Captain's Quarters -

"The Hamasini Crime Family" is apparently too stupid to realize their "victory" in Gaza will merely give the Israelis, at long last, a clear field of fire. Odds are the Israelis will then quickly take the "Phil Leotardo" approach for winning friends and influencing people:

"Wipe out the leadership...and then deal with whoever is left."

Oh, Captain. That's funny. Abbas forgot the "on" part.

By the way, he was never, really, in gaza. Dahlan, though was his man, there. And, currently Dahlan resides in Cairo.

I'd bet the Saud's are NOT amused! But how they handle themselves, since they still have Bush tethered by the nose; is beyond my ability to guess.

Though before Israel ever enters gazoo, again; I think it's a safe bet to make to say that Eygpt will roll her tanks towards gazoo from the Sinai. Target practice can't hurt.

What the folks in gazoo will do for money, I have no idea. Since the Saud's were good at handicapping those donations. Whatever labels they bore; the money came out of Riyadh. You can't fool me.

Of course, the word "won" has already been sticker-priced all over this thing. But "won" doesn't get ya anywhere ELSE.

Yes, Assad's up to his mischief, too. We don't hear much out of Lebanon. Debka, though, says Siniora "lost." Why? Because all 12 "refugee camps" are still standing. (In muck, I might add.) And, at least in one of them,all the tall buildings have lost their tiers.

We also know that arabs don't give a rat's patootie about "collateral damage."

And, the event, ahead? Why, t'marra, Abbas' old house in gazoo is being turned into a mosque. So, I guess the pali's can give thanks to whomever; for all those recently acquired virgins?

I don't think it's over, though.

On the other hand? Bush has come up short. Since he's invested in the "two state" solution process. And, it seems when you have palistinians, you run out of countries they can make; if you're limited in the number of names you've got.

Can't wait for Hamas to host an olympics. Wouldn't that be special?

They were sure mad at Abbas, too, huh? The old terrorist didn't quite live up to what he had been billed to do.

Of course, we're not at June 24th, yet.

That's Bush's date to repeat his grand June 24, 2005 performance; where the Saudis were sure they were on a roll.

Well, headline writers are gonna be kept busy.

Still, I like what you did! Abbas collected lots of money for his performances; but no one knew the old terrorist wasn't gonna fight. I guess, when men get old they fart, instead?

Oh, and no Nobel Peace Prize for him, either! He picked the wrong door. The real prize though, remains hidden. Until somebody mean enough just ooens 'da door. Will the world wait for Rudy?

One of CQ's commenters sometime back (sorry, don't remember who) said "Let them eat their hatred." Seems their hatred is now eating them.

Where are the PA sympathizers who've always been so vocal in their condemnation of Israel? We can now hear the birds chirping from their silence.

Seems pretty clear to me that if Hamas and Fatah want to slug it out the best thing for the Israelis to do is make sure neither side runs out of bullets. I added a link to my 2007.06.14 Israel/Lebanon/Palistan Roundup.

It must be soon that there will be no one left for Hamas to kill. And then they will turn on each other. Factions within factions, these groups are never truly unified for long.

If it didn't seem so diabolical, I could almost believe that this was the plan all along. Hold elections, let the Palestinian voters bring Hamas to power and wait for Fatah and Hamas to start killing each other. The Palestinians have done to themselves in a few short weeks what the Israelis couldn't accomplish in 50 years. Magnificently wicked if someone really did envision it playing out like this. And maybe not all that hard to believe because the Palestinians are definitely being played here. But then that can't be a new experience for them, it's been happening for decades.

Iran will attempt to solidify their grip on Gaza, the HAMAS, and the nearly 2 dozen militias/Islamic Terrorist groups not withstanding. Iran will use violence from Gaza against Israel to get a Lebanon 2006 type response from Israel in retaliation. Iran will use this to either topple Egypt and Saudi's governments or force them into war against Israel or both.

Charles Krauthammer made the following observations on the Gaza situation on last night's Special Report with Brit Hume (linked from NRO's "The Corner".

KRAUTHAMMER: "This is the beginning of the Palestinian civil war. Round one happened this week, and it's over. Hamas has won in Gaza, it will take it over. And it is the worst elements.

"As one high administration official said the other day, these are the extreme elements of the extremists. And this is essentially the first Palestinian independent territory — Israel is out of Gaza — and it will now become a terrorist state.

"And it will also be, this is extremely important, a client of Iran. Hamas is supplied and financed by Iran. Iran has now a constellation of allies and clients in that region, the way the Soviets had around the world. It's got Hamas now in Gaza, it's got Hezbollah in Lebanon, it's got Sadr in Iraq. And it has a country, Syria, as its only Arab ally in that region. . . .

