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| Asparagirl: Is he wobbling? |
| 2002-04-05 |
Bush is being as pragmatically supportive as he can be. The US supports the Israelis for what are basically idealistic reasons: we tend to favor David over Goliath and we recognize a kindred libertarian (small L) society in a sea of dictatorships, with an entrepreneurial economic system as opposed to a system that would be stagnant if not artificially fuelled by oil money. The Euros take a more pragmatic view, perhaps influenced by an antisemitism that goes back to the good old days of burning Moriscos. They count the noses, come out with more Arabs to buy Siemens instead of Black and Decker, and put their money on the bigger market. The balance of influence shifts and the US finds itself isolated with the Israelis. All Bush can realistically do is run interference and try and give the IDF time to get the important part of the job done. Since Yasser is somehow untouchable, that mean they have to take out all his support network. The more time Bush can win for them, the better, but both Bush and Sharon know that the time they're going to be allowed is finite. I would guess that Bush discussed that speech with Sharon before he gave it and that a couple smart fellows two rungs down in both governments discussed in detail exactly how much time was still available. Jeff Goldstein at Protein Wisdom gives the Bush speech a proper analysis. "Bush discussed that speech with Sharon before he gave it and that a couple smart fellows two rungs down in both governments discussed in detail exactly how much time was still available." Seems both cynical and obvious, asking the Palestinians to "form a committee" to delay peace processes until Israeli military action is concluded. "You can fool some of the people come of the time, etc." I suppose eventually we'll be called on to ask US troops to "expel Palestinians," and denounced as bigots if we don't want to. I don't see how Israel is a "libertarian (small L)" society. It is a socialist state, a la the model of so many European countries, is it not? That does not seem libertarian to me, as I understand the concept. I do think that many of us support Israel because it is democratic and free, and it does seem to be moving away from the socialist model, largely because it is becoming more and more entrepreneurial and inventive. Compared to its Arab neighbors, Israel is "libertarian" - you answered your own question when you noted that it's moving away from the socialist model. As I noted yesterday, if Israel ever does see peace it will probably be bad for them in that very area. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |