Hamas and Iran Have Declared War on the West
Published 10/18/23 06:00 AM ET
Mark Toth and Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Sweet
When it comes to characterizing the Middle East, we often refer to analyzing what happens there as much like looking through a kaleidoscope. Nothing is what it appears to be on a surface level. One twist, however slight, and the mirrors reveal added dimensions and complexities that pose new diplomatic challenges and threats to U.S. security interests.
The Mideast rarely affords clarity. It is now, though, unambiguously.
Hamas and its sponsor, Iran, effectively declared war against the West on Oct. 7, when Hamas unleashed its terrorist attack against Israel. As President Joe Biden arrives in Israel today, the kaleidoscope seems frozen in place, with Iran’s malevolent reflection staring back at Washington and Jerusalem.
Though it has denied involvement in the attack, there is no question that Iran is at the root of Hamas’s evil, and is responsible for fomenting wider Middle East instability; it supports Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Shia militias in Iraq, and Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Diplomacy alone will not stop Iran’s war against the West. “Never again” — a refrain Israelis use in reference to the Holocaust and the 1973 Yom Kippur War — happened again because Iran continues to fund, provide weapons and train Hamas militants. It will keep happening until Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his regime are no longer in power. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli people understand that, but will Biden and his advisers?
https://themessenger.com/opinion/hamas-attack-iran-nuclear-war-on-west-israel-terrorism-hezbollah