Hamas numbers debunk ‘genocide,’ Susan Rice’s vow – Latest News
Conservative: Hamas Numbers Debunk ‘Genocide’
“Casualty data in the Gaza war” from the Hamas-run health ministry show “why Israel’s critics have been flailing since the end of the war,” explains Commentary’s Seth Mandel. It lists “68,800 deaths,” 25,000 of them Hamas fighters; one other 10,000 are “natural deaths.” And the opposite 34,000 contains civilians “killed by Hamas and associated militant groups.” So: “Even when using Hamas’s numbers, Israel’s civilian-to-combatant death rate is close to 1:1, an unheard-of accomplishment in an urban war setting, let alone one in which much of the territory has been turned into Hamas human shields.” “At this point,” it’s “pretty silly” to “even consider the ‘genocide’ accusation.” Plus, “military-aged men” are “a far larger share of fatalities than their share of the population,” debunking the “malignant” lie from the likes of Sen. Liz Warren that paints the Jews as “baby killers.”
From the proper: Rice’s Vow of Vengeance
At American Greatness, Roger Kimball flags Obama-era “National Security Advisor Susan Rice’s warning about the ‘accountability agenda’ Democrats would impose upon Trump supporters once the Dems got back into power: ‘It’s not going to end well for them,’ she said in an interview with Preet Bharara. She put companies, law firms, universities, media, and Big Tech on notice that, when they get back into power, Democrats won’t ‘play by the old rules’; it won’t be a matter of ‘forgive and forget’; get ready, subpoenas and worse are on the way.” In truth, this isn’t even new: “All the bad things she accuses Trump and his supporters of doing are things the Dems have been doing in spades” underneath Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Education beat: The Tragic Rush to Tech
1 / 4-century in the past, “I was labeled a ‘Luddite’” for arguing “that social media, multitasking, and computers in the classroom were threats to knowledge,” recollects Mark Bauerlein at Chronicles. Argh: “The disappearance of book reading in high schools and colleges — caused in good part by the habits of the screen — is now an accepted and regretted fact.” Skeptics had been informed, “The tools are neutral,” youngsters simply needed to study “how to use them wisely.” Yet “those predictions of better learning fell flat.” In 2026, the United States is “facing the worst academic outcomes in decades despite billions spent on digital tools.” And in Maine, the place it began, college students scored the “lowest in three decades on nation’s report card.”
Centrists: Trump’s Foreign Policy Is Pragmatic
President Trump’s “critics stereotype him as rejecting both military action and diplomacy,” Mark Penn & Andrew Stein word on the Wall Street Journal, but his “original approach to foreign affairs” really “combines negotiation with military action without alienating his supporters who are wary of overseas entanglements.” The “extreme views” of the likes of “Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens” have “little sway with actual Republican voters,” as polls show 70%-plus of MAGA Republicans “back regime change in Iran,” “continued military aid to Ukraine” and “taking over Greenland.” Indeed, his “nonideological” coverage as he stands up “to terrorists, drug traffickers and dictators who otherwise would flourish” is a “decisive and effective” strategy that “wins the favor of most Americans.”
Foreign desk: Syria’s Leaders Must Earn US Trust
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s 2024 fall “created a moment of hope — not only for Syrians, but for all who long to see peace and stability in the region,” observes ex-Vice President Mike Pence at National Review. Yet “that hope is now in jeopardy”: New chief Ahmed al-Shara and several other of his high advisers have ties to ISIS and al-Qaeda. They’re now projecting “moderation,” however the take a look at might be how they deal with Christians and Kurds — and early experiences are “deeply troubling.” America mustn’t “rush to normalize relations or provide reconstruction aid without conditions that will put Syria on a path toward human flourishing,” together with “freedom of worship, accountability for abuses, and durable guarantees for long-suffering Kurdish communities”: “The burden of proof lies with Damascus.”
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
