When it comes to the issue of Palestine, the issue is a big deal for either :
Both intersect each other but not always in support of each other. So when it comes to Palestine, they'll either be liberated under the banner of Arab nationalism or under the banner of Islam. I'm not expecting a South American Latino expedition to liberate that piece of land. This is an issue of those two I listed and it will stay that way until the very end times.
The secularist Arabs/Nasserists tried to liberate Palestine under the banner of Arab nationalism during the times of Gamal Abdel Nasser, after two failed attempts and after only less than 20 years of effort, the Arab nationalists conceded with the signing of the Camp David Accords,
therefore making the Islamists the only player unwilling to step aside and continue the struggle no matter how futile some people might think. Of course, wars are not for the faint-hearted and weak-spirited, but this is for another story.
Hamas is one of those Islamist groups and as you might already know, unlike the secular Fatah, they don't concede, in fact not only do they refuse to concede, they did what people think otherwise...they attacked.
Of course, the potential of Hamas alone is not enough to overturn the strategic situation, to liberate Palestine, there could only be one option, the military option. And the military options should not be exercised the same way the secular Arabs of the times of Gamal Abdel Nasser tried to do, that is to prepare for a single fight, October war style, and then hope for the best. If the failed Nasserists' attempts to liberate Palestine teach us anything is that, the conclusion of wars should never be dictated by one or two wins/defeats in battle, in contrast to the failure of the secular Arabs, wars executed by the communists in Viet Nam and China and Islamists in Afghanistan ended up in victory, even though they are tactically always defeated. Did they achieve those with superior weaponry and a more advanced academic society? Nope.
Von Clausewitz said that War is just politics by other means. It is not the means to the end, rather it's just the tool to achieve political goals. And what is the political goal here? None other than the complete eradication of Israel, from the river to the sea.
All politics is measured by two factors:
Wars as one form of politics are just mere tools to make sure that the "cost" outweighs the "benefit", the 'cost' itself could be anything, during the times of the classical age of wars, the cost is either the number of deaths a country suffered in the battlefield and as the dawn of air power came to be, the cost includes the number of industry destroyed by one party to another. But costs itself are constantly evolving and are not limited to material losses.
Let's say my earlier wish that the entire MENA countries surrounding Palestine were engulfed in war ? who do you think will be shit scared about things going on? The Arabs ? or the Israelis themselves?
Anyone who studied the way things work of the Middle East knows that these "Arab countries", monarchs and republics alike, served no other duty other than keeping the safety and security of israel, this is a well-established fact about the order of the Middle East, these countries function in general is to stop any attempt by the Muslims surrounding the Jews of Israel to revive the struggle to recapture Palestine which had been abandoned by secular Arabs that ruled the countries where Muslims reside. This is why the U.S. put so much hope and training in the Arabs Mukhabarat, to stem any potential opposition that might rose up, destroy the established order that U.S. designed at the signing of the Camp David accords. This is the reality that people like to either 1). Forgot, 2) pretends its not the case.
This is what explains why a demography of roughly 1.5 billion Muslims, 555 million Arabs aren't able to do anything of importance to harm the security of Israel, a country of less than 9 million. Those potentials are quashed at the start by the state apparatus of countries surrounding Israel. It certainly isn't a lack of motivation, but the lack of channeling of those motivations.
If you are an Israeli security officer, in charge of ensuring the security of Israel. Whenever you find any movements, that could potentially be a harm to Israel, you would likely call one of these guys in the Arab Mukhabarat.
Am I lying? Well how about you hear it straight from the dog's mouth himself? Here is Stuart Seldowitz, a former U.S. state dept official. Listen to what he said about the Mukhabarat (Arab intelligence service) and their relations to the evryday civilians.
This is also what The Times of Israel said in their editorial before they decided to pull it out of the internet.
So this is something that people need to understand, fail to understand this and you'd find yourself hitting the wrong target. Israel is more brittle than you might think.
