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* Khaled Abu Toameh: No Difference Between Hamas 'Politicians' And Terrorists
* Lawrence Kadish: Needed: Serious Money and Long Term Commitment to Modernize Military if the US Is to Deter China


** No Difference Between Hamas 'Politicians' And Terrorists ([link removed])
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by Khaled Abu Toameh • March 25, 2025 at 5:00 am
* "They [Hamas] need to demilitarize, and then they might be politically involved in Gaza." —US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, interview with Tucker Carlson, March 21, 2025.
* "I thought we had an acceptable deal. I even thought we had an approval from Hamas. Maybe that's just me getting duped." — Steve Witkoff, about a ceasefire extension he thought he had just finished negotiating, Fox News, March 23, 2023.
* Duped is putting it mildly. Witkoff, who doubtless has the best intentions, is sadly proving the perfect mark.
* Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization that needs to be designated by the US as a terrorist group. Hamas is Muslim Brotherhood, and Muslim Brotherhood is Hamas.
* [Hamas's] politicians devise the strategy and set the goals, while its armed wing is entrusted with following them. The political leadership of Hamas ruled that Israel must be eliminated, and the group's military wing has carried out countless terrorist attacks to achieve that goal.
* The political leaders need the military wing to control the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, as they have been doing since their violent coup there in 2007.
* Hamas, which has brought death and destruction upon both Israelis and Palestinians, has no right to exist, either as a political or a military entity. Did it ever occur to anyone to allow the political leaders of ISIS or Al-Qaeda to play any role in Syria and Iraq?
* If Hamas is permitted to continue its political activities in the Gaza Strip, it will comfortably continue its jihad against Israel. The group's political leaders will undoubtedly continue to call – in Arabic -- for the annihilation of Israel and encourage Palestinians to launch terrorist attacks against it.
* Witkoff's talk about a possible political role for Hamas is dangerous, mainly because it implies that the US continues to view the terror group as a legitimate player in the Palestinian arena. If the US envoy wants to see stability and security in the Middle East, he must insist on the complete and permanent removal of Hamas – all of its "wings." Destroying "much" of Hamas's military capabilities or disarming it is totally worthless.

Hamas, which has brought death and destruction upon both Israelis and Palestinians, has no right to exist, either as a political or a military entity. Did it ever occur to anyone to allow the political leaders of ISIS or Al-Qaeda to play any role in Syria and Iraq? A terrorist in a suit and tie is no different from a terrorist in a military uniform. Pictured: The late Yahya Sinwar, leader of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza, shakes hands with a masked member of Hamas' Izz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza City on December 14, 2022. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images)

US President Donald Trump's envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said last week that he does not rule out the possibility that the Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas could be politically active in the Gaza Strip after it disarms. "They [Hamas] need to demilitarize, and then they might be politically involved in Gaza," Witkoff said in an interview with Tucker Carlson that was aired on March 21.

Witkoff -- who, thanks to his excruciating lack of familiarity with Arab assumptions apart from real estate deals, is increasingly becoming a major embarrassment to Trump -- appears to draw a distinction between Hamas's political and military leaderships. He also seems naïve enough to believe that Hamas would ever agree to lay down its weapons or halt its terrorist attacks against Israel.

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** Needed: Serious Money and Long Term Commitment to Modernize Military if the US Is to Deter China ([link removed])
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by Lawrence Kadish • March 25, 2025 at 4:00 am
While China is a potent nuclear power with astronauts in orbit and squadrons of stealth fighters in the air, one merely needs to look at its navy to appreciate what the Communist Chinese leadership's 21^st Century plans are: global domination. Pictured: J15 fighter jets on China's Liaoning aircraft carrier during a drill at sea, in April 2018. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

When Britain ruled the seas centuries ago, they were the world's sole superpower, dominating trade routes, creating colonies, applying military power to demand spheres of influence, and using that power to maximize its economy back home.

Today's Communist Chinese leadership can probably recite that playbook by heart.

While China is a potent nuclear power with astronauts in orbit and squadrons of stealth fighters in the air, one merely needs to look at its navy to appreciate what their 21^st Century plans are: global domination.

Continue Reading Article ([link removed])

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