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Bill Kristol's article is nothing but a disguised plea to keep America defending Israel.

And just what has Israel got to do with Russia vs. Ukraine? The last I heard most Jews (and I assume most Israelis) didn't really like the Ukraine, especially the new government.

But more importantly, just what is wrong with supporting Israel? We used to support Nationalist China, South Korea, South Vietnam, West Germany, and the Contras. And there was a time when even palaeoconservatives demanded US support for Rhodesia and South Africa. So what's the deal? What makes Israel different from all these other countries? And what makes Arab/moslem Communists any better than any other kind of Communist?

It couldn't be that little thing about being "outside western civilization," could it? Just what is "western civilization" anyway? I don't know if you've noticed, but unlike north and south (which are absolute), east and west are purely relative.

Are the chrstian Ethiopians, Assyrians, and Armenians also "outside western civilization?"

If Israel and Israelis are so alien to "western civilization," perhaps "western civilization" should remove the Hebrew Bible from its holy book and replace it with the stories of Roland, El Cid, and George Washington. Because right now, pal, the west's holy book says Israel is a very special place and Israelis are very special people.

I believe that Israel, despite its lifelong flirtation with socialism, is at the core of Western civilization. But I do not think that the foreign policy and warmaking decisions of the United States should be determined on such an ephemeral notion as defending "Western civilization."

I suggest that it would be convenient to the United States interests if Israel were to prosper in peace. I am not sure is in America's interest to make war on behalf of Israel or to try to arrange all of the chess pieces in the Middle East to make that world safe for Israel.

Moreover, support for Israel carries a price and we ought to consider whether that price is worth paying for what we get. In sum, we support a 8 million Israelis against hundreds of millions of Arabs and more than 1 billion Muslims with a ton of oil. If what we get for that support is domestic support for politicians at the polls, I oppose it. If what we get out of that support is a safer world for the United States, I favor it.

This is a standard which I do not apply only to Israel, but to all our so-called "allies." If you look at my post #37, I think you will see I raise much the same questions and that applies to your question about whether Arab communists are different. If a radical leftist Obama is in bed with radical Islam that is not a paleo-conservative alliance rather it's one which ultimately must come to a death struggle between communism and Islam.

More important than our relationship with Israel is our strategy concerning Islam. We have tried invading and occupying nations, and that has failed. We have tried leading from behind, and that has failed. We have tried supporting the Muslim brotherhood, and that has failed.

Edison could try hundreds of ways to make a lightbulb and fail but we might not have the space or time for so many failures.