So what am I thinking about on this anniversary of the Hamas-Hezbollah-Iran-Israel war? Something my strategy teacher, Prof. John Arquilla of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, taught me: All wars come down to two basic questions: Who wins the battle on the ground? And who wins the battle of the story? And what I am thinking about today is how, even after a year of warfare, in which Hamas and Hezbollah and Israel have inflicted terrible pain on one another’s forces and civilians, no one has decisively won the battle on the ground or the battle for the story.

Indeed, one year after Oct. 7, this is still the first Arab-Israeli war without a name and without a clear victor — because neither side has a clear win or a clean story.

We can and should sympathize with Palestinian statelessness and Arabs in the West Bank living under the duress of Israeli settlements and restrictions, but to my mind, there is nothing that can justify what Hamas attackers did on Oct. 7 — murdering, maiming, kidnapping and sexually abusing any Israeli they could get their hands on, without any goal, any story, other than to destroy the Jewish state. If you believe, as I do, that the only solution is two states for two indigenous peoples between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, the Hamas rampage set that back immeasurably.

And what story is Iran telling? That it has some right under the U.N. charter to help create failed states in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq so it can cultivate proxies inside them for the purpose of destroying Israel? And by what right has Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into a war with Israel that the Lebanese people and government had no say in and are now paying a huge price for?

But this Israeli government does not have a clean story in the Gaza Strip, either. This was always going to be the ugliest of Israeli-Palestinian wars since 1947, because Hamas had embedded itself in tunnels underneath Gaza homes, schools, mosques and hospitals. It could not be targeted without significant civilian casualties. Therefore, as I argued from the start, it was doubly incumbent on Israel to make clear that this was not just a war to defend itself but also to destroy Hamas in order to birth something better: the only just and stable solution possible, two states for two people.

Related Articles

Adrian Wooldridge: Nanny states are now essential to economic health

Clive Crook: Trump offers voters a trifecta of economic madness

Devin Watkins: The Supreme Court is empowering voters

F.D. Flam: Lock down the cows to prevent further bird flu spread

J. Doyne Farmer: Eager for good news about climate change? Consider the pace of clean energy growth

The Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu steadfastly has refused to do that, so much so that a year later, it still has not told its people, its army or its U.S. arms supplier what it wants to build in Gaza in place of Hamas other than “total victory.” With Israel still bombing schools to kill a few Hamas fighters hiding inside yet failing to articulate any future for Gaza residents other than permanent war, it feels as though killing every last Hamasnik is the goal — no matter how many civilians die. That’s a forever war that will undermine both Israel and America’s credibility and embarrass Israel’s Arab allies.

But the lack of a good story is hurting Israel in other ways. Israelis are being asked to send their sons and daughters to fight every day against Hamas and Hezbollah foes — yet cannot be sure if they are going to war to save the state of Israel or the political career of their prime minister.

Because there is more than enough reason to believe that Benjamin Netanyahu wants to keep this war going to have an excuse to postpone testifying in December at his corruption trial, to postpone an independent commission of inquiry as to how his government failed to prevent the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, as well as to forestall new Israeli elections and maybe even to tilt our presidential election to Donald Trump. Netanyahu’s far-right Jewish supremacist partners have told him they will topple his government if he agrees to stop the war in Gaza before an undefined “total victory” over Hamas and if he tries to bring the West Bank’s Palestinian Authority, which has embraced the Oslo peace process, to help govern Gaza in the place of Hamas — something that Hamas greatly fears.

This absence of a story is also hurting Israel strategically. The more Israel has a legitimate Palestinian partner, like a reformed Palestinian Authority, the better chance it can get out of Gaza and not preside over a permanent insurgency there, the more allies will want to help create an international force to fill any vacuum in southern Lebanon and the more any Israeli military strike against Iran would be understood as making Israel safe to try to make peace with the Palestinians — not safe for an Israeli annexation of the West Bank and Gaza, which is what some of Netanyahu’s far-right partners are seeking.

