the militant camp, led by Syria, Iran, and their Lebanese ally Hizballah. Recent days have seen a flurry of verbal attacks launched against the “moderates,” accusing these states of not being supportive enough of Hamas.
The war of words reached a fever pitch earlier this week after Hizballah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah essentially called for civil insurrection in Cairo to compel the Egyptian Government to open the Rafah border with Israel ala August 2008 when Hamas destroyed the border fence allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to enter the Sinai.
“We are facing a partnership by some Arab states, and a complicity by some other Arab states concerning events in our region…These Arabs are asking Israel to wipe out Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the rest of the resistance factions…they are demanding this and helping in this regard…
“…we address the Egyptian regime, saying, O Egyptian officials, if you do not open the Rafah crossing, if you do not come to the rescue of your brothers in Gaza, then you will be partners to a crime, partners to the murders, partners to the siege, and partners to creating the Palestinian tragedy…
“O people of Egypt, you should open this crossing with your bare chests…I am not calling for a coup in Egypt, nor am I in a position to do so. However, I am for the generals and officers to go to the political leadership and address it, saying the honour of our military uniform….do[es] not allow us to see our kinfolk in Gaza slain while we guard the borders with Israel.”
Egypt, not surprisingly, has responded harshly to Nasrallah’s calls. During a press conference on December 29, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Gheit said: "If you do not know, let me tell you that the Egyptian Armed Forces are there to defend Egypt. If need be, they will also protect Egypt against people like you.” During the same press conference, Abu al-Gheit described Nasrallah’s statement as “a declaration of war against the Egyptian people.”
Despite Nasrallah’s outspoken rhetorical stance on Gaza, it’s unlikely that Hizballah will open a second front against Israel ala summer 2006. I wrote an article about Hizballah and Gaza published yesterday by the Washington Institute. It can be found here.
A record 151 U.S. forces died in Afghanistan in 2008, the deadliest year yet in a seven-year war that military officials say is likely to get even bloodier in 2009, as thousands more American troops pour into the country.
A federal judge on Tuesday awarded more than $65 million to several men who were captured and tortured by North Korea after the communist country seized the U.S. spy ship USS Pueblo during the Cold War.
ANN CURRY: In depth now, a powerful story of courage and a reminder of what is at stake in the war in Afghanistan, a war in which Islamic militants attack young girls whose only offense is going to school. NBC’s Jim Maceda reports now from Kandahar.
JIM MACEDA: Thirteen-year-old Zahara always looked forward to school, to science class and athletics, until one morning last month, walking to the Mirwais Meena Girls’ School in Kandahar with her older cousin Chamsey. Here, just outside the school, her life changed.
ZAHARA: (Through translator) It was Wednesday. We were coming home from school when men on motorbikes drove by and threw something on our face.
MACEDA: Zahara thought it was water, just a prank, until it started to sting.
ZAHARA: (Through translator) My skin became green, then white and I knew something was really wrong.
MACEDA: Her cousin Chamsey screamed and passed out. She and five other girls were hospitalized with burns, all victims of a brutal acid attack by militants. In the eyes of the Taliban, girls are unholy if they go to school.
Colonel MIKE MALLON: It’s an event that really shook this place up, to be quite frank.
MACEDA: For Colonel Mike Mallon, a former New York cop now training Afghan police here, it was an atrocity.
Col. MALLON: To see this happen to children just trying to go to school and get an education, better themselves and be part of the future success of this country.
MACEDA: There have been hundreds of school-related attacks in Afghanistan over the past year alone, but nothing like this. Kandahar police say they’ve arrested four suspects, but refused to allow us to see them.
Who does she think did this?
ZAHARA: (Through translator) The enemy did it.
MACEDA: Most of these kids were back in class after four or five days, but their teachers say the mood has changed. There’s still a strong desire to learn, of course, but now that’s mixed with a deep-seated fear.
MACEDA: ‘We’re all afraid,’ said principal Mahmoud Qaderi, ‘but we don’t care. We’ll continue to teach and learn here, and that will defeat the enemy.’ Zahara admits she’s lost the joy to study, but not her dreams.
ZAHARA: (Through translator) I want to be a doctor someday and give something to my country and its children.
MACEDA: Her cousin Chamsey was left partially blind by her acid burns, but her sister had this message for the Taliban.
MACEDA: ‘You can spray us a thousand times; we will not stop going to school,’ she swore, in tears. Two cousins, both victims of terror, and now the faces of defiance. Jim Maceda, NBC News. (NBC’s “Nightly News,” 12/22/08)
Israel resisted mounting international pressure Wednesday to suspend its devastating air offensive against militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza, sending more troops and tanks to the border as signs of an impending ground invasion multiplied.
The U.S. military prepared to turn over a swathe of Iraqi airspace on Wednesday ahead of the expiry of a UN mandate in another step that edges Baghdad closer to full sovereignty.
The A-10 Warthog is the baddest plane the Air Force has ever had. Us Army guys love it even though it is not cool and sexy. I will never forget the distinctive sounds of its engine’s whine as it screams overhead, and I surely will never forget the awesome sound of it Gatling-style main gun as it rips targets to shreds. This is your video of the day.
Gov. David A. Paterson ordered flags on state government buildings be flown at half-staff on Monday, Jan. 5, for the funeral of Army Reserve Maj. John P. Pryor, who died Christmas Day in Mosul, Iraq, when a mortar round hit near his living quarters.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s), myself included, and not intended as a directive or recommendation. Your ability to in turn express your opinions are just one of the rights I defended as a United States Army soldier. I respect and encourage that right. I ask only this; if you disagree with any of the material presented, either by the author or by posters, take a deep breath and think before you post. Be introspective. Be concise. Form a complete, well thought, and above all polite response before posting. The inability to communicate politely and succinctly on emotionally charged issues will do nothing to promote productive sharing of viewpoints. We must speak rationally and intelligently to each other as individuals before we can ever hope to do it as a country. To do anything less is to denigrate each other, hide away the truth, and perpetuate that which we seek to overcome.
The Israeli air raids on Hamas’s infrastructure along with troop movements around Gaza’s enclave and the shelling of Israel by the jihadist organization are both troubling developments in the Middle East but they are certainly neither new nor surprising. Dramatic images of bloody Palestinian civilians fleeing from attacks and pictures of Israelis rushing to the shelters while under fire will always bring chills to observers and depress the entire international community.
