Transcripts For CNNW Smerconish 20240703

Demonstrations or violent actions against u. S. Citizens is and interests, the department of state advises u. S. Citizens overseas to exercise increased caution. The u. S. Finds itself in the cross hairs of an international blacklash against israels retaliation against hamas, despite the fact that hamas slaughtered more than 1400 people. This morning in london, thousands are participating in this propalestinian demonstration urged opt by hamas leaders. This follows similar demonstrations friday in which angry protesters took to the streets around the world burning flags and portraits of President Biden, even an effigy of Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu. They assembled outside many u. S. Embassies, including those in indonesia and mahmoud lay ya, also on the streets of cairo, paes aris and islamabad. Meanwhile, the Rafah Crossing Into Egypt was briefly opened this morning to allow the first convoy of aid trucks to enter the gaza strip. For the latest, im joined by cnns Clarissa Ward in cairo. Clarissa, when all was said and done, what was actually on those trucks and what is needed, but whe was not provided . Reporter so michael, on those 20 trucks, you basically had food, water, medicine, all those things desperately needed, but one thing that wasnt on those trucks was fuel. Israelis have had serious reservations about allowing fuel to go in. They are worried it could be diverted by hamas, butt u. N. Is concerned that Fuel Supplies are now down to maybe two or three days, and that fuel is so desperately needed to power generators, which are the only things that are allowing these h hospitals to continue to function, to the extent they are able to function. Also important to note, 20 trucks is nothing in The Grand Scheme of things. Before this latest spasm of violence, you would have 450 trucks a day according to the u. N. Of aid going into gaza. Knew you have had two weeks, releaptless bombardment, no aid, mass displacement, humanitarian disaster, so 20 trucks could maybe meet the needs of 30,000 people. And reach about 900,000. Thats why youre hearing full throated calls from the u. N. , other humanitarian organizations say ing this needs to be a sustained, continuous humanitarian corridor and knot one off. Big picture, among the reasons for rafah being such a choke point is at this stage, its the only perimeter of gaza not sealed by israel. True . Reporter thats right. The Border Crossing is controlled by the egyptian side. The egyptians have said they also dont want to have a massive outpouring of potentially hundreds of thousands of palestinians into the pest nins la. Egypt has been fighting an insurgency for many years. Egypt already has huge social problems, poverty, so you have heard egypts president say, listen, the answer to this is not us taking a million refugees that we simple cant care for. The answer to this is agreeing upon a sustained continuous humanitarian corridor, establishing humanitarian zones inside of sosh gaza. We heard secretary of state Antony Blinken talk about that too. But the issue is getting all sides to come together and agree on the conditions that would allow for that. In the meantime, it sounds like a cliche, but it could not be more true. Every day, every hour is so crucial for the people inside of gaza, who are the not only face ing relentless bombardment, but what the u. N. Is calling an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding. Thank you so much. Now today at that summit for peace in kentucky row, Jordans King Abdullah called for an immediate end to the war on gaza and a lasting resolution on the twostate solution. Joining me now is nad aba sheer, who is in ayman. Ayman has been one of the many scenes of an antiwest protest. It occurs to me that we are two weeks removed from the hamas attack on israel. Israel was the subject of such cruelty seems to have earned it no sympathy with any of those propalestinian protesters. Why . I think its an unfair way to characterize what were seeing. When we speak to protesters on the ground, the vast majority tell us this is not about hamas. This is not about expressing any indichbs to the attacks gen civilians. For the vast majority of the people we have been speaking to here in jordan, people we have been speaking to cross the region, this is about an kcon issue that began long before october th. These are demonstrating against israels airstrikes on the gaza strip, which have had a devastating humanitarian toll, a devastating human toll. That death toll rising by the day, by the hour. And for many here, this is a call for an end to the siege on gaza, an end to the blockade. For many, this began long before october 7th. This is about more than just what were seeing happening now in gaza. This is about the violence were seeing in the west bank. This is about the expansion of settlements, which are considered by many in the International Community to be illegal under international law. This is a crisis, an issue, a cause that is central to many merehere in jordan when more th half of the population that is felt and reflected across the middle east. Now you mentioned the king of Jordan Cob Demg the violence. Something he said today really characterizes and captures what many people across the middle east are feeling. Let me you what he had to say. The Bombing Campaign in gaza, as we speak, is cruel and unconable on every level. Its a flag rant violation. It is a war crime. Anywhere else attacking civilian infrastructure and starving an entire population of food, water, electricity and basic necessities would be condemned. This is the message from the king of jordan. This is the message we have been hearing across the middle east. This is the rallying cry we have been hearing from protesters