The Palestinian political/terrorist group continued its vile and evil actions in shooting and killing six hostages it had held for the last eleven months. The civilians’ lives were worthless, as were the thousands that the group has killed over the decades.
Vice President Kamala Harris issued a press release, as one of the hostages was an American citizen, and his parents had just spoken at the Democratic National Convention. Harris called Hamas “an evil terrorist organization… whose “depravity is evident and horrifying.”
Harris noted that Hamas is a threat to Israelis, Americans, and even Palestinians, but she did not offer a plan of action, other than that the “threat” of Hamas “must be eliminated.”
By way of comparison, Senator Tom Cotton was more clear, that not just the “threat” of Hamas must be eliminated, but the “terrorist group must be destroyed.”
Former President Obama ran his administration’s fight against terror in a particularly segmented manner, placing the “evil ideology” of jihadi groups into four buckets: evil to destroy (like ISIS); evil to condemn (like Boko Haram); evil to tolerate (like Syria); and evil to ignore (like Hamas). He would only activate American arms when American lives were at stake in the first category, while providing support in fighting evil globally in the second category. Regarding Syria and evil to tolerate, he offered little more than empty words. For evil like Hamas, he ignored it as something Israel turned into a phony boogeyman.
Obama’s successor, President Trump, collapsed those four categories into “radical Islamic terrorism,” which was a problem for everyone to be fought globally. He prioritized fighting ISIS and al Qaeda but viewed all of the sister jihadi groups through a similar lense.
President Biden condemned the Hamas October 7 massacre as “an act of sheer evil” and later added that the group should be eliminated. His Attorney General Merrick Garland announced terrorism charges against the leaders of Hamas on September 3, 2024, something that had been filed in February. It is unclear what is particularly special about unsealing the complaint at this time – Israel already killed a number of the senior Hamas leaders on the list. Is the US going to take direct action against Hamas? Will it use its pull with Qatar to extradite Khaled Mashal? Or will the world see the U.S. as a paper tiger, a distracted and divided once-upon-a-time military power?
Harris, now in the position of Democratic nominee for president, is crafting her own language about evil, that it should be deprived of the capability of being a “threat” but not necessarily “destroyed” as Biden and other politicians have advocated.
Harris’s softer position is being provided cover by J Street, the left-wing pro-Palestinian marketed as pro-Israel group. In response to the assassination of the six Israeli hostages, J Street called for Biden to assert “maximum pressure on [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” rather than providing Israel full capabilities of finishing the evil group.
Many Democratic members of Congress will likely push a President Harris to not only let Hamas survive but to withhold critical arms to Israel, even as it fights Hezbollah, Iran and the Houthis. A Harris administration with someone like Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) as Secretary of State, would likely condition military aid to Israel.
Harris and Trump agree that Hamas is an evil terrorist organization but it would appear that only a Trump Administration would push to destroy the group, while Harris might work to simply remove the terrorist group from power.
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Hamas’ War Is A Radical Religious Jihadi War Of Annihilation (August 2024)
NY Times Lies That Gazans Hate Hamas (June 2024)
The Hamas – Gazans Partnership (May 2024)
Stop Genocide. Destroy Hamas (May 2024)
UNRWA Is Hamas’s Iron Dome (February 2024)
Hamas Joins The Pantheon Of Antisemitic Evil Alongside Nazis, ISIS And Amalek (January 2024)
Hamas Is The Very Definition Of A Genocidal Group (November 2023)
Congressional Socialists Won’t Support Israel After Hamas Massacre (October 2023)
The Scale And Barbarity Of The Hamas Massacre (October 2023)
Excerpt of Hamas Charter to Share with Your Elected Officials (May 2021)
{Reposted from the author’s blog}
