Israel and friends....foes

[SubGod22]

Sadly, when Israel does act, we probably won't be there to support them. And that's a huge shame.

Ezekiel option

That's crossed my mind a few times. Would hate to see it actually come to that

[SB Shock]

Sadly, when Israel does act, we probably won't be there to support them. And that's a huge shame.

Ezekiel option

That's crossed my mind a few times. Would hate to see it actually come to that

If that happens, it will be a sad/happy day [depending on certain relationships ;-) ] for the world and the U.S.

[SubGod22]

One things for sure, the world would certainly never be the same...

[SB Shock]

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said new sanctions on Iran should be achieved in the near future, Expatica reported March 11. He said France was working on economic sanctions on bank accounts and insurance, as well as sanctions aimed not just at restricting Iran’s nuclear program, but also at supporting opponents of the Tehran regime.

[Maggie]

I think the time in which sanctions might have proven effective has passed. But at least, and I can’t believe I am writing this, the French are trying to do something constructive.

I wrote a several months ago that I thought, absent concrete and decisive action from the United States, that Israel would take matters into its own hands with ten months or so. For better or worse, I still think that Israel will have no choice but to strike.

[SubGod22]

U.S., Israeli relations in decline

I think most of us saw this coming a while back.

[SubGod22]

Looks like Iran is getting over on us once again

[SB Shock]

Looks like Iran is getting over on us once again

LOL. This administration is a bunch of keystones cops. Why don't they quit the charade.

[SubGod22]

Obama walks out on Netanyahu

After failing to extract a written promise of concessions on settlements, Obama walked out of his meeting with Netanyahu but invited him to stay at the White House, consult with advisers and “let me know if there is anything new”, a U.S. congressman, who spoke to the Prime Minister, said.

[SB Shock]

Obama walks out on Netanyahu

After failing to extract a written promise of concessions on settlements, Obama walked out of his meeting with Netanyahu but invited him to stay at the White House, consult with advisers and “let me know if there is anything new”, a U.S. congressman, who spoke to the Prime Minister, said.

I would tell Oboma to go F-himself, but that just me.

Oboma arrogance and pride will be his down fall. George Bush got Israel to halt settlements by not outing the Israeli but by embracing them and giving them their full unwavering support.

Palestinians could have already had a 2-state solution, but Arafat walked away because he knew the focus and blame for the Palestinians lives would turn from Israel to his and PA corruption. Therefore he ordered the next intifada.

[Maggie]

Obama walks out on Netanyahu

After failing to extract a written promise of concessions on settlements, Obama walked out of his meeting with Netanyahu but invited him to stay at the White House, consult with advisers and “let me know if there is anything new”, a U.S. congressman, who spoke to the Prime Minister, said.

I would tell Oboma to go F-himself, but that just me.

Oboma arrogance and pride will be his down fall. George Bush got Israel to halt settlements by not outing the Israeli but by embracing them and giving them their full unwavering support.

Palestinians could have already had a 2-state solution, but Arafat walked away because he knew the focus and blame for the Palestinians lives would turn from Israel to his and PA corruption. Therefore he ordered the next intifada.

If true, this is disturbing – and SB likely hit on what Netanyahu is thinking privately. Whether true or not, President Obama's inept handling of Israel, his many-faceted fantasies about how to achieve peace in the Middle East, are dangerous, because he is forcing the Israelis to think in terms of existential survival. President Obama appears determined to push Israel into a corner.

Why are politicians so prone to stupidities where Israel is concerned? The answer, I think, lies in the refusal to understand that Islamism and terror are strengthening their hold throughout the Muslim world, and it is going to take a long time and much clear thinking and willpower to deal with this. The location of settlements in Jerusalem, is incidental in a much larger process with fateful implications, and to magnify such things out of all proportion only invites yet more Islamism and terror.

[SB Shock]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected a renewed call from the United States to engage diplomatically to overcome the nuclear standoff, saying that a message by U.S. President Barack Obama last month contained “three or four beautiful words,” but nothing new or substantial,

[Maggie]

Interesting column by Ed Koch: Bear in mind that Koch is a Democrat who, with extreme pride and certainty, supported Obama over McCain. Notably, he also endorsed President Bush over John Kerry. He asks, “What would we do if Venezuela invited Russia to build a missile-launch pad, or Russia provided Venezuela with the plans and materials for building nuclear weapons? Would there be a replay of the Cuban missile crisis of the 1960s?” His answer, “I suspect we would do nothing. I fear that we have lost the battle and lost our nerve.” And then:

There is a foul whiff of Munich and appeasement in the air. A harbinger of what is to come is the Obama administration’s abysmal treatment of our close ally, Israel. Some see Obama's willingness to throw Israel under the bus as an attempt to court better relations with the Sunni Arab countries. Obama apparently believes that better relations with the Sunni Arabs will mean less hostility to the U.S. and greater access to oil.