But but but Gary, what are we going to do with the remaining Muslims who don't want to fight?
Well, I see only opportunities going forward, talking about my earlier line about the Cost-Benefit ratio of politics, let's say in such wars, from the 550 million Arabs, a quarter or more refused to fight, they'd rather have a good life away from the horrors of bullets and shrapnels flying on top of your head. Where do you think would they go?
Would they escape to Africa?
Or to blue continent Europe?
My feeling is that they will go towards Europe, potentially creating a crisis in an already overburdened continent, which happens to be the main ally of Israel. People should not take lightly how big of a deal it is once it reaches that stage. Europe's white population fertility is in free fall, and the order that characterized the continent for the last centuries has been so severely degraded that few European cities could be mistaken as Kisnahasa in Africa. They said, import the third world, be the third world lol. Add that to the very high fertility of the Arabs and Africans which could soon overwhelm the demographic balance and you could end up with a European civil war. Another opportunity that we could potentially manipulate to end that way. Remember this is politics, and war is just politics and in war cheating is allowed. If we could turn the pacifist to create trouble in other countries then I see why not ?
So while the side effect of mass warfare in the Middle East towards Europe's stability is something to exploit, let's look at the main battlefield, the Middle East. Like my earlier post, the problem with Nasserists and their attempt to get rid of Israel is that they put all their eggs in one basket, they prepped up for Operation Ramadhan (October war) and when things didn't go their way, they opted for peace, thereby handing Israel the victory and most importantly the stability they craved.
In Viet Nam and Afghanistan the winner didn't achieve those goals by winning on the battlefield, rather they won where it matters the most, Capitol Hills. Both Vo Nguyen Giap and Mullah Omar won the war and imposed their political will on the land by making the Americans unable to continue to justify what they are doing. Did the VC and the Taliban won a single battle ? nope, did they capture any significant population centers? nope.
Instead of short wars, Arabs/Muslims should opt for a campaign, a campaign that has more longevity than traditional short wars that characterized European warfare since WW1. A campaign is a series of planned actions. It is a large-scale and long-durationed that incorporates a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict to achieve political goals. Military campaigns are designed to help alter the course of the war. They can include a single battle, but more often they comprise a number of battles over a protracted period of time or a considerable distance but within a single theatre of operations or delimited area.
Think about the Ho Chi Minh trail campaign by Vo Nguyen Giap, or the IED planting campaign by the Taliban. Those might seem menial, but the effect multiplies when combined with larger efforts in other military operations in alrger picture to achieve a pre-determined objective of political goals.
But again, the manpower needed to sustain this effort could only be unlocked by turning the Middle East upside down, Syria-style. In such scenario, the Arab allies of Israel would no longer be able to control who owns, and who fires the gun. Anyone could start creating their own military unit and organization and the best of them all will tower over the rest.
The only loser in such scenario is none other than Israel, because if it reaches that stage, the guys at Israeli Security Council could no longer send their 'man' to the capitals of Sunni Arabia and asked local rulers to send their Mukhabarat to quashed the movements. Form the many militants popping out, there's no guarantee that one or two will not train his barrel towards Tel Aviv.
And if indeed they entually turn their barrels towards Tel Aviv, then what ? does Israel tiny 9 million people could stop the tide ? Please note that Israel war economy only survive for two months before the IDF decide to demobilize their soldier to ease the burden on their economy. Flight getting out of Israel is increasing as people are fleeing a warzone that is still miles away from they are in the North. Israel, isn't built for durability. and that durability must be targeted, wars must be enflamed to the point that the Israelis themselves think that their attempt is futile. This is achievable.
Hamas attacks and the subsequent rage in the Muslim world with the inaction of their governments are putting this scenario closer than you might think.
And for Relic who dreamed that the Israeli nuked Cairo, please don't forget to add Paris, Rome, Cologne, Berlin to that list etc because the future Islamic cities would not be limited to Cairo, Baghdad, and Beirut.
to be continued...