Unholy Wars

The war in the Ukraine and in the Unholy Land…well, not really a war, more of a massacre…rumble on and there are a couple of points that have been rumbling around in my head.

As we all know (you do know this, dontcha?), the USA and the UK gave the green light to launch the missiles that they have provided to the Ukrainians into Russian territory, previously being restricted to use only at Russian targets within the Ukraine. This has precipitated an escalation in the conflict, with Putin unleashing a barrage of cruise and supersonic missiles along with, what could well have been, an ICBM; an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.

Now, the mere mention of an ICBM conjures up images of Dr. Strangelove, mushroom clouds and obliterated cities. Of course, you need to attach a nuclear warhead to the ICBM but, nonetheless, it’s a slightly concerning development in the conflict.

The question springs to mind as to why the hell the USA and the UK placed this restriction on the use of their missiles in the goddamed first place? There may have been rumblings at the time about it from the Russians but, with the fleeting glimpse of a peace deal on the horizon, it really is not the appropriate moment to up the ante with Putin.

Limiting the use of the missiles was like tying one of Zelensky’s hands behind his back. The Russians have launched drones and missiles made in North Korea and Iran, so why on earth was the Ukraine hampered in fighting its war? Now, there are even North Korean boots on Russian ground, so why don’t Biden and Starmer tell Putin that he’s a complete hypocrite and to go soak his head?

Israel continues to pound the hell out of Hezbollah, Hamas, innocent civilians in Gaza and the Lebanon and even Syrians (and Iranians in Syria). We have been reliably informed that both Hamas and Hezbollah both have an enormous quantity of rockets and missiles; in the case of Hezbollah, zillions of the nasty things. But, and it’s an enormous BUT, what about anti-aircraft missiles?!

Israel enjoys complete freedom of the skies; the only possibility is for an Israeli helicopter to be shot down. Of course, to bring down a modern aircraft requires a lot of technology but instead of arming themselves with what essentially are thousands of fireworks, they should have thought about placing an order for some up-to-date ground-to-air defences…at the very least some bloody Bofors guns.

The last titbit is that the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant and Mohammed Deif of Hamas, but the latter has been pronounced ‘brown bread’ by the Israelis.

Now, I hardly think that this will cause Netanyahu and Gallant any sleepless nights but it does confirm what many have thought for a while (some Jewish people included) that the wholesale slaughter of the innocents in Gaza, the West Bank and now the Lebanon is indeed a crime against humanity and, what’s more important for some, it’s a crime against God. Yet, of course, the whole basis for justifying their actions is that this same God gave the Jewish people the Holy Land for all eternity.

Biden has called the issue of the arrest warrants “outrageous” at the same time as 66 Palestinians were killed by Israeli ‘precision’ bombing in the town of Beir Lahia; this included yet more women and children, and a further 22 people killed in Gaza City (whatever is left of it). As usual, the Israelis trotted out the same old ‘we issued a warning…we tried to prevent civilian casualties…blah blah; exactly they same thing they have been saying for over a year. 44,000 people dead in Gaza and God knows how many more crippled for life and indelibly traumatised. How many of those have been Hamas fighters? 5%? 10%?

I wish people would have the good grace to leave God out of the bullshit that they think, say and do.