Martin Griffiths is the chief of UN Relief. Sky News interviewed him. He made a few statements that appear to be pretty stupid. Obviously, he doesn’t know much about terrorists or counterinsurgency. I hope he knows more about providing aid. He said “Hamas is not a terrorist group for us, as you know, it’s a political movement.”. Guess what? Being a political movement and being a terrorist are not mutually exclusive. Hamas is not your ordinary run of the mill political movement. It is, first and foremost, a radical Islamist organization. The brand of Islam it tries to sell includes murder, suicide bombings, rape, beheading, stabbing, launching rockets at civilian targets, and more. All of those things are open violations of both international, criminal, AND Islamic religious law.
Calling Hamas a “political movement” is being extremely selective in picking what Hamas stands for (and does). Radical Islam seeks to apply Islamic law (Sharia) everywhere, and violates the very laws it wants to impose in the process. Griffiths tried to make a case for humanitarian aid emphasizing that the Gazan Palestinians have nowhere safe to go. He did not ask why. Is he blind to the fact that those Palestinians are being banned from leaving Gaza, and that Egypt, Jordan, and other countries will not accept them, even if Hamas were to permit them to leave? Is he ignorant of the fact that UNRWA staff are also Hamas members and that they teach Gazan children to hate non-Muslims (especially Jews)?
Maybe he thinks that this is a war, and wars, as Clausewitz once wrote, are just a continuation of diplomacy using other methods. The situation in Gaza may be the worst humanitarian crisis he has seen, but that means his experience is very limited. He obviously hasn’t been to Sudan. It seems his view of Syria also must also have been very limited. The United Nations has fallen upon dark days if he is the best they can employ to lead relief efforts.
Wetherhorn 