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OCTOBER 10-11,  2023

REGARDING THE STORY JUST BELOW:  NYPD is springing into action.  Other cities please copy.  From the New York Post: 

The NYPD has ordered all cops to report in uniform starting Friday in anticipation of potential unrest stemming from a call by the former leader of Hamas to stage global demonstrations in support of Palestinians, The Post has learned.

“All uniformed members of the service in every rank, will perform duty in the uniform of the day and be prepared for deployment,” read a Wednesday night memo sent to all NYPD members.

Cops will not be granted excusals or shift changes and the order will remain in effect “until further notice,” according to the memo.

The directive was issued after Khaled Meshaal, who served as chief of Hamas from 2004 to 2017, called on the Islamic world to stage the protests on Friday.

The NYPD is also beefing up security at all of its 77 police precincts, assigning additional cops to monitor entryways and parking areas at the station houses, according to the internal memo.

Additionally, the department activated its Joint Operations Center (JOC) at its Manhattan headquarters in anticipation of the possible mayhem.

Multiple agencies — including the Sanitation Department, Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Authority and the FDNY — will be required to alert the JOC “as soon as they become aware of any incidents related to this event” from Thursday through Sunday, the memo states.

The call from Meshaal came as Israeli forces continued to hit back at the Gaza Strip in response to the bloody sneak attack Hamas launched over the weekend.

COMMENT:  We have not seen specific evidence of planned attacks against American cities, but it must be assumed that Hamas will be thinking in those terms.  The NYPD is acting wisely. The WOKE crowd could not be reached for comment.

October 11,  2023     Permalink 

THE COMING QUESTION:  We have all watched in horror the news reports coming from the Mideast.  The sheer intensity of the coverage, a credit to a news industry we ordinarily like to criticize, has forced us to see things we hoped we'd never see. 

But a question is now being asked, on news programs and in newspaper columns:  Could it happen here?  Our southern border is practically wide open.  The assumption that all those who cross illegally into this country are from South or Central American societies has been shattered repeatedly.  If truth be told, a number of young men of fighting age, and from the Mideast, have made their way into this country through our porous southern border, and we don't know who they are.

Fewer than 20 men carried out the 9-11 attacks.  Are we preparing the way for another 9-11?  From Fox: 

Thousands of "special interest aliens" from numerous countries, including the Middle East, have been arrested by Border Patrol agents while attempting to cross the U.S. southern border illegally over the last two years, according to internal Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data leaked to Fox News.

"Special interest aliens" are people from countries identified by the U.S. government as having conditions that promote or protect terrorism or potentially pose some sort of national security threat to the U.S.

That data, confirmed by multiple CBP sources and reflects apprehensions between ports of entry between October 2021 and October 2023, shows that agents encountered 6,386 nationals from Afghanistan in that period as well as 3,153 from Egypt, 659 from Iran and 538 from Syria.

Agents also encountered 13,624 from Uzbekistan, 30,830 from Turkey, 1,613 from Pakistan, 164 from Lebanon, 185 from Jordan, 139 from Yemen, 123 from Iraq and 15,594 from Mauritania. The data does not include information on how many of those migrants were removed or who were released into the U.S. with a court date.

COMMENT:  That is a chilling picture.  I have to believe that some, or most, of those who slipped in are trained terrorists.  I have to believe that they're working right now to do something awful on American soil. 

But is anyone showing any sense of urgency?  Or are we asleep again, as we were before Pearl Harbor, or 9-11?

October 11, 2023       Permalink 

OCTOBER 8-9,  2023

ANOTHER DAY OF WAR:  But with a difference.  Israel has now declared before the world that its objective is to wipe out Hamas, not to simply administer a UN-approved slap on the wrist.  And the prime minister of Israel has promised that his country would not stop fighting until the objective was met. 

It won't be easy.  It will require a ground operation into Gaza, with all the nightmares of urban warfare attached.  We are looking at the possibility of major casualties on each side.

But it must be done. 

The day was filled with Israeli bombings of targets in Gaza, and rocket fire from Gaza into Israel.

But there was one thing that was largely overlooked by the media.  Five Western nations, in a manner typical of international declarations of past eras, combined to issue a ringing declaration of support for Israel.  The nations are the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy. 

