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And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. – Jeremiah 1:13-14
Strictly speaking, Israel’s Gaza war is not a tragedy, but rather a hideous accident. Many wars wait for years to happen until they can’t be stopped. Those are the tragedies. This one never should have happened. Israeli intelligence had the plans for the October 7 Hamas attack a year in advance, as well as urgent warnings from lower-echelon officers just before the event. But the top military and political leadership brushed them off.
This fits a venerable pattern. Stalin had the plans for Operation Barbarossa from his spy Victor Sorge; U.S. Naval Intelligence had warnings about the attack on Pearl Harbor; and the FBI had the jigsaw-puzzle pieces of 9/11, but failed to fit them together. Intelligence services are not rewarded for timely warnings, but for serving their masters’ political agendas, and Israel’s fabled spies turned out to be no different than their counterparts in other countries. Believing that $40 million a month in subsidies from Qatar and other economic concessions would keep Hamas quiet, the Israeli government refused to consider anything else.
There simply is no contest between 300,000 regular troops from the Israel Defense Forces and 30,000 to 40,000 lightly armed Hamas irregulars, any more than there was a contest between ISIS and the American army and its proxies. Whether Hamas is entirely or largely extirpated from Gaza depends on the extent to which Israel can resist American pressure to vitiate its operations. The outcome will not be much different in any case. Whatever happens, most of Gaza’s two million residents will spend the next couple of years in tent camps while the rest of the world dickers about what to do with them. Their living conditions will be similar to those of the more than 200,000 Jewish refugees who lived in tent cities for up to two years after they were expelled from Arab countries following the 1948 war.
For all the horrors of the October 7 attacks, they did not constitute an existential crisis for a country with the region’s most powerful military and an extraordinary capacity for national solidarity in the face of external threat.
The existential danger to Israel comes not from its southern border, but rather—as in Jeremiah 1:13-14—from the distant north, specifically Ukraine. The Biden Administration previously imagined that it could force regime change in Russia through crippling sanctions. Instead, a large part of world trade and financial currents skirted American sanctions, leaving Russia with barely-diminished oil revenues and a steady supply of high-tech components from China, directly and through such intermediaries as Turkey, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Armenia. Rather than collapsing by 50 percent as President Biden predicted, Russia’s economy grew by 3 percent in 2023 after contracting by just 2.1 percent in 2022. Putin had an 80 percent approval rating as of October 2023. The Biden team is responsible for the grossest blunder in the checkered history of American foreign policy.
America’s strategic position is about to suffer a blow on par with, and perhaps more devastating than, the 1975 collapse of Vietnam. With a resident population of less than 30 million against Russia’s population of 147 million, Ukraine cannot put enough men in the field to hold the line against a Russian army with comparable technology and much greater firepower. The West can’t produce enough artillery shells, so Ukraine is firing hundreds of howitzer shells daily while Russia fires thousands. Both sides have lost 70,000 to 100,000 and three or four times that number wounded, but Russia has several times more people. None of the West’s Wunderwaffen have made a difference, and the Russians have some nasty weapons of their own, as well as clear air superiority.
Attempting to move NATO’s boundaries to the Russian-Ukraine border may have been the stupidest act in the sorry drama of American foreign policy, and President Biden’s declaration on March 26, 2022 that Putin cannot be allowed to remain in power may be the emptiest boast ever by an American leader. With few exceptions, the American foreign policy establishment has wagered its credibility on the outcome of this war. Although a few establishment stalwarts like Richard Haass talk of “redefining success in Ukraine,” i.e., declaring victory and going home, most of the Establishment has closed ranks. The professional penalties for doing otherwise are severe.
Making Enemies
The atmosphere in Washington resembles Vienna in the Spring of 1914 as depicted by Robert Musil in The Man Without Qualities (1930): The reader, but none of the protagonists, knows that their world of illusions is about to come to a horrible end. The American Establishment refuses to know this, but Russia knows it, as do China, the Gulf States, and everyone else. The change in the world balance of power after the collapse of Ukraine will be so dramatic that all the players in this global game are cautious about their next step. But Russia and China are probing American weaknesses in ways that remain well below the threshold of a casus belli, testing American responses.
