Faultline USA: The Eternal War Heats Up Once Again

The Eternal War Heats Up Once Again

J. D. Longstreet
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The Israeli Air Force is reported to have knocked out some 40, or more, Hamas targets in five minutes as the current Jewish/Muslim war kicks off in Gaza. The devastating opening to this war has been described as the Israeli version of "Shock and Awe".

Planning, we learned (very recently) for this raid was initiated at least six months ago by the Israeli military. The decision that "Operation Cast Lead" was "a go" for Saturday morning was, in fact, made Friday morning only one day before the bombs began to rain down on Hamas. Hamas had evacuated many of their command and control centers earlier in the week, in expectation of a Israeli raid. But much of the command personnel had returned to those centers when they received word that Israel had put off making a decision on when the raid would begin until Sunday. Thus, they were right where Israel wanted them when the air assault began, right beneath the bombs.

Egypt's President, Hosni Mubarak, was informed, in person, by Tzipi Livni, the leader of Israel's Kadima political party, after Livni flew to Cairo, for that explicit purpose, on Wednesday, while Defense Minister Ehud Barak continued to work out last minute details of the raid. So, even Israel's neighbor, Egypt, which shares the other Gaza border knew this was coming. There is an excellent article on this HERE .

Months ago the IDF had been given orders to do extensive recon to gather intelligence in Gaza and secure info on such things as the location of Hamas bases, weapon storage sites, the location of training camps, even coordinates of the homes of senior Hamas officials as well as the coordinates for other unspecified Hamas facilities. This is NOT a knee jerk reaction by Israel to those Hamas rocket attacks which have killed dozens of Israelis and destroyed homes and businesses as much as 30 kilometers inside Israel.

Already, the UN is calling for the violence to end and for Israel to avoid the killing of Palestinian civilians. Little has been said about Hamas killing Israeli civilians with those rockets. This is perfectly normal in a world warped by its thinly disguised hatred for all things Jewish and, especially, the state of Israel. The UN statement went on to urge Israel to take necessary measures, including the opening of border crossings, to ensure Gaza's people were supplied with food, fuel and medical treatment. Israeli Radio reports tell us that Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defense Minister, did permit the borders to be partially opened to allow in medical supplies and basic humanitarian aid on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the White House is coming down, fore square, on Israel's side. "These people are nothing but thugs, so Israel is going to defend its people against terrorists like Hamas that indiscriminately kill their own people," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe is reported to have said.

On Saturday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the United States holds Hamas responsible for the renewal of violence in the Gaza Strip.

From the "Land Down Under", Australia, the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, also blamed Hamas for the current war. Gillard is reported to have said: "Clearly, we are calling on Hamas and other militants to cease shelling southern Israel. Obviously they have broken the cease-fire and engaged in an act of aggression against Israel. Israel has responded. We are echoing the calls from around the world for parties to move back to a ceasefire."

And so the family feud goes on. Nothing much has changed since Abraham booted Ishmael out of his camp and anointed Isaac, his son by Sarah, the birthright. The death and destruction we see today, in 2008, can be traced directly back to that incident, thousands of years ago.

It is foolish to even consider brokering a peace between those two half-brothers. It is the height of arrogance to believe one can bring peace between the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael. As agentle reminder we refer you to the scripture from The Bible: Genesis 17:18,19 “And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shall call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him”.

From the Koran: Koran = 19:54 “Also mention in the Book [the story of] Ishmael: He was [strictly] true to what he promised, and he was a messenger [and] a prophet”. And again from The Bible:

Genesis 16:12 “And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him."

As we watch the continuation of this on going struggle play out before our very eyes on the TV screens today, we must remember that this is only the latest flare up between these two peoples who have fought for thousands of years. No matter how this current war ends, the struggle will not end here. It will go on. No matter what the US does, or what the United Nations does, nothing will change. Only God can end this combat, which is fueled by jealous rage.

The Jews and the Muslims have two different philosophies of life and religion. One leads to freedom and life and the other leads to bondage and death.

J. D. Longstreet

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