folks forget that Israel is surrounded by an enemy whose primary goal is to eliminate Isreal's existence.
Doug, I'd say that those who are committed to Israel's destruction are the stupid pawns in a much bigger geopolitical situation. I've often made the case here that the retards like the PLO, Hamas and Hezbollah have to be distinguished from the tyrannical states of Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya, Iran and the rest of those corrupt SOB's. The interest of those regimes is NOT to destroy Israel but to keep the blood and hate in the region flowing freely. It's the only way to justify their own repression and to direct the anger of their people outward. Not to mention the corrupt regimes know that in a traditional war (what it would take to destroy Israel) they would end up as toast.
Indeed, it used to be in the interest of the Soviet Union also to stoke the violence (without resolving it) in order to drum up sales of its armaments. The U.S. does that too, but I'm not sure the payments to Israel and Egypt don't outweigh any income from arms sales--or maybe it's just a neat way to funnel tax money to arms manufacturers. Well, you get the idea.
Obviously the U.S. and most of the rest of the world has an interest in Middle East stability to keep the oil flowing (watch gas prices today), and the United States under George W. has taken the decisive step to end the status quo in the Middle East and to move towards a definitive end to the conflict there. It won't be easy.
But that's just my thinking about it. Who knows what's really in the minds of such lunatics like the Ahmadinejad dude?
Well said. You pulled the curtains back on the wizard pretty nicely here. A region not interested in peace, or even victory, but just the useful continuation of violence, is a sad sad thing for all of us. Hopefully at some point the world will tire of this and let Israel push the situation toward a solution, painful as it might be. Thanks for linking and tracking back. Very nice.
Go Israel
Thanks, AbbaGav. I appreciate your insights and humor.
I'm of the opinion that democratization is no longer an option in the Middle East. Developments in economy, society and technology have made representative government inevitable there. George W. is being advized by smart fellows who understand this aspect of history pretty well I think.
It will be painful, and Iraq is an important test case, most of these lessons have to be figured out as we go along and each case will be a little different, but there really is no alternative.
The good news is that lunatics can't last in power long. Managing the damage the Hamas', the Ahmadinejad's, and maybe the al-Sadr's can do before more balanced regimes emerge, will be the key to a more peaceful future there. Very tricky business--and we are burdened with filthy lying liberals who can only criticize and condemn (while the non-retarded among them know that there is no alternative to doing pretty much exactly what GWB is doing).
Then there's N. Korea, the risk of resurgent nationalism in Russia or China, the demographic demise of Europe and their radical Moslem populations, the U.S. demographic problems and being over-whelmed by unassimilated Mexicans....
It doesn't make much sense to place our hope in peace on earth, does it?
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