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Six Aircraft Investments Worth Buying as Demand Rises 

Six aircraft investments worth buying feature two industry funds, an aerospace stock, two leasing companies and a plane manufacturer. The six aircraft…

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Six aircraft investments worth buying feature two industry funds, an aerospace stock, two leasing companies and a plane manufacturer.

The six aircraft investments worth buying stand out as the aerospace sector seems to be at an existential crossroads in which its purpose and value is transitioning to a business model and a technology that can operate in a net-zero-carbon-emission world. The challenges of that shift are huge, especially in Europe where a huge amount of attention and energy is being devoted to the industry’s transformation to adapt to the emergence of a climate-sensitive culture.

Those in the industry now are challenged to show air travel can be done in a sustainable way. It is up to the aircraft manufacturers and suppliers to identify how sustainable flying can be achieved and when it will be possible.

Amid the aircraft industry’s recovery from the COVID-19 global pandemic, production rates for building plane are ramping up, according to BofA Global Research. However, narrowbody flights are still down by about 30%, while widebody flights are about 45% below normal globally, the investment firm wrote in a recent research note.

Six Aircraft Investments Worth Buying Include a Pair of Industry Funds

Aircraft production rates are coming back to their norms but have further to go to bridge the gap. However, the effort to ramp-up production remains challenging.

Nonetheless, demand for goods and services is healthy in airlines, lodging, trucking and railroad companies, opined Bryan Perry, who tracks virtually all industries closely as the head of the Cash Machine investment newsletter, and the Premium Income Pro, Quick Income Trader, Breakout Options Alert and High Tech Trader advisory services. Indeed, 10 of 11 sectors traded up on two consecutive days during the past week, signaling that it might be time for investors to switch from selling into rallies to buying equities on any pullbacks, Perry added.

Paul Dykewicz interviews Bryan Perry at a MoneyShow conference.

However, inflationary forces, global logistical bottlenecks, COVID-19 lockdowns and a strong U.S. dollar are headwinds for many companies, Perry continued. He reported in his Premium Income Pro service this week that the Fed Watch Tool, which places odds on the U.S. central bank’s next move, shows a 75% probability of a three-quarter point rise and a 25% chance of a 1.00% rate hike.

Such Fed rate hikes are aimed at reducing inflation, but the Consumer Price Index recently reached a 42-year high of 9.1%, so multiple rate hikes in the months ahead may be required to achieve the desired results. The Fed’s initial view that inflation in previous months was “transitory” proved misguided.

Pension Fund Chief Chooses Two of Six Aircraft Investments Worthy of Buying

An investor interested in a diversified way to invest in this sector should consider an exchange-traded fund (ETF), said Bob Carlson, who heads the Retirement Watch investment newsletter. The ETF with the most consistent returns is Invesco Aerospace & Defense (PPA).

Bob Carlson, who leads Retirement Watch, meets with Paul Dykewicz.

The fund seeks to follow the SPADE Defense Index, which is focused on companies that are involved with aerospace and space operations considered important to the defense sector.

The fund had a 7.09% return in 2021 and is down only 0.34% so far in 2022. It owns 55 stocks with 53% of the fund in the 10 largest positions.

Top holdings are Boeing (NYSE: BA), Raytheon (NYSE: RTX), General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), Northrup Grumman (NYSE: NOC) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT). Boeing is one of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers, but it has yet to fully recover from the fallout of two 737 MAX aircraft crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed a combined 346 people. 

However, Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) announced earlier this month that it would buy 100 Boeing 737 MAX 10 jets worth about $13.5 billion at list price with the option to purchase an additional 30 of the aircraft. At the Farnborough Airshow in London, Qatar Airways, a state-owned flag carrier of Qatar, announced on July 21 the purchase of 25 Boeing 737 MAX 10 airliners. Even though Boeing still is awaiting regulatory approval to fly the new-generation Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, the manufacturer has amassed orders for more than 1,000 of them.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

ITA Also Is Among the Six Aircraft Investments Worthy of Buying

Another to consider is iShares US Aerospace and Defense (BATS: ITA), Carlson counseled. The fund seeks to follow the Dow Jones U.S. Select Aerospace & Defense Index. 

