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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: TimF who wrote (32819)6/20/2002 9:03:15 PM
From: jcky  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 281500
 
<< I'm thinking in military terms becuase its going to take military action to destroy Israel. >>

This is true but it is not the only possibility.

If Israel is to remain intact as a distinctly Jewish state then a true and open democracy (to Arabs and Jews alike) might well destroy Israel in the Middle East. The Israelis' concern over the Arabs' fertility rate and the contentious debate over the Palestinian right of return more than bornes this hypothesis.

There are also clues in the laws of Israel which suggest a judicial Samson option for the Israelis. It isn't by chance Israel is lacking an official written Constitution or Bill of Rights to guarantee her citizens the full freedom and protection of a democracy. It's rather clever in my humble opinion. Of course, you will never hear about this in the United States.



To: TimF who wrote (32819)6/21/2002 12:16:18 AM
From: Bilow  Read Replies (4) | Respond to of 281500
 
Hi twfowler; Re: "Can you find any example of a country where the majority gives up power to a minority that hates it while it still has a predominance of military power not just within the country but in the entire region." The Jews are not a majority in the region, or even in the territory they occupy, probably. If the region of concern were the tiny gerrymandered country of Israel, then I'd agree with you here. But trying to analyze Israel in terms of the postage stamp sized piece of strangely shaped land it occupies, as if it were on the moon instead of in the Middle East, is silly. The same analysis you're using would have applied to the white regions of South Africa, but that didn't fly either.

Re: "You seem to think moral support is so important. We also provide that." The US support for Israel is in money, military and vetoes at the UN. These are very important things to Israel. When Israel is forced to use ethnic cleansing to make their citizens safe the US will eventually pull that support. It's only a matter of time. In order to survive, Israel has to obtain the support of every US administration from here to 10 years after never. That is too long a time to avoid being unlucky. By the way, some time ago I posted a list of veto usage at the UN, and showed that in every other time a great power used the veto against world opinion, the great power was eventually thwarted in its ambition: "The facts are simple. When the whole world, other than one or two superpowers, wants something, the whole world eventually gets it. Superpower status is not as good as superhero status. This is one of the many reasons that the Palestinians think that eventually they will win. I agree. There are some fights that are so lopsided that the outcome is obvious. Morality is not the issue. Power is. The world majority eventually gets its way." #reply-17328127

Re: "The heavy weapons are good to keep the cross border terror from happening." This is an interesting statement, especially in the light of the WTC cross border terrorism incident, as well as in the light of Israel's experience. I won't comment further.

Re: "South Africa still exists the country is the same with a different government. All of the groups within South Africa considered themselves South African. It was one country in the hearts and minds of its people as well as on the maps so there was no realistic equivilent of giving up land for peace."
(1) South Africa no longer has white rule. Israel will also eventually no longer have Jewish rule. What they call the resulting country doesn't matter. States rename themselves all the time.
(2) That the South Africans now consider themselves as one people is not something that was evident before the whites gave up power. Similarly, the Israeli situation is also not obvious, yet. Watch what happens when the combined country of Israel / Palestine begins doing stuff like fielding a combined athletic team at the Olympics or competing in international soccer. Both sides will suddenly discover that they're all citizens of the "Holy Land" or whatever they choose to call the country.
(3) The South Africans did try to give up land for peace. That was what the Bantustans were. And you're right, it was not a realistic attempt. Israel's attempt to give up land for peace is similarly doomed.

As for the likelihood of the Palestinians building stuff that can shoot aircraft down, that subject is interesting enough in itself that I'll put the links in a separate post.

-- Carl



To: TimF who wrote (32819)6/21/2002 12:34:47 AM
From: Bilow  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 281500
 
Hi twfowler; On the subject of home made guided rocketry, and the likelihood that the developed world will eventually be faced with them:

The Sunseeker is an electronic marvel designed and built by Dave Mandot. It utilizes a three axis, gyro stabilized, fully proportional sun seeking guidance system. The rocket is constructed of LOC 4 inch airframe tubing and stands 5 feet tall. Empty weight is 10 pounds and fully loaded with an I140 motor lifts off at 13 pounds.
...
The Outlaw launch flight of the Sunseeker was a total success. The rocket was launched approximately 45 degrees away from the sun and made a graceful arc into the sun. After the rocket was locked on to the sun, and as velocity increased, some Sidewinder-type "hunting" was evident. This demonstrated the need for AGC (automatic gain control) that turns down control deflections as speed increases.

ourworld.compuserve.com

Radio-Control Rocket with automatic sun-eye roll holding.
THE FLORIDA MOSQUITO
webcom.com

More amateur guided rocket articles:
home.earthlink.net
xprize.org

These aren't powered by those Estes "D" engines that you played with as a child:

SS67B-3 liquid fuel rocket kit
SS67B-3 Rocket Kit (comes with construction manual!)
Only $898 U.S. (+$20 s&h or $100 s&h overseas)
ww.total.net

Even the Tripoli amateur rocketry society (which restricts what kind of materials can be used in rocket construction) makes rockets that can reach the altitude of even cruising airliners:

3.0 Open Altitude Competition
34,988 feet (10664 meters) Craig Snyder, October 6, 2001
tripoli.org

Other hobbiests (outside of Tripoli) are building rockets that can reach into space:

Numerous rocketry groups are attacking amateur high altitude records and are getting close to the official borderline of space, i.e. around 100km [60 miles].
hobbyspace.com

Compare to Goddard's rocketry altitude records:
astronautix.com

"It has done exactly what it was meant to do, so I am very, very happy," Bennett said right after the 23-foot- (7-meter-) long Starchaser Discovery achieved a maximum speed of 700 m.p.h. (1,100 kilometers per hour) in just under three seconds. "My space dream is no longer pie in the sky."
...
Starchaser is building a mobile rocket launcher on the back of trailer truck that will be reminiscent of a Russian mobile missile launcher.

space.com

An interesting FAS analysis:
fas.org

-- Carl