But I Digress

I’ve finished Life After Power, having now power-walked through the after-presidencies of William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter, and George W. Bush.

There’s so much more to these men than I knew — much of it good — and in the course of telling their stories, the author inevitably writes about those they succeeded and preceded . . . so before you know it, you’ve romped through nearly the full, relatively short, American experiment.  Which hangs in the balance November 5.

During a recent walk, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack killing 2,403 (roughly twice the number killed by the Hamas surprise attack) and as I reached the top of a small hill, Truman wreaked devastation on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

That got me thinking about the similarities to — and differences between — what we did to Japan and what Israel is doing to Gaza.

One obvious similarity: Both are horrifying and unspeakably awful and sad.

No one can feel anything but anguish at the loss of innocent Japanese and Palestinian civilian life.

Another similarity: All that either Japan or Hamas would have had to do to prevent the horror was to surrender — or, better still, not attack in the first place.

A third similarity: Cult worship.  The Japanese were suicide bombers for their emperor, a demi-god of sorts.  Hamas are pawns of Iran’s Ayatollah.  I’m not suggesting equivalence, but both sets of attackers were zealots for a cause, not — as with Putin’s conscripts — attacking simply for fear they’d be shot if they failed to.

Differences:  Japan’s target was military.  Their attack killed approximately one out of every 50,000 Americans.  Hamas attacked kibbutzim and a music festival, killing one out of every 8,000 Israelis.  Nor was it ever the long-standing, openly-stated aim of the Japanese to drive all Americans out of their country and into the sea.

This isn’t to minimize the grievances of the Palestinians, nor is it to blunt criticism of Netanyahu, who has long been a disaster.

But just as many around the world felt — and still feel — the U.S. was justified in ending the war in the way it did — and then helping Japan become the hugely successful democracy it now is — so one might hope many around the world would feel the Israelis are justified in attempting to win the war against Hamas.

Hamas has said it wants to destroy Israel; Israel does not want to be destroyed.

The hope was when Israel voluntarily withdrew from Gaza in 2005, forcing all its own settlers to leave, Gaza would become a prosperous, peaceful neighbor.  Instead, Hamas spent 20 years shooting rockets into Israel and directing most of their resources and foreign aid toward building a war machine, purposely putting their women and children in harm’s way.

Arafat was the first culprit, rejecting a two-state solution.

Hamas — threatened by the prospect of a deal with the Saudis and others that would have ended their dream of destroying Israel — chose to murder, rape, and kidnap, knowing it would unleash all-too-imaginable death and suffering on their fellow Palestinians.

The well-meaning American college students who took Hamas’s side the day after the attack — weeks before Israeli bombs fell — and whose campus organizations, Noa Tishby asserts, are in some cases financed by Iran without their realizing it — should read her book.  Was the attack really justified?  Was Pearl Harbor?  Was Putin’s invasion of Ukraine?

It is an excruciating situation for the Palestinians; Israel and her allies must flood Gaza with aid; the hostages must be returned; Netanyahu must go; and the grand bargain with the Saudis, et al, to secure peace and prosperity for both Israelis and Palestinians, is the hope of virtually everyone in the world save Hamas and Iran.

But I digress.  I really enjoyed Life After Power.

[HOUSEKEEPING NOTE]

I am seven miles high as I write this — who knows what kind of Internet connection I’ll have while “abroad” — so apologies in advance if something I’ve “pre-posted” shows up on a day when the entire world is focused on ALIENS WHO HAVE LANDED, inexplicably dressed in gingham, waving their six arms and hopping like kangaroos . . . while I’m posting about being a loud sneezer.  I didn’t know.