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Politics : Stop the War! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: paret who wrote (13491)	4/15/2003 1:47:53 AM
From: Doug R	Respond to of 21614

The US should discontinue support and aid for Israel AND Palestine. Surround BOTH with a massive offensive force and do some regime changing. If either one screws up we invade both. If they want to behave like delinquent children, the US should treat them like delinquent children. See if Israel and Palestine don't get real friendly with each other then. We have alot of troops over there already. Might as well put them to good use.

To: paret who wrote (13491)	4/15/2003 1:59:50 AM
From: Doug R	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21614

Guess what? We don't need Israel as a strategic ally anymore. We gonna own the ME and we're movin' in...a whole bunch of crucifix wearin' Christians comin' to spread the word of Jesus. There is only one country in the world that has not yet fully grasped the implications of the American invasion of Iraq, and that country is Israel. From certain points of view, the invasion worked in Israel's favor. The work of the just is always done by others. Iraq, despite all the bombastic pronouncements by President Bush, is not a strategic threat to the United States or to the free world, but it is definitely a threat to Israel. That threat has been removed, more or less. However, the invasion of Iraq dramatically lowers Israel's stock as a strategic asset. And not because Israel is not loyal to Uncle Sam; on the contrary, it is a most obedient and faithful vassal. It's just that Israel is not really needed. Israel's great strategic weight stemmed from its ability to act - or to constitute a potential threat - in a region in which the United States did not want to intervene directly. Israel was a regional mini-power through which it was possible to threaten the Soviet bloc and its satellites, or the Arab world. Israel preserved American interests. If American involvement becomes direct, there is no further need for mediators. The United States does the dirty work itself. Moreover, as I have argued, American intervention in the Middle East was chosen less for any salient interest (that is, an economic-strategic interest) and more because it is easy to carry out. In the new world, Arab oil is not insignificant, but its significance is far less than it used to be. From other aspects, the Middle East has mainly nuisance value. What will be the significance of the structural reduction in Israel's status? It will mean that American readiness to go on paying so as to extricate us from the morass in which we are mired will be diminished. It is unlikely that the United States will exert increasing pressure on Israel in order to achieve durable political solutions. The United States will make do with bad solutions, based on the long-standing American principle of forging poor settlements the consequences of which will be paid by others in the future. Donald Rumsfeld has no inclination to give prizes to Arafat and his successors. He even likes Ariel Sharon. But the whole thing is starting to cost too much money. American support will be reduced. The economic crisis will deepen. Israeli democracy will continue to be eroded. It won't take much for Israel to become just another Third World country that solicits help from those willing to be generous. What conclusion should Israel draw from the war? That it should hurry on its own to achieve a good settlement that will make it possible to rehabilitate the economy and start rehabilitating the society and the state of democracy in the country. In the new world, Israel's major asset is not military might but genuine membership in the club of the advanced countries. haaretz.com