Posted on 03/22/2002 4:27:17 AM PST by vrwc54
Edited on 05/26/2004 5:05:15 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
YES, there's nothing like a good U.S. peace-and-cease-fire initiative to ensure that a bunch of Jews get killed and injured. With two new suicide bombings in 18 hours' times adding 10 more Israelis dead and 100 injured to the death toll in the war with the Palestinians, the Israeli casualty count in just the first three months of 2002 now tops all of 2001.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Yes, our policy there is not helping the Israelis. Lets take a position that every Israeli death will result in the PLO losing 100 more acres until they are pushed into the land set aside for them in say Iraq?
No duh. Afafat and his boys don't play by the rules. (...'can't we all just get along?' That answer would be a no. Because the Palestinian terrorists DON"T WANT PEACE.)
1 Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, 2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.
3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.
4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.
5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.
6 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.
7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;
8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.
9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.
10 For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.
11 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts.
12 For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.
13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.
14 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not:
15 So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.
16 These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.
18 And the word of the LORD of hosts came unto me, saying,
19 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.
20 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:
21 And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also.
22 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.
23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.
Maybe. . .
As an American and a strong advocate for putting U.S. interests ahead of those of any other nation, I feel compelled to pose the question: Does the U.S. need Israel?
Funny how Bush had no problem issuing and then following through on ultimatums with the Taliban. The duplicity here is really painful to watch.
It is no accident that every time the US sends an envoy to negotiate the peace process all hell breaks loose. The Arabs are confident that the US will force Isreal to grant concessions if they can keep up the pressure. We are not doing the Isrealis any favor by injecting ourselves into the peace process.
has details of Saddam's goal.
Yes. I believe that it is *always* to our advantage to stand tall with free and open nations, especially when they are surrounded by hostile (and often deranged) hate-filled dictators.
If we're for promoting freedom throughout the world and standing down dictators, then it's a no-brainer.
Israel is the only state in the region that recognizes freedom and liberty...even in the face of the terror assaults they've had to endure through their entire modern history. While far from perfect (and who doesn't fall short of that mark?) Israel is a democratic state surrounded by hostile totalitarian regimes, usually with one or more madmen at the helm. If we can't stand with Israel then we stand for nothing. I'd say yes...America does need Israel.
What does need have to do with it? Do you have friends only because you "need" them? Are you the type of person that walks out on a friend because it is inconvenient?
Israel and the US have a common enemy. That enemy will be our enemy whether we stand by Israel or not. We may not need Israel, but its always nice to have friends, whether needed or not.
I understand the "Israel is the only democracy in the region" argument, but what does that have to do with the security of the United States or the protection of the rights of U.S. citizens? What does it mean to "stand with Israel"? Does it mean sending in troops if Israel is invaded, even though our security isn't threatened (a la Vietnam)? Are we to expect our troops to die in order to defend Israelis?
Some may argue that to "stand with Israel" is to support them with arms and foreign aid. But we've been granting hostile Arab nations that same luxury. It seems that in order to really give Israel our support, we should pull our support from the Arab nations. But if we do that, we risk angering Muslims in the region who would then be more prone to launching terrorist attacks against both Israel and the U.S. We seem to have painted ourselves into a corner in the Middle East by adopting a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" foreign policy.
Right now, I think that the best we can (and should) be doing is morally and vocally standing beside Israel, especially in our common fight against terrorism.
Publicly telling Sharon to do whatever he needs to do, to eradicate Islamofascist terrorism -- just as we've been doing to the Talibastards and al Qaeda -- would be a very good start in standing with Israel.
It is ridiculous to even try to compare personal relationships to national ones. The federal government is charged by the Constitution to defend the inalienable rights of those living in the U.S., not in foreign nations. The government is supposed to do what's best for U.S. citizens, not Israeli citizens. Look at it this way: if our relationship with Israel helps our government defend the rights of U.S. citizens, keep it up. If, however, such a relationship invites terrorist attacks and unwanted enemies, break it off.
The argument can be made that by posturing ourselves as an unwavering ally of Israel, we have bitten off more than we can chew. Your assumption that we would still be targeted by terrorists whether we stood by Israel or not is completely unfounded.
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