With High Hopes For 5785

Ever hear of something called Rewards For Justice ? It's a federal program, part of the Department of State, and falls under the aegis of Bureau of Diplomatic Security. I kid you not. 

Our Mission is to lead worldwide security and law enforcement efforts to advance U.S. foreign policy and safeguard national security interests. Our Vision is to be an agile and proactive intelligence-led security and law enforcement organization to further diplomacy around the world. 

 

Rewards For Justice is exactly what it sounds like: a bounty system. 

Rewards for Justice (RFJ), the U.S. Department of State’s national security rewards program, was established by the 1984 Act to Combat International Terrorism, Public Law 98-533 (codified at 22 U.S.C. § 2708). Administered by the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, RFJ’s mission is to offer rewards to obtain information that protects American lives and U.S. interests and furthers U.S. national security.  

It even has a button at the top of the page for Submit A Tip . The drop-down menus will link to a variety of information in each of the global areas the office covers. Go read through the list under Terrorism. Quite the education there.

But that's neither here nor there. I'm just pointing out that these things do exist and there are "public enemy" lists for terrorists as well as for cyber criminals. I didn't believe this was true when Bill Maher suggested the State Department pay the IDF the reported $7M bounty on Hassan Nasrallah and just say thank you. So I went looking and tripped across this bureau. On the other hand, I don't think I was surprised that it exists. 

screenshot from Al-Manar TV

What did manage to surprise me was how Hassan Nasrallah was portrayed as some kind of jolly father-figure with a Santa Claus beard in news organs all over the place. Many of the pictures show him in social situations, smiling, glad-handing... happy politician poses, but don't go into detail about the number of people he has killed. They neglect to mention that his sole desire was to remove Israel and her people from the map...even though he claimed to have no problem with Jews. The BBC described him as having

...steered Hezbollah's evolution from a militia founded to fight Israeli troops occupying Lebanon, into a military force stronger than the Lebanese army, a powerbroker in Lebanese politics, a major provider of health, education and social services, and a key part of its backer Iran's drive for regional supremacy. 

He also steered Hezbollah into murderous and destructive conflicts that impact all of the Lebanese population. He altered their government and attempted to replace it with an Iranian puppet rule. If you're of a mind to learn more, read Foreign Affairs article, What The Lebanese People Really Think of Hezbollah from July of this year. It's eye-opening.

Israel has just begun a "limited" ground incursion into Lebanon. Like everyone else on the planet, no one knows what that means. For this writer, it may mean my departure for Israel is delayed. And no, I am not happy about that at all. 

At this writing, there is no additional word on the hostages as we approach the one-year mark. The UN has, once more, proven itself to be worthlessly toothless, and an elegantly written op-ed piece on that subject in the Jerusalem Post is worth reading.  The BBC is finally being called out publicly for its blatant anti-Israel bias, something long overdue. I've completely given up on NPR; their subtle anti-Israel bias, like that of the New York Times, isn't as glaring as the BBC, but it's the lack of criticism of Hamas, the missing recognition of the hostages still in Gaza. It's as though they are the nice Germans who just close the curtains. Ignoring the reality on the ground doesn't make it go away; it just lets it fester. It's okay to complain about Israel's actions but not okay to hold Hamas or Hezbollah for embedding its command posts in civilian neighborhoods, in hospitals, and under children's bedrooms.

The exploding pocket pagers, a surgically precise operation that probably saved far more lives than it took, was still castigated from all sides. It doesn't matter what Israel does to defend itself...whether it's bombing known terrorist compounds, or just castrating a few thousand known terrorists....the results are the same: Israel is condemned. Which should tell you, to be perfectly frank, Israel is NOT entitled to defend itself no matter what the UN or anyone else says. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. There is no path to self-defense for Israel that would meet anyone's approval. And Israel is the only nation held to that standard...but you knew that already.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we're getting ready for Rosh HaShana. There's a whole lotta cooking going on, and that is actually comforting. My Big Bro is coming for his annual Minnesota sojourn and I'm looking forward to sitting with him in shul. 

