Compass Points - Bloody Anniversary
Israel attacked on 7 October
Compass Points - Bloody Anniversary
Israel attacked on 7 October
October 7, 2024
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Today is the anniversary of the bloody and horrific October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on civilians in Israel. One year after the attack, American and Israeli civilian hostages are still being held by Hamas.
Sadly, in the US today the Americans still held hostage seem to have been almost forgotten. It was not always like this.
Back on November 4, 1979, a group of radical Iranian students loyal to anti-American cleric, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The Marine security guards were not allowed to defend the embassy, and the result was the taking of more than 60 American hostages. The hostages were not freed until January 21, 1981, 444 days after the crisis began.
During their captivity, the Iranian hostages were never forgotten. For the entire 444 days, the evening news in the United States would begin with an 'America Held Hostage' counter in the corner of the screen. Hostages held captive in Iran 132 days, then 258 days, and so on until the hostages were finally rescued.
There were many lessons learned from the Iran hostage crisis. Since that time, the US has prevented any similar hostage taking from a US embassy.
The attack by Hamas on Israel October 7, 2024, has so far generated many questions. For example, one Compass Points reader has asked:
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-- Why were the attacks on 7 October not discovered once the attackers went into Israeli territory?
-- Where was the aerial surveillance such as persistent aerostats? If there was none, why?
-- Where was the Quick Reaction Force (QRF)? If there was none, why?
-- Why were the Command Posts/Check Points so easily infiltrated?
-- How did Hamas fighters have detailed maps of these military installations such as Zikim and other bases. Detailed maps taken from Hamas fighters showed where the troops slept and where the computer servers were housed.
-- Since this was a massive intelligence failure, what steps are being taken to correct it?
-- RayUSMC
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The Wall Street Journal in their editorial published today suggests the lessons that need learning for the US are the importance of deterrence and the importance of Israel as an ally.
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Hamas’s massacre last Oct. 7 was a catastrophe for Israelis, but a year later it has also taught the West forgotten lessons about deterrence, political will, and the illusions of a liberal, peaceful world.
The Oct. 7 attack took Israel by surprise, and the Jewish state has recognized its mistake of underestimating its enemies. Its response since is an unanswerable argument for the necessity of military readiness, and not only for Israel. The world should never forget the videos of Hamas’s atrocities. The terrorists livestreamed as they slaughtered the defenseless. They killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, 101 of whom remain in captivity, assuming they are still alive.
Hamas is proud of this handiwork and would repeat it if it could. As Hamas politburo member Ghazi Hamad put it on Lebanese TV, the terror group would like to repeat Oct. 7 “again and again.” Since Palestinians are victims of Israel, he says, “Nobody should blame us for the things we do. On Oct. 7, on Oct. 10, on Oct. one-millionth, everything we do is justified.”
. . . As for the U.S., Oct. 7 is a reminder that Americans can’t withdraw from the Middle East and assume we can avoid its menace. Iran is bent on America’s destruction as much as it is on Israel’s. The Jewish state is the frontline of the West, and we can’t let it lose.
-- WSJ Editorial Board, October 7, 2024
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Today, one year after Hamas attacks on Israel, Israel is at war on four fronts fighting forces from Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthi, and Iran. From the Hamas attack one year ago, to the ballistic missile attack from Iran just a few days ago, the US has consistently pressed Israel for a ceasefire. The US calls for peace in the Middle East.
Perhaps when it comes to Middle East peace, the US should consider the wisdom from a famous American patriot. Patrick Henry:
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Gentlemen may cry, 'peace, peace' but there is no peace. The war is actually begun.
-- Patrick Henry
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Compass Points salutes the valor of all the hostages still held by Hamas, as well as the skill and resolution of Israel's defense forces. As Patrick Henry warns, "the war is actually begun." Where it goes from here no one knows. The US and its crisis response force Marine Corps must be ready now. Israel was surprised on October 7, 2024. The next attack is coming. The US and the Marines cannot afford to be surprised.
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Wall Street Journal - 10/07/2024
The Lessons of Oct. 7 a Year Later
The defeat of Hamas and the Iranian axis is the real peace plan.
By WSJ Editorial Board
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Compass Points - Crimes of Hamas
Marines fight the good fight
October 14, 2023
https://marinecorpscompasspoints.substack.com/p/compass-points-crimes-of-hamas
As the Civil War started President Lincoln suspended Habitus Corpus. The President also knew that the current Laws of War had significant holes because they “did not address the management and disposition of prisoners of war and irregular fighters; nor the management and safe disposition of escaped black slaves” and other issues. The President turned to Franz Lieber, a law professor teaching ethics, history and political science at Columbia Law School. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieber_Code
Lieber was uniquely qualified and experienced to rewrite the Laws of War. As a young Prussian Officer he fought in the Napoleonic Wars and was wounded at Waterloo. Before Columbia Law School he was a professor at the College of South Carolina. He had three sons who fought in the Civil War. One fought for the Confederacy and was killed. The other two fought for the Union and one was wounded in the attack on Fort Donelson in the Western Theater. Lieber spent considerable amount of time in the St Louis area searching for his wounded son that he found with the help of Union General Halleck.
In just over 9000 words, Lieber rewrote the Laws of War and the “Lieber Code” was adopted by the US Army as General Orders No. 100 in April 1883. For the first time rules were established for the humane treatment and handling of the wounded and POWs. ”The Lieber Code defines and describes what is a state of civil war, what is military occupation, and explains the politico-military purposes of war; explains what are the permissible and the impermissible military means an army can employ to fight and win a war; and defines and describes the nature of the nation-state, the nature of national sovereignty, and what is rebellion.” In addition, the Lieber Code had no tolerance of treachery “allowing the summary execution of captured enemy civilians (spies, saboteurs, francs-tireurs, guerrillas) caught attacking the Union Army and the United States.”
Most importantly, the Lieber Code established the LOAC principle of “Military Necessity”. “Military necessity, as understood by modern civilized nations, consists in the necessity of those measures which are indispensable for securing the ends of the war…” In other words, Lieber recognized and understood that a rigorous war, makes for a short war, and a short war makes for a merciful war.
On the first anniversary of the terrorist attack on Israeli civilians, years into the Ukraine War, and two long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I have to wonder if our military and political leaders are attempting the humane management of war. General Sherman once stated that war is hell and his intend in his “march to the sea” was to shorten the war by marching through the bread belt of the South. Now looking at FD2030, a bad (or missing) military strategy, I have to wonder if our senior military leadership has forgotten the purpose of military necessity. A rigorous war, makes for a short war and a short makers for a merciful war.
Lincoln's Code: The Laws of War in American History by John Fabian Witt https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Lincoln+code&i=stripbooks&crid=G6H8AYY1G5K1&sprefix=lincoln+code%2Cstripbooks%2C115&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War by Samuel Moyn https://www.amazon.com/Humane-United-States-Abandoned-Reinvented/dp/0374173702/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1MASP8NPNKU3A&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7h8vQKhdeJsi5UQcj