Opuscula London bombed; Dresden bombed Lesson for Hamas?

 

HAMAS AND Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) send missiles, fire balloons, and other weapons into Israel, mostly southern Israel where few Knesset members live.

Israel wastes thousands of shekels in jet fuel and more thousands in munitions to surgically target places where Hamas and PIJ were but are not now, having run away leaving the target populated by civilians.

Hamas and PIJ tell Israel and the world they want a cease fire which Israel gives and then Hamas and PIJ almost immediately violate the cease fire, proving, once again, that Israel’s politicians are either stupid or two faced — or both.

 

DURING WORLD WAR 2, the nazi air force bombed London, the Luftwaffe attacked ports in Liverpool and Hull as well the cities of Bristol, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Southampton, Cardiff, and Swansea. The industrial powerhouses of Birmingham, Belfast, Coventry, Glasgow, Manchester and Sheffield were also heavily bombed. (https://tinyurl.com/tlpxtqc)

While these bomber attacks should have been expected — the nazis had bombed and shelled cities on the continent, killing hundreds, the Brits apparently thought their cities were safe.

After the bombers came the V-1 flying bombs, the predecessors of today’s missiles.

The raids caused enormous destruction and heavy civilian casualties—some 43,000 British civilians were killed and another 139,000 were wounded. (https://tinyurl.com/y4ncbqhc)

When the nazis focused their attention on Russia in 1941, the bombing ceased (too few aircraft for a two-front war) and bomber attacks were replaced with rocket attacks from June 1944 through March 1945. During that time, 6,725 rockets were launched at Britain. Of these, 2,340 hit London, causing 5,475 deaths, with 16,000 injured. (https://tinyurl.com/ws7pb7x)

 

Revenge

The most extreme examples of Allied bombing of German cities included Hamburg in Operation Gomorrah (45,000 dead), and the bombings of Kassel (10,000 dead), Darmstadt (12,500 dead), Pforzheim (21,200 dead), Swinemuende (23,000 dead), and Dresden (25,000 dead). (https://tinyurl.com/btzvqng)

It can be argued that the first civilians killed by bombing — by either side — were in areas with military objectives; initially civilians in areas of no military value were relatively safe.

While Hamburg had the highest number of fatalities, Dresden is famous for the cruelty of the attack.

Unlike other targets, e.g., Hamburg, Dresden was, according to some, of little military significance. (https://tinyurl.com/y6pukj8d) Others however, contend that the city did have military value to the nazis, but admit the bombing of Dresden also was “for effect.” (https://tinyurl.com/redc8w4)

The bottom line was that Dresden was fire bombed day and night by U.S. and English bombers at least in part to make civilians suffer for the nazis’ war.

 

Israeli option

There are, from time to time, reports of dissatisfaction with Hamas and PIJ by the residents of Gaza.

Reports also claim that voices pressing for change are suppressed violently.

The left-leaning New York Times’ writer,  David M. Halbfinger, posits that Hamas, the militant group that runs the Gaza Strip, has been trying for over a year to keep a lid on its conflict with Israel, to improve the abysmal quality of life for the two million Palestinians under its control, and to keep millions of dollars in cash coming in each month from its generous allies in Qatar.

But a nettlesome, unruly and heavily armed little group called Palestinian Islamic Jihad has repeatedly sabotaged those plans by firing rockets at Israel, which more often than not has responded by raining down destruction on Hamas’s own installations and men. (Never mind the Times’ {Times’s?} use of “’s”. [https://tinyurl.com/yxbmoees, https://tinyurl.com/y36vj9zr])

Admittedly, if Israel did to Gaza what the allies did to Dresden — or any other mixed value target — the world would loudly object. Israel’s responses always must be “proportional.”

Some fool fails to understand that Hamas et al have sworn to drive the Jews — and presumably all non Muslims — into the sea; Hamas has declared war on Israel.

 

Government in exile?

The primary problem with Israel indiscriminately bombing Gaza, is that, as the nazis in Germany, Hamas et al won’t get the message and the people will remain under Hamas’ (or Hamas’s if you are a NY Times’s reader) thumb.

Someone — Egypt is probably the best option — should help Gazans who are tired of fighting Hamas, PIJ and Israel set up a government in exile. Even Israel could — and should — support this government in exile so that when — and this is a certainty — the war mongers of Hamas., PIJ, and any other interlopers are dispatched to their 70 virgins, Gaza will not be left in a vacuum.

Gazans already are escaping the strip. They are heading to Europe. Will they support a Hamas-free government?

The overthrow MUST only be with the assistance of fellow Muslims. The U.S. should not provide any direct military aid — none. Israeli Muslims, even if they want to help overthrow the despots, need to “sit on their hands” so “The World” won’t have grounds to blame Israel. (It WILL, in the end, blame Israel; that’s the knee-jerk reaction to everything.)

What Gaza does not need are Blue Bonnets patrolling the streets. UN “forces” have generally proven of little or no value.

 

Avoiding Dresden in Gaza

The people of Gaza, with help from their Muslim kin, need to overthrow the despots of Hamas, PIJ, and any other organization that puts itself before the people.

Hamas et al will not go quietly into the night and there will be casualties.