There is one Rosh Ha'Shana tradition, however, that I both love and hate: kever avot....visiting the graves of our parents. It's a tradition to place a stone on top of a headstone to show that someone has visited the grave. Years ago, my dad began the tradition of painting a rock green for his mother, my veddy British Grandma Sarah who happened to be born on Saint Patrick's Day....and died the day after her birthday back in 1979. I have carried the tradition forward, and now we paint rocks to put on headstones. 

My folks may be in New York, but Ziggy is here. As is FIL. This year was the first time Little Miss and Young Sir came. I had prepared white painted stones and brought markers to the cemetery, but when they got out of the car, they already had painted stones in their hands. I was verklempt. I love that they have adopted this silly little family minhag (custom) as their own. Dad would've loved that. So we put our painted rocks on Ziggy's headstone, talked about him for a while, then took a walk around the older parts of the cemetery and talked about the interesting headstones. They saw family names that are familiar to them because they are family names of their friends. There were questions to be answered and even jokes to be shared. They were comfortable there.

It wasn't scary. It was life. Ziggy woulda hated that we were visiting him, but he really woulda loved the painted rocks. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Wishing all my dear readers, Jewish or not,

שנה טובה ומתוקה

a good and sweet New Year.

May 5785 bring an end to hostages and hostilities,

and the beginning of peace throughout the region.

The Elegance of Low Tech

Toon by Rick McKee/Cagle Cartoons

A couple of things happened this week that are worth mentioning. 

First: Exploding pagers and other electronic devices. Let me go on the record as saying this was an incredible, positively elegant use of technology. 

According to Arutz Sheva, Israel National News, the detonation occurred earlier than planned:

Israel only intended on detonating the Hezbollah terrorists' pagers if war were to break out, but decided to execute the plan early due to suspicions by some of the terrorists, Al Monitor reported on Wednesday. 

According to the report, two Hezbollah terrorists suspected that something was wrong with the devices leading Israel to quickly decide not to wait for a war. 

On Tuesday night, the New York Times, citing American and other officials, reported that Israel hid explosive material within a new batch of Taiwanese-made pagers imported into Lebanon. 

The pagers, which Hezbollah had ordered from Gold Apollo in Taiwan, had been tampered with before they reached Lebanon, some of the officials told The New York Times. Most were the company’s AP924 model, though three other Gold Apollo models were also included in the shipment, the report said.

The explosive material, as little as one to two ounces, was implanted next to the battery in each pager, two of the officials said. A switch was also embedded that could be triggered remotely to detonate the explosives.

At 3:30 p.m. in Lebanon, the pagers received a message that appeared as though it was coming from Hezbollah’s leadership, two of the officials said. Instead, the message activated the explosives.

 Could an attack be any more precise, targeted, or almost surgical in scope? I think you'd be hard pressed to find another one quite like this. Since Hezbollah leadership had downgraded to pagers because they were convinced smartphones were tracking their every move (duh,) Israel's ingenuity was dazzling. Pagers in hand blew off hands. Pagers in pockets blew up other body parts. Here are two things to think about:

1. There was some interesting collateral "damage" for the pager-caper. Anyone who went to a hospital with injuries consistent with a pager explosion was now easily identifiable as a member of Hezbollah leadership. All sorts of data would've been captured in admitting. And I am certain Israel would have no trouble hacking their medical databases to gather that information. 
2. It sent a really interesting message to terrorist fighters: if you're gonna use rape and sexual abuse as tools of war, expect to get your dick blown off. There is some poetic justice in that. Over the last few decades, ISIS, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and Hamas have all used sexual abuse in war. Whether it was the forced marriages and pregnancies during the Iraq/Syria period or in the tunnels of Gaza, one thing was consistently clear: rape was a method of control and terror. I do not believe for one New York minute that the developers of this plan did not have that thought cross their minds. Especially if there were women on the project which there most certainly were. 

