Go Back   Professional Soldiers ® > At Ease > The Early Bird

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-22-2009, 21:12   #61
GratefulCitizen
Area Commander
 
GratefulCitizen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Page/Lake Powell, Arizona
Posts: 3,440
Maybe Israel's neighbors just need "breathing room".

If we let them have Poland...err... I mean Israel, maybe they'll leave us alone.
__________________
__________________
Waiting for the perfect moment is a fruitless endeavor.
Make a decision, and then make it the right one through your actions.
"Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap." -Ecclesiastes 11:4 (NIV)
GratefulCitizen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-24-2009, 21:02   #62
Soak60
SF Candidate
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Lehigh Valley Area, Pennsylvania
Posts: 54
My view of Israel and certain other countries (Taiwan is a good example) is that America uses "proxies" to project power around the world and indirectly look out for our interests. These proxies need to meet certain requirements; a fairly transparent society with popular assent and representation, basic human freedoms, etc. Strong as we are, we cannot handle everything. Using nations whose interests fall along similar lines is the next best thing.

Let's say we back out on supporting Israel- REALLY back out. Not just on funding, also on selling them arms and equipment, support in the UN, moralistic support. Then let's say that due to this Israel is (somehow; I also believe in supporting Israel because her children are STRONG) destroyed by the Arabic countries surrounding it.

Is this in our best interest? Do you really believe it will stop there? It is in the nature of a society of conquest to continue in this conquest until stopped. Maybe in the short term we would see fewer direct problems (imagine an Ottoman-Empire type consolidation war following Israel's destruction-following the same lines of thought, who cares?) but leaving a foe to become stronger while focusing only on the pleasures bough by ignoring that danger is hedonism, pure and simple. Something that America already has enough of.

We intervene, because we must. We support likeminded countries because doing so is in our best interest. I believe that our system of government is the best one ever created, and countries who attempt to follow our example need to be supported because it is the RIGHT thing to do, not necessarily the easy or expedient thing.

No, we may not always see eye-to-eye, and the benefits may not be more dollars in our pockets or anything that tangible. But freedom and peace always have a price, whether in material goods or blood. Myself, I'd rather pay 5 cents a day and see a free, democratic society continue than any of the possible alternatives.
Soak60 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-25-2009, 02:16   #63
LongWire
Quiet Professional
 
LongWire's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: N.E.WA
Posts: 1,137
On it's face, I care more about supporting a partner who would stand with us such as Israel, than supporting Egypt, who given a choice on who to stand with would probably not end up in our favor.

We don't have to agree on everything, but you still help when you can. People tend to remember their true friends in good light, and maybe in the future they can return a favor. Thats just MHO...........
__________________
"Most of us here can attest that we never took the easy way. Easy just is............easy. Life is a work in progress, and most of the time its a struggle." ~ Me

"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." -Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956)

"A Government that is losing to an insurgency is not being outfought, it is being out governed." Bernard B. Fall
LongWire is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-25-2009, 03:49   #64
pheepster
SF Candidate
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: USA
Posts: 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by nmap View Post
OK, so what am I (or you, good reader) getting that makes my $12.52 worthwhile?
...since there aren't any jobs around here, looks like you can double your share.
pheepster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-25-2009, 09:30   #65
Go Devil
Guerrilla Chief
 
Go Devil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Near Water
Posts: 560
Quote:
Originally Posted by Soak60 View Post
My view of Israel and certain other countries (Taiwan is a good example) is that America uses "proxies" to project power around the world and indirectly look out for our interests. These proxies need to meet certain requirements; a fairly transparent society with popular assent and representation, basic human freedoms, etc. Strong as we are, we cannot handle everything. Using nations whose interests fall along similar lines is the next best thing.

Let's say we back out on supporting Israel- REALLY back out. Not just on funding, also on selling them arms and equipment, support in the UN, moralistic support. Then let's say that due to this Israel is (somehow; I also believe in supporting Israel because her children are STRONG) destroyed by the Arabic countries surrounding it.

Is this in our best interest? Do you really believe it will stop there? It is in the nature of a society of conquest to continue in this conquest until stopped. Maybe in the short term we would see fewer direct problems (imagine an Ottoman-Empire type consolidation war following Israel's destruction-following the same lines of thought, who cares?) but leaving a foe to become stronger while focusing only on the pleasures bough by ignoring that danger is hedonism, pure and simple. Something that America already has enough of.

We intervene, because we must. We support likeminded countries because doing so is in our best interest. I believe that our system of government is the best one ever created, and countries who attempt to follow our example need to be supported because it is the RIGHT thing to do, not necessarily the easy or expedient thing.

No, we may not always see eye-to-eye, and the benefits may not be more dollars in our pockets or anything that tangible. But freedom and peace always have a price, whether in material goods or blood. Myself, I'd rather pay 5 cents a day and see a free, democratic society continue than any of the possible alternatives.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
__________________
Keep a forward momentum.
Go Devil is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:50.



Copyright 2004-2022 by Professional Soldiers ®
Site Designed, Maintained, & Hosted by Hilliker Technologies