Jewish News Syndicate reports, “Harris touts role in holding up 2,000-pound bombs to Israel,” thus stipulating her role in aiding the enemies of not only Israel but also the United States during time of war. It is to be remembered that Hamas murdered 43 American citizens on Oct. 7, 2023, and more recently another before he could be rescued by Israel. This is not the first time Hamas has murdered American citizens. The Biden Department of Justice finally filed criminal charges against some of those responsible, but the Biden administration has yet to use the Armed Forces of the United States to punish Hamas for American deaths on October 7 and compel the release of the surviving Americans.

The JNS article adds that Kamala Harris, in her own words and not those of Republican detractors, said “one of the things that we’ve done that I’m entirely supportive of is the pause that we put on the 2000-pound bombs.” If somebody had said during 1941 that they supported a pause in Lend-Lease, we would have suspected that person of being a German sympathizer and we would have probably been right. 

The article adds,

She offered this as an example of a concrete action the White House had taken to pressure Israel to agree to a ceasefire deal. ‘So, there is some leverage that we have had and used,’ she said.

While Harris has given lip service to Israel’s right to defend itself, actions speak louder than words and pressuring Israel to negotiate with the same terrorists who murdered people at a peace concert, raped women wholesale, and burned families alive in their own homes constitutes, as I see it, aid and comfort to the terrorists in question. Yahya “Rat Face” Sinwar, who is now cowering like a rat in one of his tunnels, knows he stands no chance whatsoever against the IDF but, thanks to “Hamas Harris”" stands at least some chance of getting away with the murder of American as well as Israeli citizens. Israel is now figuring out ways to build its own bombs so it will not have to rely on the United States for weapons.

Negotiations are Up to Israel

The only leverage Hamas has over Israel is, in the absence of complicity from the United Nations and a good part of the Democrat party (Ritchie Torres, D-NY, and John Fetterman, D-PA, are two notable and honorable exceptions), is its ongoing possession of hostages whom Israel is desperate to recover. Hamas is relying on the fact that Israel is unwilling to do what a lot of other countries would do to get the hostages back. Some regimes might have directed collective punishment against the terrorists’ entire society, but it is never acceptable to punish innocent people for the evil deeds of others. Harsh treatment of the guilty, on the other hand, including terrorists caught in civilian clothing, and/or in the act of committing war crimes, is another matter entirely. There was a time, and within living memory, when spies and war criminals caught red-handed were hanged from the nearest tree or put up against the nearest wall and shot, whichever was more convenient.

Negotiations are up to Israel, which has offered Hamas a very good deal. Hamas can leave Gaza, and avoid being brought to justice for its crimes against humanity, if it releases all its remaining hostages and surrenders control of Gaza. The concept is similar to the honors of war in the horse and musket era. When a besieging army breached the walls of a fortress, the defenders were offered the opportunity to leave with their flags and personal weapons. The purpose was to save lives on both sides, as an assault on a breach was usually very costly. The first men to attack the breach were known as the forlorn hope (lost troop), and with good reason. The promotion for the officer, usually an ensign with far more testosterone than good sense, who volunteered to lead a forlorn hope was automatic but also frequently posthumous. Once the attackers were through the breach, though, they usually massacred the entire recalcitrant garrison and quite probably any civilians present as depicted by King Henry V. Hamas, of course, rejected this generous offer even though the hostages are its only remaining bargaining chips, and should therefore suffer the same fate (minus harm to noncombatants) at Israel’s hands.

Don’t Negotiate with Terrorists

If Hamas had no hostages, it should simply be wiped out to the last man to ensure that Oct. 7 will never be repeated as Hamas has threatened to do. As matters stand, though, “release your hostages, surrender your weapons, and disband your organization, and we will let you live” should be the best deal, and the only deal, Hamas should get. History supports my position and not Harris’s position on this.

• When Hannibal wiped out an entire Roman army at Cannae, and Roman citizens began to see Carthaginian war elephants behind every tree and bush, Rome did not negotiate with Carthage. It raised more legions, subordinated everything to the war effort, and eventually destroyed Carthage. The Carthaginians were not terrorists, but the basic idea is that you don’t negotiate with existential threats.

• England and France negotiated with a terrorist in 1938. The terrorist in question soon goose-stepped into France and began to rain bombs and missiles on England. The proper thing to do with somebody like Hitler is to confront him with the prospect of overwhelming violence. Winston Churchill finally did exactly that, which is why Nazism ceased to be a problem in mid-1945.

• Imperial Japan’s objective in 1941 was to destroy our Pacific Fleet in the hope we would ask for a cease-fire and stay out of the war in the Pacific. Even though we were losing the war at the time, Japan didn’t get to walk away after killing more than two thousand sailors, Marines, other service personnel, and civilians. We subordinated everything to the war effort until Japan’s warlords were no longer in power.

• When Al Qaeda killed 3000 of us on September 11, 2001, we didn't think for a moment of negotiating with them. We wiped them off the face of the earth, hunted down their leader, and killed him like a rat in his hole which is what should happen to Yahya Sinwar.

Harris has indeed denounced Hamas unequivocally, and said Israel has the right to defend itself. She has also, however, added a “but” between those statements and an overt statement that the United States should pressure an ally to negotiate with mass shooters, rapists, and murderers who burn people alive in their own homes. One does not negotiate with terrorists, or reward terrorism with territorial concessions. One destroys them, end of story.

Civis Americanus is the pen name of an American Thinker contributor who remembers the lessons of history, and wants to ensure that our country never needs to learn those lessons again the hard way.

Image: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr, unalterd.