Posted on 10/14/2023 10:45:58 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Abrahms holds that Hamas' brutal attack on Israeli civilians is not only immoral but "a major strategic mistake" for the Palestinian cause.
This is the audio version of The Reason Livestream, which takes place every Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern time.
Hamas stunned the world last weekend by launching a brutal terrorist attack on Israeli civilians and posting their crimes on social media. Israel's government responded with a sustained bombing campaign and a total blockade of the Gaza Strip. Why would Hamas provoke what was certain to be a devastating response from the powerful Israeli military? What is likely to happen next in an Israel-Hamas war that threatens to spill far beyond the region? And what, if anything, should be America's involvement?
To explore these questions, Reason's Liz Wolfe and I spoke with Max Abrahms, a political science professor at Northeastern University and author of Rules for Rebels: The Science of Victory in Militant History, a lengthy study of terrorism and insurgency.
"The first thing smart militants do is recognize that civilian attacks are a recipe for political failure," writes Abrahms. "You might say that the first rule for rebels is to not use terrorism at all."
While he's called Hamas's attack a "major strategic mistake" for the Palestinian cause, he told Reason that their objective might not be to secure autonomy for Palestine at all in the near term but rather an attempt to position "itself as a leader in the larger global Sunni terrorist movement" by provoking a violent response that will galvanize jihadists from around the world to join them.
We analyzed the likely outcomes of Israel's response to the terrorist attack, reacted to statements from GOP politicians like Lindsey Graham who has called for America to bomb Iran if U.S. hostages are killed in Gaza, discussed the principle of US military noninterventionism as articulated by Ron Paul in clips that have circulated social media in the wake of the attack, and the, frankly, insane reactions from American leftists who celebrated Hamas' violent attack as an act of "decolonization."
<< [Abrahms] told Reason that their objective might not be to secure autonomy for Palestine at all >>
Obviously. The PLO / PA / Hamas have never had that objective. Annihilation of Israel is and always has been their main objective. It’s stated quite clearly in their charters.
Israel has to eliminate Hamas and put Gaza under sufficient control that such attacks can never happen again. No matter what the cost.
Israel then has to deal with Hezbollah, because it is now clear that Hezbollah is also holding a knife to Israel's throat like Hamas.
The biggest issue is Iran. The "Biden" regime's policy of appeasing Iran and alienating the Saudis has left the US in a much tougher position. The Obamites have given away the farm and recovering from this fiasco given the Saudis' and the Gulf States' rapprochement with Teheran and the increased involvement of China is big problem.
Internally, it's now becoming evident that the US and Western Europe are harboring vipers at their breasts in terms of Muslim immigrants and the terrorist supporting Left. Both will have to be suppressed at some point.
Nuke Qom, Iran. That would cause the government of Iran to fall apart. Everyone would realize we are the biggest mother****ers out there.
If Iran joins in (openly) then this gives Israel a great excuse to end Iran’s nuclear program for good.
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