You should read it more carefully. The fight described is entirely between Americans - one from the Marines, one from the Navy, with American bystanders. Nobody is "supporting American GI's being attacked", it is the story of a bar room fight, no doubt of the usual senseless sort, between several Americans. The point of the story is that the bystanders realize that they must let the fight continue, as much as they hate to see it -- remember these guys are friends of the two men fighting -- until one finally surrenders, thereby ending the dispute once and for all.
The analogy to the situation in the Middle East isn't so much that the individual men fighting represent the two sides of the conflict, but that the bystanders -- namely the rest of the countries in the world -- may need to let the fight play out until one side finally says "I quit", because that will finally resolve the dispute and lead to peace.
So how old is this article?
If your #82 does not work there is very little hope for the lad.