Israel will suffer collateral damage. It needs American weapons, ammunition, and spare parts, especially with ammunition stockpiles depleted by the Ukraine war. It also depends on America’s veto at the U.N. Security Council. It does not help that the Biden Administration, with a view toward the pro-Palestinian sympathy of its progressive base, is doing whatever it can to hold Israel back from the military actions required to mop up Hamas. Although the American alliance is indispensable for Israel in the short term, the decline of American power will contribute to the strategic encirclement of Israel over time.
The late Henry Kissinger was asked on October 20, in his last published interview: “Is there the possibility for Russia to show greater involvement in the Middle East?” He answered: “Before the Ukrainian war, Russia was generally in favor of Israel in the confrontation with Arabs. If Russia now would intervene, it has two options: to engage on the side of the Arabs or to appear as a mediator in the crisis—which would be strange in light of the Ukrainian war.”
Since Russia intervened in the Syrian civil war in 2015 to prevent the Sunni jihad against the Assad government from creeping into the Russian Caucasus, Israel and Russia have maintained correct if not cordial relations in the Syrian theater. The Russians stood by while the Israeli Air Force flew thousands of sorties against Iranian-backed militias in Syria. That is critical for Israel’s security on its northern flank, where it faces a Hezbollah force three times as large as Hamas, armed with perhaps 150,000 missiles, including many modern models that may be able to evade Israeli defenses.
Now Russia’s turn toward Iran is cause for serious concern. At the end of November, Iran announced that it had “finalized” a deal to buy Russian SU-35 fighters from Russia, an airframe roughly comparable to the F-15s flown by the Israelis. It is not known whether the Russians will sell fully-loaded warplanes with advanced avionics and air-to-air missiles, or a less potent export version. Presumably, that is a matter for negotiation.
The Russians play chess while Americans play Monopoly, and the obvious Russian move in response to an American attempt to control the center of the board in Ukraine is to open a fianchetto with Iran.
If Washington chooses to demonize Russia, the likelihood is that Russia will become a spoiler with respect to American strategic interests in general, and use the Iranian problem to twist America’s tail. That is a serious risk indeed, for nuclear proliferation is the one means by which outlaw regimes can pose a serious threat to great powers. Russia confronts questions not of expediency, but of existence, and it will do whatever it can to gain maneuvering room should the West seek to “punish” it for its actions in Georgia.
One irony of the present crisis is that Washington’s neo-conservatives, by demanding a tough stance against Russia, may have harmed Israel’s security interests more profoundly than any of Israel’s detractors in American politics. The neo-conservatives are not as a rule Jewish, but many of them are Jews who have a deep concern for Israel’s security—as does this writer. If America turns Russia into a strategic adversary, the probability of Israel’s survival will drop by a big notch.
Putin’s state visit to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, complete with military aircraft streaming the Russian colors, was “nothing less than Putin’s return to the world stage,” Germany’s Die Welt wrote Dec. 12. Later that week Putin received senior Iranian officials in Moscow.
Knives Out
Iran evidently decided to sit out the present Gaza conflict, rather than (as many feared) opening a second front against Israel in the north. But it is probing through its cat’s paw militias, testing Western responses. Hezbollah fired about 50 rockets at Israeli positions in November, compared to 4,000 rockets during the 2006 Lebanon war. The Houthi militia of Yemen has fired anti-ship missiles and drones at civilian ships, effectively diverting freight traffic out of the Red Sea. On December 18, the Pentagon announced a ten-country coalition (with the glaring absence of the Gulf States) to protect shipping.
In Asia, meanwhile, China’s navy Dec. 10 staged a minor standoff with Japanese vessels near the disputed Senkaku Islands. Chinese ships have harassed Philippine vessels with water cannons as they attempted to resupply Philippine forces in the South China Sea.