here. As you well know, this is the message we have been hearing from sbshl rights groups, aid groups on the ground who are trying to alleviate what was ab unfolding humanitarian its a if i in the gaza strip. Sglu certainly understand that. My point was to say that notwithstanding the history and complexity of the issue to see Tens Of Thousands of people rallying, as they are, just does not seem to recognize the suffering that only two weeks ago the israelis endured. Reporter again, i dont think this is an expression of indeference. Thats not the message we have been hearing. The focus of these protests is on the humanitarian catastrophe happening in gaza. The focus when you speak to people on the ground here across the middle east is about what we are seeing happening in gaza. Gaza has been under a blockade since 2007. People cannot leave. We heard the evacuation order. Airstrikes have continue d. And as we heard from many on the ground, including medical staff we have spoken to on the ground, they are able to evacuate most of the majority of those living in the north or at least some of those living in the north. Were talking about the elderly, children, some in hospital who said they cannot leave, are doctors have told us they refuse to evacuate because they cannot evacuate hundreds of patients. They will remain in place in Northern Gaza to provide care for them. This is a humanitarian ka sfast ty. This is a densely populated area. S its about twice the size of washington, d. C. Hugely crowned with civilians. When we see the airstrikes happening, we know its targeted hamas positions, hamas targets, with put these civilian death toll thats rising is in some ways, inevitable. Because of how densely populated this area is. Thank you. Ng nga thank you for that report. How can israel and america hope to fight back against the terrorists without International Condemnation . Before israel has even launched its Ground Invasion, is it facing a daunting Public Relations battle made worse by widespread online misinformation about the israel and Hamas Conflict . Joining me is a spokesperson for the u. S. State department under secretary mike pompeo, where she was responsible for messaging on Foreign Policy actions to foreign influence campaigns. Morgan, how can the u. S. Reduce this global temperature . Its certainly a david and goliath battle. You have hamas use ing online Social Media Platforms and telegram to get their message out. Israel is taking a different approach. They know that they are not going to be able to convince most of arab street, thats almost somewhat impossible. Think really focus their efforts since october 7th on twitter. Thats where you find journalists, a lot of Government Officials in the west, which makes sense where their audience is. Michael, the only thing they can do really is to look at this from a Rapid Response communications perspective. So what does that mean . That means that israel and the United States have to be immediately transparent whenever theres some sort of action and making sure they are doing that via social media. Via online briefings to journalists, israel is starting to but should continue to up the amount of briefings they are giving to International Media so they can get their story out. They are always going to face things like what we saw with the hospital attack. Which was trusted Western Media sources believed hamas, including the United Nations, including members of congress. They irresponsiblien went out with the condemnations from hamas without having the facts on the ground. So thats going to be iz relates challenge. If you have trusted Western Media outlets, if you have the United Nations, if you have members of the American Congress promoting disinformation before the facts are out, then what happened. That got the arab street riled up. That got people protesting at israeli and u. S. Cities. If i can make this point, if it this is the climate today just two weeks removed, imagine the global picture if the Ground Incursion is to come. I want to put something on the screen, and ill read it aloud. Tom freedman, a most provocative, mustread column, i pulled just one paragraph out. He said this, if people cannot talk openly and honestly about a misfired rocket, imagine what will happen when the first major israeli invasion of gaza begins in our wired world, linked by Social Networks and polluted with misinformation, amplified by artificial intelligence. By the way, to be fair to tom, he issed a is vo indicating that an incursion in gaza be paired with sort of an allegiance made by israel to a twostate solution. Thats the thesis of his piece. On the point he just made, whats your thought . Tom is right. He had a column a few months ago about what the Biden Administration should do, and they were actively pursuing the peace initiative. And freedman pointed out in that column just how successful hamas and other groups have been at getting young people riled up through telegram, through digital games, through online games, and also through tiktok and other measures. Its not an insurmountable challenge. We understand the challenge. Dont forget around 2015, isis was producing incredibly slick videos on social media. They were advertising the caliphate, what a wonderful thing it was to come to the caliphate. They were convincing Young Women In Britain and in the west to be isis brides through their propaganda. So this is not something thats new. This is something we have dealt with. If you go back to the arab spring, if you go back to egypt and to tunisia, most of the arab spring started via twitter. So we have a good 12 years here of having dealt with the arab spring, been dealing with isis propaganda and what youre seeing today from hamas. Thank you, morgan. Thank you very much. Appreciate your expertise. Thank