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.
This is the sixth discussion with Brig. Gen. (US ARMY retired) John Adams and Jerry Gordon a Senior Editor of The New English Review on the Day 108 of the Israel HAMAS War in Gaza. The following are key points raised in the discussion.
- Israeli Goals in GAZA War with HAMAS: destroying HAMAS infrastructure and bringing home 130 Israeli hostages is far from achievement.
- US intelligence analysis indicates that 25 to 30 % of estimated 30,000 HAMAS fighters have been killed.
- IDF estimates that upwards of 35 percent of HAMAS fighters were killed, injured or arrested by Israeli forces, reducing HAMAS war fighting capability. Revelations from IDF tunnel disclosures indicates Israeli captives were present but may have been moved to shield leading HAMAS commanders.
- Israeli Defense minister Yoav Gallant states that IDF may have surrounded HAMAS leader Yahya Sinwar and other leading HAMAS commanders and identified possible hostage locations in Khan Yunis.
- IDF casualties spiked to 221 killed (21 fell in building collapse caused by Hamas anti-tank rocket explosion) in battles in Western Khan Yunis and two hospital complexes.
- Israel proposals to seize the Philadelphi Corridor bordering Egypt and Rafah Crossing met with strong objections by Egyptian Al-Sisi government.
- Shin Bet interrogation of Palestinian Islamic Jihad prisoners revealed IRGC combat training in Iran, followed by entry into Gaza via transit through the Rafah Crossing from Egypt.
- Protests by relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages has disrupted Knesset committee meetings, confronted PM Netanyahu, and raised questions about a possible long-pause cease fire of two months in IDF operations against HAMAS as quid pro quo for hostages’ release.
- The Hezbollah threat to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon is complicated by two tracks: diplomatic and military. Diplomatic focuses on the implementation of UN Resolution 1701, which requires the withdrawal of Hezbollah Radwan forces, rocket and anti- tank missiles from the 18-kilometer border zone south of the Litani River.
- More than 100,000 Israelis from more than 90 towns and villages on the northern border with Lebanon have been evacuated. IDF soldiers and civilians continue to be killed in Hezbollah anti-tank missile attacks. Israel Air Force strikes have taken out Hezbollah commanders and a number of rocket and drone locations in adjacent Lebanon.
- Israel Air Force attacks in Syria against IRGC forces have taken out senior intelligence and logistical officers, the latter responsible for transfer of weapons to Hezbollah and HAMAS.
- Iranian ballistic missile attacks in the northern Iraq Kurdish enclave allegedly took out a Mossad facility and threatened the US Consulate in Erbil.
- Iran-backed Iraqi Shia missiles and drones made over 143 strikes injuring US personnel at the Al- Asad airbase, which hosts 2,500 US military personnel.
- US drone retaliation took out the commander of the Iran-backed Shia militia commander that launched drones and missiles at Al- Asad airbase.
- US- and UK-led Red Sea Maritime Coalition conducted over eight strikes against the Iran-backed Houthi Rebels’ drone and missile bases and port facilities, raising questions about whether these strikes are a sufficient deterrent to maintain free transit of commercial tanker and cargo vessels through the maritime choke point of Bab-el-Mandab and the Red Sea.
- Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Jordan have not supported the US-UK Red Sea Coalition as Houthis have threatened the Saudi oil facilities with drone and missile strikes, and ground operations in Yemen have yielded a stalemate.
- Iran has seized two US vessels with flags of convenience in November 2023 and January 2024 raising questions about the Biden Administration’s lack of an aggressive deterrent policy, reminiscent of the US Tanker War with Iran in 1988 in Operation Mantis that saw US seizure of offshore oil platforms and targeting of IRGC patrol and Iranian Navy Vessels.
- The Biden Administration’s national security policy has not prioritized a goal of regime change in Iran and freeing Iranian people from the Islamist mullahcracy.
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One Response
Alternative #3K — Offer Kurds free relocation rights to Gaza.
Likewise, for foreign migrant workers, excluding Muslims.
For Gazan Muslims, make similar offer for free relocation to Umma Indonesion islands.
Financing via Umma, UN, Buddhists, Hindus, Yazidis, Ughurs, Zoroastrians.