12 February 2008 - The few who know
Yes, there are still a few of us out there who believe that America needs to respond to the Iranian threat with strength, not appeasement. Norman Podhoretz is one, and this blog, courtesy of RedState.com, is a poignant reminder of the importance of his ideas at the dawn of what could possibly be an era of isolationism under Obama.
posted by Joel @ 12:35 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Joel has hit the nail on the head. The election, increasingly looking like a contest between Obama and McCain will be over America's role in the world. With the American economy in near recession, expect traditional American populism, isolationism and the comeback of independents to the party not in power to prevail. Israel needs to think now how it intends to navigate this new reality. The choice for Israel is to continue to officially pursue the two state option which will still be the prevailing option on the table, or to ally with what will become a very vocal right wing American opposition, which of course will not be where American Jewry is at. The second scenario dangerously dances with apocalyptic possibilities. Because America goes into a laager, and its right wing does as well, is no reason for Israel to do so. Israel needs to think about cultivating other friends in Europe, Asia and Africa, and will only be able to do this if it sticks to pursuing a partition deal. Any decision to militarily neutralize the Iranian nuclear capability will be a difficult one to make because the cure itself is very threatening. I anticipate Israel seriously preparing its military options, but not necessarily acting until the final hours for manuevering. The main point now is for Israel to establish her viability as an independent player in the game of nations who is no longer a vassal of the United States, but not an adversary of the USA either. Might McCain yet prevail? Its hard to see it happening at this point. Do the Islamist Radicals desire the demise of America? Most definitely. But Americans don't understand that their own moral and cultural decline is enough for the Muslims. The one threatened with physical destruction remains Israel. The overwhelming majority of American Jews will not subordinate their vote to what would be the best American global posture for Israel, even when presented with a clear choice between McCain's realism and Obama's hopeful idealism. In fact they are going for Obama in the Democratic primaries.
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