you, michael. What are your thoughts . Hit me up on social media ill read some of your spobss. I think theres no good information during wartime. Each side always promotes information allow ing their audience to infer their action is right. Alice, i get your point. But i also think in certain circumstances the facts dont matter. Relative to the strike on the gaza hospital, initially, it seemed that hamas was able to make great pr value of that, notwithstanding, that israel released intelligence. Today theres a pretty good Associated Press analysis, all saying the same thing this the rocket didnt come from israel. The Tens Of Thousands of people coming out in protest around the globe seem undeterred by that evident area presentation. Now for todays Poll Question. Heres what im asking. Should israel initiate a Ground Action in gaza . Interestingly, and coincidentally, a reporter asked President Biden a similar question last night as he was boarding air force one. Heres what happened. You heard him say yes, the white house sought to clarify climing the president misheard the question. An official told cnn that the president asked some hard questions about what was being planned and what the effects would be adding were not directing the israelis. The timeline is theirs, their thinking, their planning. Now i want to know what you think. Go to smerconish. Com and answer todays question. Should israel initiate a Ground Action in gaza . Up ahead, were two weeks into the israelhamas war. Whats the ultimate end game and the objective and the plan for gaza . Im going to get some answers next from a Military Expert and hamas released two american hostages on friday, but an estimated 200 remain. The israeli president said his soldiers found a copy of an Instruction Manual about hostage take ing. So what does it say and did they adhere to that plan on october 7th . The journalist is csing up. The president ial hopefuls have been trying to one up one another about who supports izs real more. When and why did this issue become sufficient a key litmus test and what might it mean for the 2024 election . Were two weeks into the israel war. I have a number of very basic questions. David deptula joins me now. He was the air forces first principle Attack Planner for operation desert storms air campaign. Hes now the dean of the Mitchell Institute for aerospace studies. Thank you for coming back. Question number one, is any Ground Action by israel conditioned upon whether the hospitaltages are released . I havent heard expressed linkage of the two. Michael, that may factor into the timeline of Ground Sb Operations in what form that might take, but most likely will not be the overarching driver. Remember, the Israeli Defense forces are already conducting Ground Operations in gaza. Its just not at the scale thats ultimately expected. If we get to the level thats expected, what is the mission . Define the mission for me. Im really not the one that determines what that mission is, the Israeli Defense minister is. Hes identified three main elements. First, the destruction of the h Mass Organization by leliminatig their military and governance infrastructure. Second, stabilizing the system in gaza, and finally, implement ing a completely different security regime, perhaps by handing it off to the arab countries willing to step in to govern the gaza strip. Question three and pardon my naivety, is the expectation that hamas will remain behind and seek to be martyrs, almost as if they ware being drawn into a fight in the corral . Why wouldnt hamas flee to the south with Everybody Else . Its an interesting question, and its difficult to answer it unless youre posing it directly to hamas. Why did they do what they did on october 7th . But the short answer to your question is, unless egypt lets them out, which i seriously doubt, they are going to remain in gaza. Is there going to be an exodus, now its from north to south, israel presumably has a Ground Incursion into the north, tries to dismantle hamas, now what . Do we repeat this drill in the south . Does everybody have to then come north so a similar operation can be carried out there . Once again, i think egypt plays a key factor here. They seem to be giving a sort of free out card by saying, well, were kshed because its difficult for us to handle a bunch of refugees. Then wheres the United Nations . Wheres the concern for the palestinian population . So its an interesting question, but the arab nations in the region starting with egypt are the ones this have a potential solution here. But make no mistake, israel is committed to the elimination of hamas and rightfully so. Unfortunely, civilian casualties, unintention al, wil be a consequence of these operations. General, how do we know when its over . When what is over, i dont mean to be difficult, but their military operations, the gove governance in gaza, the Palestinian Settlement issue, what youre get ting at is military operations, and my answer to that question would be when the leadership declares the elimination of hamas, its an effective military organization. Quick final question. Thank you for playing along with me. If half the country is comprised of youth, how do we prevent against them growing up hating and wanting to avenge for about that which is about to unfold. Its an incredibly important question. My answer would be it depends on if they receive an honest and truthful education regarding the source of the wrath thats affecting their lives. The fact is this war began with unconscionable atrocities committed by hamas, and unfortunately, they are suffering the contisequences of those actions. So if they dont want to suffer the same fate, then just as you indicated, they have to stop their hatred of the jews and thinker commitment to destroy israel. General, thank