Just Because He isn’t Nice, it doesn’t Mean He’s Not Smart

 

I make no secret of the fact that I detest Donald Trump. In his four-years in the White House, Mr. Trump promoted “Politics of the Wimp” to a new level. Thanks to him, the world’s most powerful nation became a laughing stock and had Covid or the lack of Covid preparations not killed off so many Americans, Mr. Trumps rants about the good job he was doing in managing the crisis might have been comical.

However, whilst this is my personal view, it doesn’t mean that I think Mr. Trump is wrong about everything. He has, in his long career in the public sphere, come up with a few gems. One only has to read “Art of the Deal,” to realise that Mr. Trump, has on occasion got it right.

Unfortunately, Mr. Trump has found himself, once again, in troubled waters for coming up with a gem of wisdom. This came in an interview with Fox News on 11 October, 2023, when he criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the attacks that took place against Israel on 7 October 2023. Mr. Trump then went onto describe Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, which has history of attacking Israeli interest as “Very Smart.”

Mr. Trump’s remarks set off a fire storm. The White House condemned him and his Republican rivals for the 2024 Presidential election literally squirmed:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/12/trump-israel-netanyahu-comments/

 

 The 7 October 2023 attacks against Israel were undoubtedly horrific and it might seem in bad taste to pay anything that might seem like a compliment to groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, which execute such attacks.

However, as horrible as the attacks were, we should not confuse morality with being intelligent. Like it or not, the 7 October 2023 attacks were, from an operational point, brilliantly executed by Hamas and a massive failure of intelligence work on the Israeli part. Then if you look at the broader geopolitical implications of things, it would seem that the “enemies of Israel” have won. Israel has already cut off water and power to the Gaza strip and started conducting against air strikes, which have killed far more innocents than the 7 October attacks. This will undoubtedly confirm the belief in much of the Arab world that Israel and her American backers are nothing by bullies and more importantly, any Arab leader thinking of cutting a deal with Israel will not be able to (think of Saudi Crown Prince MBS who kept Anthony Blinken waiting).

Even the branding of this conflict has shown that the militants are actually smart. It’s known as the “Israel-Hamas” War. Let’s think about it, Israel has one of the most powerful militaries in the world that happens to be backed by THE MOST POWEFUL military in the world. It’s fighting against militant group operating in one of the most miserable parts of the world. Everyone talks about Hezbollah and Hamas being “backed by Iran,” as if it makes these groups sound more powerful. However, let’s be serious here. No matter how much backing Iran may or may not give to Hezbollah and Hamas, its still very small when compared to Israel and the backing it gets from the USA and the rest of the Western World.

Yet, despite the power imbalance, Hamas and Hezbollah have, for so many years have managed to create “Israel-Hamas” or “Israel-Hezbollah” wars, rather than “Israel-vs-another country,” war. By getting Israel to brand itself as being at war against them, they have effectively announced that they are equal to Israel and her American backer.

Sure, in terms of sheer fire power, Israel wins hands down. Any devastation that these groups cause Israel doesn’t compare to what Israel does to the Gaza strip or Southern Lebanon. So, I guess the Western and Israeli argument might be – “You’re stupid because you pick a fight against someone who can squash you?” That is because this view only takes on aspect of the war into consideration.

Let’s look at a personal analogy. If I brought my middle-aged obese body against Tyson Fury, who is to date one of the most successful heavy weight boxers in history, most people would say that I had a death wish. Mr. Fury could kill me with a flick of his fingers let alone a full punch. So, even if I were to be given $50 million to get into the ring with Mr. Fury, I would probably not take it – this is working on the principle that no money is worth my life.

However, if I found a way of coming back to life and back to full health after being murdered and could do it after every fight, I might actually do it. Not only would I get what I want (lots of money), people would actually start thinking that I might actually be powerful enough on my own right – after all, I take beatings from Mr. Fury and keep coming back for more. Mr. Fury will also start to wonder how I can keep coming back every time he beats me beyond death.

These is precisely what these groups do. Sure, they have no hope of hurting Israel in a conventional battle. However, years after year, they shown that they can hurt Israel, despite that Israel is so much more powerful.

So, the question that one needs to ask is not, why they provoke the fight which they know they’re going to get beaten in but how do they do it? How do they work in such a way where they can, on their limited resources work in such a way where they can damage what is effectively one of the most powerful nations around.

The key lies in their structure. These organisations are not huge monoliths but a collection of highly motivated individuals who know how to use their environment, turning their weakness into a strength. The following link provides an explanation as to how Hezbollah, which is a Lebanese militia into a global brand:

https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/legal-documents/ACLURM001616.pdf

In the conventional war situation, Israel and its Western allies have consistently hammered them and sure, they “win” in that sense. However, Hezbollah and Hamas are fighting different wars with different adjectives. They are effectively “winning” too. Sure, lots of innocent people die but in terms of geopolitics, that’s never been an issue.

Its very clear that nothing is actually going to change in the latest round of Unholy Acts in Holy Land. Everyone seems happy because they all act tough and the misery complains. Unfortunately, that’s probably not going to be very sustainable. Surely, its time that someone on the powerful side realized that they got to stop assuming that the “militant” groups are “stupid” because they’re “nasty,” and actually “win” and “finish” the conflict by sitting down and understanding these groups and figuring out how to beat them.