"[I]t's an Iranian client crescent, and it is the beginning of a general Iranian, Islamist revolutionary infiltration of the Arabs. Which is why Egypt is afraid, because Gaza has a border with Egypt, and why it's the beginning of a great struggle between Persian, non-Arab, Shiite and radical Iran with all of these Arabs.

"So it's the beginning of a new era in the Middle East."

Iran will attempt to solidify their grip on Gaza, the HAMAS, and the nearly 2 dozen militias/Islamic Terrorist groups not withstanding. Iran will use violence from Gaza against Israel to get a Lebanon 2006 type response from Israel in retaliation. Iran will use this to either topple Egypt and Saudi's governments or force them into war against Israel or both.

Where are the European Intelligensia comments about this latest Palestinian savagery?

The Palestinians have done to themselves in a few short weeks what the Israelis couldn't accomplish in 50 years. Magnificently wicked...

A lot of you don't understand what's going on. This isn't a great victory for Israel or those who like to see Palestinians kill each other.

Read the Krauthammer / Fox quote above. Now you know why elections in Palestine have done more to spread Islamic extremism and further the goals of Iran than introduce democracy. Do you understand that Krauthammer is trying to explain that you're seeing something very bad happen? Or maybe he is simply more opposed to Iran and fundamentalist infiltration of neighboring states than you are....

As much as the CQ readership revels in shadenfreude, there may be a silver lining in this dark cloud. Fatah will likely secure the West Bank for itself, leaving Hamas out of the process. Abbas may come to rule like a dictator, but this is far preferable to dealing with a shadowy terrorist organization. The "peace process" (such as it is) can continue from there, in some tolerable fashion.

As for the Gaza Strip and Hamas, the situation is so dire that some prominent voices there are calling for the Israelis to reoccupy it:

http://olehgirl.com/?p=824

Pathetic. That debatable land will become "Hamas-stan" until its residents finally tire of it and rise up against it. Sooner rather than later, one hopes.

DU

Israel should sit back and let the Palestinians drive themselves into the sea.

Honestly, I don't understand all the handwringing over Iran's growing influence in the region. All these Muslim dictatorships stink to high heaven, and Islamic extremism has been growing for decades.

Let this big ugly zit come to a head already, and let America, Israel and anyone who wants to join them deal decisively with the Islamists once and for all. Terms like "stability" and "peace process" are just another name for kicking the can down the road a little while longer.

I'm supposed to be rooting for Mubarek and Abdullah? I can't root for any of them.

It's a very bad situation for everyone and it represents a failure of Israeli and US policy as much as a failure for the Palestinians in Gaza. The history is Hamas is instructive here... originally founded by Israel as a counterweight to secular Fatah and the PLO and now a much more capable force than the PA security forces which Israel decimated during the 2nd intifada. It is worth remembering this as we embark on arming anti AQ sunni militant groups in Iraq.

Krauthammer's synopsis is interesting as he suggests that we have a similar conflict to the Cold War against Soviet ideology and I would suggest that we confront the threat of Revolutionary radical Islam the same way that we faced down theSoviet threat.... by combining containment with a viable and more appealing alternative. Sadly, US policy in Iraq has thus far failed to provide that viable alternative. Perhaps we need to concentrate our efforts in that same place where Soviet expansion and military doctrine met its end... in Afghanistan.

bayam speaks:

"A lot of you don't understand what's going on. This isn't a great victory for Israel or those who like to see Palestinians kill each other.
Read the Krauthammer / Fox quote above. Now you know why elections in Palestine have done more to spread Islamic extremism and further the goals of Iran than introduce democracy."

apparently i have to repeat what i told you on another thread. elections are the best thing that ever happened. your/their victim charade is over.

bayam,

please don't feel bad. the "village idiot" like the "court jester" were and continue to be valuable participants in society. you provide a valuable service akin to a divining rod.

really, keep up the good work. as to your regrets about elections i'll leave you with this:

patrick neid Says:

January 28th, 2006 at 8:15 pm

Hamas wins!