I cannot guarantee that there is a legitimate Palestinian partner for a secure peace with Israel. But I can guarantee that this Israeli government has done everything it could to prevent one from emerging — by strengthening Hamas in Gaza at the expense of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

It is simply insane to me that the United Arab Emirates is telling Israel that it would send military forces to Gaza to stabilize the peace there, in conjunction with the U.S. and other international forces — and that Saudi Arabia has indicated it is ready to normalize relations with Israel, help pay for Gaza’s reconstruction and open a road for relations between the Jewish state and the whole Muslim world — and yet Netanyahu up to now has said no to both because all of this would require that Israel open talks with a reformed Palestinian Authority on a two-state solution and that this Palestinian Authority would formally invite the UAE and others to help secure Gaza.

And it is disastrous in another way that is not so obvious. Israel has just delivered a devastating blow to Hezbollah’s leadership. As a purely military operation — combining high tech, intelligence and precision strikes by the Israeli Air Force — it will be studied by armies all over the world. But here’s the rub: I can assure you that most of the Israeli pilots, spies and technologists who produced that operation were the same Israeli street protesters and leaders of the opposition to the judicial coup that Netanyahu attempted in the year before the Hamas invasion — a coup attempt that split the country and encouraged Hamas’ invasion and Hezbollah’s pile-on, as Netanyahu was warned before the war.

No one has taught me more about the tension between those pilots’ stories and Bibi’s story — and its implications for Israel’s fate — than Dan Ben-David, a Tel Aviv University economist who heads the Shoresh Institution for Socioeconomic Research. I wrote to him to ask what he was thinking about the Oct. 7 anniversary. This is what he emailed back:

“My mom was a 13-year-old smuggled alone out of Baghdad to Palestine during World War II. My father landed here as an orphan; his father was butchered by his Lithuanian neighbors as the Nazis moved in. Following the war of independence, my parents’ army units joined to create Kibbutz Malkiya on the Lebanese border. (That kibbutz, where they first met and married, became a charred ghost town over the past year.) That’s my family’s history — but change the names, and you basically have the history of Israel 1.0.”

That generation, Ben-David continued, “made sure their children and grandchildren would understand the importance of preserving Israel as our people’s safe haven, built on democracy and the rule of law.” That priority, that story, “was the thread of steel that has bound each generation to our founding one. It creates a situation that makes Israel unique, and not just in comparison with those who want to annihilate us.”

Look at how “both Ukraine and Russia have had to pass laws to prevent able-bodied men from leaving during war,” he added. “But when Israel is threatened with war, the planes that are full are not with Israelis trying to escape possible hell but with those dropping everything abroad — school, work, vacations — to come home and defend the country, many of whom eventually lose their lives in doing so. You cannot buy that kind of motivation.”

“That steel thread is what has saved us over the decades — and that is exactly what is so dangerous about Netanyahu’s domestic divide-and-conquer strategy that puts his personal interests above all else. Here we are, after the most horrific period in Israel’s history, and Netanyahu keeps snipping away at the thread,” Ben-David wrote. “Aside from encouraging his cultist followers to make state enemies out of hostage families, pilots, physicians and anyone else who dares to criticize the great leader, he has no exit plan for the deepening military crisis, no budget for the deepening economic crisis, no intention of drafting the ultra-Orthodox into an army desperate for manpower to replace all those who we lost. Because all of those might lead his far-right allies to turn against him.”

So on this first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, I find myself most preoccupied with the fact that Israel is fighting a multifront war and Israelis still don’t know whether they are fighting to make Israel safe for a Jewish democracy or safe for the prime minister’s political survival, safe for the ultra-Orthodox to never have to serve in the military and safe for the prime minister to declare to the world he is defending the frontier of freedom in Gaza and Lebanon while sustaining a morally rotten and economically draining settlement engine in the West Bank.

The biggest threat to Israel today is not Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah or the Houthis. A united Israel can beat them all. It is those who are unraveling Israel’s steel thread — with a bad story.

Thomas Friedman writes a column for the New York Times.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday to award Congressional Gold Medals to the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey team that defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union in Lake Placid, New York, at a period of high tension during the Cold War.

