[DentsRun]

It also behooves a nation to defend her allies. The amount of face we would lose by cutting and running on Israel is incalculable. The consequences over the long term would be devastating. It would convince the world that the US is an unreliable ally.

It does behoove a nation to defend her allies--when her allies are in the right. But when an ally isn't in the right, it doesn't help the United States or the ally to give it blind support.

[cicero's_son]

Defending allies only when they are "right" is a recipe for disaster. Who is to say when they are right? Do you not think there will be disagreements about that?

Alliances are about mutual interests; if they can be tossed aside at a whim, they are meaningless.