Letters to the Editor
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Odd the way massive Russian and Chinese arms deals to the same region get a pass from Gary
I guess Russian Mig-31's and Su-27's, Silkworm C801/2 cruise missiles and such is morally branded as 'good'. Iran gave Syria a Billion dollars to buy Russian weapons for example. Iran, which has an 8-9 billion dollar line of credit with the Russians to buy more weapons.
Oh oh, Libya just took $450 million dollars from France in exchange for its hostages, only to turn around and spend a third of that on French weapons. The UK is largest military supplier to UAE.
I'm guessing that this all because of their altruistic tendencies and out of the goodness of their hearts. All morally blameless, all good. At least they're opposed to those filthy illiberal Jews.
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Bush Preempts his Democratic Successor
A coordinated military withdrawal, and a new round of arms sales, makes a lot of sense. I feel sure this is what the Democrats would have done, in 2008 when they retook the White House. The larger plan would be to rely on diplomacy, and MAD, mutually assured destruction, which on the conventional level means everyone is equally well prepared to defend themselves.
There is a second important reason to sell military hardware to our creditors, the U.S. dollar is in real danger of becoming a worthless fiat currency. The problem is not the trade balance, its what our creditors are allowed to buy with those dollars. We blocked the port deal with Dubai, the sale of UnoCal to the Chinese, and previously the Saudi Arms deal.
In this global economy the arms trade is fungible, Hugo Chavez cut a deal with China for military hardware. Previous more nimble Presidents would have recognized the benefits of selling weapons to Venezuela, while stoking the rhetoric, and maintaining the critical advantage in state of the art technology. One way of recouping some of the inflated oil prices third world dictators charge us, is to sell them some overpriced military equipment. And our MIC knows all about overpriced, underperforming military hardware..
When Israel failed to deliver in the Lebanon campaign the blush was off the rose. Now it makes sense to arm everyone in the region, create a mini cold war standoff, and let the parties try negotiation. Israel was never going to negotiate in good faith as long as they had military superiority.
War with Iran? More likely Bush will use the Kerry option, and give them nuclear material in exchange for the fissionable byproduct. That was the North Korea solution, and it required a long American presence along the DMZ. That's the long term plan, and Democrats will probably continue it in some form or another.
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Think ahead, Gary
"It is self-contradictory to try to roll back Iran while simultaneously propping up the Shia regime in Iraq: One action undoes the other."
You aren't thinking ahead enough, Gary. These arms deals are for the next 10 years. The odds are very good that our plan in Iraq will be changing in 2-3 years. These arms sales could be intended to establish a line of defense against Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas AND Iraq. They are also of long enough duration to outlast the next president, even should they serve two terms.
Consider the recent suggestion by Novak (odious though he is, he seems to know people) that US Special Forces are being used to assassinate Kurdish seperatist militants to forestall war with Turkey. Not to prevent, but to postpone - interesting distinction, isn't it?
Hypothetically speaking, what do you think it would look like if the administration's thinking was actually in line with many experts - that Iraq is indeed a complete loss. Suppose that realizing regional war was inevitable, they decided to prepare for it, and additionally do what they can to place the blame on the next administration. The timing could be simple - once the stage was set, it might only require a diminished US presence to allow the situation to escalate, especially after years of simmering tension. We all know the "surge" isn't sustainable, and isn't going to fix the many problems in Iraq. Maybe the point isn't to fix the problems, but rather to buy time.
This isn't just about the Middle East. Bush has articulated a strategy of "maintaining American strategic dominance" in the entire world. That can be done both by securing the oil for ourselves, OR denying or delaying it being supplied to others. The Iraq war could have in fact be a gamble, either we can have it, or nobody else can.
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Read carefully before you write
"The Professor" chastises Kamiya for calling Saudi Arabia "moderate" without understanding that the way Kamiya used quotation marks was precisely to show that's what others call Saudi Arabia and not how he is labelling it.
As for AnthonyB he fails to note that the reference to Israel as "the Jewish State" is in the sentence after Israel is named. If we call New York "the East Coast state" in contrast to California as "the West Coast state" in a sentence following the naming of each state would AnthonyB take exception? Furthermore, Israel is explicitly a "Jewish state" and not just a country where the vast majority of its citizens are of one religion.
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Like Father, Like Son
I am reminded of a You Tube snippet of Bill Hicks' stand-up, where he pointed out that "George Bush recently approved the sale of x amount of tanks for South Korea, and y amount of F-16 jets for Kuwait, then has the audacity to go on a speaking tour and tell everyone...'The world is STILL a dangerous place!'
...Because of YOU, fucker! A couple weeks ago all they had was rocks."
This sucks...as usual!
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Germans:Nazis=Jews:Israelis
" At least they're opposed to those filthy illiberal Jews."
The problem is not Jews. It's the Jewish State.
Just like the world hated Nazis, not Germans.
That's what the Iranian president meant: The rabid-dog regime that runs Israel now will disappear. That may be by a true democracy in Palestine, Arabs and Jews equal; or Israel being shunned by the world and confined to its self-created ghetto; or new leaders bringing it back to the post-apartheid world.
I wouldn't count on long-term support from America. Demographics are changing, along with hearts and minds. I don't think Hispanics will care more about Jews Over There than Puerto Ricans nearby. People are distinguishing between religious/cultural Jews and the militaristic/socialist loons now running Israel.
The days of automatic largesse from Uncle Sucker are ending. I doubt Israel, as we now know it, will last 100 years. It will lose America's subsidy along with world respect/fear. Forty years from now people will look back and think how ironic, tragic and mad it was for Holocaust survivors to create a neo-Nazi state.