Despite all the chin pulling and hand wringing I think this is the best thing that could happen in regards to the peace process in the Middle East. This election brings complete clarity to the events on the ground. The final steps will be the completion of the wall and the granting of statehood–whether they want it or not–to Palestine. Once that happens the constraints of statehood will kick in. All manner of conditions will then limit the behavior of Hamas. First and foremost almost all of their funding will basically stop. Whereas now the common excuse for supporting the PLO bloodlust was, its for “the oppressed”. With statehood their behavior will have to meet certain standards not unlike Israel’s being limited in it’s treatment toward the terrorists, Arafat, etc. Israel will now be dealing with a recognized country. This will be a whole lot easier than with a “movement” and brings with it a lot more options.
The UN, dragging it’s knuckles, will come to see Hamas, Iran, Syria et al as the thugocracies they have always been. There will be no gray areas to hide in. The world is finally hitting bottom! We should celebrate……

Lex-

You're right about Hamas and Israel. Hamas was groomed by Israel to displace and weaken the PLO. Because the PLO was entirely secular and held pro-Western values, Hamas cultivated a religious Islamic posture in order to more effectively compete against the PLO.

Looking in hindsight, the CIA and many in Israeli intelligence will tell you that it was a huge mistake.

Today, the US is funding fringe Sunni groups with stronger links to al Qaeda than some of the supposed terror connections that were used to justify the invasion. In other words, you can say that the US is doing more to help groups with al Qaeda shadows than Saddam ever did. Do these groups hate Iran? Yes. And many of them hate Americans just as fervently. Talk about a viscous circle.

Would bin Laden have amounted to anything without training and support from the CIA during the 1980s?

Everyone is deeply impressed by your humor and intellect and I always wanted a message board stalker.
Captain does enforce a policy now and then of deleting superfluous posts that are little more than ad hominem attacks.

Rush Limbaugh has often pointed out that there can be no peace without victory, so as The Fop points out, the much-vaunted 'peace process' between Israel and the Palestinians was just "kicking the can down the road."

This internecine fighting between Hamas and Fatah may provide the opportunity for a victory of sorts for Israel. Gaza can be sealed off, and the West Bank could become a dependent protectorate of Israel.

The wild card, as Krauthammer (quoted above) suggests, is Iran, which will use every effort to keep the Israeli-Palestinian-Islamist pot boiling. That's where our efforts in Iraq can help, if—and this is a big if, given the pusillanimous Democrats—we can extend those efforts into Iran and Syria, with incursions, sanctions, and infrastructure destruction.

We have to stay in Iraq, which has to remain an American protectorate, like Greece after WWII, and South Korea after that. Lexhamfox (above) is correct that we have to contain the Islamists and Iran (and prevent Iran from destroying Israel), and that means keeping our boots on the ground in the Middle East.

/Mr Lynn

if you are going to peddle the same tripe every time you post i have to find a way to save on typing....god knew this when he invented cut and paste.

Why is it automatically Israel's problem to have to go in and clean up the messes the Palestinians bring on themselves? I think the Jews should just sit behind their walls and wait for the Pal's to starve to death. Or run out of bullets, whichever comes first.

I also vote that bayam go play with the Kos Kids since s/he brings absolutely nothing to an adult discussion.

Ahh, the Palestinian Unity Government: the shining beacon of Arab democracy and symbol of a peaceful modern Islamic rule.

Forever consigned to the dustbin of history. The brutality in the month of June has done more damage to the Palestinians-as-victims theory than anything else. Israel, the "Zionist oppressors", the "Evil West", nobody is going to buy that excuse anymore. They had their shot. They blew it.

The real problem is this week in Gaza gave the Islamist end game away: capitulation to Shar'ia law or death. Folks, this is what your average Islamist has in store for the world. This is what awaits Iraq if we leave, or the Middle East under Iran, or the US should we falter against this enemy.

Given a choice, a land, their own government, and aid from around the world, the Palestinians chose to kill each other. They are not victims. They are terrorists.

From where I sit, the Saud's just lost a lot of money! Because? They were betting they could come out with leadership skills! I guess they'll have to hire other promoters, ahead?

As to "what happens" next in gazoo? Abbas' old house will be used as a mosque. Meaning? It doesn't need any chairs.

On the other hand? I'm just wondering how long it will take to turn it into a target? How soon, in other words, before Abbas' old house is just a nieghborhood parking lot?

As to the revelry, I think Iran can hold back on a few of its horses. Because? Haniyeh can't exactly hop, skip, and jump over to get a hand shake. And, a grand Tehran reception. He's stuck. For all you know, even FED EX won't be delivering any new suits.

So, hamas "won." But until now, Abbas has been signing the paychecks. And, with all the explosions, even the printing presses could'a gone up in smoke?

Sure. This gives the gazoo-ans more rubble. More rocks. They can re-load their sling shots. But if they run out of bullets? They'll have to make sounds, instead. They'll have to go "boom, boom, boom." And, by the rules, the person shot "falls down, dead." Naked virgins then come on stage. Just to see if you're watching. Or if you fell asleep.