Congressman Pete Stauber, R-Minn., introduced the Miracle on Ice Congressional Gold Medal Act along with co-sponsors Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Mike Quigley, D-Ill.

“What they did for our country at that moment, I’ll never forget,” Stauber said in a phone interview. “It’s one of the defining sports moments in my lifetime, and I am so proud that we can give this Congressional Medal to each member of that Olympic team to say thank you for the memories we will never forget as a nation.”

The plan would be for the creation of three medals: one to go on display at the U.S Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minnesota, another at the Lake Placid Olympic Center and the third at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Stauber, who was 13 at the time before going on to play at Lake Superior State and a handful of years professionally in the minors, and his staff have been working with USA Hockey to get this to the House floor for consideration. It is expected to be debated for consideration only after the election in the lame duck session of congress.

“I don’t think anybody really has to think about whether they support it or not,” Stauber said. “I hope all 535 members of congress reach the conclusion yes they deserve it and then the president signs it.”

The deaths of players in recent years, Mark Wells in May and Mark Pavelich in 2021, along with coach Herb Brooks in 2003, have added urgency to the process.

“The timing for all of us is of the essence because we want these members to be able to cherish and appreciate this during their lifetime,” Stauber said. “I think that bestowing this highest honor upon them is important.”

Stauber said he was going to work as hard as he can to pass the legislation “the sooner the better.” Feb. 22 marks the 45th anniversary of the Americans upsetting the Soviets 4-3 on the way to Olympic gold on home ice days later with a victory against Finland to close out the medal round.

“We’re going to push it, I’m going to push it as hard and as fast as I can so we can celebrate in Lake Placid with the remaining living members of that team that gave us that glorious moment in February of 1980,” Stauber said.

Related Articles

Tom Horner: Why this former Republican operative is voting for Harris/Walz

Trump says migrants who have committed murder have introduced ‘a lot of bad genes in our country’

For US adversaries, Election Day won’t mean the end to efforts to influence Americans

Turning Point wants to revolutionize how Republicans turn out voters. Some are skeptical

How important is Wisconsin? Trump’s now visited 4 times in 8 days

Perhaps it gets you in the door, that the new film “White Bird” can be referred to as both a sequel and prequel to the emotionally nourishing 2017 film “Wonder.”

In theaters this week, “White Bird” is, like its predecessor, based on a work of fiction by R.J. Palacio. However, it has almost nothing to do with the central character of “Wonder,” which revolves around Jacob Tremblay’s August “Auggie” Pullman, a kind boy with a condition that caused a dramatic —- and traumatic — facial deformity.

Instead, the wildly different, if similarly stirring “White Bird” picks up with Bryce Gheisar’s Julian Albans, who’d bullied Auggie before getting expelled from their New York City private school, Beecher Prep. Primarily, however, this is a World War II story and an engrossing one at that.

We catch up with Julian at his new school, where he looks at photos of Auggie and others from his old haunt before giving what is at most a lukewarm reception to a girl who tries to befriend him at lunch, where he’s been sitting alone. A fellow male student soon comes by to tell him that their mothers are friends and that he’s been tasked to look out for him by his — and informs him he’s sitting at the losers’ table.

At home, Julian finds his grandmother (Helen Mirren), who’s visiting from Paris for a “retrospective” of her artwork.

“It’s a polite way of saying I’m old,” she tells Julian.

Soon concluding that he hasn’t completely learned the needed lesson from his experience at Beecher, she decides to tell him about her time as a Jewish girl in Nazi-occupied France, a tale she rarely shares.

Helen Mirren and Bryce Gheisar appear in a scene from “White Bird.” (Courtesy of Lionsgate)

And here we have the beginning of the bulk of “White Bird,” anchored by an almost entrancing performance by Ariella Glaser as Sara Blum, the younger version of Mirren’s character.