These are probes rather than preparations for war. The reading that China drew from Xi Jinping’s mid-November summit with President Biden is that America is frightened by the prospect of military engagement with China. The main American ask in San Francisco was the restoration of the hotline between the two militaries, which China suspended after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. China also extracted an unambiguous statement from the White House that “we obviously don’t support independence for Taiwan.”
The U.S. Navy is outgunned within 1,000 miles or so of China’s coast. “The [People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s] ground-based missile forces complement the air and sea-based precision strike capabilities of the PLAAF and PLAN,” reported the Pentagon’s on November 29, 2022. “The PLARF continues to grow its inventory of DF-26 IRBMs, which are designed to rapidly swap conventional and nuclear warheads. They are also capable of precision land-attack and anti-ship strikes in the Western Pacific, the Indian Ocean, and the South China Sea from mainland China.” Like the Battleship Lobby of the 1930s, the Pentagon built the wrong kind of fleet: Too many aircraft carriers, now as vulnerable as battleships in 1940, and not enough submarines. To call attention to this fact is career suicide, which explains why the public debate focuses on cheap, quick fixes—more 155mm shells and HIMARS rockets for Taiwan, for example.
A Ukrainian defeat in the form of a significant loss of territory and a long-term ceasefire would remind the rest of the world of Kissinger’s quip that it is dangerous to be an enemy of the United States, but fatal to be our friend.
Israel will have to deal with a less cooperative Russia that dallies with Iran, a China that seeks to exploit anti-colonial resentment in the Global South against Israel, a more assertive and better-armed Iran, and a vitiated American commitment to Western Asia. Its immediate problems are less dire than they appear: Except for Qatar and possibly some parts of the Turkish political spectrum, the rest of the world is happy to see Israel destroy Hamas. The Sunni jihad to which Hamas declares its allegiance is a persistent security problem for both Russia and China. Iran has armed and funded Hamas, but it does not want a Sunni entity to emerge as the main opposition to Israel. Israel’s long-term problems, though, are worse than they appear, and will come to the surface when the dust settles in Ukraine.
The event most likely to mitigate Israel’s strategic predicament would be the election of Donald Trump to a second term in 2024. Unlike the neoconservatives and global liberals presently in charge, Trump has no interest in regime change in Russia, and has no reason to perpetuate the blunders of others. He has pledged to end the war in Ukraine, which means cutting America’s losses. He is likely to maintain strong American support for Israel while limiting damage to America’s position abroad by conflict avoidance with Russia and China. Unlike the Biden foreign policy team, Trump has little interest in how other countries manage their affairs: his concern is the best deal for the United States.
Originally published at American Mind.
David P. Goldman is deputy editor of Asia Times, a Washington fellow of the Claremont Institute, and a senior writer for Law & Liberty.
The article says, “Stalin had the plans for Operation Barbarossa from his spy Victor Sorge” It was actually Richard Sorge.
Not Victor Borge
As other world nations gang up on a militarily weakened America after the
collapse of Ukraine – Israel will find herself weakened as well. Sounds like
the Muslim terrorists could then move in for the kill.
Meanwhile, domestically within the United States our country will be overrun
with mostly military-age foreign men with no jobs and no homes, looking to
survive anyway they can. Amidst an already high-crime, economically
stagnant economy where the idea of protesting calls to mind a government
who will jail you for years in solitary without a trial – the U.S. Constitution be
damned. Sounds like Russia, China and Muslim terrorists could then move in
for the kill.
So Israel may indeed fall if America does. And unfortunately, thanks to its
traitorous leaders – America is now teetering all over the place.
P.S. God bless America. F**k them all.
I agree with your statement about the traitorous American leadership. If you look closely, you will notice Biden is not running the USA but his jewish cabinet is. Alejandro Mayorkas is standing at the US southern border and waving in the illegals using proxy NGO’s. In Ukraine Mother Teresa Zelinsky is sending the Slavic Christians to the front whilst pocketing the 30 silver pieces. F**k them all is not enough.
Thanks for saying F Israel.. Let me correct your claims. If Israel falls, Christianity falls and Western civilization falls. In fact, any semblance of civilization falls.
