Tuesday, July 18, 2006
More Dead in Lebanon
The Israelis have every right to defend themselves from Hezbollah and Hamas, and to destroy both if necessary. But their attack has been all out of proportion to the damage either has managed to inflict, and while I believe firmly in the right of the Israelis to defend themselves (and our ultimately our obligation to defend them) they are losing even my sympathy with stories like this and pictures like this. The Israelis have gone too far, and I'm not the only one who thinks this way.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Just playing devil's advocate: but why is it our 'obligation' to defend them? Can't they defend themselves?
Well, I don't know that it's our obligation, but I do know that without Israel's presence we'd wield a lot less power in the middle east. We get to take the stance of the ally that keeps them from going overboard on the Arabs, so the Arab nations have to talk to us.
As for whether Israel is right, I'll tell you now that I'm not in favor of our continued support of Israel. We need to get off oil and get the hell out of there.
Yes, I do think we have that obligation. We failed the Jewish people during the Holocaust, and we're the only ones close enough and powerful enough to protect them in the Middle East.
And yes right now they have the ability to more than defend themselves, but that may not always be the case.
Well, I think we should protect Israel from destruction... but I also think we shouldn't allow Israel to destroy Lebanon. I think Israel's an important ally, but the truth is, our unabashed and biased support causes us a lot of problems. A more even-handed policy that recognizes that Israel doesn't always do the right thing in response to terrorism (much like the Bush administration) is what is needed in the future.
I agree completely. Though I think we have an obligation to Israel to ultimately defend it from destruction, that does not mean that we should simply stand by while Israel recklessly kills civilians. If anything, we have the right and the obligation to bring Israel into line, because of our close relationship.
I don't believe we owe Israel anything, especially since they've forfeited any right to our moral support. We certainly shouldn't favor them over the Palestinians if this is a question of moral obligations. A useful ally yes, but nothing else.
Post a Comment