One is brought to silence by evil afoot in the Middle East. Stories, photographs, and heavy hearts, many grieving so much they may never heal, cause the heart to ache. What can we do? Oppose evil, comfort the grieving, protect the innocent, and be wary of hate.
What did Hamas terrorists, financed by Iran and coordinating with Hezbollah, mean to achieve? They meant to terrorize, inflict fear, sow hate, and commence war. They did.
What is the right response, tactically and later? If the four objectives above are right, then Israel must oppose evil by aggressively rooting out Hamas’ terror cells.
Tracing this war back to Iran and Hezbollah, who clearly financed, trained, and coordinated this assault, those two also must pay. Iran’s terror cannot stand.
How does a civilized world confront such evil? As with all terror, if deterrence fails, isolation, containment, and force are needed to cage the belligerent.
Those responses come with risks and costs. Going in, Americans need to prepare for less global stability. We should expect more incitement and possible terror ahead.
Drop-down: Anyone who cares about the Middle East, for that matter, global stability, should exercise greater vigilance, preparedness, and empathy and watch for rising hate.
Let me unpack that last sentence. Vigilance and preparedness are rational responses to an elevated risk of terror worldwide; we are not immune, even here, as we know.
Empathy is comforting those who grieve, praying for them, and understanding their pain. The number of people who grieve is high and will grow and may become incalculable as this war expands.
Sadly, Geneva Convention notwithstanding, wars pay little mind to the innocent; this one is no exception. Just as Israeli and American families mourn the loss of innocent children and families, innocent Palestinian families will do the same.
A heartfelt, faith-based understanding that wars are tragic and that more tragedy lies ahead should give good people pause, a reason to offer empathy and pray for peace.
Now, I come to the last, that bit about being wary of hate, those who espouse it against the Jewish or Palestinian people, Israelis or Arabs, those who harbor it, feed it, tolerate it in their hearts. Hate can be fatal, an obsession, a poison.
Hate comes to no good, even if that proportionate response to evil – “eye for an eye” – is necessary and shows up in both Jewish and Arab traditions and texts.
Christ’s message, forgive rather than retaliate, is nearly impossible in some human conditions and requires superhuman faith beyond most of us. In human terms, it does not deter terror. Yet indulging hate is dangerous and often consumes the hater.
So, where does that leave us? We must think hard about how and why hate grows, how excesses feed excesses, and where open-ended, unfenced hatred of a group leads.
The answer is: It leads nowhere good. Place yourself behind the “veil of ignorance,” imagine you are a thoughtful, peace-loving Jewish or Palestinian soul, perhaps Christian, maybe Muslim, or any of several subdivisions of those faiths. Imagine you just want to raise your family and live in peace, no war.
The problem is that no one hears you or sees you in the fog of war. Wars are perpetrated against nations, not the few who harbor hate, start them, prefer killing.
The concern at this moment, caution to be wary of hate, is about history. We humans easily find in war hating evil becomes hating a people. We indulge our worst, not best instincts, lose perspective, and, once lost, find it hard to retrieve.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.
RBC, I agree with most of what you said, however evil must be destroyed and Hamas is pure evil.
Hamas does not want a “two state solution”, they want to wipe the Jewish State off the face of the earth and they will not stop until this is accomplished.
As I have said in another post;
You cannot coexist with evil.
You cannot compromise with evil.
You cannot reason or negotiate with evil.
Evil must be destroyed.
The title of this article ” Confronting Evil, Beware Hate” is sure enough appropriate Robert ,Well Done with this important writing . I have it reckoned that the better civilized, good people, those who have good character , who respect the dignity of human life, get at confronting evil then the less hate there will be to fuel the evil. The criminal gangs who have invaded the southern border and have used illegal drug trafficking and human trafficking to jeopardize the defense of this Nation, they are in a very real sense the same as ,in the same category as Hamas — different in the obvious ways, politically primarily , but still dangerous to the United States of America, and need to be dealt with accordingly. Both groups have perpetrated acts of war on this Country. It makes sense that Israel can be helped by people here doing whatever they can to fight crime in this Country , I do believe it all connects in many ways Regarding dealing with hate, you are correct And helping the victims of Hamas attacks will go much better if there are more people who put kindness and caring forward to help people rebuild their lives — with love overcoming hate .Faith in God will help with that. The light of love, instead of the darkness of hate. So, about the confronting evil again, and how various groups need to be considered — in 1942 when American forces in the Philippines surrendered to Japan ,those fortunate enough to not be captured, who were in situations that made it possible to not be part of the surrender and who fought in resistance groups ( with great courage and honor ) soon realized that beside the Japanese armies there were two other groups — just as dangerous as the Japanese to deal with – the Philippine Muslims who were against both America and Japan and the criminal gangs who were a very serious threat. I am mentioning this bit of history as I mentioned above it was a similar situation in many ways — enemy groups not connected but are something that needs to be dealt with — confronted — accordingly. A brief prayer for those in Israel — may the people of Israel be safe and free and have the strength, courage and wisdom needed to live with good character and nobility. Let Liberty be the watchword.