ITA rose 9.39% in 2021 and is down 3.38% so far in 2022. The fund’s top holdings consist of Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Howmet Aerospace (NYSE: HWM). 

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

The least well known of that group of companies is Howmet Aerospace, but it is on the investment radar screen of Michelle Connell, a former portfolio manager who heads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management. 

Howmet Aerospace Joins List of Six Aircraft Investments Worthy of Buying

Pittsburgh-based Howmet Aerospace is a mid-cap growth stock that manufactures products used in commercial transportation, aerospace and other industries. In the next 10 years, the world’s commercial air fleet will go from 25,000 to 35,000 planes to achieve an average annual growth rate of approximately 8%, Connell said.

“HWM will benefit from this growth,” Connell counseled.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Russia has been a key source of titanium products that are used in aerospace. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 and continued military action in the country, the United States, the European Union, Great Britain, Canada, Japan, Australia and other nations have imposed economic sanctions in hopes of pressuring Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to halt his attacks. 

Howmet Aerospace is one of three suppliers outside of Russia that can step in to fill the void as a titanium supplier, Connell said. In addition, the company’s short-term supply chain issues appear to be resolved, she added.

Even though the invasion of Ukraine as a sovereign country violates international law, Putin has called it a “special military operation” and has dismissed widespread reports of war crimes perpetrated by the troops he ordered into the neighboring country. Documented news reports have found that Russia’s military has shelled hospitals, schools, residential areas, churches, nuclear power plants, oil refineries, a crowded shopping mall and a theater used as a shelter, aside from raping, torturing and executing Ukrainian civilians.

Russia also has been accused of stealing Ukraine’s grain and preventing it from going to Africa and other places where 140 million people face famine conditions. Turkey recently brokered an agreement with the United Nations and Ukraine for Russia to allow safe passage of ships in and out of three Ukrainian Black Sea ports in the Odesa region. Russia had blockaded those ports and the grain Ukraine had sought to export to its customers since the invasion began Feb. 24, setting in motion a global food crisis.

Russia’s Missiles Hit Odesa’s Port Facilities After Pact to Stop Grain Blockade

Not even a full day after agreeing to the deal, Russia carried out a missile strike on port facilities in Odesa, claiming it was targeting military sites rather than the grain at those ports that was supposed to ease famine conditions elsewhere in the world. With ports still blockaded and many Ukrainian airports destroyed, there only are peril-filled routes along the ground for grain to be moved haltingly and in the crosshairs of shelling by Russia’s troops.

Howmet Aerospace not only is poised to benefit from Russia’s decision to continue attacking Ukraine rather than keep its previous trading partners by adhering to international law and withdrawing its troops, but the company has “great financials,” Connell said. The aerospace company’s earnings per share are expected to meet or beat 25% or more during 2022 and 2023, she added.

Another huge plus is that Howmet Aerospace has $500 million in cash, as well as a $1 billion credit line that doesn’t expire until 2026, Connell said. The company also can retain the financing at its current low interest rate, she added.

Wall Street analysts foresee a potential 20% upside in the stock, but its fundamentals may warrant a 30% upside, Connell said. With the company expected to report its earnings on Aug. 4, Connell said it may be “worth establishing” a position beforehand.

AerCap Holdings N.V. Makes List of Six Aircraft Investments Worth Buying

AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE: AER), a Dublin, Ireland-based aircraft leasing company, has reported seeing a broad-based recovery in travel around the world as governments lift travel restrictions and demand for travel rises. An economic recovery appears to be at hand, said Aengus Kelly, AerCap’s chief executive officer.

“During the first quarter, we ceased all of our leasing activity to Russian airlines and took a charge primarily related to our aircraft and engines that remain in Russia,” Kelly said in a prepared statement. “We have filed insurance claims related to these assets and will vigorously pursue all available remedies to recover our losses.”