As to Krauthammer, remember this. If you have a coin. you can sit at home and toss it. And, statistically speaking, you'l come out about right.

Meanwhile, Olmert's heading to DC. And, he didn't make Barak the new defense minister yet. As it seems he's letting Barak stew.

Seems there's a lot of stewing going on, over there.

Pick your lid. Open the pot. There's very little meat to see.

And, Hamas-A-Holes have arleady proven they can't run a thing! So, how did they just improve their lots?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We'll hear a bunch of speeches. The reconciliation experts will come out of the woodwork.

How good does it get? Flip a coin.

It's a sad day, though, if Olmert can't have an honest conversation with Bush.

But I do expect a lot of hand shaking to go on. They'll need Parkinson pills to stop the shaking, I think. But it doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

It was worse, though, when Begin met Jimmy Carter. This is "remedial" by comparison.

As to the victory label that's being given to Hamas-A-Holes, it's just temorary. Haniyeh could be a dead pool candidate, for all we know. (Ditto, Assad.) Someday, ahead? There's gonna be a lot of window panes shaking. When a few Israel jets buzz overhead.

And, I'll also guess an advertising agency will get a lot of money, to paint portraits from gazoo of starving children. You don't think so?

Money is the only currency the Saud's own to manipulate the agenda. (Perhaps, starving children just means more parents willing to donate their kids for suicide missions. But then, an advertising agency dare not make that point obvious.)

Anyway, now that the Gaza Pallies have the government that they richly deserve, the Iranians and their regional subcontractor, Hezboallah, will move in small missile batteries.

As written on another thread, the Achilles' Heel to Iran's deterrent strategy is an inability to range in Southern Israel. With Gaza in the bag, they can now smuggle in Katyusha rocket launchers that can reach all the way up to the south of Tel Aviv. The entire Negev is now in range of Iranian artillery that will be smuggled in by sea and over the Sinai.

The notion that Israel will be able to ignore this is laughable. Only now is the catastrophic measure of Olmert's leadership becoming apparent. Once the Arab senses weakness and hesitation, they go for the jugular.

There will be a large scale regional war, simply because the Arabs don't know when to walk away from the table. They will lose, but thousands will die who would have lived had different decisions been made.

Sorry, Section 9. But all the hezollah smugglers are busy trucking hash hish. Given that the Ba'kakta valley in Lebanon is known to produce the world's best marijuana; the missiles are all decoys.

As to Israel's most unpopular man, meeting Bush, who is ours; it's just a question of noticing how really meaningless diplomatic words really are.

Yes. I expect Bush to make a speech declaring that Israel's "ripe" for the birth of a secondary state. And, that all Israel has to do is end it's checkpoints. And, begin to make friends.

If this doesn't work?

The real deal is that James Baker is about to slip $15-billion in America's latest military technology to the Saud's.

I don't know what the Israelis have. Since the Saud's do brag about how tight Bush is with Bandar. And, how these "deals" get made. Because? Well, ya know, the russians would come along and sell their worthless shit to the Saudis, instead.

Meanwhile, HOW the military stuff gets transfered, I do not know.

But I do think that old disease labelled BDS? It's Bush, now, whose got the dementia.

Of course, a week from now, will anyone even remember the victory achieved in gazoo?

Unpopular politicians sure have odd ways of measuring their successes.

By the way, the ONLY reason Olmert took this trip? He wants to keep Barak waiting and waiting. And, he wants to personally pee in a White House toilet.

Olmert had gotten a call from Condi awhile back; after Arik Sharon stroked. Telling him that the State Department was now gonna take out the Israeli prime minister's White House phone.

So, it's a matter of pride to Olmert. Not that he can do much. He plays a weak hand. And, if a politician like Arik Sharon were alive and well? Olmert wouldn't even exit his office to go home! He wouldn't take a chance!

Ah. In the old days, when Charles Revson was alive. When he wanted to fire an executive; he'd remove the door to the guy's office. Have a crew come in and make it into the wall. So, when the guy came to work on whatever Monday morning it was. He'd get off the elevator, okay. But then? Reality would dawn.

In Israel, reality is just around the corner.

But the news from every place else is worse.

Every 90 minutes, circling in a low orbit, overhead; is Israel's latest spy in the sky. Every 90 minutes means nothing is gonna move over the vast sands of the sinai. Or steer into port anywhere near gaza.

And, gaza doesn't have a port of its own. The french were gonna build one. But Chirac is out of office. Don't count on Sarkozy playing the fool. He won't,

That arabs sense weakness? You bet they do. Especially if you're lugging around a heavy wallet. That's WHY we got in trouble in Irak. But trust me on this. The Israelis aren't getting what they need to know from the arabs; because they over-pay.