That, sadly, usually is the price of freedom from tyranny. Americans learned that lesson in 1775.

Still, Gazans who want a democratic-style government must act to prevent an Israeli politician such as the late Ariel Sharon, from invading Gaza and laying waste to the strip as Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman laid waste to Atlanta GA. (https://tinyurl.com/y8c3v4jq ) Atlanta recovered after the war and now is one of America’s major cities.

Continued attacks from Gaza on Israeli communities eventually will force Israel’s government to act, even if belatedly. Israel will not allow another “Lebanon” defeat.

The preventative is to establish a government in exile and to cast out Hamas, et al.

It won’t be easy. It will cost lives.

In the end, fewer lives will be lost than if an Israel, tired of attacks on its citizens, decides to depose the despots and invades Gaza.

 

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Comment on Gaza & Dresden

Opuscula The problem With war: Innocents

CALL THEM “COLLATERAL DAMAGE” OR “innocent bystanders.” Mostly they are NOT combatants. This does not apply to terrorists who wear no military garb, much like the “Black Pajama” fighters in Vietnam or the terrorists in the PLO and Gaza hiding behind true civilians. The problem with almost any war there are “civilian casualties.”

If the U.S. responds to Iranian of Chinese provocation, e.g., attacking ships in international waterways, if all-out war is declared, thousands of civilians will die.

Likewise, if Israel is attacked en masse by Hezbollah, the PLO, or Hamas, it will respond in a manner to prevent more attacks. True, the UN and other leftists will rail about “proportional response” suggesting that for every attacker killed, at least one Israeli should die. That, of course, is unacceptable for the Israelis.

AN ASIDE

During World War 2, the nazis bombed English cities to convince the islanders to join with Lord Haw-Haw and Gandhi in allowing the nazis to take over the island.

In return, the English fire-bombed Dresden, killing whomever was in the bombs’ — and resulting fires’ — area of destruction.

During the same war, the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan with horrific results; hundreds of Japanese instantly died, and thousands more suffered, but the bombings DID end the war in the Pacific. The Japanese chose to ignore the warnings dropped from planes passing over the island.

In both cases, civilians paid the price for their government’s actions.

MUSLIM PROMISES

The leaders of Iran and its proxies — Hezbollah, the PLO, and Hamas — promise to kill all Israelis. Never mind if the Israeli is a Muslim, a Jew, or something else.

Israel, despite protests from the UN and leftists, will defend itself.

The best defense? A good offense.

Israel has weapons.

What the world has seen to date are primarily defensive weapons.

It sometimes exercises its air force.

It is known to have several missile-launching submersibles. It has a pretty good navy with “over-the-horizon” capability. It might not be able to take on the U.S., Chinese, or Russian navies, but Iran is none of those.

Unlike soldiers with rifles, bombs and missiles are non-selective in their targets. True, there ARE “smart” bombs and missiles that can hit a specific building — or even a car on the road — but depending on the damage inflicted on Israel by the attackers, Israel may need to forego “pin-point accuracy” in favor of mass destruction.

”INNOCENT” VICTIMS

It is my understanding, from various media reports, that there are people in Iran, in Lebanon, in the PLO territories, and in Gaza, who would like to overthrow their masters.

There were Poles in Poland during WW 2 that hated the nazis for invading Poland. They fought the nazis with guerrilla tactics. In some cases, a few Poles even helped Jews or absorbed them into their units. (This scrivener knew one.) The Nordic countries also had their guerrilla units.

Unoccupied countries such as the U.S. and the English smuggled weapons to the partisans.

Perhaps Israel and Egypt — no friend of Hamas and Islamic Brotherhood — might do the same. There might even be more support from other Muslim states, e.g., Saudia, currently under attack by Iran’s proxy in Yemen. I consider Jordan unable to do anything that might upset Iran since it is largely populated by “Palestinians” that have proven to be, and remain a threat to the royal house. It would take a U.S. to provide succor to Iranians who are willing to try and overthrow the ayatollahs. (If the Democrats take over the presidency and both houses of Congress, any U.S. support for Iranian dissidents will go away.)

IF IRAN or its proxies attack Israel “to wipe if off the map,” civilians by the thousands will die. There will be civilian deaths in Israel, but there will be many more where the attacks originated.

When the Democrats controlled the White House and Congress — the FDR years — the U.S. turned a blind eye to the atrocities in Europe.

When Obama and the Democrats controlled America, Israel’s enemies had staunch support in Washington.

Unless there is a Harry S Truman-type personality in the Democrat party, the party’s return to power in the U.S. will see the return of the FDR and Obama eras: “See no evil, Hear no evil, and pretend there are no threats to an ally.”

JUST ANOTHER WAR

A war between Israel and Iran and its proxies will not be “a war to end all wars..” It WILL be a war that will destroy generations; thousands of non-combatants will die on all sides.

Israel probably will prevail, but at a cost.

What really is stupid is that if Iran and its proxies had any sense, they would rush to make peace with Israel so their people could enjoy the advances coming from Israel.

The next war will be blamed on the “Palestinians issue.”

Time and time again the “issue” could have been resolved in the PLO’s favor, but each time, the PLO refused to compromise on its demand that Israel disappear.

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

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Comments on the Problem with war