It is also an issue for Americans who are at the receiving end of all that animosity due to the overly cozy relationship with Israel.
Don't you find it ironic that Bin Ladin used, as an excuse for attacking the US, our "cozy relationship" with Saudi Arabia in 1990? He didn't like having US forces on Saudi soil to defend the Kingdom against Iraqi aggression (as well as a springboard to liberate Kuwait).
And of course, Saddam, in an effort to build support on the "Arab street", launched SCUD missiles against Israel, which wasn't even a combatant in that war.
Get it in your head: Nations do not have friends; they have interests.
Yes, indeed.. That's why we're paying "bribes" to both Egypt and Israel in exchange for peace. Btw, look what happened to Sadat for actually being brave enough to MAKE PEACE -not just a truce- with Israel. He was assassinated by Muslim Militants, from Ayman Al-Zawahiri's group, Egyptian Islamic Jihad (now part of Al-Qaida).
But what is in America's interests? Supporting democratic and progressive change around the world, or supporting non-democratic, and often oppressive, regimes?
Is it in our interest to sacrifice one of the few Democratic governments in the Middle East to satisfy our economic lust of for oil?
Is it in our interests to permit religious militants to gain control over large swaths of the Muslim world?
Is it in our interest to provide Israelis sufficient confidence we'll defend their existence so that they aren't motivated to turn most of the populated parts of the Arab world into smoking ash and rubble?
Israel is a democracy and one that shares many of our same interests with regard to advancing human rights and accountable government. They aren't perfect, and any democracy that is constantly told they shouldn't exist, is going to be under stress and will do anything to defend that right to exist.
We did the same in WWII. Again.. we killed MILLIONS of enemy civilians in Germany and Japan. It wasn't very "humanitarian", but it sure got results and ended the war.
Unfortunately, I think this is the direction that Israel is going to be forced into. Their Arab neighbors (minus Jordan and Eygpt) seem intent upon their annihilation and are not willing to compromise.
That usually means war is on the horizon. And it will be ugly.
Hawk |
