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Israeli Arab flotilla hero: kill her or revoke her citizenship? | 26 comments (26 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Re: Strange alliances (4.00 / 2)
I find it difficult to believe that Israel has been an asset to the US for quite some time.


aspiring to genteel poverty

by edwin (eeeeeeee222222rrrrreeeeeaaaaadddddd@@@@yyyyaaaaaaa) on Fri Jun 4th, 2010 at 10:32:32 PM EST
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Re: Strange alliances (none / 0)
You may find it difficult to believe because the common mythology is that the "israel lobby" makes the leaders of the world superpower dance to the tune of a minor client state. The sheer improbability of that theory doesn't seem to make anyone less enamored of it.
by rootless2 on Fri Jun 4th, 2010 at 11:40:26 PM EST
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Re: Strange alliances (4.00 / 4)
It is probably analytically productive to distinguish between being an asset to the US and being an asset to the people running the US. It is possible to be the latter without being the former, and vice versa.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Sat Jun 5th, 2010 at 12:10:48 AM EST
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Re: Strange alliances (4.00 / 4)
There's something to be said for the theory that what matters is campaign donations and similar. Whether what the campaign donators want done burdens the U.S. or not is basically irrelevant (unless things get completely ridiculous, and that point hasn't been reached).

And, btw, on the 'burden' concept goes, military 'burdens' are food for the U.S. military-industrial complex.

fairleft

by fairleft (fairleftatyahoodotcom) on Sat Jun 5th, 2010 at 12:37:46 AM EST
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Re: Strange alliances (none / 1)
Israel is a huge market for US arms merchants (no matter how much is actually paid for by Israel), a major reason for the longevity of the Saudi monarchy, and a resource to be used worldwide in propping up other client states. It is also the home in exile of the Republican administration right now. Newt Gingrich and Sheldon "Swiftboat" Adelson are up to their necks in Israeli politics.

http://coteret.com/2010/05/30/gingrich-on-cover-of-adelsons-israeli-daily-us-polices-could-lead-to-a -second-holocaust/

by rootless2 on Sat Jun 5th, 2010 at 08:29:32 AM EST
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Re: Strange alliances (4.00 / 3)
More to the point, campaign donations on one side, and nothing on the other. The NRA may well be much bigger than AIPAC, but there are downsides to following their requests, whereas there's no significant anti-AIPAC lobby.
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Sat Jun 5th, 2010 at 10:15:40 AM EST
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Re: Strange alliances (none / 1)
J Street is a joke, by the way. They LOL fearlessly demand that Israel investigate itself.

fairleft
by fairleft (fairleftatyahoodotcom) on Sat Jun 5th, 2010 at 02:36:17 PM EST
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Israeli Arab flotilla hero: kill her or revoke her citizenship? | 26 comments (26 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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