{"id":44524,"date":"2023-10-29T07:36:03","date_gmt":"2023-10-29T15:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=44524"},"modified":"2023-10-29T07:36:03","modified_gmt":"2023-10-29T15:36:03","slug":"israel-america-and-going-massive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/29\/israel-america-and-going-massive\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel, America, and Going ‘Massive’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reprinted from Bracing Views<\/a> with the author\u2019s permission.<\/i><\/p>\n

In the immediate aftermath of the 9\/11 attacks on America in 2001, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld knew exactly what to do: \u201cgo massive.\u201d Al Qaeda\u2019s \u201cshock and awe\u201d attacks were an opportunity for the Bush\/Cheney administration not only to strike against \u201cterror\u201d but against Saddam Hussein and Iraq, possibly even Iran, even though those countries had no role in 9\/11. Here\u2019s how Rumsfeld put it<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“Hard to get good case [against Iraq]. Need to move swiftly. Near term target needs \u2013 go massive \u2013 sweep it all up, things related and not.”<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Going \u201cmassive\u201d had another benefit: it distracted Americans from the colossal failure of Bush\/Cheney\/Rumsfeld to keep America safe, to anticipate and prevent the Al Qaeda attacks. Americans rallied around the flag and asked few questions as Congress gave the president a blank check to wage a \u201cglobal war on terror.\u201d<\/p>\n

Something similar is happening in Israel today. The Hamas terror attacks are giving Bibi Netanyahu and the hard right in Israel an opportunity to \u201cgo massive,\u201d to \u201csweep it all up, things related and not.\u201d This has the added virtue of distracting Israelis from the colossal failure of Netanyahu in anticipating and preventing the Hamas attacks. Like their American counterparts, Israelis are tending to rally around the flag as their government is given a blank check (supported by the USA) to wage a war on terror in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Of course, a war on terror is a war of terror, which is what we\u2019re witnessing in Gaza. Massive Israeli bombing. Deaths that will soon exceed ten thousand. Widespread hunger, thirst, and suffering. Massive displacement of Palestinians from their homes. All justified because Israel was attacked, and not just attacked but embarrassed, as America was embarrassed on 9\/11.<\/p>\n

Consider these satellite images from Gaza<\/a> showing massive destruction from Israeli bombing.<\/p>\n

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\n
\n\"\"<\/picture>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Broadly speaking, the USA and Israel share a conceit of being God\u2019s chosen people and also of having the world\u2019s finest and best military forces. These conceits were challenged respectively by the success of the Al Qaeda and Hamas terror attacks. Embarrassment coupled with anger and revenge leads to going \u201cmassive,\u201d irrespective of wisdom or legality (or morality). Going \u201cmassive\u201d is also a great CYA exercise, as in covering your ass.<\/p>\n

Now is the time, these failed leaders decide, to punish \u201cevildoers,\u201d innocent people be damned. What matters is violence, action, vengeance, settling scores, irrespective of human rights and the so-called rules-based international order. It\u2019s time to kill.<\/p>\n

If history doesn\u2019t quite repeat itself, it surely does echo as Israel, much like the USA after 9\/11, goes \u201cmassive\u201d and kills innocents while claiming it\u2019s all in the cause of self-defense and justice.<\/p>\n

William J. Astore is a retired lieutenant colonel (USAF). He taught history for fifteen years at military and civilian schools. He writes at Bracing Views<\/a>. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author\u2019s permission. In the immediate aftermath of the 9\/11 attacks on America in 2001, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld knew exactly what to do: \u201cgo massive.\u201d Al Qaeda\u2019s \u201cshock and awe\u201d attacks were an opportunity for the Bush\/Cheney administration not only to strike against \u201cterror\u201d but against Saddam Hussein […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-44524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"meta_box":{"disable_donate_message":"","custom_donate_message":"","subtitle":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/290"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44524"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44535,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44524\/revisions\/44535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44524"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=44524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}