AerCap’s net loss for the first quarter of 2022, including net charges related to the Ukraine conflict, was $2.0 billion, or $8.35 per share. Net income for the first quarter of 2022 was $540 million, or $2.23 per share, after adjustments for net charges related to the Ukraine conflict and other items, the company reported.

BofA Global Research Ranks AerCap as a Buy

BoA gave AerCap a price target of $60 using a 0.9x price-to-tangible-book value on its 2023 estimate, excluding goodwill but not premium assets and maintenance rights. The investment firm’s 0.9x multiple compares to 0.3-1.2x over the last 10-year range.

Risks to the investment firm’s price objective for AerCap include global economic weakness, fuel price spikes, inability to access capital markets at attractive terms, terrorism and geopolitical events, BofA opined. Other risks are a downturn in aircraft values due to rising supply, a flattening yield curve, a sharp appreciation of the U.S. dollar, changes in equity risk premiums, stock market and financial company valuations, as well as lower than expected value of GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) assets that AerCap acquired on November 1, 2021.

Outperformance of expectations could stem from higher-than-forecast aircraft trading gains, faster-than-expected recovery in air traffic and commercial air travel, higher lease rates, stronger-than-expected economic growth, reduced fuel prices, U.S. dollar depreciation and access to credit at modest rates, BoA wrote.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Air Lease Corporation (AL) — Buy

Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL), a Los Angeles-based aircraft leasing company, showcased its global reach during the 2022 Farnborough International Airshow in England when it announced on July 18 that it arranged for long-term lease placements for six new Airbus A220-300 aircraft with TAAG Angola Airlines. The Airbus aircraft are scheduled for delivery to the airline starting in 2023 through 2024.

The lease placement for six new Airbus A220s with TAAG is the first to introduce Airbus aircraft to the airline, said Steven Udvar-Házy, executive chairman of Air Lease Corporation. The capabilities of the A220-300 will greatly enhance TAAG’s operational efficiency and expand its route network with the most modern, fuel-efficient aircraft, Udvar-Házy added.

“The A220-300 with its fuel efficiency, range and improved operating economics will progressively replace TAAG’s Boeing 737-700 fleet and allow the airline to optimize and broaden its flight schedule coverage and destinations from Luanda,” said Kishore Korde, executive vice president of Air Lease Corporation.

“We are alive, back in business, breaching with the past to achieve greater results and becoming a reference for Africa,” said Eduardo Fairen, CEO of TAAG. “This partnership emphasizes our commitment to grow and further improve our credibility among international stakeholders while creating a new value proposition for our passengers.”

Air Lease, rated a buy recommendation by BofA, announced long-term lease placements for three new Airbus A321neo aircraft with LATAM Airlines on June 1. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery to LATAM in summer and fall of 2023 from ALC’s orderbook with Airbus.

BoA Recommends Air Lease Among Six Aircraft Investments Worth Buying

BofA set a price target of $55 on Air Lease, using a 0.9x price-to-book value on its 2023 estimate of AL’s book value. The percentage of net book value at risk should disappear by 2023 due to improving market conditions as commercial traffic recovers from pre-pandemic levels by 2023) and riskier assets are sold as they come off lease.

Risks to BofA’s price objective for Air Lease include global economic weakness, fuel price spikes, inability to access capital markets at attractive terms, terrorism and geopolitical events. Additional risks entail a downturn in aircraft values due to rising supply, flattening yield curve, continued sharp appreciation of the U.S. dollar, changes in equity risk premiums and overall stock market and financial company valuations.

The price target could be beaten, BofA forecasts, if economic growth is stronger than expected, recovery of air travel tops current estimates, fuel prices fall, the U.S. dollar depreciates and credit can be obtained at modest rates.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Embraer Earns Berth Among Six Investments Worthy of Buying

Another BofA recommendation is Brazil-based Embraer, a manufacturer of regional jets, military, executive and agricultural aircraft, and a provider of aeronautical services. BofA placed a price objective of $27 on Embraer. The estimate includes a $2.1 billion enterprise value for Eve, an air mobility business created by Embraer as an independent company in October 2020.