However, hatred of the U.S. has little to do with what we do and a lot to do with what we are – a free, secular and democratic country that protects the rights of women and minorities. No amount of appeasement will change this undeniable fact. Someone also has to explain to me how distancing ourselves from Israel is going to prevent Muslims from killing Muslims by the tens of thousands in Iraq, Iran and Pakistan. Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s statement, “Goyim [Gentiles] kill goyim and they come to hang the Jews,” comes to mind.

One well known supporter of Israel, with great access to the White House, said to me recently, “I have never been so terrified.”

Ed Koch Commentary I Have Never Been So Terrified

This got me thinking about a few things. First, Koch wrote of a “foul whiff of Munich.” He was born in 1924. Plus, he has a historical consciousness. But average people, younger than he: Do they know what those words mean? Hope so — but not sure.

Then I remembered that President Obama had some advice for Israelis last summer. I believe he said they needed to “engage in serious self-reflection.” I remember thinking wow – and being a bit offended. The Israelis and the Jewish people are experts in “serious self-reflection.” They have been seriously self-reflecting for several thousand years - they practically invented the practice. They live in a tinderbox; their existence and survival are threatened all the time. President Obama knows nothing about serious self-reflection compared with the average Israeli - compared even with a relatively unreflective Israeli. It’s their lives that are on the line, not Obama’s. It is they who have gone through war after war, not Obama. And those were wars of attempted annihilation.

I wonder whether American Jews will abandon Obama and the Democratic party in 2012. I for one am skeptical. Forgive my cynicism - or call it weariness - but if Obama bombed Tel Aviv and mandated the eating of pork, American Jews would stick by him: because the liberal-Democratic faith is the strongest faith of all. The one thing that gives me hope is that I know people who were taught, from the cradle - taught by their environment - that the Republican party or Conservatives stood for racism, bigotry, war, racism again, disregard of the poor, racism, backwardness, racism, racism . . . And yet they tell me they grew up and found it wasn’t so. But growing up - can be hard to do.

Then I wondered - is Koch surprised?

[RoyalShock]

However, hatred of the U.S. has little to do with what we do and a lot to do with what we are – a free, secular and democratic country that protects the rights of women and minorities. No amount of appeasement will change this undeniable fact.

The man at the CIA whose job it was to understand Bin Laden and why Al-Qaida was targeting the US said in the 9/11 report it was because we've meddled in their affairs for decades and put a military base in their holy land.

To say it's an undeniable fact that they hate us because we're free (to summarize) falls contrary to expert opinion.

I'm not advocating appeasement or any certain form of diplomacy here. That isn't the point of my post. But rather to point out what has been repeated so often as fact, really isn't.

[Maggie]

I respectfully disagree. Fundamentally, Koch is correct - well I think so anyway.

The CIA analyst’s opinion – that our military presence in Saudi Arabia or backing of Israel, etc – is the key to understanding why jihadists/islamist targeted the United States on 9-11 was/is part of a common perception – that is part of the problem. These grievances are convenient ways to gin up rage for sure but if we acquiesced to those currently in play – they would still target the West and invent more.

These “grievances” should not be taken seriously. After all - Osama bin Laden himself has faulted America for seemingly everything - global warming, high interest rates, shaky home mortgages, and free-market democratic capitalism itself.

The truth is that bin Laden and al Qaeda want power for themselves, and use religious grievances and shifting political demands to try to achieve it. In their worldview, Islam’s chance for a renewed united Muslim caliphate was shattered into impotent warring nations by sneaky 19th-century European colonists. They now want to reunite modern Arab nations into an Islamic empire run by the likes of bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Bin Laden’s problem is not really tiny Israel or global warming or mortgage interest rates, but an all-powerful and free West led by the United States. It alone has the military and economic power to stop radical Islamists. Plus, we bring the more powerful message of political freedom. And American popular culture, with its informality and egalitarianism, is sweeping the globe, seducing far more adherents than does rote memorization of the Koran.