Hawaiian

So can I. My first time in Japan was 1958 in the U.S. Navy. Never recalled outright animosity for Americans. I returned in 1965 as a civilian and lived there for several months. Returned again in 1972. At that time the Japanese were upset with Nixon for his removal of the gold standard. The "Nixon Shock" was responsible for a decline in the yen from 360 to around 270 to the dollar. Other than that my experience was mostly positive as I traveled from Hokkaido to Kyushu. My brother served most of his army time in Germany. This was in the mid 50's. He married a German girl and went to work for an American electronics giant in Frankfort as a salesman to German businesses. Other than visits back home along with his family he lived there till his death. My friendship with my sister-in-law and my two nieces was excellent. After my brother's death we continued to stay in touch. I never visited Germany so my personal experiences are limited. As far as Italy goes, no personal experiences. In all my years of travel I have made many friends and never had any hassles with anyone. Don't know about you. Negative attitudes usually bring negative results.

Say what you mean and mean what you say.

Fifty years? Really? In 1951, the U.S. and Japan signed a Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security which was amended 9 years later. Italy was one of the founding members of NATO in 1949. West Germany joined in 1955 right after the allied occupation ended. So much for your hundred year comment. Perhaps you and your friend from New Zealand should take remedial classes in world history. You two may learn something.

No, I am not qualified, but evidently you think you are. Could be he feels he is being left out of the discussion and rushes in without thinking. And I thought it was the IDF you and I were discussing.

You mean just like how the former western enemies of the Germans, Italians and Japanese fear them today?

I never bought travel insurance before Covid. I do now. At 84 years old I am more vulnerable. I buy Allianz through Priceline and pay about $190 USD total for both me and my girl. Thirty day policy with good Covid coverage. Both of have tested positive, but asymptomatic. Never got seriously sick in Thailand before. Still you never know. That is what insurance is for.

Doesn't make sense for Hamas to attack now. The October incident was part of the Oct. 7 invasion. Right now Hamas is too busy fending off the IDF. And since there have been no more incidents reported it indicates Israeli vigilance is paying off. The Israelis have 6 state of the art Saar 6 warships and 5 modern subs with a more advanced one on the way. I would say quite sufficient for now.

They will not openly admit it, but the Saudis know this and are not about to waste any time and money messing with Israel. Both Egypt and Jordan have realized this for awhile because they have had to deal with Hamas in the past and don't want anything to do with them and the trouble they caused.

You don't have to be a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College to know it pays to be prepared for anything. Perhaps your training to be prepared for the next war was to get ready for the next Maori uprising. Seems the protests are gaining steam. https://www.foxnews.com/world/israeli-naval-forces-thwart-hamas-attempted-invasion-by-sea-idf-video-shows Looks like more than innocent fishermen were involved here.

I see the Ozzie has joined forces with the Kiwi, has who run out of steam, to take on the Hawaiian. Yep, the Kiwi has boxed himself into a corner. Can you furnish a video?

They didn't have to. Unlike Hamas, Japan surrendered. It's in your world history book.

You talk like you are a seasoned combat veteran who has experienced the horrors of war. Training and actually being involved in combat is not the same thing. While training may prepare you not to let fear and apprehension take over it happens, even to the bravest. Just saw Thaibeachlover's post about the deliberate shooting of hostages. This applies to him, too.

What happened to the three shot hostages is similar to friendly fire. Tragically, it happens. Avoidable? Maybe. Depends on the circumstances. My neighbor, a Vietnam veteran, told me how he was fired upon when his chopper went down. He was caught in the crossfire when air rescuers came to his rescue. Fortunately he was not hit and lived to tell me about it.

