Israel - America's Greatest Ally; SFBert Comments

From Cyber Pastor: Below is a compilation of a series of comments my friend SFBert made here on this site. I left everything as he had commented, and while there are a couple of statements I would want to think and pray about before taking the same stand as SFBert does, he definitely makes some outstanding points, and I have the utmost respect for him and his opinions.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1200308085522&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The link above goes to the Jerusalem Post's article this morning by Carolyn Glick. If she correctly identifies the effects of the left-wing media on Israel's direction, then it bodes ill for anyone supporting Israel. You can't help those who become unwilling to help themselves.

My bad, I meant Carloline Glick's article. I've finished re-reading a history of the European diplomacy just up to WWII after reading a post on Powerline. It is clear that the history of leftists has been to silence voices of opposition while protecting their priviledge to promote their line, just as the leftists of Israel are getting ready to do to bloggers and others who don't parrot Olmert's party line.

I had forgotten how Chamberlain was ruthless is using his friends in the media (BBC, etc.) to silence the opposition while he and his cohorts engaged to appease Hitler. It was also good to refresh on the 1930's to realize that the slide to war was avoidable, that the slide was a long one and not just the actions of 1938-1939, and that one French platoon engaging the Germans going into the Rhineland would have triggered a German Army revolt against Hitler.

My own feelings about Israel have started to shift. I am starting to feel that we have no interests there to protect and that no Americans should ever be pledged to be put in harm's way for them. We must withdraw our umbrella of protection so we are not automatically drawn in when Israel goes down the tubes.

Our umbrella of protection gives the leftists confidence to pursue the path they have taken, but I feel, they are taking themselves and us too, right over the cliff. It's time to disengage from them until a new government there takes over.

Caroline Glick will call any Palestinian state with either current Palestinian leadership a "terrorist state." I'm afraid that I would have to agree with her. Rice told the press in interviews that they (Bush and Rice) want to proceed with the roadmap because it had stalled out on the first point -- the cessation of terrorist attacks on Israel. Olmert and his friends in the media have staked out a position that they can concede to the Palestinians and that Abbas can deliver what he will promise in exchange for the land.And neither Fatah, nor Abbas have renounced their goal of a one-state solution. And there lies the problem. We know it. The Israelis know it. And yet they do the dance believing that it will make a difference. There are three things that everyday weight more and more against the Israelis and these issues are not addressed:

1) The amount of arms pouring into Lebanon and into the arms of Hizbollah are qualitatively of a nature they have not had before. The modern infantryman is the most lethal ever and Hizbollah's are going to be the match of any Israeli in short order.

2) Since 1948 the stopper to the Arabs has been Israeli air power. When they lost air supremacy, they lost. For instance early in the Yom Kippur War, the Egyptians fought in the shield of the anti-aircraft guns and missles. Once they advanced out of the shield, they were defeated by the IAF. But they won every engagement while under the shield. The Russian AA missle with a 90 mile range that the Iranians are obtaining will eliminate the IAF as supreme over the skies. Once the IAF is neutralized, then he who has the most boots on the ground wins.

3) Resupply -- the advantage will be the Arabs. Israel has depended on the US for resupply in its wars afer 1948. Most of that resupply has come by air. If they don't control the air, they lose the resupply. The Arabs are taking a page from Montgomery's battle plan for Al Alamein and will use their short supply lines to press regardless of losses because they can be replenished while each Israeli loss will be irreplaceable. Rommel was not stopped by Montgomery -- he was stopped by the British Navy cutting off his supplies. Are we going to send in USAF Starlifters in to try to resupply Israel when they will be subject to shoot-down?

4) Improved communications capabilities of Arab forces. With encryption, no longer can translators sit in and monitor Arab radio traffic "in the clear" and shift forces to meet threats. This is what happened in Lebanon and Hizbollah ground down Israeli units. That advantage from 1948 to 1973 is now gone.

5) In the past, Arab armies and the Palestinians weren't so Islamist in their motivations. Jihad was called for, but was not really accepted. Now with the continued rise of Islamists, continued religious reasons being given for the destruction of Israel,and increased pro-Islamist propaganda,there are much stronger motivators for Palestinians and Arabs than before. Hizbollah proclaims they won in Lebanon and the Islamic world sees that for the first time, they really have. This gives heart and courage to all Islamist fighters.

6) People cannot comprehend the speed at which an advancing army can move. We are not the only ones that can move men around quickly. During the Iran/Iraq war, both sides moved thousands of fighters to the line in just hours. Hizbollah and Hamas both have transport lined up in more numbers than they ever had before. It is just that they conceal their trucks with civilian markings. Remember the AP stories about Israelis shooting up civilian trucks in Lebanon? Let's see if the Winograd report highlights that.

7) And the most important -- why fight for tactical positions when you opponent will negotiate them away? Geography works against the Israelis. The pre-1967 boundaries were established in 1948 because the Israelis couldn't dislodge the Arab Legion forces holding them. If they give up those holdings, and all things equalize, the Israelis won't be able to dislodge them again and will provide their enemies with good launching points for their forces.

8) The will to win. The Israelis are losing the will to do so. Their elites have become so infused with being acclaimed by the rest of the world, that they will imperil their brothers and sisters in the face of common sense. And the rest allow it to go in in the belief that we will come to their aid. The reality is that even if we wanted to, we'll be unable to move fast enough in the next one to help.

I have no doubts the Israelis are ready for an accomodation. The problem is that the Palestinians and Arabs are not. The evidence that they do not see the error of their ways is that their media (TV, radio, press, official web sites, etc.) still call for the extinction of Israel and still can incite action on the part of the Palestinians. The source that provided me the data that made me change my mind also provided translations of discussion on Arab websites that indicate that on many levels the Arabs no longer fear Israeli (or our) nukes. They cite Israeli concern about world opinion as a reason they wouldn't use them. At this point from MEMRI translations, the Arabs and the Palestinians believe they are close at hand to getting a one state solution due to just simply wearing everyone out. If they can get the Golan Heights, part of Jerusalem, nearly all of the occupied West Bank, and the right of return of 50,000 Palestinians to Israel (all of which Olmert has offered) by negotiation, then they will so that they save their best for the final push for the extinction of Israel. That is what bothers me. All this info is available from open sources. Surely our government sees it, surely the Israeli government sees it. I have had the dots connected for me and in truth,I had been ignoring data I thought was irrelevant in the hopes that things were heading in the right direction. Up until a few days ago I believed the Israelis would win in a fight and could fight out the Palestinians. The recent information I received indicate that with each passing day, the Palestinians and their ally, Hizbollah, get stronger at a faster rate than the Israelis. In fact, I have reversed my previous belief that it would take a nuke to put Israel down. It won't. I have done a flip flop, I admit, but I rather acknowledge it than stand in error looking at the ground truth there.