Truth. At times we even suck at sucking.
Let Saudi Arabia attack Iran, they can beat each other to death, for all I care.
Absolutely agree. All of the Persians I’ve known are staunchly anti-Islamist. And many are politically conservative.
AMEN PLEASE NO AID TO ISRAEL!
But then we would be free to sell anything and everything we make to whom ever.
The American money is corporate welfare to the American defense industry and is also designed to keep Israeli companies from selling arms to who ever wants to buy them.
I think that complete cessation of American Aid and support isn’t going to happen. If it did, it would not be to Israel’s long term benefit.
I think your view of ‘then we would be free to sell anything and everything we make to whom ever’ is short-sighted in view of how the U.S. has supported Israel over the years.
Israel has received move U.S. foreign aid, of all types, than any other country in the world. The U.S. has many alliance with nations throughout the world, yet it has used it’s UN Security Council veto more for Israel than any other nation.
We got your back, hell, as an individual, I got your back and I’m not a fan of the Israeli Government. Please return the favor and have ours.
Israel has Americas back. Israel sends mountains of intelligence to the USA, intelligence that the USA could not obtain if Israel didn’t exist.
Israel improves American weapons and passes that knowledge back to the USA.
If we were free to sell weapons to everyone, we would more than make up the so called aid to Israel. Again this aid has strings attache and most of it must be spent on American weapons, so the aid is corporate welfare for American companies.
I am not a fan of Bibi, but he and he alone brought about the economic revolution in Israel that moved us into a powerhouse. Also 2 Colonels after the Yom Kipper war understood that in the long run Israel can’t do too many wars like that, the cost was too high. So they fought to create a new program, that identified the smartest kids in Israel and sent them to learn rather than carry a rifle. It is on the shoulders of this program that Israel became the “Start Up” nation. I thank G-D for this every day, as it puts money in my pocket.
If your not a fan of the current government because we haven’t made peace with the Palestinians. It wasn’t for not trying on Israels part, Barak at Camp David offered Arafat as a starting point 97% of what he wanted. Israel was turned down.
The leadership of the Palestinians and I don’t care if it is Hamas in Gaza or abbas in the so called west bank(happens to be Judea and Samaria heartland of biblical Israel) do not want peace and a Palestinian country.
For then they would have to lead a country, so they couldn’t blame the evil Jews for the bad economics, trash not being picked up, raw sewage being dumped just on the land or in the ocean. But the real reason is they might be able to steal as much of the aid money and fill their bank accounts in Zurich.
Israel is not perfect, but if you look at a list of things that have been developed in Israel or by Israelis to make your life better and longer it will blow your mind.
I don’t want to be “That Guy” but who does Israel want to sell guns to that they arent already selling guns to?
Lotsa Israeli weapons littering South America, Africa, Eastern Europe, and South East Asia. You can even buy a Galil and a Tavor in the US and a Tavor in Canada.
I mean that’s pretty much the whole world except for the rest of the Middle East who aren’t going to buy Israeli weapons anyways.
That. What people do not understand is that when SHTF for the USA, it won’t be NATO that comes running into the fight, it will be Israel. Absolutely NO doubt in my mind. If we were to get into a bare knuckle street fight somewhere with a powerful nation, I’d take Israel in with me over 90% of the NATO members.
That’s what I was thinking. They can’t sell the F-16s/15s we paid for and that’s about it.
Let’s not delude ourselves here. I don’t recall any NATO country strafing a U.S. vessel (USS Liberty) and then trotting out every lame excuse possible, including that it was our fault. Israel has always been “Israel First”. That’s fine, but then we need to have the courage to temper our own support accordingly. Do I think we should shitcan the whole relationship? No. Do I think there’s any ally out there who takes more and gives the least? Also no.
Our best “ally” is currently pushing us to the brink of an unnecessary war with Iran (we’re just as culpable for taking the bait). If that’s a better ally, then “Fortress America” it is.
Give me one concrete example of Israel backing us on anything when it hasn’t been in their best interest to do so. Their cooperation generally has to be bought in some way shape or form.
Austrailia, for one, has been in every brawl the U.S. has been in. Understood they are not in NATO. Nonetheless, they have demonstrated a willingness to back us that few nations have. And haven’t asked much in return.
