Six congress members with military experience sent a letter to President Biden this week urging him to force Israel to significantly change its military strategy. One of them covers my zip code in Denver, Colorado; another one is Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey.
They make a valid point that “military force alone cannot destroy a terror ideology.” However, many points are missing which should have been made equally clear. I encourage all New Jersey residents, and especially her constituents, to contact her office. (Phone: (202) 225-5034; Email form via website for constituents)
Below are some suggested talking points.
1) What alternatives does the congresswoman suggest that will lead to the defeat of Hamas, which Rep. Sherrill acknowledges is a terrorist organization? Criticism without suggested alternatives only serves to support pro-Hamas voices in our country.
2) A primary non-military element in the fight against terror is not financing it. Yet the Biden administration just made $10 billion available to Iran. Does Rep. Sherrill support this?
3) It absolutely is horrific how many civilian casualties there are in Gaza. When making this point, though, Rep. Sherrill ought to be 100% clear about the context (a word made oh-so-famous by the Ivy League presidents two weeks ago). A few points of context:
3a) Hamas intentionally and cynically uses civilian infrastructure for terror. Abundant physical evidence of this, confirmed by US intelligence, has emerged in the past two months. In fact, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh proudly declared during this war that “we need the blood of the children, women, and elderly” to “ignite within us the spirit of revolution.”
3b) Israel goes to extraordinary lengths to minimize civilian casualties. As John Kirby of the NSC said this week, Israel is making efforts that even America itself probably wouldn’t make!
3c) Gaza is a dense, urban area. Therefore, it is only natural there will be a high level of civilian casualties (especially given Hamas’ use of civilian infrastructure). Nonetheless, Israel’s civilian:combatant ratio is the same, if not better, than what has been in recent wars across the globe.
4) Thank you to Rep. Sherrill for her service to our country.
Chaim Goldberg
Denver, Colorado
