In ww2 the allies occupied Germany and stayed there until peace was ensured. Why should this be any different? The Palestinians need to take responsibility for the blowback from their actions and positions. Until they figure out that they arent ever going back to Israel, they can stop this absurdity of playing refugees and get on with their lives, just like the Jewish refugees from Arab countries and the millions of refugees following ww2.
Jeremy Ben-Ami writes, "....the Iraq War was unjustified...."
Ending psychopathic dictators with a well documented record of violently oppressing their own people and repeatedly invading neighboring countries should always be a goal for us to aspire to. Thus....
It's not a moral question, but a TACTICAL one. Was the invasion of Iraq the best method of accomplishing this goal? This can be reasonably debated.
On one hand, the invasion of Iraq resulted in considerable violence within Iraq. This violence was generated primarily by various bands of psychopathic mobsters who wanted the U.S. out so that they could continue plundering the Iraqi people.
On the other hand, if the invasion of Iraq had not taken place we'd most likely now be looking at a nuclear arms race between Iraq and Iran which would quickly spread to Saudi Arabia and maybe other Gulf States as well, perhaps resulting in air strikes by Israel on these countries.
The above history is relevant to our analysis of the war in Gaza because, just like with the Iraq war, we on the Left have nothing useful to offer other than sanctimonious moral proclamations. All we have to offer in regards to the Israel/Palestine conflict is the "two state solution", a ridiculously out of date fantasy which is never going to happen. We on the Left don't have a constructive solution to offer in the Middle East because we aren't really interested in real world solutions, but in moral proclamations which we can use to inflate our own self image. This is a longstanding pattern which dates back to at least the Vietnam War.
The Israeli government has a plan for resolving these issues, the destruction Iran's proxies. You may not like this plan, and I don't either. But it is a specific concrete plan which Israel is pursuing with considerable skill. It's not a vague fantasy like the "two state solution".
Here's my plan for the Middle East conflict.
Anyone on any side of the conflict who is intelligent should pack their bags and take their family out of the region as soon as possible. It's only a matter of time until this conflict goes WMD, and then everyone involved in the conflict is going to lose. The only people who will win will be those who got out in time.
Joe- We're all in to support the Ukraine in their defense against a similar conquest. Yet, we not only turn a blind eye to the slaughter that we're seeing in Gaza and Lebanon, we send the perpetrators more weapons. Were it any other group of people, we'd be doing everything in our power to stop the genocide. Bibi got a trifecta....he got his authoritarian buddy elected, he avoided (at least for a year) answering his own justice department for his criminal conduct and now he's got an even freer hand. The Israel I grew up knowing is gone...
At the early stage of this conflict, I posted and asked the question: What are you going to do tomorrow? There are roughly 4 million Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank. Unless the plan is to exterminate them, the Israelis are going to find themselves in a constant state of war. Indiscriminate killing women, children and the elderly has a way of making enemies. And that's only in Gaza. Lebanon has not inflicted any harm on Israel; Hezbollah has but they are not in the North. Beirut and north is Christian territory and Hezbollah is not welcome there. Lebanon has virtually no army and is suffering its own plight...while hosting a million Syrian refugees fleeing Assad.
And to think that we, as Americans, had a huge part in keeping this going, is untenable to me.
Like Ukraine, Israel was attacked by Gaza and Lebanon. They are doing what they need to do to ensure their security. We should continue supporting them just like we should support Ukraine.
In ww2 the allies occupied Germany and stayed there until peace was ensured. Why should this be any different? The Palestinians need to take responsibility for the blowback from their actions and positions. Until they figure out that they arent ever going back to Israel, they can stop this absurdity of playing refugees and get on with their lives, just like the Jewish refugees from Arab countries and the millions of refugees following ww2.
Maybe they should release the hostages. Until they do, no of this matters
Jeremy Ben-Ami writes, "....the Iraq War was unjustified...."
Ending psychopathic dictators with a well documented record of violently oppressing their own people and repeatedly invading neighboring countries should always be a goal for us to aspire to. Thus....
It's not a moral question, but a TACTICAL one. Was the invasion of Iraq the best method of accomplishing this goal? This can be reasonably debated.
On one hand, the invasion of Iraq resulted in considerable violence within Iraq. This violence was generated primarily by various bands of psychopathic mobsters who wanted the U.S. out so that they could continue plundering the Iraqi people.
On the other hand, if the invasion of Iraq had not taken place we'd most likely now be looking at a nuclear arms race between Iraq and Iran which would quickly spread to Saudi Arabia and maybe other Gulf States as well, perhaps resulting in air strikes by Israel on these countries.
The above history is relevant to our analysis of the war in Gaza because, just like with the Iraq war, we on the Left have nothing useful to offer other than sanctimonious moral proclamations. All we have to offer in regards to the Israel/Palestine conflict is the "two state solution", a ridiculously out of date fantasy which is never going to happen. We on the Left don't have a constructive solution to offer in the Middle East because we aren't really interested in real world solutions, but in moral proclamations which we can use to inflate our own self image. This is a longstanding pattern which dates back to at least the Vietnam War.
The Israeli government has a plan for resolving these issues, the destruction Iran's proxies. You may not like this plan, and I don't either. But it is a specific concrete plan which Israel is pursuing with considerable skill. It's not a vague fantasy like the "two state solution".
Here's my plan for the Middle East conflict.
Anyone on any side of the conflict who is intelligent should pack their bags and take their family out of the region as soon as possible. It's only a matter of time until this conflict goes WMD, and then everyone involved in the conflict is going to lose. The only people who will win will be those who got out in time.
Joe- We're all in to support the Ukraine in their defense against a similar conquest. Yet, we not only turn a blind eye to the slaughter that we're seeing in Gaza and Lebanon, we send the perpetrators more weapons. Were it any other group of people, we'd be doing everything in our power to stop the genocide. Bibi got a trifecta....he got his authoritarian buddy elected, he avoided (at least for a year) answering his own justice department for his criminal conduct and now he's got an even freer hand. The Israel I grew up knowing is gone...
At the early stage of this conflict, I posted and asked the question: What are you going to do tomorrow? There are roughly 4 million Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank. Unless the plan is to exterminate them, the Israelis are going to find themselves in a constant state of war. Indiscriminate killing women, children and the elderly has a way of making enemies. And that's only in Gaza. Lebanon has not inflicted any harm on Israel; Hezbollah has but they are not in the North. Beirut and north is Christian territory and Hezbollah is not welcome there. Lebanon has virtually no army and is suffering its own plight...while hosting a million Syrian refugees fleeing Assad.
And to think that we, as Americans, had a huge part in keeping this going, is untenable to me.
Tom
Like Ukraine, Israel was attacked by Gaza and Lebanon. They are doing what they need to do to ensure their security. We should continue supporting them just like we should support Ukraine.