Desicritics Comments on Hanging On The Edge Of A Cliff: Update On The Middle East

Comment by MSchannon

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 13:13:28 EDT

Paul (You wouldn't be Paul Butterfield from the old Blue's Band, would you...nah...) Anyway, your post is nothing but a series of senseless, historically inaccurate rants. But the funniest part is that you don't even know your own history. Check out the April 2006 Atlantic Monthly article, "Double Bind, The untold story of how British Intelligence infiltrated and undermined the IRA." It had nothing to do with Blair...it had to do with the fact that by the time British Intelligence was done, the IRA was destroyed from within. In Decaf Veritas

Comment by Apollo

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 12:01:46 EDT

paul are u high on cocaine or something. if u gotta something useful to contribute please do. It looks like u want to start a fan club for the suicide bombers or become one urself.

Comment by Paul Butterfield

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 11:43:47 EDT

I can't believe some of the comments in this. Israel is a fascist (and a partied) state. You cannot run a country were politics and religion are so inter-twinned for the benefit of the state. It does not work. Israel was created with blood on its hand, using terrorists' tactics. Plans to murder British officials in Britain were well underway in the 1940s. The buying of military might. It's all documented. "Those who live by the sword", as they say. The only way to remove the problem is to remove the extremists Zionists who not only control Israel but America and the world (by influence and money). All Israel has to do is ask America to help, and it goes and bombs Iraq, with the intention of destabilising Iraq, with the three Arab groups now preoccupied fighting and killing each other. A perfect plan that has worked for Israel. Funded by American and British soldiers' lives. It seems to forget that it has received $1.5 trillion of American funds to build their cities and towns out of the desert, including their "Military Might". For years Britain would not negotiate with the IRA terrorists. (Like Israel's stance) Once that extreme right wing Mrs Thatcher was removed and Blair was in power, we made progress. We even released the IRA terrorists just to get peace in Northern Ireland. Captured solders are not worth killing more people over. They volunteered to fight for their own country, to be a pawn for the better cause. No one gives a damn about the Palestinian young men kept in Israeli prisons without charge. Israel, has broken too many UN resolutions and has a lot to answer for, to be "Whiter than white".

Comment by Sanjay

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 17:15:00 EDT

Mark, the fact is that there is no Arab govt with any credibility. Every last one of them is pointing guns at their own people. In that type of situation, can one expect anything else than belligerent stunts by those who are always in need of an external distraction to shore up their own shaky rule?

Comment by Apollo

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 16:47:23 EDT

markie i'am in full support of the Israeli action against the terrorists. but please for gods sake atleast now finish the job don't leave the snake half wounded. we made that mistake in 1971 and are paying the price. just this week the bloody pakis bombed innocent civilians in Mumbai trains.

Comment by MSchannon

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 16:37:31 EDT

Temporal, Israel has tried every non-violent approach short of agreeing to leave and settle in Lithuania. Every concession they make is met with nothing in return. I don't come to this decision lightly, but I've realized that Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and the other terrorist states will only be satisfied when Israel is wiped off the face of the map. In that case, Israel's only recourse is to make it so painful for them that they have to give in. I know full well what the implications may be--for the entire world--but "Never Again."

Comment by Raj

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 16:13:15 EDT

Personal attacks not tolerated.

Comment by balaji

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 15:18:20 EDT

i find that the states of israel and others (palestine, syria, iran) are caught in a trap. the field only seem to value the 'extreme' views and there seems to be no statesmen/women anywhere in sight. while death of any civilian or innocent is unacceptable in the new world, that's what seems to be the mainstream thoughts. very unfortunately. righteous anger and anguish are ok, but a militaristic solution in the world never was sustainable and would never be. but public memories are so short, that they repeat historic mistakes. no people in the world can be subjugated whatever the force. the vietnamese showed it. it's easier to 'occupy' through cokes, macdonalds and hollywood than bombs. but it does not sound macho enough. will the americans ever let saudi be a true democracy? can israel force the US to do it? in my humble view - no way. it's madness all around. US has no guts to bomb north korea. that tells others to get n-bombs as a deterrent against the US. the best for the world would be when US keeps off the mid-east. and let israel defend itself. in its own way. without the billions that american citizens pay for israel, the country would figure out a way of dealing with its neighbors. and let go of the house of saud. stop supporting it. let people of saudi arabia define their destiny. let the american public pay for what it actually costs for petrol. as most on the globe do it. and let US be what its founding fathers wanted. keep off global politics. focus only on its economics. no fantasies of an empire. i guess that would do the trick. it's my fantasy.

Comment by temporal

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 09:33:05 EDT

Mark: use of force is the last tool in the hands of a state to achieve political objectives unfortunately this isreal-palestine imbroglio begs for political solutions scarcity of statesmen on both sides! without using sweetner will say IDF was forced to withdraw by the hezbollah...its only defeat in its brief history...but obviously...they have chosen not to learn from the lessons of that 'strategic' withdrawal...and are venturing in that territory again in perhaps a desperate bid to lure syria and iran...and in the process ignite a bigger war to involve the west... is the irony lost? the military might of israel failed to curb the hizbollahis...and now it wants the fragile forces of lebanaon to curb the hezbollahis? remains to be seen if the world will once again be suckered in this imbroglio... either that or peace with dignity for everyone in the region including israel the choices are clear - but is there time and will?

Comment by Ruvy in Jerusalem

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 07:23:48 EDT

Consider Mark, IMHO, an Israeli military force has to take the initiative and destroy in entirety the missile pods of HizbAllah in Lebanon, invade the Bekaa Valley and occupy it permanently and warn the Iranians that further attempts to destabilize the Jewish state would be met with NUCLEAR retaliation and there would be NO warning. Southern Lebanon must be reoccupied up to the Litani River and the PA totally destroyed. The Saudis must be similarly warned that ANY activity to destabilize the Jewish state would be met with NUCLEAR retaliation, and there would be NO warning. NONE. Middle Easterners do not understand "messages". They only understand actions and words backed with actions. Consider how this works. You have the set[WAHHABI]. Within this set, you have subsets [Moslem Brotherhood, Hamas, Taliban, Al Qaeda, Saudi regime]. The head of the snake is the Saudi regime in Riyadh, the subset that finances the entire set. So, this must be the object of destruction. Who occupies the oil fields? Irrelevant. There is present in Israel TODAY the technology to make the Arab oilfields worthless. That is what NEEDS to be done. The cowards in Jerusalem will not do this. They kowtow to the American and European régimes who prefer to deal with Arabs and find the elimination of Jews convenient, for a variety of reasons. Again, victory is wthin our hands, and again the cowards in on government hill here will just walk away.