It’s difficult to decipher the true reasons for the calamity in Gaza and surrounding areas. All we are sure of is that Hamas terrorists killed, raped, pillaged and frightened Israelis living in settlements close to the Gaza/Israeli border. The atrocities committed by the group will go down in history as one of the most disgraceful acts against humanity. Now Israel and the US are trying to seek justice by killing every one of the sinful attackers. But, are they barking up the wrong tree?

The true scoundrel is Iran who supplied, trained and encouraged Hamas to do their dirty work. Without Iran, Hamas would not have been able to commit these murderous and despicable acts. As a matter of fact, Iran has been responsible for a great deal of terror and criminal activity in the region for years. The leaders hide behind their holy scriptures to justify violent behavior.

Most recently, Iran has funded actions against its enemies, Sunni Arabs and Israel. They are in the shadows, providing training, money and weapons. They use Shia militia groups to stir up trouble. In addition to the Hamas debacle, Iran allegedly is funding rocket launches by Hezbollah from Lebanon, and attacks against US bases in Syria and Iraq. And, it is still working on the development of a nuclear weapon, which it will use to intimidate its neighbors.

It seems to me that Iran has already declared war on Israel, the US and the Sunni Arabs. Why aren’t we using our military forces against Iran before it develops a WMD?

The true enemy of peace in the Middle East is Iran. It stands out for supporting terrorism and chaos. Why aren’t UN countries condemning Iran actions? Why is the world allowing Iran to cause trouble without interference?

It may be aggressive on my part to suggest a war with Iran. But, if it doesn’t happen soon, it may take place after Iran has nuclear weapons. And I don’t believe that Iran would stand up to a joint US Iraqi Israeli onslaught for more than a few days.

Conflict is inevitable. Iran must be stopped.

Several days ago, Hamas terrorists based in the Gaza Strip attacked Israelis who lived adjacent to them. The barbarians indiscriminately killed men, women and children. The savagery of their atrocity cannot be overstated. Many are saying this was a travesty rivalled only by the Holocaust. Murder and bigotry are the crimes that must be avenged.

Of course, as soon as the deed was done, talking heads began to spin the reasons why this all happened. Incredibly, there are many people in the US, Israel and around the world who are attributing the slaughter to Israel. Whereas, the history and the facts surrounding this debate overwhelmingly attribute the event to Hamas, Iran, Lebanon and other rogue states.

On October 10^th, Fareek Zakaria was interviewed about the current events in Israel. No doubt, Zakaria knows more about what’s going on in the Middle East than most US diplomats and generals.

I had a debate with Zakaria at a cocktail party a few years ago. Bommarito versus Zakaria resulted in a gigantic and humbling experience as I was no match for the very informed scholar. Since then, I changed my opinions and have endorsed most of the things he said in the interview mentioned above.

Zakaria covered a lot of ground starting with some historical perspective. America has effectively been withdrawing its support from the Middle East and ceding control to others. During this period, the US lost influence that was previously wielded by the Soviet Union. Before Bush and Obama withdrew forces and money from the area, the US had excellent relationships with the Shah of Iran, Turkey, and of course Israel.

Today, several countries are jockeying for position and involvement in the peacekeeping activities. A treaty currently being negotiated between the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia had a chance to become a reality until the terrorists attacked. Middle East anarchists have no respect for peace and harmony between nations. Until this point, Israel had taken a very hard line and was prepared to give up some freedoms to get a deal done. Hamas’ actions may have been caused by a desire to stop a deal between the Saudis and Israel. No doubt Iran, which has the most to lose from a treaty between the Israel government and the Saudis, wanted to end détente by forcing the parties to walk away from the talks. And so, it encouraged Hamas to attack.

Also, Israel was distracted by its efforts to restructure its judicial system, create ties with Saudi Arabia and disrupt Palestinian efforts to gain back territory.

The Saudis are likely to play a major role in any peace effort in the Middle East. This will happen simultaneous with a decrease in the amount of government control over the lives of Saudis. For several years, the crowned prince has given many new choices to his people. Stringent religious laws have been weakened, and women have slowly but surely received some freedom. It’s likely that MBS will slow down this process and offer more leeway to his people over a more extended period. To say the least, the Saudis have been very successful in making a transition to a freer society. But marked changes in the relationship with Palestine could be too much for domestic conservative interests in Saudi Arabia to accept.

For the last several decades, there has been great empathy afforded to the Palestinians. Several US presidents have tried to broker a deal to end the violence in the region. The question is, should there be one state or two states. Unfortunately, violent people in the region walked away from deals that would have established a Palestinian state many years ago. Yasir Arafat was the most famous deal killer in negotiations with Bill Clinton. Sadly, Israel has used this opportunity to take more and more freedom and land away from the Palestinians concurrent with ceasefires through the years. Zakaria said, when you’re losing it’s better to make a deal quickly rather than waiting because losing more battles will make your deal worse. He also suggested Israel consider a buffer zone between the Gaza Strip and Israel. Zakaria strongly believes that self-government is the most important thing to Palestinians.

Zakaria observes that many in Palestine don’t have much to live for. Israel should consider how it can help improve the conditions for Palestinians in the future to create a lasting peace. There are 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip. 50% are children. Giving the Palestinians a chance to live a better life may be a key to a future Middle East deal. In the meantime, the incompetent leaders of the Palestinian movement have opted for disgraceful terrorist activities that involved killing women and children and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

Saudi Arabia and Israel are on hold now. I’m sure that they will be considering what to do in a post American era and how to temper more violent interests. The US will help in certain ways, probably economic, as time passes. The things to be concerned about are a continuation of the violence by terrorists and the actions of Iran. Some people think that Iran is putting on a tough face, but I would forewarn everyone that they are in the process of developing a nuclear weapon.

The US government is doing itself a disservice by not calling on Zakaria to advise them on the more sensitive issues of negotiating with Arabs. He is well informed and would be a great asset to the president and Congress of the US.