Jerusalem, July 29, 2012 -- In a speech near the Old City today, U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney harked back to an historic concept of Israel as a besieged, beleaguered outpost rather than a regional hyperpower and promised the U.S. would stop at nothing to advance Israel's perceived interests.
Without diverting his stream of unqualified praise and unconditional support for the host country, Romney widened his scope at select moments to advance two extraordinary historical principles:
1) "History teaches" that containment of authoritarian adversaries emboldens and empowers those adversaries. Presumably, the U.S. should have crushed the Soviet Union when it had a pronounced military edge. Presumably, too, the U.S. will either support an Israeli preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities or do the job itself.
2) "Diplomatic distance" emboldens an ally's adversaries. Presumably again, the U.S. will confine any differences with Israel to "quiet rooms" and enable any course of action that Sheldon Adelson -- check that, Israel -- sees fit to undertake.
A third fundamental principle remained implicit: Two democracies with powerful free market economies can never disagree on anything fundamental.
No comments:
Post a Comment