Don’t be mistaken, the majority of American’s are willing to risk all to ensure the continued existence of Israel because of their Christian faith. But I believe God who created us all aptly described Israel in Exodus 32 - they don’t always stay loyal to the one that brung them to the dance.
Naomie Harris is my kryptonite. 
https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/explain-war-oceania-eurasia-eastasia-1984-who-499107
Suddenly, in the middle of Hate Week, an event designed to encourage hatred of Eastasia, Oceania switches its enemy. This happens without any warning and, all of a sudden, Oceania is at war with Eurasia and the war with Eastasia never existed. This happens in Part 2, Chapter 9, and brings the realisation to Winston that the entire history of the last five years will need to be rewritten.
But, as Julia notes in Part 1, Chapter 5, the enemy is not really significant: “It’s always one bloody war after another, and one knows the news is all lies anyway.” In other words, it’s not the enemy who matters but rather the fact that Oceania is constantly at war. Whether the war is even happening is another non-issue: again, it is the fact that the party maintains a constant state of war that is truly significant. As Goldstein comments in his book in Part 2, Chapter 9, by keeping the people in this constant state, the party is able to perpetuate an unequal distribution of wealth. It is this unequal distribution which keeps the citizens of Oceania controlled and conquered.
I doubt Israel would do a thing, unless it directly benefitted them.
Of all the countries in the Middle-East, Israel is the only one that isn’t a shithole. It’s the only one I’d want to live in (if I had to live in the Middle-East) and it’s the only remotely secular liberal democracy in the region. For those reasons alone, I’ll happily cheer for Israel and don’t mind my tax dollars being spent to support them.
But I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that if Israel decided it was better to have America as an enemy than as a friend that Israel would turn on the US with zero hesitation. Or that if Israel could covertly attack the US to get what it wants, it would, with zero remorse.
Israel isn’t, “Israel first.” Israel is, “Israel first, last, only, and always.”
The only countries that will come running to the fight when America gets in trouble are the only countries who have ever come running to the fight when America has gotten into trouble: NATO and the Anzacs.
Israel is like Stifler from American Pie. He’s the “friend” that does far out, wacky, self-aggrandizing stunts and you wonder sometimes why you even bother but you just go with it because nobody else likes him
One incident during war, and it always gets brought up. The NSA totally cleared Israel of wrong intent regarding the Liberty incident.
There’s been other wackiness too. Fjallrafn made some good points. Israel has a sorta democratic republic kind of (if hewn heavily on theology) and I feel like unless I just totally went buck and started painting swastikas and kicking old dudes in the balls; I’d at least get a fair trial and not dismembered or handcuffed and thrown off a rooftop. But, and you have admitted this yourself, their government gets too uppity sometimes and brings some of their problems on themselves with their surrounding neighbors.
To be honest there are more Jews in America than Israel. I feel like if Israel were just a little more flexible about just a few things without harping on 70 plus year old drama (or 4000 year old drama) and had a bit of a renaissance; it would be pretty gucci. Not everyone who says something ill is Hitler or Pharaoh. Not everybody is out to get you.
Israel has some stuff going for it but at the same time they get too up in their feelings over cosmically minor things
Arabs and Islam isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and after a while the “God’s Chosen People” spiel sounds arrogant.
I don’t blame the people just the government. But the point is we can cite “oh Mossad is doing this and working in mysterious ways to help America” but lessee some less mysterious ways and more US flag waving on days aside from Fighter Jet and M4 delivery day.
I would like to think more secularism in Iran is attainable because it already happened once.
That’s the key.
Religious practice should be a very personal and separate thing from governance and to be honest it was super cringe worthy when Bush would bring up stuff about God because he wasn’t even religious. He was playing to the crowd.
I remember once someone saying “We never had an atheist president” and I said “I’m pretty sure we have, several times but people just play to the crowd”
I consider myself a faith based person but not everyone is and you cannot represent only half a country while ignoring everyone else or pretending to speak for them.
Like, honestly Netanyahoo gotta go. He’s really holding you back.
But I’m pretty sure none of this will get sorted in my lifetime. So whatever
It’s the Fertile Crescent. It won’t get sorted in anyone’s lifetime.
A lot of folks believe that was covered up for political expedience and that NSA said what LBJ wanted them to say.
LOL it was only about 10 years ago that the NSA gave Israel a clean bill of health.
Except friends dont steal secret nuclear materials from Savannah river to develop their own nuclear program.