Whether or not one has religious belief, one must note the list of powerful impressive cultures that came and went and the Jews continue on. Those Jews, so unimportant and pesky to you, underpin the forward development of the human race.
They will prevail somehow.
He does not say f*** Israel, but everybody who is not America first. This should also be the position of Israel — f*** everybody who is not Israel first.
Israel should not be above criticism. No nation should be. Zechariah 8:13 and Jeremiah 29:18 explicitly says that unbelieving Jews, dispersed among the nations as a consequence of rebellion and unbelief, will be a curse to the gentiles wherever they are sent.
“Like the Battleship Lobby of the 1930s, the Pentagon built the wrong kind of fleet: Too many aircraft carriers, now as vulnerable as battleships in 1940”
______
That’s actually an ignorant statement, though it is typical of the beliefs of those who don’t know about the subject. We actually DID build carriers during the 30s, but no battle ships. And battleships were still the least vulnerable type, throughout WWII. The reasons for carriers’ moving to first place were offensive, and it was a much complicated process than Goldman seems to understand.
When the U.S. goes full Socialist after the 2024 “election” Israel’s days ae numbered. It was only the morality of the U.S. combined with U.S. economic and military strength that has allowed Israel to continue to exist.
We abandoned the morality sometime back and once the economic and military strength is gone they will no one else in the world to stand at their back.
Ukraine is not anywhere near military age male collapse. 200,000 males turn 18 every year in Ukraine.
Germany and the US Confederates lost near 30% of all males, 15-60.
Ukraine should lose to Russia like Israel to Arabs, right? Maybe someday, but not today.
In Feb-March 2020, Ukraine was at its weakest, Russia its strongest. Russia failed. Again and again.
Russia is pulling 70 year old tanks. Russia is depending on lousy North Korean shells, and Iranian technology. It’s navy is losing and retreating from Sevastopole. Even from Crimea.
It’s Air Force failed to dominate the air space. Now with Patriots and others the Russian Air Force is threatened over central occupied Crimea. And Ukraine hasn’t even used F-16 and their immense choice of smart missiles.
Last year Russian Central Bank said this year they would run out of hard currency to defend the Rouble. In the last six months the Rouble has weakened 60%. CB prime rate is up 114% from 7.5% to 16%.
You can raise GDP by digging holes and then filling them in. Or have a war, print money and bury burnt tanks and dead men. Hitler had awesome growth and employment right up into 1945.
Putins Russia had income streams. One was billions of investments, partnerships. That’s gone.
Another was weapon sales. 2010-2020 they are down 70%. Customer base down from 30 to 5. No one wants crappy Russian weapons. Even Serbia went with China. France is larger than Russia.
2020-2022 SU-57 builds? 6. US F-35? 447.
Russia has lost large % of young professionals. Who would want to stay?
Oil prices in spite of Saudis have been sliding for 3 years. US fracking productivity increases. Oil technology increases bring more fields online, like Guyana. US/EU/China growth is mature. Less than oil growth.
Saudis, US can weather a oil price collapse. US diversified economy it would be a net positive. China would like it. Russia? Fukd. Done. Revolution.
Unlike last time no one is going to flood into Russia with capital or credit.
In WW2, Soviet Russia lost 8-9 million with 120 million population, very young. Soviet Ukraine lost 7 million, on a population of 40 million.
Ukraine is supported by $50 trillion annual US/EU GDP. Russia has Belarus, Iran, Venezuela. The loser club.
Biden left $80 billion of equipment in Afghanistan. So far Ukraine has gotten maybe $60 billion. And look what they’ve done in 700 days against mighty Russia. Not too shabby.
Sorry but you are truly deluded ; get this … Putin is going to win and take most territory east of the Dnieper including all the black sea coastline ..post war Ukraine will be like Austria after WW2 , sworn to strict neutrality and de-militarized
A Little History Review to put in perspective how America got here.
More than 30 years ago ….
The Soviet Union broke up voluntarily into 15 countries.
The Warsaw Pact dissolved itself.
