What He Said....
posted by The Cunning Realist at Friday, June 30, 2006
Friday, June 30, 2006
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I am a New York City resident in my forties, an investment professional, and a conservative. I have an MBA from Columbia University.
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14 Comments:
I found some of the early comments on that Washington Note article interesting, but so much time has passed that it's pointless for me to comment over there. So I will comment here. One early commenter at Washington Note points out, the U.S. didn't overreact to provocations during the Cold War, or else we would have had a nuclear exchange with the Soviets. The commenter after him, defending Israel's recent actions, responds,
"Can we really compare the United States during the Cold War and Israel today? It would seem that the Israeli's neighborhood is a bit different and certainly more dangerous than ours at any time in the last 150 years. Of course this isn't just about one soldier, but rather has multiple causes not the least of which is the fact that a terrorist organization that is based on the idea that Israel needs to be destroyed is at the helm right next door. If the United States every faced such a situation I think our restraint would also be tested..."
I think this cuts to the heart of the whole War On Terror thing. I find it preposterous to say that Israel's situation, with a bunch of unshaven teenagers kidnapping soldiers and shooting RPGs, is "more dangerous" than the Cold War, with thousands of multi-megaton nuclear weapons targeted at our cities, set up to fly automatically at a microsecond's notice even if there was an unintentional computer error.
But perhaps it feels more dangerous, because there is some degree of religious motivation (therefore it's OK to assume one's opponents are completely irrational and insane), more heated rhetoric -- and things like beheadings and kidnappings are far more visceral than the abstract, particle-physics thought of 60 megatons of nuclear energy being liberated in downtown Los Angeles.
For those reasons, Israel drastically overreacts in Palestine, and reacts in inappropriate ways (escalating the original problem). It's visceral, not rational. And also, the U.S. vastly overreacts, and reacts in inappropriate ways, in the so-called Global War on Terror. It's visceral, not rational.
I was surprised to hear the Palistinian demand to free women and teenagers. Does anyone know how many Palistinians, women and teenagers, are being held in Israel and in what conditions? I really don't know anything about the situation. Does Hamas have Israeli captives, other than the one soldier, or is suicide bombing their main tactic?
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/06/02/syrianbase.shtml
If Israel has snapped, then it should not be.
The whole 'they want to destroy us' meme has gotten old.
The point is, Israel itself doesn't want peace until it has the land it wants.
http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP06-011/$File/rwp_06_011_walt.pdf
The whole 'they want to destroy us' meme has gotten old.
No. You're probably one of the many people in Western civilization capable of seeing the long view.
The point is, Israel itself doesn't want peace until it has the land it wants.
That's funny. The same thing was said about Arafat during the 90's.
With regards to what 277fia wrote:
The threat to Israel has never been the Palestinians. It's always been their Arab neighbors. The PLO and Hamas have been funded for years by Israel's neighbors/enemies to strike at Israel incognito. They can claim that they had nothing to do with the attacks on Israel. Otherwise, that would give Israel carte blanche to carry out attacks against its neighbors, rather than its bloody blunders against the Palestinians.
Don't any of you remember the Yom Kippur War?
At no point have I argued in favor of granting Israel the huge amount of foreign aid that they receive. In fact, I'm against foreign aid in principle for just about everyone.
And, at no point have I ever suggested that Israel should be given a pass on what they've done. In fact, Condi should be over there trying to smack some sense into the Israeli leadership. They've played right into the hands of their enemies and now everyone hates them.
Gee, that sounds familiar.
Doh. That should've been incapable in that second sentence.
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