The price target could be topped by stronger-than-anticipated air traffic recovery, a successful joint venture for commercial aviation, cost reductions, better-than-expected execution, sales that beat forecasts, sooner-than-projected recovery in light and medium business jets and increased Brazilian defense and security budgets. Slippage could stem from failing to list or otherwise realize the value of Eve, COVID-19 pandemic headwinds hurting commercial aviation and currency fallout, since some of the company’s cost base is denominated in Brazilian reals.

The Brazilian real’s strength relative to the U.S. dollar could negatively affect the company’s margins. A Brazilian market selloff also could impact ERJ shares.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

U.S. COVID Deaths Near 1.028 Million

Aircraft stocks are closely affected by COVID-19 cases, deaths and lockdowns. As a result, it behooves investors to understand the latest trends.

U.S. COVID-19 deaths climbed for the second consecutive week by more than 3,000 to total 1,027,909, as of July 27, according to Johns Hopkins University. Cases in the United States jumped by nearly 900,000 for the second straight week to 90,735,621. America still holds the undesirable distinction as the country with the largest number of COVID-19 deaths and cases.

Worldwide COVID-19 deaths jumped by more than 14,600, down from 19,000, during the past week to reach 6,389,025 as of July 27, according to Johns Hopkins. Global COVID-19 cases rose more than 7.2 million during the last week, compared to 7.5 million the previous week, to hit 572,403,044 by July 27.

Roughly 78.7% of the U.S. population, or 261,204,035, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of July 20, the CDC reported. Fully vaccinated people total 222,950,194, or 67.2%, of America’s population, according to the CDC. The United States also has given at least one COVID-19 booster vaccine to 107.5 million people, up 500,000 in the last week.

The six aircraft investments worthy of buying position investors to catch a lift from an industry that is revving up to climb. Amid the highest inflation in 42 years, a potential Fed rate hike of 0.75% and other rate increases predicted to follow, the flight plan for the six aircraft investments to buy is taking shape despite supply chain snags and Russia’s sustained attacks on Ukraine.

Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, the Journal of Commerce, Seeking Alpha, GuruFocus and other publications and websites. Paul, who can be followed on Twitter @PaulDykewicz, is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper. Paul also is the author of an inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz. The book is great as a gift and is endorsed by Joe Montana, Joe Theismann, Ara Parseghian, “Rocket” Ismail, Reggie Brooks, Dick Vitale and many others. Call 202-677-4457 for multiple-book pricing.

The post Six Aircraft Investments Worth Buying as Demand Rises  appeared first on Stock Investor.

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Government

Experts “Quite Worried” About High Turnover Among Election Workers

Experts "Quite Worried" About High Turnover Among Election Workers

Nothing screams ‘secure elections’ like high turnover of local election…

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October 15, 2023

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Experts "Quite Worried" About High Turnover Among Election Workers

Nothing screams 'secure elections' like high turnover of local election officials and workers in key states.

According to The Hill, that's exactly what's going on, after a 'surge of local election officials' have left their posts in recent years. This could leave polling locations with understaffed and inexperienced teams (who might not know all the nuances behind scanning machines and which tables the extra ballot suitcases are stored under?).

UCLA election law expert Richard Hasen is "quite worried" about the turnover of election officials and workers nationwide, but says it's "not surprising" given how the 2020 election played out.

"Some of the language that’s been used against these officials has been really shocking," he told The Hill. "And why would you stay in a job that is high-stress to begin with, when you’re not going to be all that well-paid, and then to face this kind of abuse? People have to be really committed to democracy to want to stay in these jobs. And it’s asking a lot."

Does that mean people who weren't committed to democracy were counting the ballots in 2020?

A Brennan Center survey of local election officials taken in March and April, around the same time many White House candidates were jumping into the race, found that 1 in 5 are expected to be serving in their first presidential election in 2024. 

The rate of turnover found in the survey is equivalent to “one to two local election officials leaving office every day since the 2020 election.” 

