tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2837231852156048320.post8409734723932087822..comments2023-03-24T04:44:25.530-04:00Comments on A Voice Crying in the Wilderness: LIsten To This Voice CryingLeanderthal, Lighthouse Keeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17398230668313436866noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2837231852156048320.post-77103985687644903372012-03-14T08:09:18.976-04:002012-03-14T08:09:18.976-04:00The piece you link to is a jermiad--a series of ad...The piece you link to is a jermiad--a series of ad hominem statements not backed up. (The article is the text of a speech, so I suppose that's to be expected.) It's greatest weakness is that it paints with a broad brush, and the underlying theme is that the US is responsible. True, we did connive to overthrow the democratically elected Mossadegh regime in Iran, but does that justify the oppression of the Iranian people that the mullahs have imposed? Does is lessen the anti-Semitic statements of the regime's leaders. And let's be clear: they are anti-Semitic, not just anti Israel. Does it justify repeated threats to exterminate Israel? <br /><br />Hedges criticizes Israel for its blockade of Gaza, but does not mention that the Gazans elected Hamas to lead them, and that Hamas has been and remains committed to the destruction of Israel. Is it legitimate for Israel to regard itself as being at war with Hamas? I think so. And blockade is a legitimate weapon of war. In the law, there is a principle that a person jailed for civil contempt--for refusing to obey a court order--has the key to the cell in his pocket: all he has to do to get out of jail is to obey the order. The people in Gaza have the key in their pockets: get rid of Hamas. I note that Hedges also does not point out that Israel--under the hawkish, Likud Sharon--voluntarily evacuated Gaza, including an number of settlements that had been doing quite well economically. Israel hoped that that would be a step toward peace. What has happened since is not a good argument for Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank--which I favor. <br /><br />I'm not in favor of war with Iran. But from Israel's point of view, can it afford to trust another nation, even the US, to assure its existence? Lately, a number of respectable and respected thinkers have proclaimed that the Iranian regime is rational and, therefore, would not attack Israel, because the reaction would lead to so much destruction in Iran. Maybe. But if I were a leader in Israel, I'd recall that people did not think Hitler meant what he wrote and said, but the world found out that he did. And I would remember that the world stood by while Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, Communists and others were slaughtered. As it did much more recently in Burundi and at Srebrenicza. I would find it hard to trust the US or anyone else to guaranty my life and my country's existence. <br /><br />That may not be pleasant, but it's the way things are right now.The Old New Englanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16526429029137678701noreply@blogger.com