Some would make the case that this was bringing the war into homes, but I would disagree. These explosions did not bring down buildings or collapse towers; these were small detonations which caused personal injury. People standing around were not automatically in harm's way in the same way a grenade or a missile would explode. No. These were small, lethal explosions that sent a very serious message: "We're on to you."

Of course, the retaliation will not be nearly as clean or surgical, and that will be a price Israel will pay. But overall, this pager-caper was beyond brilliant. 

The second item on my list is a statement by Feckless Felon. Let's put reality into perspective before we go there. According to the Pew Research Center, about 2.4% of the US population identifies as Jewish. Identifies is an interesting word that is, in many ways, meaningless. It does not take into account people who may be Jewish by birth but consider themselves something else, or people who just claim to be Jewish but really aren't, or even people who might actually be Jewish and don't know it. But 2.4% does sound about right. That means, 97.6% of the population is not Jewish. So it's a little strange when, at the Israeli American Council's summit, he says:

If I don't win this election - and the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that if that happens because if 40%, I mean, 60% of the people are voting for the enemy - Israel, in my opinion, will cease to exist within two years.

But if Jews don't vote for him, we're gonna be responsible for the loss? How did he draw that conclusion? Are we in charge of the ballot boxes or voting machines in such a way that our votes are worth more? What kind of narishkeit...nonsense is that? 

Ah, but it's not nonsense. It's another one of his dog whistles putting Jews in the cross-hairs of his militia movement. While claiming to be our protector, he has painted a target on us, over us, and around us so that we will be the scapegoat, the fair game for his coup d'etat. 

Interestingly, his constant and continual denigration for our military has not gone unnoticed by our military. He seems to be under the impression that in order to overthrow the government he can a) do it without the Joint Chiefs and military support, and b) he only needs his Proud Boy et als militias to take control. Which, when you think about it, is just as doable as 2.4 % of the US population costing him the election. 

Now, the powers-that-be in uniform have noticed this flight of fancy and are starting to come forward about their position on his rhetoric. Remember, they have all sworn to uphold the Constitution. The leadership of the NSL4A have written the following :

 September 22, 2024

To the American People,

This election is a choice between serious leadership and vengeful impulsiveness. It is a choice between democracy and authoritarianism. Vice President Harris defends America’s democratic ideals, while former President Donald Trump endangers them.

We do not make such an assessment lightly. We are trained to make sober, rational decisions. That is how we know Vice President Harris would make an excellent Commander-in-Chief, while Mr. Trump has proven he is not up to the job. As leaders, we know effective leadership requires in-depth knowledge, careful deliberation, understanding of your adversaries, and empathy for those you lead. It requires listening to those with expertise and not firing them when they disagree with you.

Vice President Harris has proven she is an effective leader able to advance American national security interests. Her relentless diplomacy with allies around the globe preserved a united front in support of Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression. She grasps the reality of American military deterrence, promising to preserve the American military’s status as the most “lethal” force in the world.

The contrast with Mr. Trump is clear: where Vice President Harris is prepared and strategic, he is impulsive and ill-informed. He has heaped praise on adversarial dictators like China’s Xi Jinping, North Korea’s Kim Jung Un, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, as well as the terrorist leaders of Hezbollah. Conversely, he has publicly and privately excoriated the leaders of our most steadfast allies, including the United Kingdom, Israel, Australia, Canada, and Germany. He abandoned our Kurdish allies while ceding influence in the Middle East to Russia, Iran, and China.

Further, Mr. Trump denigrates our great country and does not believe in the American ideal that our leaders should reflect the will of the people. While Vice President Harris follows the democratic norms we expect of any political leader—including promising to abide by the outcome of the pending election and respecting the rule of law—Mr. Trump is the first president in American history to actively undermine the peaceful transfer of power, the bedrock of American democracy.

Mr. Trump threatens our democratic system; he has said so himself. He has called for the “termination” of parts of the Constitution. He said he wants to be a “dictator,” and his clarification that he would only be a dictator for a day is not reassuring. He has undermined faith in our elections by repeating lies, without evidence, of “millions” of fraudulent votes.

