by Jerry Gordon and Brig. General (US Army Retired) John Adams
Jerry Gordon, a Senior Editor of The New English Review, invited retired US Army Brig. General John Adams to discuss Israel Defense Force military doctrine and strategic options in the conduct of the Jewish state’s civilizational war with Iran-backed Hamas terrorist group in Gaza. He addresses the conflict given his extensive background as a 30-year veteran of combat, staff and international military diplomatic assignments and post-service informal analysis and discussions with former Senior IDF commanders.
Watch the YouTube interview with Brig. Gen. (US Army retired) John Adams, here.
Background of General John Adams
John Adams retired as a Brigadier General from the U.S. Army in September 2007, after more than 30 years of active-duty service. His final military assignment was Deputy United States Military Representative to the NATO Military Committee in Belgium. John is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm (1991), where he earned the Bronze Star Medal, of Operation Guardian Assistance in Rwanda (1996), and served throughout the Balkans from 1998-2003. He served as a military attaché with the U.S. Embassies in South Korea, Croatia, Belgium, and Rwanda. In 2004, he served on temporary duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was deployed outside the United States for eighteen of his thirty years of active-duty service, including duty in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
He was stationed at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and participated in disaster recovery operations at the crash site.
During the past five years, he has participated in unofficial fact-finding missions in Israel, Egypt, Turkey, the Balkans, and Cuba. He has close business relationships with retired officers of the Israeli Defense Forces, several NATO Allies, and is a strong supporter of the U.S. alliance with the State of Israel and NATO.
Among the major findings in this wide-ranging discussion are:
- IDF is withdrawing five reservist brigades after 90 days of combat fighting HAMAS in GAZA, downscaling operations to concentrate on clearing estimated 7,000 to 10,000 fighters in Khan Yunis and Rafah destroying 1,500 tunnels.
- 176 IDF soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the ground incursion on October 27. 1,030 soldiers have been wounded in the ground operation. 29 have been killed in friendly and deviant fire episodes.
- IDF scaling down forces may reflect pressure from the Biden Administration to reduce civilian Gazan casualties now estimated by the HAMAS-controlled Health Ministry at over 22,000, which is not subject to independent verification. Lenny Ben David of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs in an article, calls the Casualty Figures In Gaza are a scam. He considers the Hamas data as “fanciful propaganda Statistics.” Or as Benjamin Disraeli British PM in 19th Century called them “lies, damn lies, statistics.” After the 2014 50 Day War with Hamas, Ben David noted “the Gaza Health Ministry stopped reporting fatalities by age and sex.” The figures reported by the Ministry “include all HAMAS, PIJ terrorists and “collaborators.” Kob Michael a researcher at Tel Aviv University noted “there were no reporting of Hamas casualties.” The 2.4 million Gazan population, now concentrated in the Central and South areas of the strip, is highly dependent on limited delivery of UN, international and Israeli humanitarian assistance often disrupted by HAMAS Fighters.
- The economic and emotional costs to Israel from the conflict have fallen hardest on IDF reservists, active military and their families. It has temporarily deprived the economy of skilled personnel in high tech, banking, finance and agriculture. Interestingly, it has not cut back on foreign interest and funding of high-tech entrepreneurial start-ups, indicating the resilience of the country.
- Israeli Defense Minister Gallant said fighting could continue for “months” until HAMAS and Palestinian Islamic Jihad infrastructure and leadership are destroyed. Mossad Director Barnea, in a speech after a drone strike in Beirut that killed HAMAS No 2 Salah – Al-Arouri and six others, stated that Israel was dedicated to hunt down and remove HAMAS Leadership wherever they are located.
- HAMAS commented after the Beirut drone strike killing Al-Arouri and others that further discussions on release of remaining 129 Israeli hostages were placed on hold by the Islamic terrorist group until further notice. Although it is likely that discussions may continue via back channels.
- Threats by Lebanese Hezbollah Sayed Hassan Nasrallah to punish Israel with escalating attacks for the assassination of HAMAS leader Al-Arouri. US Secretary Blinken and team are visiting major actors in the Middle East endeavoring to stanch the escalating effects of Israel – HAMAS war in Gaza in the region. One US-led diplomatic proposal is to relocate all Hezbollah rocket and missile positions below the strategic Litani River line in Southern Lebanon. The threat of launching barrages that caused Israel to evacuate 80,000 from communities in the Northern border. Hezbollah launched heavy rocket barrages in retaliation for Beirut drone strike assassination of Hamas leader Al-Arouri. Israeli Air Force attacks continue to strike key Hezbollah logistic and command sites. EU Foreign Minister Borrell visiting in Beirut suggests invoking UN Res. 1701 to replace Hezbollah forces on border with Israel with Lebanon forces.
