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Politics : Middle East Politics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve kammerer who wrote (5684)	1/29/2004 7:16:18 AM
From: rrufff	Respond to of 6945

Finally - a reasonable post from you. I believe though that you fail to get the big picture. That is, look at a map of the Mideast. We are talking about a tiny strip of land in that huge area. This tiny strip of land has been used cynically by Arab tyrants, largely to keep their power. Without Israel as a focus, they would be fighting each other and their people would be rebelling. As I posted before, there are extremists in Israel. Yet, they do not have real power. The extreme Christian fundamentalists are jokes. Sure, when one is under siege, any support is welcome I suppose. I think they are nuts and, at most, immaterial to the long-term solution. As for suffering elsewhere, I do not think it has to be this suffering vs. that suffering. I believe that things are changing, albeit slowly. See, e.g., Liberia. We are a powerful nation with resources to help around the world. Our own history is easily criticized. Yet, which nation is perfect? Which nation has not been ruled by its own self-interest? Getting back to Israel, the vast majority of Israelis want peace, will give up land for peace. They are not so much different from the US middle class about which you write. However, if you were being attacked daily, afraid to go to the supermarket or to a restaurant, you would be looking for help. You also would likely vote for the party that offered security, knowing that the enemy is so extreme that they cannot even admit that they are negotiating in secret. Official proclamations call not for peace, but for "death to the infidels." Cowardly use of suicide children and mothers, targeting civilians, furthers the atmosphere of fear. Again - it's easy to sit back and make judgments. There is much that one could change about every nation including our own. Outside the tyrannies, e.g. Saddam, nobody wins by 100%. Our elections are 50-50 with 60-40% being a landslide. Yet, more than that percentage supports Israel's right to exist in peace and in strength. Those who post contra to that are considered extreme. The US is committed to rooting out terror. Without Israel, there would still be Al Queda trying to overthrow our "friends" the OILogarchs and tyrants in Arab lands. If Al Queda and the like were to control the mideast and its vast resources, there is no question that the next step would be a world war. Oil wealth would not be distributed to the people, it never has. It would be used for world domination. OBL is not alone in this thinking. The extremists seem to allow for no other version of their word and their religion. They live the historical pattern of the tyrant. That is, "money and power for me" "the people serve me." This is why OBL has what 25 wives? If you want to stop excesses, why focus on Israel, which although not perfect, is a haven of democracy, an oasis in a desert of corruption, murder and tyranny. This has to be stopped now, irrespective of Israel's existence as a strong ally in a sea of terror. If we fail to stop the growing threat, no free nation will be safe.