He has shown no remorse for trying to overturn the 2020 election on January 6th, promises to pardon the convicted perpetrators, and has made clear he will not respect the results of the 2024 election should he lose again.

That alone proves Mr. Trump is unfit to be Commander-in-Chief.

We believe, as President Ronald Reagan said, that “America is a shining city on a hill.” Yet in this election, one of President Reagan’s more ominous warnings is equally relevant. “Freedom,” he said, “is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

Our endorsement of Vice President Harris is an endorsement of freedom and an act of patriotism. It is an endorsement of democratic ideals, of competence, and of relentless optimism in America’s future. We hope you will join us in voting for her.

Sincerely, 

President of National Security Leaders for America:  Rear Admiral Michael E. Smith, USN (Ret) 

Steering Committee of National Security Leaders for America:

Ambassador Charles C. Adams, Jr. (Fmr)

Ambassador Jeff Bleich (Fmr)

Ambassador Judith Beth Cefkin (Ret)

Major General Peter S. Cooke, USA (Ret)

Thomas M. Countryman, Minister Counselor (Ret), former Acting Under Secretary of State

Ambassador Cindy L. Courville, Ph.D. (Fmr), former Special Assistant to the President, National Security Council

Rear Admiral Scott Deitchman, M.D., M.P.H., USPHS (Ret)

Brigadier General John Wade Douglass, USAF (Ret), former Assistant Secretary of the Navy

Linda Jackson, Spouse of retired Senior Military Leader

Rear Admiral Katharine L. Laughton, USN (Ret)

Lieutenant General Charles D. Luckey, USA (Ret)

Major General Randy Manner, USA (Ret)

Brigadier General Mark A. Montjar, USA (Ret)

F. Whitten Peters, former Secretary of the Air Force

Ambassador Robert Annan Riley, III (Ret)

John C. Rogers, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense

Rear Admiral Todd Jay Squire, USN (Ret)

Jack Thomas Tomarchio, former Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Homeland Security

Brigadier General Daniel P. Woodward, USAF (Ret)

Senior Military Spouse Advisors:

Theresa T. Buchanan, J.D.

Becky R. France, MEd,

Dale Allen Hamby

Mary Jo Myers

Brook Rich

Rebekah Sanderlin

Ellen Waterfield Smith

Anne M. Squire 

You can read the rest of the 700 names here: NSL4A Endorses Kamala Harris for President of the United States 

See, here's the thing: if these guys thought Feckless Felon's threat was serious enough to warrant this kind of statement, perhaps we should take them seriously. As they state on their website:

We are a 501(c)(4) bipartisan organization comprised of individuals who served in various senior leadership positions that include all six military branches, elected federal and state offices, and various government departments and agencies.  Our members bring a diverse and unique perspective on what a healthy Democracy needs to thrive. Our experts can also recognize the most remote warning signs that signal when a Democracy is in danger.

I think January 6th, 2021 was a trial balloon. Dismiss it at your own peril.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

The plan is to be out of the country for the last two weeks prior to the election.

Ergo

Why You Need To Watch Iran... and other stuff to think about

First things first.

Miss Bialy

Last week was a disaster in the making. The short version begins when I had Bialy overnight, and on our first walk, she lunged and I didn't. Face plant thankfully in the grass. But once again, I bruised my torso and within 48 hours, I could not bend over which was a problem because Bialy was coming to stay for a week while Junior Son and family went on vacay. I could not pick up poop. So I did the least expected thing on the planet....I called Senior Son. Since he was already scheduled to come in for a gig at the end o'the week, I invited him to come here and work from my dining room. He was so shocked that The Iron Lady admitted she needed help, he came in on Friday and thank G-d he did. By Monday, I was felled by a good, old fashioned cold. I went down with a thud. Hence the 2-word blog. You're lucky you got that much

Bialy is old. About 98 in dog years. She's got arthritis. She's got kidney issues. She's skinny as a rail despite eating lots and lots of healthy, good things. She gets cold. She likes to snuggle up at night, preferably under a blanket glued to whomever is in the bed. And when she runs in her sleep, it's like have your own massage chair. Then, to add insult to injury, she dumped me for Senior Son. I suppose that was okay since he was the one walking her every hour. Over all, we had a good time. I am one lucky mam; that's a fer sure. 

