News reports of the death of the Hamas leader began to leak out yesterday. Today more details are being revealed. One of his last acts, it seems, as Sinwar lay gravely injured by an Israeli tank shell explosion was… to turn toward a hovering drone monitoring him and throw a stick at it…
Category: Israel
The Gamble in the Mideast
The world is looking at Israel and an expanding war, a generational war, a religious war, an international war, a war with entangling alliances, a war that could drag the US into another war. Amid the realities of war, Israel’s Netanyahu releases a message to the Iranian people
Israel’s Netanyahu Goes to DC
This week’s visit to the US by Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu presents palpable tension. The relationship between the two old politicians, Joe Biden and ‘Bibi’, is a boldface question mark and now come the public scenes. How will House Speaker Mike Johnson act? Donald Trump? The Republican party, Democratic party? Political activists, dissidents, protestors? […]
AI, Nimbus, Lavender … News of a New War Machine
Artificial Intelligence as a Tool of War … AI Tracks to Target and Bomb … Since launching war on Gaza last October, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians and injured over 77,000. Bombing, shelling, missiles, drones have destroyed large sections throughout the narrow enclave and displaced millions who are now facing famine and starvation. […]
Israel and the US, What’s Next?
The next phase of the Gaza-Israel war has come into public view and with it a break between Israel and the US has become more and more evident. The carnage visible is overwhelming in the war, and calls for a ceasefire seem far-off possibilities. What’s next?
Netanyahu Says No to Biden, Middle East Reacts
‘No’ to a ‘Two-State’ solution is Benjamin Netanyahu’s firm position, expressed in increasingly strong language since he entered Israel’s government. Netanyahu’s refusal this week of a negotiated political settlement is not surprising, nor is US President Biden’s ‘hug’ after decades of support for Israel. A Hug with Reverberations
Blowback Far Beyond Gaza-Israel
Acknowledging the seemingly insoluble problem of the Middle East wars, now in a Gaza-Israel incarnation, few believe there are solutions to interminable conflict. The history is one of ‘begats’. After all, it’s ‘Biblical’, right?
Option to Nuke Gaza? Nuts
What can one say when a religious zealot in a government controlling nuclear weapons declares that a nuke could be dropped on a population of approximately two million in a nearby city? Perhaps the word that describes this type of nuclear zealotry is “nuts”, not “metaphorical”. Who is Amihai Eliyahu? And who are the “Amalek” […]
Terror Attack on Israel
The Hamas organization’s surprise attack on Israel started with an onslaught at dawn on young people at a music festival. Hundreds upon hundreds of missiles were launched. The terrorist assault continued into southern Israel as news of slaughter and brutality became public. The US president today spoke to the world
Another Perspective on Ukraine-Russia and What Comes Next
Perspective is essential in understanding causes of war — and roads to peace. Strategic Demands strives in our work to see security, and mutual security, with a realistic perspective. Here, Anatol Lieven, brings a “Responsible Statecraft” perspective…
Cyber attack on Iran’s nuclear Natanz site
April 11, 2021 Negotiations with Iran intercepted by reported attack on the operation systems of the Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz. International news reports top of the news…
December Surprise?
As the U.S. President continues to tweet that he has “WON THE ELECTION!” and refuses to concede his defeat, questions are being asked about the president’s singular authority to order unilateral military action between now and Inauguration day. One decision looms large, war against Iran …
‘Peace Plan’ of Trump-Netanyahu
The ‘long-awaited’ U.S. plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace was revealed today… and by reports, the Palestinian representatives had no part in the announced plan. It showed. The White House ceremony was presented as spectacle without the respective participants needed for peace
Another War? Calculus of War…
The killing of Iran’s general Soleimani is a ‘beheading’. Provocation takes another step forward as the US joins with Iran’s traditional enemy, Saudi Arabia, in carrying out beheadings of opponents as a cultural practice. Swords and falling heads, Religion, politics, oil. This killing with an overhead drone strike in Iraq will have consequences over decades
“Waiting to hear from the Kingdom”
Breaking News: Trump Says U.S. ‘Locked and Loaded’ for Military Action… Today, September 16, 2019 the US promises to reveal airspace surveillance intelligence. Iraq’s Prime Minister issues statement saying US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told him attacks on Saudi Arabia, claimed by Yemen forces in the escalating Saudi-Yemen war, had not originated from Iraq […]
Bret Stephens, NYT, Pushes for More Nukes
An op-ed in the N.Y. Times informs us the U.S. needs more nukes. As if the collapse of nuclear arms agreements isn’t enough, someone says step on the pedal, speed up the nuke production line, proliferate, escalate, ratchet up, unleash a new arms race. Who is this op-ed writer?
Embassy Opens, Peace Process Fades
The credibility gap, as the phrase goes, extends its reach as news of death, violence, evangelical preachers and hard right politics comes from Israel and the U.S. Talk about a Jared Kushner-brokered peace is so unrealistic and distant as to produce cognitive dissonance, chaos, loss of hope