Unmistakable

6/4/10 comment posted on yahoo in response to Associated Press article 6/4/10
"New aid ship heads to Gaza, Israel vows to stop it"

I've long believed that the U.S. support of Israel has enabled such aggressive behavior. It seems strange to say, but you might call it a nation with a "Napoleon Complex." The real crime is not that Israel may act out of fear, but that the U.S. stands tall behind them. The most natural human events are playing out there. Imagine a small kid on the block gets beat up often, for no good reason, just for being himself. The kid learns to distrust and fear everyone. Instead of becoming more empathetic towards others the kid develops a mean streak and a propensity to inflict pain on others. As if that weren't bad enough the kid develops a friendship with a bigger kid. The friendship provides a degree of comfort for the little guy and in turn gives a greater degree of license to pick on other disadvantaged kids. The U.S. is this big kid. As an enabler the U.S. bears a great deal of the blame for Israel's behaviour. I believe if given the opportunity to stand alone without the unwavering, effectively unconditional U.S. support, then Israel would behave in a more conciliatory manner toward its neighbors and although some eyes might be blackened, noses bloodied and egos bruised in the process the end result might be a more balanced distribution of power in that region. It's difficult to imagine this in reality given the tremendous military might, including nuclear power, that Israel has built up thanks to U.S. support.

Israel has a very well developed national agenda. Number one is self-preservation as we should expect, but it is more than their "right to defend themselves." I believe it is much more than that. Israel has long been the thorn in any effort for peace in the region. Recall the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a fundamental "right-wing" radical Orthodox Jew on the eve of what seemed to be a break through of relations with Palestine. See also the many tales of injustice in the West Bank settlements. See also the common reference to an "Occupied Territories." If you can find reference to it you'll recall the Israeli army's faux pas and public relations nightmare when they wrote indentification numbers on the arms of their captives and paraded them in the street - an act eerily reminiscent of Nazi numbering concentration camp captives. As we ponder the Napoleon Complex theory as way to better understand Israel's history of bad behavior we should be reminded often that the U.S. is culpable as an enabler if not accomplice - past, present and future.