Hi Nadine; Re: "This is preposterous. Please name the US war since 1948 where overt Israeli help would even have been permitted!"
Vietnam. Korea.
Re: "When it comes to logistical help, covert help, and political cooperation, Israel has been a firm ally in every US Middle East venture."
Israel has given us essentially zero logistical help. As far as covert help, there is some evidence that Israel taught our kids how to torture Arabs, but the result was not good for us. As far as being an ally, Israeli soldiers have not fought on our side in either our Kuwait or Iraqi adventures. On the contrary, Arab soldiers did fight on our side in Kuwait, and Kuwait provided significant logistical assistance against Iraq.
Re: "Do you think it was Israel's idea to take scuds from Saddam without even a response?"
(a) Again, Israel chose a path that was beneficial to Israel. Sometimes these paths are beneficial to the US, sometimes not. (b) The total number of Israeli citizens killed by Scuds was quite small, even compared to the very small numbers killed by suicide bombers. (c) As far as allies goes, the US needs countries that can fight, not countries that make great targets.
Re: "Do you seriously think that Israel was invited to join the Coalition in 1991 or 2003, but declined?"
You've quite accurately described the problem. The US needs large allies that can help it in a fight, not tiny pariah states whose cooperation would ruin alliances with large countries.
-- Carl |
