1 Boring Old Man

Reading my last two posts, I can see that I’m skirting having my own opinion about Israel’s current War with Hezbollah. It’s because I am of several minds about it. Israel has alway had a modifed "Bush Doctrine" – Unilateral action, Pre-emption, Strength. In fact, I suspect that’s where we got the idea. It’s got its strong arguments and I think most Israelis see it as the reason for their survival. They might well be right about that. The only thing about it that bothers me is that they seem to me to be only combatants. This policy is not matched with a program of diplomacy that aims towards some more reasonable long term solution. So, I respect their straightforwardness and their successes. On the other hand, they have recurrently made excursions into other countries. If I were a native of neighboring lands, I would see them as opportunistic pugalists, unbending at the bargaining table.

So, what I still feel is supportive, but that they have used our support, counted on our support, without reciprocating in working towards regional programs that might decrease the tension in the Middle East. Without us, they would have never had the kind of success they enjoy. Yet, they have failed to repay us for our decades of support by any consistent attempt to find long term solutions. They say we don’t understand the dangers of radical Islam. That’s just ridiculous in the current world. We more than understand the dangers of radical Islam. Americans are dying daily understanding radical Islam.

But as to their current War. They’re doing the same thing we are doing in Iraq – killing the innocent with the guilty. I can’t argue against that in the short term, but I do think they’re not owning up to the truth about their own part in the state of the mess in the Middle East. We aren’t either.

I don’t think that only demonizing the other side will ever lead us to a solution. Until both Israel and the United States own up to our respective aggression in the region, it is likely to continue to be in a constant state of turmoil that seems to be on a trajectory of endless escalation. I don’t know what’s right anymore. In the current context, there doesn’t seem to be any right – only wrong. So I guess I’m reduced to saying what I said the other day, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results." The Middle East remains insane and in those circumstances, I don’t have an opinion – or, more accurately, I refuse to have an opinion about something where everyone is acting nuts.

Note to self: Remember the cardinal rule of living, "Never accept an invitation to go crazy"…