you for being here. I want you to go to my website this hour. Vote. Should israel initiate a Ground Reaction in gaza . Thats the Poll Question at smerconish. Com. Ill give you the results a as they stand. Up ahead, friday hamas released a mother and daughter two weeks after their capture. What there will happen to the 200 in gaza . My next guest has a copy of the manual on what to do with hostages. And why is the president s handling helping him more with voters . Because israel has become a gop issue . More on whats behind the stance of how believes and conservative ideologies have shaped the partys position. Nice footwork. Man, youre lucky, watching live sports never used to be this easy. Now you can stream all your games like its nothing. Yes [ cheers ] yeah woho running up and down that field looks tough. Its a pitch. Get way more into what youre into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. Is it possible my network could take my business to the next level . It is with comcast business. Powering all your devices with gigspeed wifi. And you get fast downloads and uploads. Pick it up pick it up oh we got this because its powered by The Next Generation 10g network. More speed for your business . Its not just possible. Its happening. Get started for 59. 99 a month for 12 months. Plus, ask how to get an 800 prepaid card with a qualifying internet bundle. Comcast business, powering possibilities. As we continue to follow the Hostage Crisis developing inside of gaza, we know that hamas is holding about 200 hostages including a handful of americans, with a majority of them still alive. On friday a chicago mom ask her 17yearold daughter were released by hamas after being held captive by the terrorist organization for nearly two weeks. The Ground Invasion inside of gaza is possible, but maybe delayed for many had reasons, including how delicate the Hostage Negotiations play out among qatar, egypt and hamas. As we learn more details about the captured, the israeli president said in the aftermath of october 7, the army recovered a Hostage Taking Handbook from hamas. Heres more of what he had to say. This booklet is Instruction Guide how to go into a civilian premise, into a kibbutz, a city, how to break in and first thing what do you do when you find the citizens, you torture them. This is the booklet. This is exactly how to torture them, how to kidnap them. But perhaps the most revealing part of the manual is that the idea was that hamas was never supposed to bring back the hostages into gaza. My next guest has a copy of that handbook. Joining me now is graham wood, the author of the way of the strangers. Hes also a staff writering for the atlantic and his latest piece is on this subject. Hamass Hostage Taking Happenedbook says to kill the difficult ones and use hostages as human shields. If the plan was to detain the hostages in israel, why do you think hamas didnt stick to that plan . I think they are very surprised at how successful they were. This handbook, which was found in one place hamas penetrated, was suggesting that they were the expecting to be there for a prolonged period. So it suggests how it was going to happen is it was a Standoff Situation in place where they found them. And who knows where that would be and how many there would be. They may have plan ned that, bu people were expected to horde food, flashlights, batteries and also to prepare to kill hostages and torture them. Graham, that would also suggest that perhaps they werent prepared to house those hostages in gaza. If the expectation was, according to the manual, that they were going to carry out these acts however they ended in israel, maybe they werent as prepared as we thought they were for whats unfolding now. Remember that israelis were shocked. The people who were being killed, they were shocked at how long it took the idf to show up to save them. So i think hamas was equally surprised at how well it was able to get through Israeli Defenses and they had so much extra time where they didnt just have to kafr out where they were, they could bring so many back to gaza. Almost certainly way more than they expected to be able to. Did they have 200 dungeons, 200 cots ready for all the hostages they were going to have . I think almost certainly not. It suggests they were not the expecting that at all. They probably had riches in the way of human cargo to bargain with. Why do you think the illinois mother and daughter were released . That i dont know. The israelis and The Loved Ones of the hostages have been working very hard to find out which of the hostages have second citizen ships, which of them have protector nations that might be able to put pressure on hamas. And if they have them, then thats good for them. Because hamas was certainly want expecting to treat Israeli Citizens brutally, but it gets more complicated with other countries. It probably isnt a coincidence that two americans were the oneses released first. It could spell some predictions about how the rest of the hostages would be bargained for. The Mirror Existence of a manual, a manual that you possess and have written about for the atlantic, speaks to a stunning level of s sophistication. I dont think anyone is too surprised that hamas was willing to be extremely violent toward iz hreallies. You see it now. You see it printed ouz out as a field manual to conduct operation ps. And that reduces to zero the probability because hamas was excited. There are times when soldiers in the field, terrorists in the field are more violent than they expected to be. But this manual says it in black and white that they were expecting to use electric shocks, they were expecting to kill people because they were troublesome. They were expecting to be extremely violent from the start. The way that the level