Nearly a third said they’d personally been “abused, harassed, or threatened” because of their jobs, and nearly three-quarters said they felt threats have gone up in recent years. Nearly a quarter said they personally know at least one election official or worker who’s left the job due to threats, harassment or fear for their safety.  -The Hill

"Your dedication to public service … can only take you so far, when day after day you have people showing up in your office, or you have phone calls or emails accusing you of not doing everything you can to provide the best election experience, but also secure elections," said Lisa Bryant, chairwoman of the department of political science at California State University, Fresno, and an expert with MIT’s Election Lab. 

Perhaps not covering windows in cardboard, blocking election observers, faking burst pipes to delay voting for two hours, and a national judiciary that dismissed the vast majority of election fraud cases over 'lack of standing' (i.e. no personal harm was suffered, therefore no jury gets to see your evidence), would go a long way to instilling voter confidence.

We digress.

In 2021, the Biden DOJ formed an Election Threats Task Force, citing a "significant increase in the threat of violence" against the 'election community' during and after the 2020 election.

While research hasn't concluded that threats are driving workers out of the field, the turnover appears to be driven by various sources of burnout, such as interfacing with voters, responding to public records requests, fielding media inquiries and dealing with the public scrutiny.

"The job of an election official has gotten increasingly difficult over the last few years, and it has not been matched by how they’re being compensated or whether they have the resources to do all of the additional things on their plate," said Rachel Orey, senior associate director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Elections Project.

Maybe if America had a national voter ID, perhaps election workers might feel more comfortable in their jobs?

Tyler Durden Sun, 10/15/2023 - 20:25

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Government

Shouting Your Pronouns In A Crowded Theater

Shouting Your Pronouns In A Crowded Theater

via RealClear Wire,

The following is a condensed version of "Shouting Your Pronouns in a Crowded…

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October 15, 2023

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Shouting Your Pronouns In A Crowded Theater

via RealClear Wire,

The following is a condensed version of "Shouting Your Pronouns in a Crowded Theater" by Dave Barfield, published at Law & Liberty.

Let’s try out a thought experiment. Imagine you’re in a crowded theater and someone yells, “Fire!” What happens? People flee the room in a panic. Rightly so. Now let me change the question slightly. When someone yells, “Fire!” what happens linguistically?

According to philosopher J. L. Austin’s speech-act theory in his influential book How to Do Things with Words, three things occur:  locution, Illocution, and perlocution.

In locution, there is information transfer: a fire is present.

In illocution, the yelling affected the yeller: perhaps he or she became a hero in his or her own mind.

In perlocution, something happened to the listeners: they fled in terror. The exclamation of “Fire!” changed the scene dramatically.

Now, let’s alter our thought experiment. Imagine you learned the person who yelled “Fire!” was mistaken. Would you flee in terror? Would it be right to help others flee? Of course not. There was no fire.

Why would someone yell “Fire!” when there was no fire? Perhaps the person was confused or nefariously wanted to cause a scene. In such a speech-act, multiple things occur, regardless of the accuracy of the information.

Now to the matter of pronouns. When you replace “Fire” with someone’s chosen pronouns, more than just information transfer takes place. The speaker is trying to change the hearer. Thus, the communication of one’s preferred pronouns does more than just transfer information. It is an attempt to change the listener’s beliefs, actions, feelings, etc.

The trans community has made a concerted effort at changing how non-trans people think about them by insisting that an unsung part of speech do much of the work for them. Pronouns are displayed on nametags, social media profiles, class rosters, and other platforms. Failures to comply with someone’s chosen pronouns has led to public confrontations and moral castigations. Thus, many in the non-trans community use chosen pronouns out of fear. That’s perlocution at work.

Pronoun Impotence

Others, however, refuse to comply. They believe they are being pressured into saying something untrue, because the trans community has offered no compelling logic for their claims regarding genders. They believe the trans community has only communicated their feelings. In our thought experiment, this would be someone yelling “Fire!” when someone feels like there’s a fire, even though that person might be unsure, unsettled, or even unethical. Generally speaking, this would not be a problem. A free society should not overly care about feelings. However, the trans community has pressed the issue into society-altering actions: bathroom usage, prison assignments, tax money for healthcare, etc.