Related Articles

I hated ‘Joker.’ I liked ‘Joker: Folie à Deux.’ So sue me

‘Saturday Night’ review: Skimming the surface of the very first ‘SNL’

‘The Outrun’ review: A moving tale of addiction, recovery and Saoirse Ronan’s exceptional skill

‘Nobody Wants This’ review: When menschy met blabby

‘The Wild Robot’ review: How to train your robot, your gosling and your neighbors in DreamWorks-style teamwork

At this substantial flashback begins, the teenage Sara, who likes to sketch in a notebook, has no real concerns beyond her clothes and the goings on with friends Mariann (Selma Kaymakci) and Sophie (Mia Kadlecova). After all, even as the Nazis take control of France, it seems as though the area where her family lives, the lovely French village of Aubervilliers-Aux-Bois, is a safe zone.

That mirage quickly vanishes.

The Nazi occupation leads to an argument at dinner in Sara’s upper-middle-class home between her mother, Rose (Olivia Ross), a math teacher, and her kind and protective father, Max (Ishai Golan), about the precise level of danger they face.

Soon enough, Nazi soldiers arrive at Sara’s school with a list of names of Jewish students they are to take away. School personnel, including Pastor Luc (Stuart McQuarrie) and Sara’s teacher Mademoiselle Petitjean (Patsy Ferran), attempt to hide them, insisting these boys and girls did not show up for school on this day. However, thanks to a student — Jem Matthews’ Vincent, whom the viewer will continue to loathe — that plan fails.

Fortunately, Sara benefits from the kindness of another boy, Orlando Schwerdt’s Julien Beaumier, who helps her flee the school. She barely knows him; Julien has difficulty walking as a result of having had polio, and her friends teased him and called him “Tourteau” (“The Crab”), which is the only name Sara associates with him, she realizes.

Nonetheless, with the blessing of his parents, Vivienne (Gillian Anderson, lending some gravitas to the proceedings) and Jean Paul (Jo Stone-Fewings), Julien hides Sara in the family barn, warning her to stay out of the sight of a couple of nosy neighbors.

Gillian Anderson portrays Vivienne in “White Bird.” (Courtesy of Lionsgate)

Initially filled with guilt for not having treated Julien better at school, she grows closer to the young man, who helps her stay up on schoolwork in the afternoon and with whom she shares adventures in the barn fueled by their combined imagination in the evening.

Of course, danger never resides far away from Sara and her brave hosts.

In fact, one of the harshest critiques one can levy on “White Bird” is that you always see that danger coming, the adaptation by Mark Bomback (“War for the Planet of the Apes”) possessing very predictable story beats. (Also, the resolution to one tense scene late in the film is, well, just a bit much, even if the seeds for it are plenty early on in the story.)

And still, in the hands of director Marc Forster (“Finding Neverland,” “Christopher Robin”), “White Bird” is impactful all the same, a film that manages to mine more than its fair share of joy from a dire situation.

Schwerdt (“True History of the Kelly Gang”) deserves plenty of credit for that, as well, as you can’t help but experience the joy Julien feels to have this girl in his life. Every moment with Schwerdt and Glaser (“Radioactive”) together as Julien and Sara is a treasure, especially as you suspect those moments cannot last.

Another noteworthy contributor behind the scenes is producer Todd Lieberman, a Northeast Ohio native who spoke before an advanced screening of the film at Cedar Lee Theatre in Cleveland Heights.

Rated PG-13, “White Bird” certainly isn’t appropriate for very young viewers. For those a bit older, though, it could serve as a reasonably gentle introduction to what remains one of the most significant — and horror-filled — chapters of the world’s history.

This tale need not serve as a lesson for Julian Albans alone.

‘White Bird’

Where: Theaters.

When: Oct. 4.

Rated: PG-13 for some strong violence, thematic material and language.

Runtime: 2 hours.

Stars (of four): 3.

By MATTHEW PERRONE

WASHINGTON (AP) — If you have stained or chipped teeth, you might be considering veneers, customized teeth coverings that can restore a photogenic smile without more extensive dental work.

But dentists warn that these pricey cosmetic enhancements are at the center of a worrisome online trend: unlicensed practitioners without proper training or supervision offering low-cost veneers.

