Independence?

Has Israel Finally Broken free of the Suicidal West?

Last week Israel informally declared independence from the Biden-Harris Administration.   Almost.   In reports here that have not been denied, when the final approval came for the hit on Nasrallah the Defense Minister Galant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi both insisted on getting US approval first.  Netanyahu argued against it, fearing another “don’t”  and his view won out.   And the game has changed because of that decision.

The ”almost” is because it came up at all and it is not clear that Israel will continue to act in its own self interest – and that of the non-suicidal West.  For those Western leaders like Biden-Harris-Blinken, Trudeau, Macron, Keir Starmer and others there is nothing so horrible as destroying an anti-Western terrorist group.  It is always time to appease and always time for a cease fire.  My brother joked that Biden’s teleprompter is stuck on “now is the time for a cease fire” but that doesn’t excuse the rest of the gang.

With the ground operation starting the US and even the IDF have insisted it is a limited operation to clear out Hezbollah near the border.   Here is hoping the IDF spokesman’s office is not telling the whole truth as limiting the scope of the ground invasion to clearing out border areas would be a mistake that we will pay for again and again.   Following the Biden-Harris-Blinken strategy of appeasement and “de-escalation” would be disastrous.   A “diplomatic solution” works against the interests of Israel, of the non-suicidal West and of Lebanon itself.    For once, the world can be rid of an organization that has killed thousands of people around the globe, from South America to North America to the middle east to Africa.   Hezbollah, as Iran’s main terror source is the quintessential global organized crime organization using drug and human trafficking to finance its nihilistic Jihadi goals.

A few months ago we wrote an article intitled “Can or Ought Israel go it Alone?”  where we asked not only if Israel could fight against Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Yemen-Houthis and the proxies in Iraq and Syria – all supported by Russia and China – at once, but if it is its responsibility to do so?  In short does the entire responsibility in fighting to save a quickly dissapearing Pax-Americana fall to Israel and its less than 10 million people?   The US Navy was to take care of the Houthis and, in my view the Iranian nuclear and missile sites.   The other Western allies like France and England were to put in their forces, too.  Defeating the Axis was to be a US led effort where each ally gives what it can.   But the entire effort for the middle eastern part has been put on Israel, without even the diplomatic and moral support that one would expect from allies. This has been a double cross one would expect from a fair weather friend, not from a key strategic ally.

True enough, the US and allies helped defend Israel against the Iranian attack on April but that seems more an attempt to prevent Israeli retaliation than Iranian damage.  Joe “take the win” Biden made it pretty clear that he would help is DEFEND itself in the minimalist version of this military concept. 

Over the last two weeks, Israel has severely weakened not an Iranian proxy, but their main terrorist arm outside of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah.   Israel has attacked and done major damage to the Houthis in Yemen in spite of their being over 1,800 kilometers away and Israel has done all of this with neither Hezbollah nor Iran destroying anything of strategic importance to Israel or the West. 

All the while Russia is actively involved in arming these terrorist organizations.  They are selling shore to ship missiles to the Houthis and are in close contact with Iran regarding their air defenses.    Israel has warned the Lebanese not to allow Iranian planes to land at the Beirut Airport and the Lebanese have done as they were told, saving their airport from sure destruction.  But Russia is allowing Iranian transports to land in their own air bases in Syria with arms destined for Hezbollah.  Israel, so far, has not gone so far as to attack Russian assets and I don’t imagine they will.  This leaves Israel at a great disadvantage in that it makes it harder to prevent the Iranian re-arming of Hezbollah.   In a war where Israel is the junior partner, Israel should be entitled to help if a country like Russia, or China become involved.   At the least, the US should try to deter Russia from aiding Israel’s enemies.   But that has not happened because Biden-Harris-Blinken are not intelligent enough to understand the world they live in.   Or, they really don’t consider Israel to be an ally of the US since the current  (and any future) Israeli government is not woke. 

That could be the reason why, as Israel started its ground attack, the White House (or State Department) leaked Israel’s plan (or what they thought were Israel’s plans) no less than five times in a few hours.   The destruction of nihilistic terrorist groups seems not to be in the interests of the current US administration since that might lead to escalation.

The next few weeks will tell us if Israel has finally broken free of the Biden-Harris-Blinken, cease fire, diplomatic solution, de-escalation policy once and for all.   Israel has warned Lebanese not to cross the Litani River going south.   A month ago the plan was to move Hezbollah north of the Litani but after 3 weeks of incredible tactical successes the plans have to be adjusted.   The worst thing for an army is to follow its plans without taking new realities into account (that is the worst thing for any organization or business) and the plan for Lebanon that Israel has developed over the years did not take these successes into account.   If Israel pulls up short now, the entire West will pay.   Iran is on its hind legs and the Islamic regime is becoming the laughing stock of the Moslem world.   Russia is looking closely and will abandon them if they lose.  But they will support them until then.  China?  China is nothing if not a master at observing.  And observing they are.

Victor Davis Hanson in his new book “The End of Everything” brings case studies of sudden collapses of civilizations and great powers.  It doesn’t have to happen but it is foolish to think it can’t. 

I hate sounding apocalyptic, but someone must lead the West if it wants to survive.  How ironic if it turns out to be the country the West’s most educated love to hate.