In order to deal with the evil accordingly it first would have to be recognized and named That has to be done yet After the attack on the towers we were warned not to paint everyone with the same brush moslem organizations never condemned it Israel is the only one confronting the evil The rest of the world as usual stutters not daring to offend As for the protests of support the empty headed idiots have no clue they are being used Any political and public figure wanting to go to the front line and fight for free palestine should do just that else stay here and shut up Israel has a right to live in peace
What does God have to say about Israel? “I will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel. ” God is still in control, He is a Sovereign God! We must listen to His Holy Word, especially in times of deception. I stand with Israel and pray for the whole World to know the Truth of the Bible. Please pray with me.
These monsters attacked civilians. Therefore the word war doesnt apply. Had they assaulted the idf directly that would be war. How, pray tell, can the idf root out terror cells in a place like gaza? The situation reminds me of our bombing campaign against japan. Lemay understood that victory would only arrive via the mass death of the enemy, civilians and soldiers alike. Thats the time for lenient terms and compassion, exactly what we accomplished via Macarthur in charge of japan. We can all dream of such a transformation among israels enemies.
Thank you, Bobby! Your article has a very important message and warning. Your readers need to think about what you are truly saying. It is easy to hate and condemn when atrocities such as the violence and destruction in Israel and Gaza occur. Our world is reflecting far too much division, lack of empathy and tolerance. Hate and condemnation is oozing out of every earthly crack. It’s easy to hate, but much harder to forgive and love. What would God, our Heavenly Father, suggest we do?
”No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the heart than its opposite.” Nelson Mandela
I hope they’re watching these “anti-Israeli protesters” as closely as they’re watching moms at school board hearings! (Does anyone not believe if those DC Capitol idiots were wearing MAGA hats they wouldn’t be treated so gently? And will any be charged with “interference with Congressional functions” and face 20-year sentences like J6 ppl?)
Compromise with evil is not possible, nor should anyone attempt to do do. Those who would murder the innocent, and then publicly revel in what they have done, are the definition of evil. The only way to deal with them is to exterminate them.
Bullies sow hatred. I do not believe they like or respect anyone nor anything!!! How very sad and sick!!
Correction Loose lips sink ships.
Around October 8th Hamas leaders put out a statement that said something like this: ISRAEL BELIEVES IN LIVE & LIVING WHILE WE BELIEVE THAT A PERSON BECOMES A MARTYR IN DEATH” and that is the sad truth in the beliefs of these two factions.
My Opinion: Both Biden & Trump need to quit being Monday morning Quarterbacks on this. What did Biden mean today when he said “Do not make the same mistakes US made after 9-11″ and What did Trump mean (and hope to accomplish) by telling the world that Hezbollah was very smart”. My suggestion: Support Israel in private & do not tell the entire world (which includes terrorists) what you think should be done. Reminds me of the old WWII battle cry “LOOSE SHIPS SINK SHIPS”. and also the Leadership rule “Only chew an employee out in private & not in front of other employees”.
It is hard to believe in a puppies and kittens world when you have a situation where there is a conflict between two parties where usually in conflicts there are two sides to said conflict. I have found however that in one universal instance where there are conflicts if the Jewish state is involved there is only a singular side and that is always that of the poor poor Jewish people. One would think that at least one occasion in an argument involving “Gods Chosen”, that the coin of argument could at least turn up tails but never when the israelis are concerned. This is after all an Israeli-Islamic conflict and not a Jewish-Islamic conflict. Prior to UK inventing Israel Jews, Christians and Muslims lived in the area peacefully for centuries. In 1948 enter the Zionist state of Israel and here we are.
This article is just another propaganda piece based on false information, jumping to conclusions stemming from underlying pure hatred and bias. It is both irresponsible and dangerous for any American to react as related in the above piece and wrongheaded and careless for AMAC to publish such inflamatory rot. Do not imagine I am siding or defending HAMAS, but it should be noted that Israel and the USA originally started, armed and funded this terrorist organization to confront the PLO not so long ago.And if one considers the plans exposed by Netanyahu’s comments at the UN just weeks ago, along with the stand down orders placed on the IDF, the border security and its air force, plus the 3 day warning provided as advance notice to Israel of possible attack at that time, not to mention potential Mossad intelligence agency operatives inside Palestine that may have instigated and coordinated this attack as well… VERY LIKELY! … then this “attack” by kite-flying” idiots on motorized carts on a ridiculously non-military objective of dancing people at a rave… well… must I go on? People are blind sheep and dumb fools who accept the broadcast lines generated by government controlled media., without waiting for even the dust to clear. The beheaded baby story was already debunked within the first hours and we still have no valadated or confirming information on much more.People see what the want to see and it is leading us straight into global Armageddon. May God help the innocent.