These self-described “veneer techs” often promote themselves on Instagram and TikTok, promising a full set of veneers for less than half of what dentists typically charge. Some also market their own training courses and certifications for people looking to get into the business.

It’s misleading, health professionals warn — and illegal. All states require dental work, including veneers, to be performed under the supervision of a licensed dentist.

On Thursday, Georgia law enforcement officials arrested Brandon Diller, who promoted himself to 158,000 Instagram followers as “Atlanta’s top veneer specialist and trainer.” Diller practiced dentistry without a license and sold “training and certificates, which were worthless” and “provided no legitimate or legal credentials,” according to an arrest warrant from Fulton County’s District Attorney’s office.

Here’s what to know about veneers and how to avoid bogus providers and services:

What are dental veneers?

Veneers are thin, custom-made dental coverings used to hide minor imperfections or to fill in gaps between teeth. Unlike crowns or more invasive dental implants, veneers are almost always considered cosmetic dentistry and generally aren’t covered by insurance.

Dentists usually charge between $1,000 and $2,000 per tooth for veneers, with higher prices for those made from porcelain compared with lower-grade materials.

Placing veneers involves stripping some of the natural enamel from the tooth and bonding the new covering into place. Because of that process, getting veneers is considered an irreversible procedure, according to the American Dental Association. They are not permanent, and can be expected to last between 5 to 15 years before they degrade and need to be replaced.

In recent months the ADA has been stepping up warnings about the risks of veneer procedures done by unlicensed individuals.

“Quality control is lost without the involvement of a licensed dentist,” said Dr. Ada Cooper, a New York-based dentist and ADA spokesperson. “We undergo years of education and training and need to be licensed by various regulatory bodies before we can practice.”

What are the risks of getting veneers from someone who isn’t licensed?

Improper veneer procedures can cause a range of health problems, including severe pain, nerve damage and tooth loss.

Patients need to be anesthetized before the enamel is removed from their teeth.

“It could be incredibly painful if they’re not anesthetized correctly,” said Dr. Zach Truman, who runs an orthodontics practice in Las Vegas. “You can also go too deep into the tooth and penetrate what’s called the pulp chamber, which contains blood vessels and nerves.”

One of the biggest problems Truman sees with unregulated veneer work is that customers aren’t getting screened for existing dental problems, such as gum disease and cavities.

“If you put a veneer on a tooth that has an active cavity, you’re just going to seal it in there and eventually it’s going to progress to tooth loss,” Truman said.

Dental veneers aren’t the only option for improving the appearance of teeth. Over-the-counter whitening kits can help with minor stains and discoloration. And dentists can sometimes use composite materials to reshape chipped or uneven teeth. But Truman says those fillings are prone to crack and won’t last as long as veneers.

How can I spot bogus veneer providers online?

One clue: Many individuals performing unlicensed dental work promote themselves on social media as “veneer technicians.”

Instead of working out of a dental office they often perform treatments at beauty salons, hotel rooms or private homes. Some advertise multi-city tours and encourage clients to message them to book an appointment in advance.

Much of the appeal of the services is in their pricing, with some offering a full set of veneers for a flat fee of $4,000 or $5,000. That’s less than half of what patients can generally expect to pay at a dental office.

Performing dental work without an appropriate license is illegal, the ADA notes.

Dentists and hygienists are licensed by state governments, who also define the work dental assistants can perform. But in all cases, veneers and other dental procedures must be supervised by a licensed dentist.

Earlier this year, Illinois law enforcement officials arrested a woman running a business called the Veneer Experts after she posted videos of herself fitting braces, veneers and other dental products without a license. She was previously arrested in Nevada on similar allegations of practicing dentistry without a license.

What are the best ways to find legitimate dental providers?

The ADA maintains a website detailing the training and licensing requirements for dentists across the U.S. Most states also maintain websites where you can lookup and verify licensure information and find any past disciplinary actions for dentists and other health professionals.

“It’s really critical to understand that dentistry is a regulated health care profession that requires formal educations and licensure,” Cooper said.