In a joint statement on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and U.S. President Joe Biden expressed “steadfast and united support to the State of Israel” and “unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and its appalling acts of terrorism.”
 
“We make clear that the terrorist actions of Hamas have no justification, no legitimacy, and must be universally condemned. There is never any justification for terrorism,” the leaders stated. “In recent days, the world has watched in horror as Hamas terrorists massacred families in their homes, slaughtered over 200 young people enjoying a music festival, and kidnapped elderly women, children and entire families, who are now being held as hostages.”

France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States “will support Israel in its efforts to defend itself and its people against such atrocities. We further emphasize that this is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage.”
 
The leaders added that they “recognize the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people, and support equal measures of justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike. But make no mistake: Hamas does not represent those aspirations, and it offers nothing for the Palestinian people other than more terror and bloodshed.”
 
“Over the coming days, we will remain united and coordinated, together as allies, and as common friends of Israel, to ensure Israel is able to defend itself, and to ultimately set the conditions for a peaceful and integrated Middle East region,” they stated. 

COMMENT:   Great statement.  Now we'll see if these Western nations, including our own, actually mean it.  If they do, it will be a giant step forward in rebuilding the Western alliance based on peace through strength.  If they don't, we'll look at the United States through a rear-view window.

October 9, 2023       Permalink

MORNING OF OCTOBER 9TH, MIDEAST LATEST:  Here is what we know about the boiling situation in the Mideast:

The number of Israelis killed by the Hamas attack stands at about 800; the number of hostages held by Hamas is probably over 100, but no one outside Hamas is absolutely sure.

The State Department officially announced that nine Americans have been killed, but noted that the number could go higher; there is no estimate as to the number of Americans who might be held hostage.

Israel announced that it had retaken all Israeli territory near the Gaza strip that had been temporarily held by Hamas invaders.  However, Israel cautioned that there still might be terrorists operating on the Israeli side of the Gaza border.

The United States is sending the USS Gerald Ford carrier group to the eastern Mediterranean to caution Iran about making any new moves.

There is continuing controversy as to Iran's involvement in the Hamas operation.  Both Hamas and Hezbollah, another group of terrorist lovelies, have openly said that they get help from Iran, and the Wall Street Journal, as we note below, is reporting that Iran was heavily involved in the Hamas attacks.  The State Department stiffly asserts that it has no proof of any Iranian involvement, which sounds a bit absurd.

Rocket attacks from Gaza to Israel continued all night, but they were much lighter than the original attacks.  It is now reported that some operatives tried to get into Israel across its northern border with Lebanon, but we don't have details.

Israel is launching major air attacks on Hamas targets in Gaza, and is sealing the Gaza border so supplies cannot be brought in.  However, Gaza has another border, with Egypt, so any Israeli blockade could be ineffective.

The Arab nation of Qatar says it is in contact with Hamas to try to get release of the hostages.  This is questionable.  Hamas, in the past, has driven a very hard bargain, over long periods of time, in hostage negotiations.  We have to assume that it will do the same now.  The 100 hostages they hold are powerful weapons in their hands.

More coming later in the day. 

October 9, 2023       Permalink

FIRST A BULLETIN FROM THE JERUSALEM POST, QUOTING THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.  WE HAVE NO OTHER CONFIRMATION OF THIS, BUT IT HAS THAT RING OF TRUTH:

Hamas's attacks on Israel, which began Saturday morning, were planned weeks in advance with assistance from Iranian security officials, according to a Sunday report from The Wall Street Journal.

The report, citing senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah, stated that the Iranian officials "gave the green light" for the attacks during a meeting between them and Hamas in Beirut last week.

IRGC officers worked with Hamas since August to plan incursions from the "air, land, and sea," the report noted. Officers of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were also at the meetings in Beirut.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had praised the attacks, posting on X earlier this week that the cancer of the usurper Zionist regime will be eradicated at the hands of the Palestinian people and the Resistance forces throughout the region."

COMMENT:  If this checks out, the story of the Hamas attack on Israel takes on an entirely new meaning, and has large implications. 

October 8, 2023       Permalink