Henery, I don't believe I once mentioned any type of surrender, or other such defeatist nonsense. I did not agree with the War in Iraq, but do believe we have no option but to stay the course there now, no matter how bloody it gets, out of moral obligation, not only to our troops but to the Iraqis. I do however support the War in Afghanistan 100%, always have, due to their clear and present links to Al Queda and 9/11, so those to me are not exactly the kinds of thoughts a defeatist or peace-only leftitst would posess. But to say that every Arab is just born into the world hating Israel or the US is absolute and pure jingoistic BS of the worst kind. Just like slavery here in the South 150 years ago, it was something taught to the young by the older generations. Kids in the South didn't just come out of the womb with a whip in their hands. The same with radical Islam and groups like Hezbollah. And I'm sorry, yes, some of the blame does lie with the West, since we have been engaged in a Holy War with Islam for over a millenia, and after that, in the colonization by the British and French of Africa and the Mideast until the end of WW2. Then, right or wrong, we took part of that territory, and gave it to the Jews. How would we act if the Arabs came in and gave the Vatican or the Temple Mount to Atheists or some other religion forcibly? I did not say ALL of the blame lays with us, since the governments of the region are equally to blame, since most are corrupt, backwards, and oppressive. But to say we are entirely without blame in any way shape or form is nonsense. And to say that we have been even handed in the Mideast is to ignore history. The US has vetoed any and every resolution which has contained any negative wording against Israel-period!
But the point of my post was that while Israel has a right to defend itself, I don't support their right to go in and destroy another country. Especially a country who has a democratically elected government, which we supported the creation of. We supported Democratic elections in Palestine and Lebanon, because, after all, this was the only clear path to peace. Well, guess what, not every person in the Mideast loves the US as much as we do, so are we given the right to tell these people "You can elect a government, but only if it's one we like"? Apparently so. SO, let Israel do whatever it needs to do, even if it means taking the Army to Syria, but be prepared for the consequences, and don't come whining if suddenly there is a surge in suicide bombings. Because, just like our presence in Iraq (which has now made IED's and suicide bombers much more prevalent), it will happen. You can call that defeatist, I call it realist.
