iamnotaparakeet wrote:
Or after we kick Syria's, Jordan's, and Gaza's booties?
But Jordan is not even currently a threat to Israel, any more than Egypt is; as for faulting democracy assuming that was your issue with Jordan (if its the late Zarqawi's original nationality this seems an even less logical cause for war!) this is hardly a criterion consistently applied; besides, the results of some elections (and there are certainly few in the region!) are not palatable either; no pleasing some people. Revenge for the not so distant past, or perhaps issues with not accepting the Arab Leagues proposed solution, also seems a more than usually insufficient excuse for disregarding prospective death-tolls. The irresponsible foreign policy (an almost laughable if not insulting eupehmism I grant you) of Iran and Syria, is again a criterion that if consistently applied to, for instance the five permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations.
Besides, surely your nation's army is already in danger of overreach practically speaking (the contribution of my own nation, Australia might be dismissed as inconsequential, mercifully we have not yet had the deaths of your nation, or of the United Kingdom; nor have the deaths of the coalition matched that of civilians within Iraq). I am unclear as to whether you are being sarcastic, or genuinely see any worthwhile goal in further destabilising an already unstable region. You do not even appear to have considered the likely consequences of such a policy for Israel, on whose behalf the proposed action would be ostensibly taken (for starters, the risk of a return to it being indeed the lone Israel against the rest of the region as in past decades would seem to be increased, however unjust it might be to blame Israel for a hypothetical policy of even a close ally. Ahmadinejad is admittedly either unstable or unscrupulously manipulative; his position at home however is not so strong. On the other hand even opponents to the regime would be likely to have solidarity in the event of an invasion, so it would appear to be a singularly self-defeating policy. Furthermore, there are a number of factors likely to render Iran a far more intractible a quagmire than Iraq. I cannot conceive, if indeed you are not being sarcastic, how you can possibly have failed to take into account all these factors. I am confused as to your true motives in writing such ill-considered missives.
As I understand it, most of the Arab regimes are suspicious of Iran's growing influence in the region, the latter at least partially a direct consequence of foreign policy decisions already made. Also some of these regimes are already being armed (even though Saudi Arabia had threatened to step into Iraq should Coalition forces withdraw in order to "aid" - I think this would probably be either arms supplies or training, or. more likely still, mere rhetoric, though it is difficult ot be certain without better information - Sunni militants against Iranian backed Shi'a militias) by the United States, though this seems a confoundedly irresponsible policy.
Please explain what logic has led you to your conclusions.
You also include Gaza in your disparate group. Certainly, however small this area, the current situation there is a real threat to Israel's citizens; even so I am unclear as to why you think the might of the United States Army would be necessary or helpful. I must confess that with regard to Fatah I am rather disillusioned with Mahmoud Abbas/Abu Mazen, whom I had initially been quite naively optimistic about. I cannot help but think that the policies of the international community and of those nearer at hand have unnecessarily contributed to the current calamity of a three-state dissolution, even though the reasons for the position adopted are understandable, though perhaps it is easy to be detached if one has enjoyed security and freedom from fear denied to both the Israelis and the Palestinians.
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You are like children playing in the market-place saying, "We piped for you and you would not dance, we wailed a dirge for you and you would not weep."
10 Sep 2007, 5:03 pm
