The Mission against Hamas

Once again, as in the removal of Saddam Hussein, the US, now through its client state Israel is doing the dirty work for the Arab world. Cooler heads in the Arabian group of sovereign states did not like Saddam Hussein and no matter how much they huffed and puffed during Bush's campaign against the Saddam regime, filled with blood and death, notice they did nothing about it. Not so much as turn off the oil which they usually do when they want to underscore a point.

Notice how little beyond talk they are doing against the Israeli advance on Gaza. This is because they simply don't like Hamas. Nobody does. They tolerate Hamas, but this group of armed thugs is seeking legitimacy among world elite and they just don't rate. Not even Hezbollah is retaliating with rocket fire or cross border attacks while Israel is clearly extending its resources to the southwest.

Iran has spoken sharply against the attacks, but does little more than continue to get rockets and munitions into Gaza through their sponsors in the game. Again, the oil flows freely and the US continues to broker deals with peace-loving, wealthy Arab states such as Oman, with whom the United States has just embarked on a Free Trade Agreement. The "infidel"; the "Great Satan", continues to warm the hearts of Islamic moderates who see with a greater vision. Even Iran faced with a friend in Iraq rather than a mortal enemy, has seen the value of cooperation with the US elephant in the room. Kuwait is largely silent on the issue. Go figure.

By taking out Hamas, the US-sponsored State of Israel is helping to clear the way for a more honest relationship with Mahmoud Abbas who himself is reduced to lip service support of the poor Gazans dying and being injured in this calamitous response to a few rockets fired on a small town in the southwest. The Arab world stands to gain from the elimination of the roguish Hamas who killed their own people to get where they are. They ran the president out of Gaza and will kill him in the West Bank first chance they get.

Given what they want, which is an open border with Israel and the end of the sea/air blockade, along with full access to an open border with Egypt, they will merely step up their violent campaign against Israel with more rockets and missiles. They will undoubtedly import anti-aircraft weaponry and tanks, etc. to protect against further Israeli incursion as well as beef up their coming war against Abbas in the West Bank. Hamas is contending with Hezbollah for dominance in militant ideology and Hezbollah won't sit still for an enhanced Hamas. These groups do not act in concert any more than their unified anti-Israel rhetoric virtually quited with the embarrassing defeat of Hezbollah during the Lebanon offensive.

Amidst all the talk and rhetoric against the Gaza campaign, there is no action. Israel is bombing, killing, razing and disrupting with impunity. They are taking out Mosques at will. Where is the hard-core Arab response? Where are the warplanes of Syria and Jordan? Where are the Israelis getting the Jet fuel for their planes, gasoline for their ground vehicles? The last I checked, Israel has no oil fields in the Middle East.

Turning off the oil would go a long way to weaken the United States and hamper the flow of energy into the Israeli war machine. The US and the west could take military action against Israel without firing a shot. They could turn off the money. The disproportionate response to a few rockets fired is clear indication of a greater mission; greater, meaning beyond the borders of Israel. The entire world wants to see an end to the Hamas regime, but most will not admit to that. Just as in the Iraq invasion which fed right into the political will of the Shiite majority, Iran, and everyone else in the region who hated Saddam, the Arab world is screaming bloody murder with their fingers crossed behind their backs.

An end to Hamas means greater support for Abbas who has agreed to play the game leading to a two-state solution. An Israeli incursion into Gaza means an eventual armed presence for the UN and Arab militaries while Gaza gets rebuilt with money sucked in from American coffers. It means the return of Abbas and Fatah to Gaza at a time when the people there will be more interested in reparations, food and medical resources and breathing space in a post-Hamas atmosphere.

The Arab States have no choice but to cooperate with this “Infidel"; this “Great Satan” who is their only venue for full arrival in the first world. They continue to let the oil flow when turning it off would be a loud cry of support for Hamas. They get to continue selling their essential product at a time when turning it off would hurt an already endangered economy. They get to pour their resources into a Fatah-controlled Gaza without worrying about sponsoring a militarist regime whose only goal is the elimination of Israel.

The Arab world of cool heads and reasoned thinkers is silently praying for an Israeli victory which will come at the expense of (more) hatred for the US, not them for their inaction. This is what they want and this is why the Israelis are acting with impunity on the weak premise of responding to rocket fire which does little more than terrorize and annoy the citizens of a small town in Southwest Israel. If it was about the rockets, then why not use the advanced technology of surgical strikes with drones to take out the rocket stashes wherever they may be found?

This is about a much larger picture; ending the reign of Hamas and returning to the peace talks with Mahmoud Abbas speaking singularly for the Palestinians with the blessings of the Arab community. Harsh as it sounds, the only route to peace is through the collapse of Hamas and all other ad-hoc militarist groups seeking to eliminate Israel rather than make peace.

RWH 1-4-2009