Despite these efforts by the trans community, the pronoun endeavor will fail. Why? Two reasons. First, pronouns will never sufficiently perlocute one’s gender because they cannot illocute one’s gender. Even as part of a multi-pronged strategy of hormones, surgery, and the like, pronouns will fall short in affirming one’s personal choice. These only reveal personal choice—the heart of the issue. Personal choice, while a luxury, is impotent against the juggernaut of nature. Choosing to fly off a bridge does not mean gravity will comply, and choosing one’s pronouns does not mean society must comply.

Second, it won’t work for pragmatic reasons. The accepted pronoun formula (He/Him, She/Her) has already been coopted by comedians, satirists, and even the trans community itself. Billionaire Elon Musk recently joked that his pronouns were “Prosecute/Fauci,” and the trans community has placed signage in New York stating that if you don’t comply, your pronouns will be “Was/Were.” Thus, the sacred pronoun formula produces the modern profanity of laughter and fear.

New Solutions

Perlocution is built on tacit trust in a free society. I trust you to yell “Fire!” only when there is one. If you betray that trust, you maintain the freedom to yell, but I am under no obligation to believe you. This goes for pronouns, too. We trust each other to tell the objective truth, not what one’s personal imagination says.

All this means we need an absolute, which Nature and Nature’s God has given us: biological sex. This binary has functioned extraordinarily well for millennia, and human endeavors to undo it are simply causing greater harm. Ironically, many of the people who religiously follow nature in other areas (evolution, racial justice, climate change, etc.) suddenly find themselves at war with healthy human bodies.

Furthermore, this male/female binary allows for a broad spectrum of gender expression. Masculine does not necessarily mean machismo, nor does feminine necessarily mean effeminate. Any attempt to generate genders at imaginary whims is as arbitrary as the moral demands to use someone’s chosen pronouns.

And finding arbitrary solutions would require an upending of Nature that goes beyond gender. It would mean Nature is no longer reliable for anything at all. Such a course leads to nihilism, and its accompanying violence. And we/they are already there.

Dave Barfield is the Executive Director of a Protestant church in Carmel, Indiana.

Tyler Durden Sun, 10/15/2023 - 21:00

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International

Victor Davis Hanson’s Annotated Guide To American Middle East Madness

Victor Davis Hanson’s Annotated Guide To American Middle East Madness

Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via X (@VDHanson),

Take note that a…

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Victor Davis Hanson's Annotated Guide To American Middle East Madness

Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via X (@VDHanson),

Take note that a trapped Hamas in extremis will go to desperate lengths to survive, from trying to prompt lone-wolf killings in Western cities to drawing in Arab nations to share in their jihad to enlisting Western elites and expatriate Muslims both to deny Hamas is a murderous organization and simultaneously to cheer on its macabre killing.

In this regard, the anti-Jewish nature of Iran and Hamas (read its 1988 Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement) should have been obvious, but Westerners suffered from a pathological desire to be deluded.

But to aid Israel in overcoming the current genocidal agendas of its enemies, we should remember first how we in the past have unfortunately contributed to this nightmare.

What follows are some brief annotated quotes of American Middle East insanity [with my annotations in brackets].

Consider our late point man in Iran, and supposed Obama-era expert on Hamas and ISIS, Robert Malley (2008):

It is "a mistake to only think of them [Hamas] in terms of their terrorist violence dimension.”

[Was it a mistake to envision the Third Reich also in terms only of its “terrorist violence,” given that it also promoted a green agenda?]

Malley also included Hamas in his groups of terrorist organizations that "are social and political movements, probably the most rooted movements in their respective societies.” …

[I agree that Hamas is certainly the “most rooted” of the movements in Gaza and perhaps the West Bank as well. And I concur that it is not a mere aberration in Palestinian society but reflects its collective “rooted” values.]

“There is so much misinformation about them …

[Please elaborate: does your “so much information” include things like our ignorance of the fact that Hamas likes to rape Jewish women and desecrate the dead bodies of Jews?]