Now, if you were wondering about why I told you all to watch Iran last week, it wasn't because the US freed up some of the cash we're holding. Nah,  I meant Hezbollah's increasing attacks on the northern border. Like Hamas, Hezbollah bows to its Iranian masters because they are the backers and the bankers. Iran supplies arms and cash to various Islamist groups. State sponsored terrorism at its finest. 

Iran has been supporting a terrorist network for years. Hamas is only one group. Iran also actively supports Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Iran's relationship with Hamas continues to evolve, and it's hard to tell what the real end game is. That said, they also support Hezbollah in Lebanon, Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq, the Houtis in Yemen. The AJC posted a pretty complete list back in January. Go take a look if you think Gaza is the only place these Islamic Jihadists have a toe-hold. The network is extensively scary. 

Why bring this up? Well, it's like this. Hezzbollah is planning an attack similar to October 7th. They keep talking about it.  According to the UK's Jewish Chronicle, their offensive would be "October 7th on steroids;"

The Alma Research and Education Center, an institute located two miles from the Lebanese border focused on the security challenges along Israel’s northern front has obtained a Hezbollah video in which the terrorist group laid out an almost identical plan to the one carried out on Oct. 7 by Hamas: a rocket barrage followed by a ground invasion into Israeli towns and villages.

 

“All we have to do is listen to their own words, what they’re saying in Arabic, and cross it with their capabilities,” Alma Center founder Lt. Col. (res.) Sarit Zehavi told JNS.

Last week, another network was in the news: ISIS. In this case, ISIS-K took credit for the Moscow theater bombing. NPR had a pretty good article about Moscow, ISIS-K, and where it falls in the terror networking scheme:

Despite military and territorial setbacks, ISIS-K has been expanding its ambitions and operations, experts told NPR. 

"There have been reports of active and foiled ISIS-K plots in Europe," Mir said. "[The organization] really has a global mission of going after all entities that it considers as being opposed to its brand of Islamism." 

"Most of its attacks until recently were largely confined to Afghanistan and Pakistan, but it carried out a major attack in Iran earlier this year that was incredibly devastating," Byman said.

Why Moscow? ISIS-K is still made about the Russian occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, and then Putin's support of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Talk about holding a grudge. These guys hate everyone who doesn't align themselves with their version of world order. These are not guys without big dreams. Many believe in worldwide domination of Islam. The mission statements vary from group to group, but the reestablishment of an Islamic empire permeates them all. The violence will not end in the Middle East...Moscow illustrated that. So don't keep fooling yourself that this is about just Israel. Nor is it about Zionist or Zionism. It's about eradicating Jews from their homeland first, then the planet. 

And I keep wondering how these guys are fundamentally different from the MAGA crowd...the ones who wanna curtail civil rights, make this is Christian country, convert all the non-Christians, and who just haven't taken up arms....yet.

Why do I say yet ? Because according to Feckless Loser, if he loses this election, there will be a bloodbath. Yup. He said it at a rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16th. Here's the quote:

“If you’re listening, President Xi — and you and I are friends — but he understands the way I deal. Those big monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now … you’re going to not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the cars to us, no. We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those cars if I get elected...Now if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s gonna be the least of it...It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars. They’re building massive factories.”

 And if that was no bad enough, he added:

 “If this election isn’t won, I’m not sure that you’ll ever have another election in this country.”

When you say stuff like that, people believe you. Just like they believed January 6th was a call to arms. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....

No blog episode next week. I will be speaking on my favorite topic, THE POMEGRANATE  in Connecticut on Monday night, so writing isn't gonna happen. If you happen to be in the vicinity of Hartford...specifically Manchester, I'll guest author, live and in person, for the Sandals Lecture at Beth Sholom B'nai Israel. It'll be a good time. I promise.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Be there or be square.