Maggie's Farm

OneGuy: What are the civilian casualties in Ukraine?

Over 10,000 since the invasion, including hundreds of children.

OneGuy: Civilian casualties are impossible to avoid in war. Bot side have a responsibility to try to avoid them and not to intentionally cause them but beyond that their number one responsibility is to win.

True. However, the IDF has been leveling entire city blocks and has created a vast humanitarian crisis. In the long run, Israel may find that the strategic cost was far higher than the tactical gain. Meanwhile, Israeli settlers are purging Palestinian villages in the West Bank.

OneGuy: mouthpiece for the Hamas propaganda machine.

Hardly. But to clarify: While the Palestinians have legitimate grievances, they should be ashamed of what Hamas did in their name. Hamas needs to be destroyed as a political entity. War criminals must be brought to justice—one way or another. However, Hamas wanted Israel to overreact, just as Al-Qaeda wanted the U.S. to overreact. Time will tell whether Israel can avoid the fate of the Americans.

OneGuy: They will not live peacefully unless and until Israel is destroyed. So WHO is overreacting???

The very real threat to Israel is not an argument about whether or not they are overreacting or playing into the hands of the extremists. It is sometimes possible to win militarily against terrorists, but it much more often requires the cooperation of others.

JJM: In the short run, the Palestinians are already finding that the strategic cost for their cause is much higher than the "tactical gain" of that murderous attack on 7 October.

That's not clear. While the Palestinian people have certainly suffered, if Israel is isolated from the international community and ends up having to directly occupy Gaza, they could be bogged down for a generation. If the result is the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, it could be disastrous in the long run.

One question is whether there was a better way. The Israeli government was distracted by their expansion of settlements in the West Bank and with internal division. The important question is what to do now. Israel is not winning hearts and minds. As usual, the United States is one of their few staunch allies, but political dysfunction is threatening even that thin thread of support.

JJM: Only two parties can "resolve" this issue (assuming after 75 years now it can be resolved): Israelis and Palestinians.

While the Israelis and Palestinians must be central to any resolution, saying no one else is involved is simply incorrect. No country exists in isolation, especially so in the modern world where everything is globally interconnected. Regional countries are highly affected by events in Gaza. Egypt and Jordan are especially concerned the war could widen. Both sides have material support from outside; Israel from the United States, Hamas from Iran and other actors.

At some point, the immediate conflict will end in Gaza. What then? If you care about Israel, you must realize that Israel cannot stand alone. Western powers and Arab neighbors are critical for ending the long-term conflict. The United Nations or an Arab coalition may be involved at some point as peacekeepers; but extremists will attempt to undermine that peace.

We'll ask again: Once the immediate conflict ends, what then?

JJM: And, as usual, the Palestinians have managed to screw themselves yet again.

"The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity." — Abba Eban

The phrase "enemy of the people" is a phrase associated with purges of the past, infamously used by Stalin. Trump has also called his political enemies "vermin," another phrase associated with purges.


Well, to be fair, the American people chose Clinton. Due to a historical peculiarity, the Electoral College chose Trump.


Trump is like the kid who keeps pushing boundaries. He doesn't have to have a deep understanding to be more successful in undermining constitutional checks in his second term. Meanwhile, Trump says he will only be a dictator for the first day of his administration.

OneGuy: Boiled down to it's simplest explanation the reason the left and even some on the right fear Trump is because he is honest and cannot be bought or bribed.

Meanwhile, Trump says he will only be a dictator for the first day of his administration. (That's all it takes.)

OneGuy: he is honest

Hahaha!