'Twas the night before Christmas,
when all through the region,
Not a creature was stirring,
but Iran’s foreign legion;

The rockets they placed
throughout Syria with care,
In hopes that the Quds Force
soon would be there;
Lebanon’s broke.
Hezbollah is winning.
And as Iran knows,
this is just the beginning;

The weapons are nestled
all snug in their places,
While visions of war
put grins on their faces;

Russia won’t help.
Putin spreads more confusion.
But one thing we got wrong
was GPS fusion;
With all eyes on China,
a new conflict is brewing.
But that all ignores
What Khamenei is doing;

American looks hobbled
From the Afghan withdrawal.
The regime is now prepping
for a regional brawl;
Then who to my wondering
eyes should appear,
But Esmael Ghani
from the Republic of Fear.

With his IRGC guards,
so lively and quick,
I knew at that moment
he must be that prick;
He was dressed all in olive,
from his head to his foot,
His clothes were all covered
with ashes and soot;

A bundle of weapons
he brings in his sack,
He’s a peddler of death,
and remorse he does lack;
His mind isn’t as sharp
as Qassem the great,
who was felled by a drone
on that January date;

But the fight, it continues.
And Ghani’s the man.
There’s a war to fight.
It’s all part of the plan;
To fight for the axis,
one by one they all came.
He whistled, and shouted,
and called them by name;

Now, Hezbollah! Now, Hamas!
Now, Shiite militias!
Those Mahan air routes
are so damn suspicious!
To the border with Israel! Through tunnels we’ll crawl!
We can also hit Saudi!
Bombs away all!

The refugees shiver
amidst new-fallen snow,
The Levantine land bridge,
it continues to grow;
The regime has a plan.
It’s as clear as can be:
Build precision munitions.
But there’s nothing to see;

They’re all underground.
They’re all out of sight.
The smuggling continues
on this dark winter’s night;
Now the nuke talks continue.
The time’s getting tight.
Iran knows the game:
A bomb is in sight.

The centrifuges spin
without inspections that snap.
While the U.N. settles in
for a long winter's nap.
But it’s Christmas tomorrow.

No one will talk of this plight.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL,

AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!

• • •

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More from @JSchanzer

6 Oct
The Yom Kippur War broke out 48 years ago today. Egypt and Syria attacked Israel by surprise on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Israel found itself on the brink of defeat. A few observations follow, with relevance today: history.com/topics/middle-…
1. Israel was vulnerable to attack then, and it is still vulnerable today. It’s small size and proximity to enemies means that it must always be vigilant, even pro-active.

2. Intelligence failures happened then, and still happen now. The Middle East is still hard to predict.
3. American officials cynically withheld military assistance to try and gain leverage. Israel was nearly pushed to take measures that would have literally changed the map of the Middle East. Take note, Hamas Caucus.

4. Golda Meir failed hard. History treats her too kindly,
Read 5 tweets
24 May
Deeply disturbing image. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar emerged from his bunker for this photo op.
For context, this kid is the son of a slain Hamas fighter.
As it turns out, this is the son of the American Hamas foreign fighter first identified by @Jtruzmah at @LongWarJournal here:
Read 4 tweets
24 May
I’ve been watching hot takes on Biden-Israel for days. Slow down, folks. A few observations:

1. Biden gave Israel full freedom to operate against Hamas. He didn’t equivocate. It was full support. Full stop.
2. The president’s tough talk with Bibi only started after the ceasefire was announced. It was a blank check to signal to the angry, progressive left that he was being tough on Israel.
3. Yes, Biden touted the 80 phone calls his administration made during the course of the war. But he made no serious investment to end the conflict. Hady Amr, a DAS, was the most senior US envoy. Reality: Biden left it to Egypt and other regional states to solve
Read 6 tweets
16 May
Bibi now live to Israel, touting damage to the “metro” system of Hamas, and other military capabilities, while endeavoring to minimizing casualties. Says that bringing calm will take time. Thanks Biden and other leaders for support.
Bibi notes a drop in violence from the Arab community in Israel. This was an area of grave concern when it began. Notes the need to engage with the Arab community after this. The right message here, IMHO.
Now Gantz: also underscores that operations against Hamas will continue, but stressed the need to take the temperature down at home. Sensing a theme here...
Read 6 tweets
15 May
Israeli channel 13 broadcasts the flattening of a Gaza building that the IDF determined to be a Hamas asset.
This appears to be the building that housed the AP & Jazeera bureaus....
This was apparently the building that Israeli reporters earlier noted that received warnings, cell phone messages and a “knock-knock” munition, warning of an imminent strike.
Read 5 tweets
25 Dec 20
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the region
Not a creature was stirring, but Iran’s foreign legion;

The rockets they placed in the Mideast with care,
In hopes that the Quds Force
soon would be there;
The weapons were nestled
all snug in their places,
While visions of war
put grins on their faces;

In Syria the bombs burst
with a terrible clap,
While the U.N. settles in
for a long winter's nap.
The war grinds on,
Russia spreads more confusion.
More S400 sales are a foregone conclusion.

Trump from the White House tweeting “Syria withdrawal!”
America’s footprint grows increasingly small.
Read 10 tweets

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