(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Israel, Hamas, and Reality [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-20 Sometimes reality is a difficult concept to wrap your mind around. Today’s turmoil in the Middle East is occurring at one such time. There is no quibbling with the notion that Hamas is a blatant terrorist organization. That is a given. There is also no argument against their attack on Israel being labeled a terrorist activity of the worst kind imaginable. We are now in the aftermath of a horrible event that cost the lives of some 1,400 Israelis, including children and babies being mercilessly slaughtered. The horror is still completely unthinkable. Its results were based on the alternate reality that exists in the minds of delusional Hamas militants. Reality. And alternate reality. Two separate things. Hamas somehow believes that all Jews should be killed. Their alternate reality also dictates that the state of Israel needs to be completely erased. For Hamas, Israel does not really exist. It is not part of their accepted frame of reference. The alternate reality that they do acknowledge is so completely warped that they simply cannot accept the presence of some things that actually do exist in the world. As difficult as it is to accept the reality of what happened in Israel on October 7, we simply must accept those events as a fact. Yes, it is difficult to wrap your mind around atrocity of such an immeasurable extreme. But we must. It is a reality. Israelis are even more challenged by this necessity, because of the ongoing grief and uncertainties they are being forced to endure. The 1,400 dead are only a part of the pressure that Israelis are forced to recognize, since there are also an unknown number of hostages being held by sinister thugs who believe all Jews must be killed. And the world looks on in stages of disbelief, at a situation in which Israel is faced with some serious choices in defining their reaction to what has taken place. Several plans have been voiced. And so far, there has been no boots-on-the-ground insurgence into Gaza. Will that happen? Yes, almost certainly, it will. Should Israel invade Gaza with the goal of destroying Hamas’ ability to launch such despicable actions again? Much of the civilized world believes they should. It would seem they have no choice. They must do this so the security of Israel is restored, and other extremist groups will see that you simply cannot get away with such heinous behavior without due consequences. One problem with “wiping them out,” is that Hamas’ alternate reality dictates that their deaths are not a serious problem. They actually put on suicide bombs so they can kill their enemies by dying, themselves. Never mind the seeming contradiction that “Jews must die” but “our deaths are not that important.” Terrorists like these are not all that well known for thinking clearly. Some would advocate completely wiping out Hamas. That would, unfortunately, be literally impossible. There simply are too many in the group to effectively destroy them all. And besides, terror groups seem to grow when others kill them in appreciable numbers. An analogy has been offered, that when you cut the grass, it grows back. Complete annihilation is untenable. You should focus on a more practical objective. So, Israel now wants to decapitate the leadership of Hamas, so the organization “cannot perpetrate such behavior again.” But here comes reality. Because of the grass growing back, you simply cannot eliminate Hamas’ leadership, even if you do manage to kill them all. Leadership grows back, too. Dead soldiers of all stripes had children who grow up. That reality must sink in. Hamas cannot be eliminated. And neither can their leadership be extinguished. It can only be temporarily interrupted. Reality. And the worst part of all of this is that Hamas is now using its own Palestinians as shields against an Israeli counter-offensive. Innocent civilians will be killed. There is no doubt about this. And Hamas does not care. And they know that the civilized world does care. And Hamas actually LIKES this idea. It will result in great recruiting for the Hamas of the future. So Israel is faced with a lose-lose scenario. They must react to dissuade further terrorist incursions. And they will therefore be condemned for killing innocent civilians, who are trapped and cannot escape a certain pending war zone. Reality says you can’t kill them all. Reality says you can’t eliminate the leadership. Reality says you will reap the reward of a horrible label, yourself. Reality sucks. Reality dictates that the usefulness of stated objectives like, “eliminate the leadership,” and “so it can never happen again,” is limited to secondary considerations. What these stated objectives really offer, is only the secondary rationale that permits you to accept the realities involved here. You can accept that you will not permanently eliminate these threats. You can accept that you will be labeled as civilian killers. You can accept the fact that you, yourself, will probably get invaded again, by the offspring of those you kill this time. You can accept all of this because you really have no alternative choice in the matter. You can accept all of this because, at least on paper, the rationale appears to offer something. It simply “sounds good,” when you say these objectives out loud. Even though such statements are not a part of …reality. And so it goes in the Middle East. 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