When Israel stopped fighting Hamas, Hamas regrouped and hit Israel. Their jihadi ilk come for us, too. Let's be the strong horse again. Ef "understanding" jihadi motivation. Kill jihadis.
The Joe Biden administration’s steadfast show of support for Israel in its war with Hamas has reignited a torrent of anti-American sentiment in many Arab and Muslim communities.
That's BS. Those proto-nutballs are pre-ignited. FFS, what doesn't anger the Easily Excitable? That would be a shorter answer than what we face.
Elements in the Arab world are feeling more confident that it is safe to show anger at America the "weak horse":
I can't help but think that our jihadi enemies see our long appeasement of Iran--on top of our skedaddle debacle out of Afghanistan--and conclude that we are the "weak horse" that they can safely attack. I mean, can jihadis look at our enabling of Iran's missile capabilities as anything but another sign of Allah's blessings and our hollow power?
I did warn that the Arab Winter was coming again as we walked away from the War on Terror. We saw the first big storm on October 7th.
The Arab "street" was pretty damned quiet while we were tearing
Islamists a new one in Afghanistan and Iraq every day for years on end. Oh, the jihadis still tried to murder us in the West. They believed they were on a mission from God. And they murdered the less-committed Moslems within easy reach of the jihadis. But the casual "street" largely sat out the glories of the jihad. Moslem governments saw the clear value of relying on American support to battle the jihadis who would slaughter those local leaders for being insufficiently Islamist.
Helping Israel crush Hamas will do wonders to purge the joy of killing Jews we see evident now. Remember, the jihadis going through Israel now will come to kill the rest of us.
And to kill the local Moslem governments. When we were the weak horse sitting out the Islamic Civil War, Moslem autocrats tried to appease the Islamist impulse:
In the past, Arab autocrats tried to bolster "tame" Islamist thinking to bolster their illegitimate dictatorships (or oligarchies or whatever) backed by sham elections. Even Saddam Hussein resorted to that last refuge of a scoundrel in "secular" Iraq.
But the "tame" Islamic clerics who backed despots could never compete on the field of religion with the "wild" underground Islamists who preached belief in God rather than loyalty to the state, which obviously was failing to help the people prosper as the rest of the world passed them by.
To repeat, fighting the jihadis buys time for the good guys to win the Islamic Civil War. And if our justified actions to stop murderous fanaticism cause more people in the Arab/Moslem world to actively support Hamas terrorism in the short run? Well, that's on them. Shame on them. It's not on us to give ground to murderous fanaticism.
And their openly displayed rage clarifies the IFF issue for the fight we need to wage until the Moslem good guys win the Islamic Civil War.
But that's a long-term fight. In the short run we must kill the committed jihadis. And then the less committed "street" will stay at home and watch the jihad on their phones and post on social media if real life is far more dangerous for their evil murderous heroes. The "street" won't love us. But they'll be quiet about their hate of the countries that are decisive in fighting the jihadis. One day, they might be as repulsed by that display of evil that most of us feel.
Kill jihadis. That outcome isn't their "deep plan." Be the strong horse.
UPDATE: Good:
As regional tension in the Middle East ratchets up with every day of Israel’s military operation in Gaza, a key official from the United Arab Emirates is standing firm that Israel’s relationship with his country and the Abraham Accords that have bound the nations since 2020 are not in danger of rupturing.
Let's encourage this kind of thinking by making the alternative of backing Hamas a dead end.
UPDATE: I had similar thoughts about what excites or calms the Easily Excitable over a decade ago.
UPDATE: I concur:
History has proved that friends and allies come from strength and not weakness. After America devastated Germany and Japan following a total war and unconditional surrender, the Germans and Japanese people transformed into allies. That would not have happened had a compromise peace been reached. It was the total defeat of Germany and Japan that persuaded its citizens to support the victor.
I went into this issue regarding a generous peace for Russia, where the concept also applies.
UPDATE: Exactly:
The United States is pursuing a backward Middle East strategy, one in which it seeks to avoid conflict by restraining its allies, rather than deterring its adversaries.Why would enemies seek our friendship when we display how lukewarm our friendship is to current friends?
As long as we restrain our allies from defeating our enemies, any deals enemies are willing to make with us will be informed by a belief that being our enemy is far more profitable than being our friend.
But that will be called Smart Diplomacy.®
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
NOTE: I'm adding updates on the Last Hamas War in this post.