The longer this aggression lasts, the sooner the state of Israel will collapse from within, according to a number of Israeli and non-Israeli analysts. They haven't been able to disable much of Hamas' underground infrastructure. Good luck in Lebanon. Racism blinds you so they had best move forward with extreme caution. They have not only European/American racism in their eyes but Uber Zionism as well. They might as well be moles. Well, they are, in many ways, though not in the sense of excellence in moving underground.
Israel is at war and knows it, and it expects the attacks that will come, as Beinart predicts.
But does America understand that we are at war as well? My first thought, when I saw a photo of the crater in Lebanon created by the 2,000 pound bomb supplied by the US, was "how are we not a legitimate target after that?"
Certainly, the country that invaded Afghanistan for harboring Bin Laden will not be able to cry foul when we suffer an attack from either Gaza or Lebanon. Of course, we will cry foul, we'll bemoan "terrorism," we'll talk about the cowardly attack, and all that. But much of the rest of the world will be cheering.
The bottom line of Peter's comments, if I understand them correctly, harkens back to a point he made a couple of years ago - namely, that Israel is geopolitically not smart. More specifically, it's inviting a 'quagmire' that will result in enduring threats and conflict.
Grateful for this analysis, which complements a phrase from Rami Khouri's talk on Friday that's still echoing in my mind, a presumption in some places that Israel's soverignty takes precedence over all other sovereignties in the Middle East. Upcoming Wed. Zoomed interview is very relevant now--but wonder if the Zoomed talk wtth Brandeis profs on resignation of their university president is postponed?
It sounds like they have already created a buffer zone, one that doesn't require any violence to main tain -- inside of Israel. Though it's strange that they would think Hezbollah would cross the border the way Hamas and Islamic Jihad did last year -- Lebanon is not occupied by Israel!
After 9/11 I was so furious at the Bush Administration that I felt none of the solidarity that the entire nation seem to feel, especially after learning about the warnings that bush ignored.
Well stated and argued, as one would expect from you. Seems most apt as we see Israel spreading its violence beyond West Bank and Gaza, with US collusion.
The exercise of imagining how we would feel if the victims/aggressors were reversed is always a powerful one. 👍🏼 to your suggestion for buying Said’s The Question of Palestine. It holds up so well.
One small quibble: in a prior post you (correctly, I believe) cautioned against reducing Hamas, Hezbollah or others in the axis of resistance to mere proxies for Iran. But I think I heard the ‘P’ word in this one.
Let’s assume the endgame here is regime change in Iraq as Bennett said the other day. Forecast a year ago by a “scholar” at the Israeli Military Institute (sorry forgot exact name). Equally probable, the plan includes drawing in the US. There is no conflict between tactics and strategy. The Israelis of the North are the pretext for executing a much greater plan that has naught to do with Hezbollah invading (which they could have done at any time). They repeated after this horrific assault that they will stop when Israel ceases its war on Gaza. A point that the West esp US pretends is meaningless because the occupation is meaningless to them. No, the real plan reflects the fact that security and protecting Jews is no longer the reason of state. The state has become an end in itself, its goal to achieve regional dominance and establish itself as a world power. Supported by the messianic nationalism of the religious, the state needs only to perpetuate itself. Like the Soviet state however, it impoverishes itself to do so. This regumeplans to avoid that by winning and then rebuilding an economy in the Orban-like fascist country of a greater Israel, a country that serves a state.
The longer this aggression lasts, the sooner the state of Israel will collapse from within, according to a number of Israeli and non-Israeli analysts. They haven't been able to disable much of Hamas' underground infrastructure. Good luck in Lebanon. Racism blinds you so they had best move forward with extreme caution. They have not only European/American racism in their eyes but Uber Zionism as well. They might as well be moles. Well, they are, in many ways, though not in the sense of excellence in moving underground.
Israel is at war and knows it, and it expects the attacks that will come, as Beinart predicts.
But does America understand that we are at war as well? My first thought, when I saw a photo of the crater in Lebanon created by the 2,000 pound bomb supplied by the US, was "how are we not a legitimate target after that?"
Certainly, the country that invaded Afghanistan for harboring Bin Laden will not be able to cry foul when we suffer an attack from either Gaza or Lebanon. Of course, we will cry foul, we'll bemoan "terrorism," we'll talk about the cowardly attack, and all that. But much of the rest of the world will be cheering.
The bottom line of Peter's comments, if I understand them correctly, harkens back to a point he made a couple of years ago - namely, that Israel is geopolitically not smart. More specifically, it's inviting a 'quagmire' that will result in enduring threats and conflict.
Also, let's not forget where Hezbollah came from. Wasn't it a response to Israel's earlier incursion into S. Lebanon?
Yes. I have also heard that the one they assassinated was a moderate, just like with Hamas.
Grateful for this analysis, which complements a phrase from Rami Khouri's talk on Friday that's still echoing in my mind, a presumption in some places that Israel's soverignty takes precedence over all other sovereignties in the Middle East. Upcoming Wed. Zoomed interview is very relevant now--but wonder if the Zoomed talk wtth Brandeis profs on resignation of their university president is postponed?
It sounds like they have already created a buffer zone, one that doesn't require any violence to main tain -- inside of Israel. Though it's strange that they would think Hezbollah would cross the border the way Hamas and Islamic Jihad did last year -- Lebanon is not occupied by Israel!
After 9/11 I was so furious at the Bush Administration that I felt none of the solidarity that the entire nation seem to feel, especially after learning about the warnings that bush ignored.
Mostly it felt like chickens coming home to roost and predictable.
Well stated and argued, as one would expect from you. Seems most apt as we see Israel spreading its violence beyond West Bank and Gaza, with US collusion.
The exercise of imagining how we would feel if the victims/aggressors were reversed is always a powerful one. 👍🏼 to your suggestion for buying Said’s The Question of Palestine. It holds up so well.
One small quibble: in a prior post you (correctly, I believe) cautioned against reducing Hamas, Hezbollah or others in the axis of resistance to mere proxies for Iran. But I think I heard the ‘P’ word in this one.
Let’s assume the endgame here is regime change in Iraq as Bennett said the other day. Forecast a year ago by a “scholar” at the Israeli Military Institute (sorry forgot exact name). Equally probable, the plan includes drawing in the US. There is no conflict between tactics and strategy. The Israelis of the North are the pretext for executing a much greater plan that has naught to do with Hezbollah invading (which they could have done at any time). They repeated after this horrific assault that they will stop when Israel ceases its war on Gaza. A point that the West esp US pretends is meaningless because the occupation is meaningless to them. No, the real plan reflects the fact that security and protecting Jews is no longer the reason of state. The state has become an end in itself, its goal to achieve regional dominance and establish itself as a world power. Supported by the messianic nationalism of the religious, the state needs only to perpetuate itself. Like the Soviet state however, it impoverishes itself to do so. This regumeplans to avoid that by winning and then rebuilding an economy in the Orban-like fascist country of a greater Israel, a country that serves a state.
I agree that violence is simply a bully principle. Begets more and worse of the same.
May I suggest you check out this book
Offshore: Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism (A Norton Short) By Brooke Harrington
Be careful recommending helping out specific organizations in Palestine. I think that's what triggered the UK to go after Richard Medhurst.