Is it in the US' Interest to Support Israel?

[Adam L]

Adam’s
It was going to be impos'sible to write this without talking about terrorists so here goes. Why are Hamas beyond the pail and Fatah not? Both have suicide bombers and rockets launched in their name, the difference is that Hamas are not willing to accept Israel’s right to exist because – like me – they have severe doubts that it was within the purvue of a whole load of white middle-aged Christian from some other part of the world to give away their ancestral lands to a bunch of foreigners who were being shipped in from another continent. I also don’t make a distinction between terrorism by individuals, groups or states for me it is a question how you behave not your politics or who you are acting against. I regret that this definition is not very widely applied and many states, and the US is definitely one of them, apply the term in a rather bizarre and arbitrary fashion. Friendly states can get away with murder (literally) and the same or lesser crimes from others are likely to bring a flood of sanctions. Well meaning – if of dubious legality – interventions like Iraq can lead to hundreds of thousands of additional civilian deaths but no one has the power to call the states responsible to account. Some idiot firing rockets, with the targeting accuracy of a big firework, from Gaza is not the main problem and is never going to be responsible for the kind of death toll I would attribute to a political leader of a state like yours or mine.

I'm not going into an argument over this because it's not going to go anywhere. In the end I really don't give a damn about what you just said and this is why:

1. Hamas supports, trains and directs operations targeting civilians. With the only possible goal being to inflict numerous civilians fatalities. Military targets are legitimate. They may be illegal and quite often just as abhorrent, but they are a legitimate targets. The attack on the USS Cole was criminal abhorrent and I had hoped everyone of the people involved in it were found and shot. On the other hand, a US military ship is a legitimate target. On the other hand dressing up as civilians to sneak in close does bring this back up to a non-legitimate action. Still, it is not an attack on civilians. I'm sorry if I am offending anyone in the military with this. I do condemn and hat the low lives that would and do perpetrate such attacks, but I must acknowledge that this is to some extent a lesser offense than targeting civilians
2. They utilize children in their conflict. They use them as bombers, they are giving 5 year old ak47's and they are molding them into little mindless terrorists. They have little TV shows and school programs teaching these children that killing civilians is OK and in fact a very good thing to do. In my opinion, anyone wherever they are and whomever they are who supports and/or promotes such should be dragged out into the street and shot. (forget about what “crime” it is, they have done something so terrible it doesn't matter) (edit) (I want to make sure no one actually believes I am advocating this. As much as I would care to I understand that this is not a practical option no matter how much some of us may like it to be.) (edit) Children are out of bound and that is that. Until this on its own is stopped, there will be no help of any group that is in any way tied to this.
3. If the Palestinians were out in the street protesting peacefully and asking for simply human dignity, I am sure both Owen and I would be on their side. The problem is that this isn't the case. They do not even have the common sense to not fly the posters calling for the seas to run red with Jewish blood. If I to this day condemn the IRA and have the most sickening feeling when ever I think that there are people in my country who would, have and do raise money for their actions do you think there is any way I can see clear to having sympathy for this “cause.” I do feel bad for the Palestinians caught in this. Primarily, the children. This is not of their fault, but when they grow up and they have been trained into that form, I know longer have sympathy. This is the same way I feel bad for a kid growing up in Newark who because of his situation gets caught up in a bad crowd. When he grows up and gets involved in serious criminal activity (rape, murder, shootings, etc.) the sympathy goes away. I'd like to help those caught in the middle, but there is no way to do this now.

For me that is how it is, and the rest is immaterial. I know you have a different view of “terrorists” so lets avoid this word. Allow me to amend the statement you quoted.


[/quote] If they ever stop electing “a party that doesn't support the things I described above” then we can talk about aid.[/quote]

Sorry if this is a little strong or harsh JJackson, but I wanted to make this very clear for everyone.



Adam L