Where’s Kamala When We Need Her Most?

Not long after Russia invaded Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris showcased her keen grasp of international affairs by explaining the war thusly:

“Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So, basically, that’s wrong.”

Despite being true, it was widely mocked for being so incredibly insipid. Kamala wasn’t talking to kindergartners, who probably have a better grasp of world affairs than she, but to listeners of a radio program.

Now, after Hamas invaded Israel and slaughtered hundreds of innocent civilians, including beheading children, Kamala has been silent. The only time we’ve seen her was as she stood stone-faced behind President Joe Biden while he attempted to express outrage that an ally had been brutally attacked (see the photo above).

Kamala has been missing in action for some time. On Sunday, the New York Times magazine even ran a big feature – which obviously had been in the works before the Hamas attack – titled “In Search of Kamala Harris.” The article laments that “After nearly three years, Vice President Kamala Harris is still struggling to make the case for herself – and feels she shouldn’t have to.”

(Apparently, Harris is too ignorant of history – even the history of her own party – to recall that it was FDR’s Vice President John Nance Garner who once described the job of vice president as “not worth a bucket of warm piss.” But that’s beside the point.)

Well, here’s Kamala’s opportunity to make that case.

She could say something like: “Israel is a country. It exists next to an enclave called Gaza, where people called Hamas live. Israel is a bigger country. Israel is a powerful country. Hamas decided to invade a larger country called Israel. So, basically, that makes no sense.”

The thing is, there is often truth in inanity. And, in this case, were Kamala to say something like this, it would raise an important question, one nobody seems interested in asking, much less answering.

Why would Hamas invade Israel knowing that it will be defeated? Israel has never lost a war. It is supremely well-armed and well-trained. The Israelis have lived with enemies on all sides for decades. They also happen to have nukes.

So, what’s the point? Why launch an all-out assault, target civilians, and do it in a way that the entire world – well, the sane parts of the world – would recoil in horror at the barbarity? And why do so after Israel has been trying to mend fences with Palestinians and its other Arab neighbors?

We think the reason no one wants to ask that question is that they won’t like the answer.

Robert Spencer, writing in PJ Media, did ask that question. And in a piece titled “Hamas and Fatah Explain What Their War Against Israel is All About,” he did a most unusual thing – he quoted them. Turns out, those behind the attacks have been fairly explicit about their goals.

As Spencer points out, Hamas believes it is carrying out the will of Allah. He writes:

Fatah’s communiqué is … packed with Qur’anic references, as if to emphasize that as far as Muslims are concerned, the murder of Israeli civilians is a holy struggle …

Meanwhile, on Saturday, Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif hailed the beginning of what he called ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Deluge.’ He said that the massacres of that day were just the ‘first strike,’ and that much more was coming. Deif declared: ‘I say to the masses of the people and our nation, and to the free people of the world: Today, the wrath of Al-Aqsa has exploded – the rage of our people, our nation, and the free people of the world. I say to our pure mujahideen: This is the day that you make this criminal enemy understand that its time is up. “Kill them wherever you may find them.”‘ That also was a quotation from the Qur’an (2:191, 4:89, cf. 9:5).

Now the attack starts to make more sense, and the left’s defense of Hamas less sense. (Read Spencer’s entire piece here.)

Even so, Americans and the rest of the world desperately need Kamala to explain it all to us in a way we and our infant children can understand.

Help us Ka-ma-la. You’re our only hope.

— Written by the I&I Editorial Board