Originally
posted by
hawkeyee:
Yes. But there's a difference between a person being a bad neighbour because they host loud parties late at night, always honk their horn and keep their front lawn unkempt or someone being a bad neighbour because their name is Bob. Israel is a bad neighbour not because of their actions but because they're Jews. Imagine Black people being bequeathed some land in the middle of Virginia in the 1700s to call their own country. You'd have some pretty pissed off neighbours.
Well said Hawkeyee. Noone's hands are entirely clean in this conflict, but that's the nature of this type of conflict and not a reflection of true guilt or innocence of anyone.
That being said, there are people who have a legitimate position in the fight and those that have none. Israel, the Palistinians, the Egyptians, Jordanians, etc. have legitimate positions in this fight. Iran doesn't have a legitimate position in this fight. The United States does not have a legitimate position in this fight. Russia should not be in this fight. China should stay out of the fight. Iran, the US, Russia, China, and other powerful nations in the region and in the world should be using the pressure that they can mount to push for a peaceful resolution to the legitimate fight between Israel and their neighbors.
For the most part, the US has done this. Heavy handed though the US has been in being the threat that keeps the peace (more or less), we haven't supported (on a continual basis) the terrorist murder of Palistinians in the conflict. We haven't preached the death of the Arab nations. We haven't even said that Iran should be destroyed (then Senator Clinton did say that Iran needs to understand that we can obliderate them, but not that we should or that we should have to). Iran's current regime has made it their objective to destroy Israel.
Will Israel attack Iran? Yes, if they have to. Will it escalate? Probably. Would Russia actually back Iran in a fight with the US? Doubtful. Would China actually back Iran in a fight with the US? Only if they had decided that a fight with the US was inevitable and they might as well fight it over this as anything else; possible, but doubtful. Would the Arab world unite with Iran to fight Israel? Not a chance in the world. Shia controlled Iraq would have to choose between supporting Iran and living to be a united Iraq another day. Saudi Arabia is no friend to Iran and would either stay neutral or pick their own fight with Iran. Turkey? Turkey would seek the quickest end to the conflict possible so that Iraq can be stable and the Kurds in their country don't get the idea to actually attempt to form a new country with the Iraqi Kurds and the Iranian Kurds.
Israel vs Iran is just not in the interest of the vast majority of the Middle East, so it makes sense for Israel to attack Iran rather than letting them go Nuclear and then have to deal with Iran on a more equal footing. Push comes to shove, Iran is isolated; Israel is not.