Beware of "Unintended Consequences": PA vs. Hamas, et al

Submitted by Robert (United States), Jul 9, 2021 at 09:20

I assume that the use of your word Victory is not metaphorical, meaning defeating the enemy through military warfare. The trouble with that is what is known as "unintended consequences." After 9-11, we want to war with Afghanistan and its Taliban leadership. Now after 20 years of continuous war we are about to depart with the same Taliban apparently taking the country over. Similarly, in Iraq, by taking down, militarily the regime of Sunni Saddam Husein we have created a a vacuum that has been filled by Shia forces of Iran, and Iran is by far a much more potent adversary of the United states.

For Israel to take down Hamas militarily (your notion of Victory) would only do the work for Abbas and his Palestinian Authority, the the PLO and Fatah. What would that accomplish for Israel? Perhaps something worse and much more unstable and unpredictable. Hear this observation:

2021 6-30 Palestinian Police State by Khaled Abu Toameh
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17515/palestinian-police-state

I know you respect Palestinian Journalist Khaled Abu Toameh. His view is that the current rule of the PA in the West Bank is that of a POLICE STATE. So a military defeat of Hamas would result in the PA Police State being instituted in Gaza under Abbas. Would that be a "Victory" for Israel? After all, war is merely Politics by other means. Israel creating for the Palestinians this "Police State" may be the worst thing Israel could do - if that "Victory" becomes unsustainable in the long run.

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