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A Milestone Abstention
On Monday, Washington sent an unequivocal message about America's commitment to safeguarding innocents caught in conflict zones.
Never a nation to put political expediency over principle, the US took the bold step of -- checks notes -- not vetoing a resolution demanding the cessation of a massacre.
Hopefully, you're picking up on the sarcasm. Joe Biden's countenancing (indeed, he's facilitating) a collective punishment campaign in Gaza, where Benjamin Netanyahu's subjecting the populace to sys
My limited and fairly unknowing mind continues to be struck by the parallels between our 9/11 and Israel’s 10/7. An abject intelligence failure based not on lack of knowledge or awareness, but lack of action and execution. A completely disproportionate response, stoked by misinformation or exaggeration — our hysteria over yellowcake and Israel’s over “weaponized rape.” The rationale to destroy the enemy over “there” to preclude it from ever coming “here” again, and even if innocent civilians were in the way. The defiant posture of either you are with us or against us, and keep your questions and criticisms to yourself lest you be tarred unpatriotic or antisemitic. Not sure where we are exactly in the analogy right now, but Google tells me this is what “Mission Accomplished” looks like in Hebrew. “?????? ??????”
Nothing that happened at the UN has any significance. It’s a non-binding (it would only be binding if the UN invaded Israel and defeated it) resolution and netanyahoo has already said he’ll disregard it. We theoretically could sanction Israel, but AIPAC & DMFI will prevent that. So, it’s a non-event.
“That’s the (exceedingly harsh) reality of the situation.”, but, but, but this is an election year, neither side wants reality.
The US was officially established as a sovereign nation in 1789, only 235 years ago. Having been born in the first half of the 20th century, I have been alive for a third of this country’s very short life. During both mine and our country’s lifetimes, the US has had the worst foreign policy of any major nation on the planet, from the Barbary Pirates (the shores of Tripoli) to the Monroe Doctrine (the Halls of Montezuma) to the present day we have backed more anti-heroes, dictators, war criminals and their ilk, than almost anyone else. Every time we seem to get stuck on the wrong side (maybe with the exception of WWI, although we were officially Russia’s and China’s ally then) and find ourselves having to switch sides. Because of my age, the ultimate irony is that after having to depart Vietnam, having sacrificed an enormous amount in human lives and treasure, we have quietly accepted hundreds of thousands of their citizens as our citizens and made their country a major trading partner. So now we come to that fateful abstention. How the hell are we going to get out of this one? We can’t can’t be seen to create a regime change in this new very public world of ours, although we are still vain enough to believe the rest of the world cares who we are or what we do. The only thing left for us is that we have this office where they make the Benjamins (named for our last true statesman and the man who got France to help save our baby country); oh and as Neal Stephenson pointed out in Snow Crash, we do excel above all others at 30 minute pizza delivery.