East and West Germany reunified.
Communism in eastern Europe and Russia was universally repudiated and defeated.
An implacable and extremely dangerous enemy for 75 years, the Soviet Union, was
vanquished and humiliated.
And what was the “magnanimous” response of the USA and Europe ? ….
Provoke Russia with NATO enlargement and expansion to the Russian border,
including Ukraine, an integral economic, political and cultural part of Russia since the 1770s at least.
NATO’s only purpose now is intimidation, provocation, and aggression aimed at Russia,
with Russia’s destabilization and possible dismemberment the ultimate goal of NATO.
Thirty years ago historian and Ambassador George F. Kennan said that the policy of NATO enlargement and expansion to the Russian border was terribly misguided, dangerous, and the worst foreign policy decision/blunder of the USA ever.
America and Europe are sowing the wind, and may indeed reap the whirlwind.
Let’s speak the Truth…
The article says…
” Israeli intelligence had the plans for the October 7 Hamas attack a year in advance, as well as urgent warnings from lower-echelon officers just before the event.”
In other words… Israel allowed the Palestinians to attack on Oct 7th…
Why?
Reminiscent of 911… America allowed satanic islam to attack America on 911…
The same reason… the create the Fake War on Terrorism… to spread satanic worshiping muslims across the world… through immigration…
On Monday… Infowars Reports…
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he wants Western countries to “absorb” the Palestinian refugees Israel displaced during its assault on Gaza”
So now… like Afghani9stan… it’s all about spreading more muslims across the world…
Do you see the pattern? Setting up satanic islam as the NWO world government… by spreading muslims all over the world… to gain voting power… to convert other countries into Sharia Law…
Daniel Greenfield wrote an article here on FPM…
“Hamas Supporters Declare War on Christmas”
Where Palestinian/Hamas supporters were protesting against Christmas across America and the world…
Watch how muslims in America are getting more violent!!!
911… the Fake War on Terrorism… the Afghanistan withdrawal… Israel/Gaza War…
It’s all about spreading satanic worshiping muslims across this world and America… through immigration…
From inflating the currency by printing money to finance its reckless spending, to treatment of Israel which began well-before October 7, its holding up the sale of military equipment to Taiwan, to destroying our educational system with its DEI mania, to presenting to Congress defense budgets that don’t even keep up with inflation, to opening up our southern border, to clumsily pushing China, Russia, and Iran into an alliance, and this list goes on and on, this administration clearly is trying to destroy the U.S. as a super-power. I read, for instance that illegal immigrants are currently costing over $600 billion a year. That’s nearly 75% of what we spend on national defense. It’s reckless, irresponsible, and definitely not accidental.
America has never been what we’ve been programmed to believe…
Even our 1st President, George Washington was a Freemason… where Freemasonry/Shriner’s is tied into satanic islam. Both share the ‘Cube’ as their symbol… all tied into satanism…
America sides with satanic Sunni islam… where America has the masses in America to believe Iran. Russia and China are the bad guys… because those countries support the Shiite…
Another twist in all this is the Propaganda… how the Jews/Bolsheviks created communism… so we have to fear communism taking over America… feeding the Pro-Palestinain supporters and Jew haters…
Where Hamas is a Sunni organization… supported mainly by the Muslim Brotherhood… so it only makes sense to dupe the masses of America how Shiite Iran is behind the drone attacks coming from Yemen… which is also mainly a Sunni country…
Whatever we hear in the news… question it…
Regardless the outcome or 2024 election. 2025 would be the most dangerous period in world history. The anti Trump forces in America and abroad will do the most unimaginable to stop Trump from retuning to The WH. Even if he wins. The world he would inherited would be in such a mess it would take more than four years to stabilizing it. Basically America is in the precipice self destruction.
I would add to the list of opportunities missed, which could have thwarted disasters and tragedies: The fact that the FBI had former American defector to the Soviet Union, Lee Harvey Oswald, well on the radar of field offices in bother Dallas and New Orleans, but didn’t pass that info onto the Secret Service before JFK’s trip to Dallas.