The US does not stand up for its interests overseas. And foreign countries treat her accordingly.
Israel killed two leading terrorists within the space of a few hours. Ismail Haniyeh was the top Hamas murderer and was taken out with a bomb in his Tehran guest room. Over in Beirut, Israel dropped a bomb on a building on Fuad Shukr, the No. 2 in Hezbollah. Israel almost killed Haniyeh’s replacement, Khaled Mashaal, in 1997. While he was walking in Amman, someone opened a can of Coke near him, and some poison went directly into his ear. The Mossad bungled the hit, as the getaway car was seen with Israeli diplomatic plates. Those involved were arrested. In order to spring them, Israel had to give over the antidote and release 20 Palestinian terrorists. Haniyeh’s death leaves only two billionaire Hamas leaders in Qatar.
When I used to go for a run in my hometown, I often passed by a tree planted near Lake Michigan. Beneath the oak was a simple plaque dedicating the tree to the memory of a local boy who was murdered as a Marine in the 1983 barracks bombing in Beirut. I did not know the fallen Marine, but I did know his brother. He was the meanest linebacker I have ever met. The opposing cheerleaders would hide behind the concession stand when he was on the field.
I was reminded of this fellow and the other fallen Marines when it was announced that Israel had put Fuad Shukr in the past tense. In describing his terrorist past, it was noted that the Rewards for Justice program in the State Department had a $5 million reward on his head for his role in the barracks bombing. So, on the one hand I was happy that Israel had eliminated a top Islamic terrorist involved in the murder of fellow Americans. On the other hand, I was quite confused.
There is a fellow by the name of Amos Hochstein. By the name, you’d think that he was a Swiss banker. But no, he is an official US agent who goes between Beirut and Jerusalem with the hope of preventing a mass Hezbollah-Israel war. Hezbollah has 100,000 missiles, including some large number of highly accurate projectiles as well as Iranian killer drones. Israel has nuclear weapons and everything beneath. When Shukr was sent instantly to the basement of his building, I began to wonder why Mr. Hochstein and the dozens of ambassadors and others before him had not asked for Lebanon to turn over Shukr for his role in the killing of American servicemen.
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I have dealt with Rewards for Justice in relation to those involved in our bombing. They are lethargic and unhelpful. If someone actually gets listed as being “WANTED” and having a price on his head, then it means that they have a mountain of evidence associating him with whatever crime or terrorist act of which he is accused. So, this is not speculation. Fuad Shukr was involved at some level with Hezbollah’s infamous truck bomb that brought down the Marine barracks and led to the death of 241 young Americans. And Amos Hochstein and every US official—including those who for years have been providing the Lebanese Army with their weapons—never demanded that this guy be turned over to face justice? How could he walk the streets of Beirut with zero fear that the US would have him nabbed and carted off for being fitted for an orange jumpsuit? He knew that the US does not care about its interests. He knew that the US would not stand up for the families of the Marines or the others that Hezbollah kidnapped, tortured, and killed. Hezbollah has no fear of the US, because the US has no respect for itself or its interests.
And this problem can be seen all over the globe. When the Chinese belittled President Obama and did not send stairs out to Air Force One, the president chose to leave by the lower staircase that Joe Biden uses regularly. Personally, I would have asked the pilots if we had enough gas to make it to Japan and I would have left. I would come back when gold-plated stairs and President Xi were waiting for me on the tarmac. This is not my honor. This is the honor of the greatest country on Earth. There is a wicked lady by the name of Ahlam Tamimi in Amman who murdered and wounded American citizens in the Sbarro bombing of 2001. She has a US indictment against her, and Jordan has an extradition treaty with the US. Yet, she knows that she is under zero risk of being sent to the US. She regularly tells on her radio program of how she planned the bombing and how happy she was when she heard that many of the dead were religious Jews. The US is terrified of the “Palestinian street” and as with Shukr, just lets her be. That is cowardice, and the upshot is that our enemies look at us as losers. When Donald Trump vaporized General Suleimani and now when Israeli killed Haniyeh on Iranian soil, the Iranians first peed in their pants and then wondered what disaster will befall them next.
Obviously, the US leaving Afghanistan and a beautiful, modern Bagram Airbase as well as $60 billion in military equipment, all follows this pattern of not taking the fight to the enemy but simply running away from that which is due us. Bagram is close to China, Russia, and Iran. The military gear with a few thousand American troops would have been enough to keep the Afghan army fighting and on our side. No, the president said everybody out before the 9/11 anniversary, and 13 Marines once again paid with their lives for lousy American planning.
America is a great and powerful country. In the eyes of friends and foes, it needs to act like one. For America’s allies, it needs to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to make it clear that enemies should think twice and thrice before attacking. America’s enemies should see enough of a credible threat to make them think like the bad guy in Dirty Harry: better to drop the gun than risk having his head blown off. When Fuad Shukr and Ahlam Tamimi can walk free in the streets of their respective capitals with American blood on their hands, then the US has failed. Forty years after the fact, Israel took care of Shukr. Maybe the US should flex its diplomatic and legal muscles to take care of Tamimi before she lives long enough to become a great-grandmother.
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