OPINION — Your US Department of State, and I say this with all due respect, is run by a bunch of gooberheads.
For one thing, the official state department website, as of 26 October 2023, says, ‘Since January 2021, the United States has invested nearly $44 billion in security assistance to demonstrate our enduring and steadfast commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. This includes more than $46.7 billion since Russia launched its premeditated, unprovoked, and brutal war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022.’
I guess it’s no wonder our politicians can’t balance the country’s budget and whittle down the national debt. I’m no rocket surgeon, but even I know 46 is bigger than 44. Gooberheads.
And for the record, no one from State called to ask my opinion about sending several planeloads of cash, which belongs to US citizens, to Europe, or wherever Ukraine is. Asia, maybe? Anyway, it’s like loaning money to your brother-in-law. You ain’t gettin’ it back.
Also for the record, the money wasn’t all we sent the Ukes. The US Department of Defense has thrown in a bunch of other stuff, including anti-aircraft systems, anti-armor systems, 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 2,000 Javelin systems, grenade launchers, and a bunch of other stuff. The care packages have included at least 400 shotguns, 400 machine guns, 100 grenade launchers, 1,000 pistols, 5,000 rifles, and over 20 million rounds of ammo. Me, I got nuthin’.
Now, I realize the Ukranians have the Russians breathing down their necks, and the Ruskies are Bad News. I get that. But the Ukranians aren’t exactly Rotarians, either. I’m kind of wondering if, one day, some of those rifles end up being pointed in the general direction of American troops. Unlikely? Well, that’s what happened in Afghanistan, after we sent the Afghanis several arsenals back during the 1980s when they were fighting (guess who) the Russians.
The gate is also called the Wounded Gate as it bears the “scars” of bullet holes from the 1948 Israeli War of Independence. At the time Arab forces held the Old City’s Jewish Quarter under siege. Jewish forces attacked the Jordanian troops guarding the Zion Gate and in the exchange of fire hundreds of bullets left pockmarks in the stone wall around the gate. Although the Jewish fighters succeeded in taking the Jewish Quarter their gain couldn’t be held and they were forced to retreat leaving Jordan to occupy the Old City from 1948 to 1947 when the city was retaken by Israel. For the duration of the Jordanian rule the Zion Gate remained closed.
And don’t forget, it also happened, on a smaller scale, after Operation Fast and Furious, when Barack Obama and AG Eric Holder sent a bunch of firearms to Mexico. One of those guns ended up being used to kill US Border Patrol agent Brian Terry later. I keep wondering why Eric Holder isn’t in prison. But then, I wonder about a lot of things these days.
But I digress. My point is that your State Dept. has spent an awful lot of your money sending guns to Ukraine, and some of those guns are now being toted around by Ukrainian citizens. On the other hand, the Failed Biden administration, just last week, issued an official statement that the US will not supply guns to Israel if they’re used to arm civilians. The Failed Biden administration even threatened to estop an order of 20,000 rifles Israel has ordered from American suppliers. This at a time when Israelis are literally fighting for their lives against Hamas, one of the most evil and heinous terrorist groups in the current solar system. Safe to say that, while I don’t have actual proof, none of the Hamas terrorists are Rotarians, either.
The 9/11 Memorial in Israel
Not that Israel is perfect, of course, but they are a) our allies, b) the good guys in this fight, and c) going to win. The Israelis pretty much always win. It’s like bull riding. The only reason to ride a bull is to meet a nurse. The only reason to attack Israel is so you can buy a bunch of new planes and tanks, and recruit some new troops. Because when the dust settles, most of yours will be toast. Extra crispy.
The author, Kendal Hemphill, posing for a photo in front of the Dome of the Rock Temple in Jeruseulum.
Aside from all that, Israel has contributed more to civilization than almost any other people group. No country boasts more Nobel laureates than Israel, per capita. This despite the fact Nobel Prizes have been a thing since 1901, and Israel wasn’t an official nation until 1948.
Surprisingly, it seems a lot of Americans are so incredibly stupid they think the Israelis are the bad guys. A lot of the anti-Semitism is evident on college campuses, and it’s reminiscent of the trend among college students of wearing Che Guevara T-shirts and Cuban communist military caps. Maybe they don’t realize Che Guevara was a terrorist and murderer. Maybe the kids at UCLA, Emory University in Atlanta, and other colleges, who are protesting in favor of Palestine, calling for a genocide of the Jewish people, don’t realize that Hamas terrorists are beheading babies, murdering unarmed civilians, raping women, and abducting children from the arms of their unarmed and helpless parents today. Or maybe they know, and don’t care.
I wonder, if Canada was doing to Americans what Hamas is doing to Israelis, whether the knuckleheads would be supporting Canada, and calling for the genocide of US citizens. I wonder why people hate Israel so much, and claim Israel started the war when that’s obviously not true. I wonder why the dismally Failed Biden administration is OK with arming Ukrainian citizens, but not Israelis. But then, I wonder about a lot of things these days.
Mostly I wonder if there will be more than a smudge left of the evil Hamas terrorists when Israel gets through with them. Probably not . . .
Kendal Hemphill is an outdoor humor columnist and minister who unapologetically supports Israel. Write to him at [email protected]
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