of success of their violence i think probably took them off guard and surprised them. What other observation that occurred to me is that to the extbt they were following this manual, we dont know for sure, but to the extent they were following this manual and the manual suggests they were going to hold in place until this situation resolved, however it ended, the fact that they all returned to gaza, doesnt that suggest a level of communication among all of those from hamas who crossed the border on october 7, in other words that the word spread and, hey, instead were now all going become to gaza. Yeah a big portion of the manual is actually devoted to communication. So if they were in a Standoff Situation within israeli territory, they needed to be in touch with someone that says, heres how you should be in touch with your Senior Commanders. They may have had that moment where they were in touch and the Senior Commander said the coast is clear. Why would you stay there and have your standoff as expect ed. Come on home. The coast is clear. So that type of communication that youre suggesting is in the manual. It may have been the reason for the diversion. Quick final question, if i may. The Ground Incursion seemed like it was a matter of when, not if. Now it hasnt taken place, its been two weeks. You may or may not have seen what happened with the president last night, but President Biden was asked whether there should be a delay so there could be hostage negotiation. He said yes. The white house said that he misheard the question. Do you associate the lack of Ground Incursion thus far with the hostage issue . Theres been many thoughts about why it hasnt taken place. Most thought it would have happened starting maybe a week ago. No one is really sure. Theres some doubt about whether the invasion might be accompanied by the opening of a Northern Front by hezbollah, which would Mass Evidencely complicate the difficulty of security. And i also think theres been discussion, as we have seen with the release of the first two hostages, about the remaining hostages. Still 200 of them. I dont think any of israels preexisting plans before the 7th Of October envisioned 200 hostages in fwaz is a territory. So it was it would not be surprise figure they decided they needed to take a big breath and make sure they had every eventuality planned for. That would take more time. Your spees is a mustread. Thank you for being here. Lets check in on some social media comments. What do we have from the world of twitter. I believe negotiating this pertains to the Poll Question. The Poll Question of whether israel should initiate a Ground Incursion into gaza. Yes, says alan, but i believe negotiating over it first to get more hostages released should be considered strongly. And for what its worth, i suspect that thats exactly whats transpiring now. A make sure youre voting. Go to smerconish. Com and vote on todays Poll Question. Its the fundamental issue of the day. Should israel initiate a Ground Invasion. Why isnt prooids strong response boosting his standing in the polls . The history behind the gop support of israel is next. Boost polls . The history behind the gop support of israel is next. Respo in the polls . The history behind the gop support of israel is next. Boost polls . The history behind the gop support of israel is next. Respo in the polls . The history behind the gop support of israel is next. Stand . The history behind the gop support of israel is next. So how might the war in israel impact the 2024 president ial election in the United States . So far, despite it being a time of war against an ally, america has not been rallying around its president. As politico put it, since the shocking attacks by hamas, there have been four National Polls in the u. S. That show biden stuck where hes been for awhile now with an Approval Rating iabout 40 . Politico adds this has held despite one, a Republican Party arguably showcasing itself at its worst in the house, and two, Biden Arguably show ing himself at its best in his response to the war between israel and hamas. Now polls always lag a little and voters have generally byebye approve ing of the president s handling of ukraine. And this wooks prime time speech and his trip to israel might change his standing. But for all of bidens experience and noble Democratic Intenses abroad, americans arent feeling threatened and the economy is still the overriding issue for many. The other x factor is for american voters, the issue of israel, which traditionally has been more associated with democrats has become a cause for republicans. A big part of that shift has been evangelicals who feel a biblical link to israel, many of them who believe the conflict part of an end of time scenario. A cnn poll found republicans are far more likely than inde independents or democrats to say the israeli response is fully justified. 68 compare d with 4r5 of the is and 48 of the d oos. Since the attack, president ial candidates have been battling to prove who supports israel the most. At a rally, President Trump said this. I cant imagine how anybody who is jewish or anybody who loves israel, and frankly the evangelicals just love israel, i cant imagine anybody voting democrat. Joining me now is jeremy benemy, the president odd of an advocacy group. Hes worked on seven president ial campaigns. Jeremy, thank you for coming back. What explains the realignment on the right toward israel . I think you have a couple of factors underlying it. One is that the power of evangelical voters within the Republican Party has grown over the last three or four decades, and a very important strand of theology has been a belief in Christian Zionism and that is rooted in annen end times theology. Theres tens of millions of adherence who believe the future of