What a bunch of double talk. It's no secret Israel is well equipped as you state. To throw all of that at Hamas would result in complete annihilation of everyone and everything in Gaza including all the women and children many are screaming about, including you. Already there are accusations of genocide. No, it is not necessary to kill every Palestinian in the world to destroy Hamas. That's not hyperbole, more like complete BS. Seems like you never read my post about Hamas losing support from Gazans. When the Allies defeated Japan in WWII, the Japanese population had great fears of retribution from the occupying forces. To their surprise, what was left of the Imperial Army leaders were tried and convicted as war criminals. The emperor was allowed to remain on his throne, albeit, stripped of his power. General Douglas MacArthur gave strict orders to the troops that the Japanese were to be treated respectfully with harsh punishment for any offenders. The U.S. even imported food to supplement the meager food supply. Seven years later, the occupation formerly ended. Japan was now a democratic, demilitarized state on its way to become an economic power and a staunch ally of the U.S. Given the chance there is hope for the Palestinians. But first, they need to denounce Hamas and work with Israel and her allies in order to move forward. The hate you mention may remain in one form or another, but cannot be enacted if the Palestinians want to move forward. Only people with your negative mentality will stop any meaningful progress.

The support in Gaza for Hamas is beginning to erode. Maybe pro-Israeli propaganda, but I have recently seen videos of Gazans complaining about Hamas, some even going as far as claiming Hamas has destroyed Gaza. One video showed a very successful Palestinian business in the West Bank who attributed his success to working with Israel and not fighting them. In fact, he even has a second home in Israel proper. Are these people traitors to Hamas? Depends which side you are on. If Hamas had used all of their foreign aid for improving the water and sewer systems and other infrastructure instead of pouring millions into constructing the tunnel system there might not be such widespread of hate of Israel. A hungry population is a dangerous population. It might have given Israel more of an incentive to put more effort into creating a two-state solution.

Big difference here. America wasn't fighting for their survival. Israel is. This is why Israel is determined to destroy Hamas. Have you noticed that Egypt and Jordan are keeping a low profile. Even Saudi Arabia has only complained in a low key fashion. Turkey, on the other hand, has moved from a secular government to a religion oriented one. It's Erdogan's strategy to remain in power. Turkey, not long ago, was quite pro-West and pro-Israel. Autocratic Erdogan has reversed that. As long as the mullahs control Iran there will be turmoil in the Middle East. Eventually, they will lose their grip on the country and much of funding of terrorists in the region will dry up. When that happens, the who Middle East will benefit, including Israel. That day cannot come too soon.

The line from Pete Seegers "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" always reminds me "When will they ever learn."

The back and forth argument about the amount of children being killed and war crimes involving children is really nonsensical from my point of view. All of these deaths are tragic, young and old, Jew or Palestinian, but difficult to avoid when guns and bullets are used to settle grudges and disputes. For you nitpickers, "guns and bullets" is an expression that means a whole lot more.

Good to see that you acknowledge the lack of experience. I too, have no workable answer. The out of proportion loss of life is something the Israelis are well aware of. From a military standpoint this is to be expected since 99% of the action is taking place on "enemy" soil. From a political standpoint this is bad publicity.

So, exactly what do you propose the Israelis do differently? As far as I know there is no fool proof way to stop Hamas without innocent lives being lost. Israel is in a damned if they do and damned if they don't situation.

You don't hear of shelling coming from the Golan Heights anymore. Hmmm, I wonder why?

Some people are never happy unless they are making waves. Besides, you and I know, Israel has a Mediterranean coastline to defend.

Israeli warship deployed to the Red Sea. https://breakingdefense.com/2023/12/israel-sends-new-advanced-saar-6-warship-to-red-sea/

To remove any ambiguity, the U.S. carrier has its own sub escort and the Israelis are most likely doing recon.

A few days ago I read they had a sub there. Not sure if anything else has been added. From my navy experience I would say they working together with the U.S. forces there. U.S. carriers never operate without an accompanying sub and other surface vessels. I was stationed on a radar picket destroyer and we often pulled plane guard duty. If things really heat up the most likely scenario is a joint task force will be formed with allied ships.