Recent Postings on the Question of Israel

>"Bad policy and bad times and bad ends."<

Agreed, but not necessarily bad for Obama. The same way our president has sought to discredit 'capitalism', he is working on discrediting 'democracy'. Wherever he can demonstrate electoral shortcomings anywhere in the world, he can use it as an object lesson to show that 'democracy' does not work. This is one of the arguments he'll be banking on when the time comes for him to make the necessary moves to extend his own tenure in the White House beyond two terms. (And don't think that Castro and Chavez are not helping him with it.)

Look for our mid-term elections to be a complete mess. It will be deliberately so. The strategy is to get the American people so disgusted that the last thing they want to think about is another election. Will it work? No. But it should make for some high drama.
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>"These terrorists," he said, "they are injured snakes."<

Wrong!!! It's we who are injured. They are winning! They will succeed in bringing down a nation of good people and turning it into a place without even the most basic of what we understand to be human rights. There is no evidence that the brutality will end after terrorists have taken full control. No, it will intensify and spill its borders into India and beyond.

All this cancerous hatred toward the West has been generated by only one thing: Israel's presence in the Middle East. Western nations (particularly America) are seen as supporting Israel. The terrorists at their (out of cell phone range) training camps have not yet absorbed the news that Israel has been more or less left abandoned by the West. And even if the news had gotten out, they would then demand that the West itself crush the Jews.

They know that it wouldn't take much more to get the West to do their bidding in this regard. They also know that if the West could be enticed to pull the trigger on the Jews, it could be classified as a murder-suicide; that the once haughty Western imperialists would never again dare to raise any objection to any outrage committed in the name of their permanently angry god.
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Mike - If you've been reading me now and then, you probably know that I have been a supporter of Israel all along - and not necessarily because I like Jews. I continue to believe that if we were to deliver Israel into the hands of its enemies, we would literally lose our souls. It's that serious. (Sorry Lou, but that's what I believe.)

You are right, Mike; there are all kinds of reasons for why Islamists hate us. The one you mention is no doubt the most relevant (even if they themselves don’t know it). But now that the ball has been put in motion, it seems only to be gathering steam. From where does it draw its energy? What is the fuel that powers it? Why do there seem to be unlimited numbers willing to sacrifice themselves and their children - and for what?

It always comes down to Israel. That’s the weakness to which their propagandists always keep returning. Even the Mumbai attacks had that particular component. Were Israel gone, the spring would wind down; the pressure would lessen - at least for a time. I'm convinced of it.

This does not mean that abandoning Israel would solve all (or even any) of our problems. I believe it would create new, bigger and even more profound ones for us (especially if our abandonment of Israel should result in genocide).

It would likely take years to find the words to articulate the consequences, but consequences would be with us nonetheless (whether we acknowledge them or not), like millstones - or a whole flock of albatrosses - tied around our pathetic, cowardly necks.
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The responses generated by my remarks on Israel suggest that questions raised in this regard point to something considerably more sensitive than what is readily apparent. Most comments were designed to mitigate the problem by perpetuating the myth that Israel is fully capable of defending itself; when, in fact, it has been Israel’s strategy all along to align itself with a supportive ‘big brother’ to ensure its continued survival. This tacit understanding has never been questioned until the present administration came to power – and with good reason.

The balance of comments were designed to support of a second myth - promoted by Israel itself – designed to convince the ‘big brother’ that more than just the fate of Israel is at stake.

Both these are myths because they are not grounded entirely in reality. Israel will not be able to defend itself without our help when the hoards are finally unleashed. And the threat is existential to Israel alone. All others will be able to muddle through in a post apocalyptic world.

Israel is a test for western civilization. It is the ‘canary in the coal mine’. What happens to Israel will eventually happen to us (manifold). No question about it: fate has fashioned Israel into the crucible that determines the future of western civilization. Look at what’s happening as we speak: Israel is under threat; the West (and western interests everywhere) is under threat. Israel stands divided about what to do about it; the West stands divided. Each has powerful voices within its own borders giving aid and comfort to the enemy. If Israel is permitted to fall, the West falls. Pure and simple.

With all due respect to your scholarship, Tom; I doubt if your average jihadi fighter understands or cares what happened 500 years ago. All this ’knowledge’ is our torment and distraction to sort out. All they know is ”hate the Jews; kill them, if possible; as well as all those who support their effort to remain among the living.” (Don’t look at me; I didn’t write this script. It is what it is.)