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From an article appropriately entitled The Gathering Storm wirtten a few days after October 7:
The world is beginning to look a lot like the 1930s, when Japan attacked and overran much of China, and Nazi Germany and its then-ally the Soviet Union attacked and overran Poland and the Baltic States.
The barbarity of the attack on Israel that day has been described over and over again, in words and via video, some of which, as a measure of the indescribable depravity of the animals of Hamas, were recorded by the murderers themselves on body cams as they were committing their acts of the cruelest crimes against humanity since the Holocaust.
I am, always have been, and pray I always will be, of the quaint old school of thought that when a group of savages beheads the babies of my Nation, rapes, sodomizes and tortures its women, executes old men on their back porch enjoying the morning air (a scenario I witnessed in one of the videos we can all watch online if one has the stomach to do so, as I have been that old man many mornings), slaughters entire families in their home, that group of savages should be wiped off the face of the map. No ifs, ands, or buts. The Old Fashioned Way. Total elimination. No woke fantasies about “negotiating” with the scum of the earth. Which takes us to the wisdom of a great man of Ancient History, Cato the Elder. Here is a brief story of his philosophy of dealing with an enemy which fits the current nightmare perfectly:
At the turn of the 2nd century BCE, the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome had ended. Rome was eventually victorious, but had suffered some significant and bad defeats. The peace treaty was even tougher for Carthage – it stripped them of many of their territories, their wealth, and restricted their actions. Fast forward 50 years later, there was another conflict between Carthage and Rome – this time in a Punic-turned-Roman-city called Massinissa. Cato, a famous Roman orator and senator, was sent to Massinissa to investigate. He had fought in the Second Punic War in his 20s. Cato was surprised to see that, since the end of the Second Punic War, Carthage had become a thriving and wealthy city again. When Cato came to back to Rome, he called for the war against Carthage – a war to stop them once and for all. He ended his speech with the phrase:Carthago delenda est. Carthage must be destroyed.Cato would go on to end every speech he gave with Carthago delenda est, even if the speech was on an unrelated topic. He would continue to advocate a final war against Carthage for years. In 146 BC, nearly 8 years after Cato ventured back to Carthage and saw its wealth, would Carthage attack Massinissa and give Rome a reason to star the Third (and final) Punic War.
One reason I decided to jot down these few thoughts tonight was that I started reviewing some articles I had saved for later reading, which were written shortly after the massacre of October 7. Many bore titles like Israel must destroy the jihadist terrorists once and for all and Silent cries amidst invation: Israel must eliminate Hamas. I was struck by the fact that one rarely sees such clarity now amid the outcry for “proportionality” and “humanitarian concerns” and “ceasefires” all of which are repulsive to me. As are every single expression of the Biden “administration” urging “restraint, not hate” in the face of having your babies decapitated with hoes and shovels. Count me among those adherents of Cato the Elder. How anyone could have any other position after actually learning of what was done that day, as described in the following piece is incomprehensible to me:
In the haunting silence that follows yet another terrifying burst of gunfire, amidst the charred remains of a once peaceful kibbutz near the Gaza border, lies an emblem of innocence—a baby, found alone at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, whose parents may have been kidnapped by Hamas.
Negotiate with people who would leave a baby crying alone having taken its parents hostage (if they were among the "lucky" ones)? What other alternative universe have we entered when, as we speak, some of the “great” minds of our universe are negotiating with the vermin who left that baby behind to fend for itself?
No, as the author of that piece makes crystal clear, there is only one path:
For all these reasons and more, Israel's case for military action against Hamas in Gaza is clear. The organization must be torn from Gaza root and stem. While war should always be a last resort, Israel now faces a situation in which decisive action is required to safeguard its future and pave the way for a more stable, peaceful Middle East.
Root and stem! Gone forever! Eliminated! Eradicated! It is said that when Cato the Elder had completed the total destruction of Carthage, burning everything to the ground, he ordered that the lands be salted so as to assure no one could ever live there again.
Where is our Cato?
I think we all know.
Hamas delenda est!
Discussion (38)
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I was also thinking of Cato the Elder.
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So this is why they say men think about the Roman Empire several times a day?
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If only I could like this post ten thousand times, it would be scores too few.
@She previously posted about the disparity of the "exchange" from Israel's 3 prisoners convicted of heinous crimes, for 1 Hamas' kidnapped innocent victim. 3 for 1. Three dedicated, hardened convicted Islamic terrorists exchanged for each innocent Jewish child or retired, old Jewish senior kidnapped.
I appreciated the Jewish commentator's final statement in She' post.
in essence: :We will root out all Hamas and kill them.
I trust this also includes the recently released convicts.
Hamas delenda est
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It kills me how much I want to sign on to all of this. It kills me that I can't.
Hamas must be destroyed.
Palestine less so.
The list of atrocities is padded. I really wish everyone could agree on which atrocities happened and which didn't. But as I understand it there are no verified reports of beheaded babies, much less by way of hoes and shovels. This was done to adult males, however. This post is the first I've heard of sodomy.
It is claims like this, whether debunked or 'debunked', that weaken righteous rage at atrocity; fact checks prove these guys aren't all that atrocious. It's impossible to charge forward while you're walking back.
As to the baby abandoned, that honestly seems relatively merciful compared to other fates that have been claimed to have happened to babies.
Invaded. Killed and captured non-combatants. Raped. This is known to have happened. It should suffice.
Again, just so we are all clear on my position, Hamas must be eliminated - killed, imprisoned, whatever it takes. Palestinians must be made to realize that This Is Not The Way. If they can't be made to realize this, repeat the elimination until they do or we run out of Palestinians.
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Israeli officer says he found baby beheaded in Hamas attack
Kfar Aza (Israel) (AFP) – A senior Israeli army officer said Friday that he had found the body of a decapitated baby in one of the kibbutz communities attacked by Hamas on October 7.
Issued on:
CNN: under caption on Twitter reading "they decapitated babies."
'I carried a beheaded baby in my hands,' says Kibbutz Be’eri rescuer
Jerusalem Post
Israel News
Photos of babies being burnt, decapitated confirmed
The photos were shown to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his visit to Israel on Thursday.
By TZVI JOFFREUpdated: OCTOBER 26, 2023 13:27
The Jerusalem Post can now confirm based on verified photos of the bodies that the reports of babies being burnt and decapitated in Hamas's assault on Kfar Aza are correct. May their memory be a blessing.
The photos were shown to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his visit to Israel on Thursday by the Public Diplomacy Directorate in the Prime Minister's Office. Later in the day, the photos were published by the Prime Minister's Office on Twitter. The photos are graphic and have a content warning covering them until a button reading "show" is pressed.
NBC Montana:
At least 40 babies killed, beheaded in Israeli kibbutz outside Gaza Strip, reports say
by KRISTINA WATROBSKI | The National Desk
I tried my best to find a video of a Hamas animal actually using a shovel or a hoe to decapitate a baby but the above articles -- a very small sampling -- were the next best thing. I did not bother to include the ludicrous reports of such insulting-to-the-intelligence sources as Snopes but they are readily available to those who refuse to be persuaded of the depths of depravity of these monsters.
This sentence is so monumentally insensitive and uncaring it is impossible to counter it except to say that maybe you should be in one of those "protests" in favor of butchers like the ones who committed these acts of barbarity on Oct. 7.
I occupy such a different universe from one in which this kind of statement can be made that I cannot formulate a response.
How many millinnea are the Israelis to be expected to do exactly this and still be told they should try just one more time? This is the Biden approach: shape up or strong letter will follow. I respectfully dissent from every word.
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