- Israel did not inform the US until after the drone strike had succeeded, raising questions about whether the relations between the two allies have reached an impasse on priorities for war strategies regarding regional threats from HAMAS and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in GAZA, Iran and regional proxies Hezbollah in Lebanon, Kataib Hezbollah Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria and Houthi Rebels in Yemen.
- UN Humanitarian Assistance echelons and the International Committee of the Red Cross have not demanded HAMAS access to verify proof of life of 129 Israeli hostages and delivery of vital medicines for their care.
- Former Israeli PM and Maglan Special Ops Commander Naftali Bennett in a Wall Street Journal commentary, The U.S. and Israel Need to Take Iran On Directly cited Israeli raids against Iran in 2022 during his year in office. That revelation resulted in criticism from PM Netanyahu who accused him of violating security protocols. Bennett’s bottom line: “Make the ayatollahs pay for sowing chaos through their Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi proxies.” Bennett’s position was affirmed by Iranian opposition leader Vahid Behesti when he spoke at a Knesset Israel Victory Coalition hearing saying that “Israel shouldn’t be afraid to attack the Islamic Republic. This is the only language they understand. The Iranian government is at its greatest weakness in 44 years. They were aware of the attack on the 7th of October in advance. They thought that after the terrible attack they would achieve a total ceasefire within two months, but it did not happen.”
- Bennett’s message to the US is that it should undertake strategic attacks on Iran, which coordinates and supports proxy Islamic Jihadist existential warfare regionally and globally, all the while on the verge of realizing nuclear weapons capabilities. The US did respond against Iran in 1988 during Operation Praying Mantis when an Iran mine explosion damaged a US Navy Frigate. The US Navy retaliated by seizing Iranian oil platforms while US Navy aircraft and Destroyer missile fire sank two Iranian naval vessels. The attack ensured free passage of Emirates oil in Persian Gulf and forced a cease fire between Iran and Iraq leading to the end of ten-year war between the two countries.
- Former US Central Command Commander, former Marine General (ret.) Kenneth F. MacKenzie in a Wall Street Journal commentary on the Lesson of the Strike That Killed Soleimani reaffirmed the conclusions of both Naftali Bennett and Iranian opposition leader Vahid Behesti when he concluded: “The Iranians are rational. They can be deterred if the U.S. has the will to use force when necessary.” He further warned: “Language that describes avoiding escalation as our highest priority is, therefore, inaccurate and dangerous. It sends an unhelpful signal to our adversaries as well as our friends and allies.”
- Biden’s Defense Department is ordering the massive USS Gerald Ford Carrier Battle Group to home port in Virginia after serving for eight months as a show of force in Eastern Mediterranean to prevent spread of war elsewhere in the volatile Middle East region with a nuclear-aspirational Iran and Proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon, HAMAS and PIJ in GAZA, and Houthi Rebels in Yemen equipped with drones and ballistic missiles.
- The powerful USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Battle Group, including Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers, remains in the Persian Gulf protecting the important Red Sea maritime choke point. These US Navy destroyers have destroyed Houthi Rebel drones, missiles, and boats. Notwithstanding, Iran is sending an Iranian Navy destroyer to the Red Sea in a provocative act to monitor activities of US Navy ships on station there, who are protecting the global maritime choke point and destroying drone and missile attacks by Houthi Rebels in Yemen.
- Spectacular explosions in Kerman, Iran on January 3, 2024, that took the 89 lives and injured more than 100 at a memorial service at the cemetery of fallen IRGC Commander Soleimani were initially attributed by Ayatollah Khamenei to the US and Israel (the Islamic State publicly claimed responsibility). Soleimani was killed by a US drone strike at Baghdad Airport in January 2021.
- CIA confirms ISIS-Khorasan in Afghanistan responsibility for Sunni extremist suicide bombings in Kerman striking at Iranian Shiite regional dominance. That action could indicate Iranian security problems with Sunni dissident and Kurdish minorities, amidst possible fissures in current succession talks and fear of Ayatollahs triggering regional wars. Not lost on Iran was a US drone strike that recently killed Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al Jawari, leader of Harakat al Nujaba militias that made more 100 rocket and drone attacks against the 2,500 US forces stationed there causing significant injuries.
- Israeli Defense Minister Gallant released a plan for the “day after” the destruction of HAMAS in GAZA. Key elements include governance by local clan leaders – a plan proposed by Israeli expert on Arab culture Dr. Mordechai Kedar – as ultimate civil authorities under Israeli security control with support from International coalition of moderate Sunni nations like Egypt and the Emirates in phased program for reconstruction of GAZA. This contrasts with US support for the corrupt Palestinian Authority to assume control of civilian authority in Gaza.
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One Response
When will all Gazans be relocated to available Indonesian arable-soil islands?
Startup support financing, as now, from Umma and UN, for self-respectful development.