their faith and their relationship with god actually depends on the return of all the jewish people to the land of israel. Ultimately, a major end of times war that forces the jews in the end, either to convert or be slaughtered. Thats sort of their underlying theology of tens of millions of end times christians. I think thats a very root base in the Republican Party that didnt exist 30 or 40 years ago. Thats one important piece of this. And meanwhile on the left among the most progressive influences, it seems that there are some fizz sures that appeared relative to israel and the plolitical dynamics. Assess that. I think that what youre see seeing on the democratic side is a recognition that the traditional way that pollsters and politicians have looked a at the israel and palestine issue, you have to choose one side or the other, it doesnt reflect their point of view. Theres a recognition that one can support the right of the jewish people to a state and for that state to defend itself and get support and security help from the United States and at the same time, believe that the Palestinian People have an equal set of rights and they have a right to freedom and selfduststorm nation and when forced into a situation where the United States seems to be standing only with one side, which is the case under lets say a donald trump or in the bush years, the democrats said to themselves, we need an approach thats more balance d, more rational. I think thats what youre seeing within the democratic party. I know of your commitment. I know of jay streets commitment to a twostate solution. Toif bring up this column where freedman is saying that under the headline israel is about to make a terrible mistake, that he thinks any military action on the part of iz got to be paired with a commitment to a twostate solution. I assume you agree with that. Tell me if im wrong. How realistic is that idea . The only thing that is not realistic is to imagine there will ever be peace for these millions of people who live in this land if the Palestinian People dont have an undependent and free state of their own. Thats the only unrealistic position. Theres some on the far right who think there could be one state from river to the sea and expel the palestinians and the jews will have complete control. Theres folks on the left that think the jews are going to be expelled and it will be a fully tal palestinian territory. And theres other who is think somehow the two people will just lay down their arms, and live together forever in a peaceful onestate democracy. Those are the people that live under massive delusion. The only way that the fighting will ever stop is if both israeli people, the jewish people and the Palestinian People has states of their own with freedom and security living in peace and with ab opportunity for a better life, something to live for than to die for. It is the most realistic way out of this that i completely agree with tom freedman, the part of the american policy has to be to say to israel, we have your back in a moment like this. You have got to shift your force. Im limited on time. But how realistic that benjamin netanyahu, particularly now surrounded by those who surround him, those with whom he made a deal to return to power, how realistic he would embrace that idea publicly. No chance of that now, but were talking about laying the path for a future. The president and other World Leaders need to set a vision. The Palestinian People, the arab world broadly, that vision can be bought into. It is a vision of israel normalized within its region. Its an israel at peace with its neighbor. One of those has to be a state of palestine. Theres no way to normalize with arab Neighbors Without having a resolution of the fundamental underlying conflict that we have seen blow up. Jeremy, thank you. Thank you, michael. Good to see you. Still to come, the final results at least as of this hour at smerconish. Com on todays Poll Question. There it is. Should israel initiate a Ground Action in gaza . Go vote. Thats where it stands as of now. 5743, yes on the question of should israel initiate a Ground Action in gaza. More than 30,000 votes, ill leave it up for the rest of the day. So continue to vote if you have not yet voted. When youre there, you might want to register for the free daily newsletter. Youll find it worthy. Social media reaction to todays program. Todays poll is not a binary question. Fullblown Ground Invasion, probably not. Smart and focused incursions to accomplish specific goals, probably. I agree with you its com complicated to distill into just one question. And the president whens he was asked, it was paired with should this be tied to the Hostage Negotiations and delayed for that purpose. So its not a perfect Poll Question, but its insightful, nonetheless. More social media reaction. What do we have . I dont plooef that most people in the west understand the history or how accocomplicated part of the world is. The media should give the public a oneonone clasp. I agree with you. Its complicated stuff. I wonlt profess to even know the basics unless i have thbeen the, and i have. When you say we need a history lesson, i dont know if we could degree on the history. We can agree werth living in a perilous time and these are complicated issues. They have been around for a long time. I dont know how two weeks after, some soom to have forgotten what happened on october 7th. Ill seethe you soon. The power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. And thats a good thing . Great in my book who are you . No power . No problem. Introducing stormready wifi. Now you can stay reliably connected through Power Outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery backup to keep you online. Only from xfinity. Home of the xfinity 10g network