Marble Composition

Good for Israel?

Over at TPM Cafe, Josh Marshall asked this question:

There are certainly a lot of other questions to ask about the invasion of Iraq. But because the 'Was It Good for Israel?' question is such a live on both for critics of Israel in the US and her staunchest defenders, I thought I'd return to it.

And basically along these lines, can any defender of this policy still claim with a straight face that the US invasion of Iraq hasn't been a pretty much unmitigated disaster for Israel?

I think the Israelis -- pretty much across the board -- understand that. Does the hawks in this country see that?

Here was my response:

I would argue that nothing the Bush administration has done from January 20th, 2001 on has been good for Israel.

From Day One, the anti-Clinton approach has yielded how many foreign policy successes in the Middle East (cue the crickets)?

If you look at where Cheney comes from, the whole approach seems to be: start all the wars and see who comes out clean on the other side. When you couple that with no understanding of the region whatsoever, then we're only right in the middle of this conflict. This Israel/Lebonan war is just a small blip in the "long war" Cheney keeps talking about.

I think it's pretty obvious where they think the end-game is, and that will only come with the resolution of many conflicts to come.

Isn't painfully obvious by now that it's war after war after war for this troupe, no matter how long it takes, and then things will magically shake out in America's favor? I can't discern any other way of thinking for this gang. And given that, isn't Israel's security just an afterthought?

We already know Cheney is contemplating air strikes on Iran. For me, hope of all hopes, that never comes to be. But if it does, do you think Cheney has Israel's security in mind? Or even the region's long-term stability?

When we all come to terms with the fact that when Cheney says he wants stability in the region, he actually means the opposite?

I've read all the hee-hee's and ha-ha's, and all the Orweillian comparisons, and guess what? I'm not fucking laughing anymore. Are you?

Yes, horrible form referencing my own writing, but I have a hard enough time posting stuff here.

posted by FuzzFinger @ 8/22/2006 05:28:00 PM