MinTrut
Diamond Member
- Jun 7, 2021
- 14,327
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I watch with great interest as politicians and rank/file Democrats and Republicans alike call for the destruction of HAMAS, as this clearly would also place the imperative on all US citizens to dismantle both major US parties, and the US military as well.
By every significant practical and moral metric, HAMAS is indistinguishable from the three entities noted above, and to call for its dissolution is to call for the dissolution of the current US political and military structure.
Like it or not, HAMAS is the governing body of Gaza.
Like it or not, the three entities noted above control the United States.
To be morally and logically consistent, a call for the dismantling or destruction of one state's governing body & military is a call for the dismantling of others when the following metrics are applied:
1) Are the mil/gov entities effective?
Palestine and the US have both demonstrated an extraordinary and adept capacity for both political chaos and murder.
The evidence for this is staggering, but a review of just ONE recent action by the USG - the illegal invasion of Iraq - makes this crystal clear.
This report estimates that 461 THOUSAND people died as the result of this invasion, though other experts say the number exceeds one MILLION.
Taking the 461,000 thousand number as the basis here, this means that the USG is at least 461 times more murderous than Gaza's HAMAS based on just ONE grossly illegal USG action, as HAMAS is reported to have killed or taken hostage one thousand Israelis in this past weekend's violence.
2) Do the mil/gov entities cost more than the return received?
The US military budget now stands at over 800 BILLION dollars.
en.wikipedia.org
This 800 billion could be used for desperately needed health care, affordable housing, and education.
Instead, it is used - in JUST the case of Iraq - to murder almost half a million people.
Is this a proper return?
To spend hundreds of BILLIONS to murder people in other countries while Americans die of preventable disease, lie in squalor in the streets, and cannot afford to pursue higher education?
It seems likely that the cost/benefit ratio offered by the activities of HAMAS are similarly dismal.
3) Are the mil/gov entities engaged in moral atrocities?
Clearly, the answer is yes.
For the last 150 years, the USG has repeatedly engaged in unspeakable acts of violence, from the genocide of Native Americans to the aforementioned invasion of Iraq.
The case for atrocities by HAMAS (and even more so Israel) is being made elsewhere - everywhere - on this forum, so needs no additional citation.
_____________
This leaves only one argument for demanding that the atrocious and dysfunctional mil/gov entities of another nation or state be destroyed or dismantled while one's own are retained:
Because they are ours.
But this is the argument of Stalin and Hitler, of Pol Pot and Idi Amin.
And thus it may be discarded.
So do those who argue for the destruction of HAMAS due to its dysfunction and violence now also openly call for the dismantling/destruction of the Republican and Democrat(ic) Parties, as well as the US military?
The latter entities, it must again be noted, have committed acts of violence and murder in orders of magnitude vastly exceeding those of HAMAS, so please take this into account when considering the question.
Thank you.
By every significant practical and moral metric, HAMAS is indistinguishable from the three entities noted above, and to call for its dissolution is to call for the dissolution of the current US political and military structure.
Like it or not, HAMAS is the governing body of Gaza.
Like it or not, the three entities noted above control the United States.
To be morally and logically consistent, a call for the dismantling or destruction of one state's governing body & military is a call for the dismantling of others when the following metrics are applied:
1) Are the mil/gov entities effective?
Palestine and the US have both demonstrated an extraordinary and adept capacity for both political chaos and murder.
The evidence for this is staggering, but a review of just ONE recent action by the USG - the illegal invasion of Iraq - makes this crystal clear.
Iraq study estimates war-related deaths at 461,000
About half a million people died in Iraq as a result of war-related causes between the US-led invasion in 2003 and mid-2011, an academic study suggests.
www.bbc.com
This report estimates that 461 THOUSAND people died as the result of this invasion, though other experts say the number exceeds one MILLION.
Taking the 461,000 thousand number as the basis here, this means that the USG is at least 461 times more murderous than Gaza's HAMAS based on just ONE grossly illegal USG action, as HAMAS is reported to have killed or taken hostage one thousand Israelis in this past weekend's violence.
2) Do the mil/gov entities cost more than the return received?
The US military budget now stands at over 800 BILLION dollars.
Military budget of the United States - Wikipedia
This 800 billion could be used for desperately needed health care, affordable housing, and education.
Instead, it is used - in JUST the case of Iraq - to murder almost half a million people.
Is this a proper return?
To spend hundreds of BILLIONS to murder people in other countries while Americans die of preventable disease, lie in squalor in the streets, and cannot afford to pursue higher education?
It seems likely that the cost/benefit ratio offered by the activities of HAMAS are similarly dismal.
3) Are the mil/gov entities engaged in moral atrocities?
Clearly, the answer is yes.
For the last 150 years, the USG has repeatedly engaged in unspeakable acts of violence, from the genocide of Native Americans to the aforementioned invasion of Iraq.
The case for atrocities by HAMAS (and even more so Israel) is being made elsewhere - everywhere - on this forum, so needs no additional citation.
_____________
This leaves only one argument for demanding that the atrocious and dysfunctional mil/gov entities of another nation or state be destroyed or dismantled while one's own are retained:
Because they are ours.
But this is the argument of Stalin and Hitler, of Pol Pot and Idi Amin.
And thus it may be discarded.
So do those who argue for the destruction of HAMAS due to its dysfunction and violence now also openly call for the dismantling/destruction of the Republican and Democrat(ic) Parties, as well as the US military?
The latter entities, it must again be noted, have committed acts of violence and murder in orders of magnitude vastly exceeding those of HAMAS, so please take this into account when considering the question.
Thank you.