And, it's easy to make predictions.

Only thing with them is that they're no more accurate than flipping a coin. Nobody's developed a secret to figure out what the Man Upstairs sees as "coming next."

We could guess, though. No harms in that.

But gazoo has something in common with hezbollah. And, in my book that means TWO LEADERS LIVE BELOW THE SUB-BASEMENT.

You think it's safe for Nasrallah to toodle about? Show his face? Drive in the open? No. I don't think so.

And, Haniyeh has at least one problem. ALL THE TUNNELS INTO GAZOO ... are known locations to the eygptians. How fast can information sell in the arab world?

Oh, yeah. Somebody's just pissed off Riyadh big time. How so? They "invested" in making the "marriage" between hamas and fatah. Shame someone tossed the bride out the wind'a.

You won't make money if you invest in "Free Libby" tee-shirts. Because he's not going to go to jail, soon.

And, you won't make money, either, if you print Hamastan tee-shirts. Because name changes are gonna affect this little slice of real estate FAST. As soon as things start going KA-BOOM. How do I know? I just took a guess. The armed struggle ain't over ... when the two sides still have arsenals. And, clashing relatives; instead of clashing cultures.

What's really broken is the sympathy meter.

And, ya can't even make a living fixing them.

"Parkinson pills"
Carol you are something
thanks
f

izrael is chosen nation
by God

Abbas fires Hamas?

No problem. It's worked before, we avoided that whole civil war thing ourselves when Lincoln simply fired Jeff Davis.

Both Bayam's and Lexhamfoxes response to the cognitive dissonance created by the Palestinian civil war in Gaza should put to the rest the claims of Israel's enemies in the west that they are only opposed to Israel's policies and not an indication of anti-Semitism.

The silence of these critics about Lebanon's actions against Palestinian terrorists situated in refugee camps and the lame attempts to blame Israel and the US for the Palestinian sociopathology on display in Gaza prove the lie about their true intentions. These people, who receive aid and comfort from Socialist Jew lackeys like Bayam, are good old fashion Jew haters. The Palestinian Arabs have behaved this way long before the creation of the State of Israel.. There are ample examples of Hamas-like behavior on the part of Palestinian Arab during the British mandate period in the interwar years. These ultra “sophisticated” Jew-haters can protest all day long but they in end it comes down to anti-Semitism. In their minds the only good Jew is the one who marches meekly into the gas chambers.

And while Hamas gave the end game away, it's the journey that matters more than the destination.

The journey, as most people have pointed out here, will involve Iranian weapons setting up in Gaza. And while everyone expects Gaza to be sealed off and starved out (on the Israeli side) it's worth remembering that something triggered this civil war. Somebody decided Abbas needed to go and that the obvious, overt threat of an Hamas terrorist state on Israel's border was more of an immediate benefit AND long-term benefit to the Palestinian cause than their democratically elected government.

Cui bono? To whom the benefit? That's a question you should always ask when reading the news. Who profits from this?

The clear answer is Iran. Hamas can happily smuggle Iranian weapons into Gaza through Egypt. The coming attacks on Israel will make last summer look like a floor show. The Gaza base of operations for Iran are the last piece of the puzzle: proxy armies in Hizbollah, Islamic Jihad and now Hamas are moving into position for a major assault against Israel. These proxy armies are mere weeks, if not days away from declaring war on Israel.

Remember, Iran wants this war too. They are going to call America out and say "You're tied down in Iraq and Afghanistan. Your people are war-weary and your opposition party has vowed to withdraw you from the region. If we attack your ally, you will not risk retaliation. America's people will revolt against you if there is a third war on the Middle Eastern front."

The speed of events in Gaza this week should tell you just how quickly this scenario is proceeding. Act 3 of this war will be under way, probably before July 4th. By Labor Day, I expect that we will have bombed Iran.

Where will we go from there? We'll see.

Maybe this is a deliberate policy on the part of the Palestinians to give themselves so much misery that the Europeans will re-open the money pipe out of compassion.

Israel is not defenseless. Olmert notwithstanding, the hurdle to reach the standard of "sufficient provocation" has just been lowered, and the perception of acceptable collateral damage has gone up considerably. There is no longer a faux "legitimate" government operating in gaza. There are just thugs and the people who are going to die for the sins of the thugs.

I think Lightwave is right. The question is, will the Democrats prevent President Bush from reacting to the proxy war against Israel? It could be the excuse he needs to take the war directly to Iran, but the Congress could pull the rug out completely if it wants. And it may want.

/Mr Lynn