“I speak to them and my colleagues speak to them [Hamas], and now we may disagree with them, but they have their own rationality … none of them are crazies,”

[Can you please provide transcripts of those occasions when you and your colleagues (also then in the Obama administration?) spoke to Hamas? That was also quite big of you, Mr. Malley, to note that you “may” disagree with Hamas. Was it over which of their killing methods is the most effective? I also agree that Hamas certainly has its own “rationality”. Its recent murder of 1200 Jews—the vast majority civilians—during a religious holiday, which followed a year-long carefully-planned blueprint for mass death and counted on the near-criminal naivete of Western diplomats, might rival the “rational” genocidal agendas of, say, the SS. As for “crazies”—do you mean that Hamas does not crazily fantasize about extermination, but carefully and rationally carries it out? If so, I concur.]

"It has a charity organization, a social branch; it’s not something you can defeat militarily either, and people need to understand that."

[Everything you have stated could have equally applied to the murderous Nazi party: it too was a “political movement” (which did not preclude its use of systematic murder). It too had its own “rationality” (kill Jews and destroy elected governments). It too had “a social branch” and “even charities” (all the better to disguise its murderous agendas). And, yes, one can defeat Hamas “militarily,” as the Allies did Nazi ideology. And yes, “people need to understand that” it is quite possible to ensure that Hamas murders no more.]

John Kerry at Davos in 2016:

“I think that some of it [the millions released to Iran by the Obama administration] will end up in the hands of the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—the terrorism specialists of the Iranian armed forces] or other entities, some of which are labeled terrorists.”

[As for “Are labeled terrorists?”—Mr. Kerry, does your use of “labeled” mean that Iranian terrorists are terrorists in name only?]

“You know, to some degree, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that every component of that can be prevented.”

[“To some degree” ? If American money cannot be prevented from being used by Iranians for terrorism, then does “some degree” mean only 50,000 missiles sent to Hezbollah and Hamas rather than 100,000? Or does “some degree’ perhaps mean,someday, 1200 Jews murdered—rather than, say, 120?]

“There is no way they [the Iranian theocracy] can succeed in what they want to do if they are very busy funding a lot of terrorism.”

[But, Mr. Kerry, what do you think Iran really “want[s] to do”? Isn’t Iran “busy” building nuclear bombs, not subways and hospitals? And their nuke program is complementary to, rather in place of, Tehran’s vast terrorism budget. Or do you mean that if Iran spends the money on terrorism, they won’t have enough funds to complete building their nuclear-tipped missiles?]

Antony Blinken in 2023:

“We have not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack, but there is certainly a long relationship.”

[At what upcoming date do you think you will need to amend this ridiculous declaration—in the same fashion you just deleted your recent tweet calling for a ceasefire the moment Israel was posed to strike back?]

State Department spokesman Ned Price (2023):

“Since April of 2021, we have demonstrated in very real and significant terms our commitment to the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people. We’ve provided over $890 million for Palestinians, including over $680 in humanitarian assistance for refugees in the region through UNRWA … When Secretary Blinken was in Ramallah, he announced another $50 million in funding for UNRWA.”

[You certainly did show your commitment to the “needs” of the Palestinian people, which in the case of Gaza resulted in the most sophisticated, reinforced-concrete labyrinth of military tunnels in history, given the plethora of imported building materials purchased with fungible Western dollars to prepare for the mass murder that we just saw in Southern Israel.]

Ambassador Nicholas Burns:

“The Trump Administration’s decision to end U.S. assistance to Palestinian refugees is wrong on every level… heartless and unwise.”

[What was wrong on every level and certainly heartless and unwise was the Biden State Department’s nihilist decision in the very moments of taking power to resume hundreds of millions of fungible dollars to the Palestinians, much of which no doubt ended up in increased spending for  rockets and tunnels. Note that in 2021 the Biden Administration was warned of just that danger by its own state department—and was ignored by diplomats such as yourself: “We assess there is a high risk Hamas could potentially derive indirect, unintentional benefit from U.S. assistance to Gaza.”]

Tyler Durden Sun, 10/15/2023 - 19:50

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