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Subject: Is Israel a strategic asset or a strategic albatross
Ezekiel    6/16/2010 5:01:51 AM
Since Barak hussein Obama took the reigns he has instituted a supposed "pragmatic" realism to U.S. foreign policy and it seems that Israel is target number 1 and is being thrown under the bus to win favor in the ME/Muslim world...do you think this approach is in the best long-term interests of the U.S. and why?
 
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PlatypusMaximus       6/16/2010 7:20:39 AM
If we actually believe all that liberty, democracy and human rights crap we preach, then strategic asset.
If all that anti-slavery crap we preach extends to women, then strategic asset.
If the Koran instructs Barak Hussein Obama to lie and deceive his enemies, then "strategic asset"
 
Hold on, Israel.
 
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Wicked Chinchilla       6/16/2010 9:02:04 AM
Its an asset with a tendency to act like a loose cannon every now and again.  There IS a whole lot of gray area between "Asset we will keep, adore, and love no matter what you do" and albatross that "we will cut off to gain short term favor."  The reality of the situation is in the middle.  Or do you think that for the U.S. to truly be an ally to someone they must never criticize them?
 
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PlatypusMaximus       6/18/2010 8:00:27 AM
There is no question of whether or not Israel or the United states can & should be checking ships for black market military hardware and aid to terrorist organizations.
Well...maybe there is, but one has to cross an awful lot of gray area to get from that...to what Israel's size, shape and location deserves to be because of it.
Which is what it is being used for.
 
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timon_phocas       6/18/2010 5:26:49 PM
Herodotus once said  that a man could sleep on the King's Highway with a sack of gold and his virgin daughter secure in the knowledge that they would remain unspoiled when he woke up. Today,  Israel is the only place in the Middle East where a US ship can dock, or a US plane can land, with no fear of molestation. That, to me, is the very definition of a strategic asset.
 
Do I believe that US and Israeli interests always coincide? No 
 
 
 
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Aussiegunneragain       6/19/2010 7:57:44 AM
If people consider Israel to be a strategic liability to the US because a lot of muslims get upset that the US supports their arch enemy then they should think again. The muslims in question are unreasonable enough that if they didn't have Israel as a reason to hate they US and the West in general, then they would move on to the next reason. "Convinced of their own superiority and obsessed with their lack of power" is the pertinant quote that springs to mind. Just continue to do the right thing for freedom.
 
That said, Israel could try harder to not do things that tread on the toes of it's friends. Things like selling US weapons technology to China and stealing Aussie passports for assassinations just makes it harder for those of us who support them to do so.
 
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CJH       6/20/2010 7:25:36 PM

Since Barak hussein Obama took the reigns he has instituted a supposed "pragmatic" realism to U.S. foreign policy and it seems that Israel is target number 1 and is being thrown under the bus to win favor in the ME/Muslim world...do you think this approach is in the best long-term interests of the U.S. and why?
An answer - perhaps a little cynical - could be that it makes sense to the same extent that cutting back on border patrol people, dropping missile defense, bashing the US in foreign countries ("apologies"), bailing out government, incurring on the country an enormous debt for no good reason, taking over the auto makers, demonizing anyone to doesn't fall in line, telling Republicans to stop listening to Rush Limbaugh, criticizing a Cambridge policeman, etc do.
Our president lacks sense unless one believes he is actually out to destroy the US (and Israel) as a sovereign country. Then he makes sense.
 
But, by appearances at least, he was duly elected by the American people.
 
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CJH       6/20/2010 7:34:31 PM

Since Barak hussein Obama took the reigns he has instituted a supposed "pragmatic" realism to U.S. foreign policy and it seems that Israel is target number 1 and is being thrown under the bus to win favor in the ME/Muslim world...do you think this approach is in the best long-term interests of the U.S. and why?
I would hope that the Muslims, Arabs mainly, will increase in sense in that they will see Israel as a valuable resource for them. As international media penetrate their societies, they will get a better idea how the world outside works. They will get ideas about how they themselves might live better from that. Israel probably will be seen to have a lot of assets of which they can avail themselves.
That is, if reason reigns.

 
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PlatypusMaximus       6/21/2010 3:10:56 PM



Since Barak hussein Obama took the reigns he has instituted a supposed "pragmatic" realism to U.S. foreign policy and it seems that Israel is target number 1 and is being thrown under the bus to win favor in the ME/Muslim world...do you think this approach is in the best long-term interests of the U.S. and why?

An answer - perhaps a little cynical - could be that it makes sense to the same extent that cutting back on border patrol people, dropping missile defense, bashing the US in foreign countries ("apologies"), bailing out government, incurring on the country an enormous debt for no good reason, taking over the auto makers, demonizing anyone to doesn't fall in line, telling Republicans to stop listening to Rush Limbaugh, criticizing a Cambridge policeman, etc do.


Our president lacks sense unless one believes he is actually out to destroy the US (and Israel) as a sovereign country. Then he makes sense.

 




"If by losing in a certain action he can gain more members, then victory lies in losing."
                                                  --- Saul Alinsky, Rules For Radicals pg. 113
 
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