Former President Donald Trump has often told supporters, “It’s not me they’re after, they’re after YOU, and I’m just in the way.” The same might be said of Israel’s position in the great war Islamists have declared on the West: It’s America that Islamists are really after, and Israel is just in the way.
That’s why the Iranian Islamists call America “the Great Satan” and Israel “the Little Satan,” we’re their ultimate target, but Israel is closer and more accessible to their forces.
This means that Israel absorbs blows that the Iranians and their proxies, such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis would have preferred to deliver to us – and have delivered when they had the chance.
One such blow was the 1983 suicide bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed 241 U.S. service members. That attack was organized by Fuad Shukr, who was also the Hezbollah commander behind a drone strike that killed 12 children and teens in Northern Israel over the past weekend.
Shukr, who was also known as Hajj Mohsin, or Sayyid Musan, has been on the US “most wanted” list for some four decades, but continued to operate openly in Lebanon and move between other Hezbollah-friendly countries.
That all came to an end on Tuesday when the Israeli Defense Forces took Shukr out in an attack on a building in Beirut. The IDF confirmed the news in a press release, announcing that its fighter jets "eliminated the Hezbollah terrorist organization's most senior military commander [Shukr]" in Lebanon's capital city.
"As the Head of Hezbollah's Strategic Unit, Fuad was responsible for the majority of Hezbollah's most advanced weaponry, including precise-guided missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, long-range rockets, and UAVs," the release said. "He was responsible for force build-up, planning, and execution of terror attacks against the State of Israel."
And we might add, the United States.
But there’s more good news. Killed in a separate attack deep inside Iran was Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the so-called “political wing” of Hamas. We say “so-called” because Hamas is strictly a terrorist organization, not a political party.
Haniyeh was a Specially Designated Global Terrorist tied to the murder of seventeen Americans, who lived in luxury in Qatar. He had allegedly amassed a $4 billion fortune by siphoning off international aid meant for Gaza’s impoverished masses and was in Teheran for the inauguration of Iran’s new President.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied being behind Haniyeh’s assassination. In remarks Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed his country is “ready for any scenario” and said “I am not giving in.”
However, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei laid responsibility for the successful attack at the feet of Israel and vowed to avenge Haniyeh’s death. “You killed our dear guest in our house and now have paved the way for your harsh punishment,” he said, referring to Israel.
According to a report by CNN, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was “not aware of or involved in” the killing of Haniyeh.
And therein lies the problem.
The United States has for years known the whereabouts of Haniyeh and Shukr and had them on various terrorist and “most wanted” lists and done little to nothing to effectuate their capture or elimination.
Fortunately for all Americans, the Israelis under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are made of sterner stuff than the average American Foggy Bottom diplomat or Pentagon DEI Flag Officer and they had no compunction about taking action to eliminate those two terrorist leaders.
Israel’s strike on senior Hezbollah and Hamas figures shows the terrorists can run, but they can’t hide from a government committed to defending its citizens and its values, thank you Israel for doing the fighting for both of us.
2024 Election
Kamala Harris campaign
Fuad Shukr
Hajj Mohsin
Sayyid Musan
Ismail Haniyeh
Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu
Joint Session of Congress
Israel Hamas war
hostages
Joe Biden presidency
anti-semitism
Palestinian protests
statues vandalized
That big thank you will be when we re-elect President Trump (although I am still upset by Vance being on the ticket).