“All warfare is based on deception.”
Elements in the United States, both within and outside of the federal government, see the current events in Gaza as the opportunity to free itself from the stranglehold that is Zionism and the state of Israel.
There is no doubt that, instead of being the United States’ most important ally, the state of Israel is its single biggest foreign policy liability. Not that the United States can’t find ways to create liabilities on its own, but no other state so wags this dog and costs the United States a loss of international credibility as does the state of Israel.
“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”
Have we seen more pathetic actors in foreign policy that those in the current administration, starting with Biden, and including Blinken, Austin, and Sullivan? No, I don’t believe they are acting. They are perfect for the role of appearing weak; they are playing the role perfectly because it is what they are, and the aforementioned elements may just be taking advantage of this by letting nature take its course.
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
The United States is not fighting the state of Israel or the Israel lobby at all. Yet this current conflict can and will only weaken the hold by the state of Israel on the United States.
“To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.”
It is easy to know this enemy. The lobby has now had to come out in the open, completely visible to all. Individual actors speak boldly and openly about not hiring students from various universities, withdrawing funding and grants, etc.
Individuals in the highest positions of authority in the Israeli government are not shy about their intent – they speak openly and directly about it. Israeli soldiers are proud of the most criminal behavior, posting videos online where they glory in their corruption.
The US government knowns this enemy because it is this enemy. Listen to words from any one of hundreds of current and former US officials, ranging from Lindsey Graham to Mike Pompeo to Donald Trump. No less shameless than those in the lobby or in the Israeli government.
And this is, if my alternate possibility holds any water, is easily used against Israel.
“The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent.”
There is no doubt that if my alternate possibility is true, that the enemy – both within the United States and in the state of Israel – cannot fathom the intent. Even if they could, I don’t think they would know how to stop. Which, again, is a “know your enemy” thing.
“Ultimate excellence lies not in winning every battle, but in defeating the enemy without ever fighting.”
There is no way to fight the lobby and the US government head-on on this topic. Using this approach, it is a battle that cannot be won. Therefore, win without fighting. Allow the enemy to do what it cannot help but do, and the entire edifice will come crashing down.
Whether or not I am correct, I think the end result is inevitable – distance created between the United States and Israel. The only question is, will that end result come with or without the use of nuclear weapons by the state of Israel.
All quotes from Sun Tzu, The Art of War
I had an interesting discussion with a parishioner I very much like. I do not show the cards in my hand until I am fairly certain that the person I am talking to is a "friend", in Dr. Schmitt's understanding of the term. I confessed that I had given up on all the organs of civil society that I would have hoped to oppose the Satanic policies of the state. I pointed out the failure. in particular, of the institutional Church to protect its members from disastrous State policies like the Covid restrictions and other detestable enormities, such as the destruction of the unborn and the mutilation of the young. I avowed that as an ordained clergyman I viewed my vocation, rather than one of subscribing to the ecclesiastical party line, as one of assisting individually those laity who had asked me for spiritual help and advice, not an easy task were it not for the help of God. Then he pulled the carpet from under me: why was the Church not more overt in its defense of Israel? The split among those on the Right is quite obvious. The propaganda ministry has done its job all to well regarding this particular crucial issue, I fear. It is not merely the Scofield Bible and its affect on the Evangelicals that is the problem. Rather, ignorance of history seems on a pandemic level. And those objectively right on Gaza are also, I believe, driven more by ideology than by reason. Frankly, I am uncomfortable with most of the allies I have on this vital moral policy issue. Kyrie eleison!
ReplyDelete"I do not support any of the belligerents. None of them. Not one. They are all part of the same problem–power-hungry men and women who view violence and force as a means of gaining control over their compatriots and, by extension, neighboring peoples up to and including the entire world. Every one of the nations and groups involved in the current struggle, those struggles already past, and those yet to come, are all cut from the same cloth. The war-wagers are all guilty."
DeleteThis paragraph was lifted from an article I wrote and published at my blog, https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2023/10/27/3462/, just a few weeks after Hamas had attacked Israel last October.
At the time, the world was splitting between those who supported Hamas and those who supported Israel. I did not then, and do not now, support either faction, but wish all of them would come to a place of inner peace and love for their neighbors, which cannot happen as long as they cling to the religion of power for power's sake.
If we do not end the wars, the wars will end us.
Deacon, it is nice to hear from you.
DeleteDP: "And those objectively right on Gaza are also, I believe, driven more by ideology than by reason."
Yes.
DP: "Frankly, I am uncomfortable with most of the allies I have on this vital moral policy issue."
Yes. Other than on this issue, I find them to be for almost everything I am against.
Roger, my issue here is that one of the two sides has the means and the will to end the world if it doesn't get its way. One of the two sides has clearly demonstrated degrees of evil that far outclass the other. One of the two sides is, pound for pound, the most evil and destructive state on earth.
DeleteThe other of the two sides has history and justice on its side.
Yes, a pox on all houses. But, for me at least, while my utmost desire, like yours, is peace, I weigh justice and evil in this conflict and come out with clear answers regarding the two sides.
Not that either is pure....
Genesis 12 :3 has no caveats.
DeleteYes, I understand and I don't dispute what you are saying. It is quite clear that the "sins" on the Israeli side, pound for pound, far outweigh the "sins" on the Palestinian side. It is also quite clear that the Israelis can, if they choose to, drag the entire world into an extremely destructive war, whereas the Palestinians do not have that power. On this, we are agreed.
DeleteNevertheless, this conflict can be seen in the context of politics, especially democracy in the American State. Vote for the lesser of two evils, which is really nothing more than voting for evil, albeit on a slower scale. Supporting one faction or another is only a sliding scale to eventual destruction.
I fervently want the Israeli State to bankrupt itself and disappear from the face of the earth and I believe that it is doing so. As far as I am concerned, it cannot happen soon enough. However, I will not support the evil which is the Palestinian State because of my desire, because I think that it is a means to an end.
Ultimately, it comes down to this question: Do you want to die quickly or slowly under tortuous conditions? Which correlates with the expression of the McCarthy era in the 1950's: Better Red than Dead. Or better Dead than Red.
I do not want to be either Red nor Dead. I will not back Israel nor Palestine. I want to be free and alive.
Ah, Genesis 12:3
DeleteI love the "proof-text" method of expository teaching. "Here is this one verse, now shut up and go away."
The Bible, depending on the version you choose, has something like 800,000 words. Anonymous, your teaching approach doesn't cut it.