Israel must win--Haaretz.com

[spindrifter]

Sun., August 13, 2006 Av 19, 5766

By David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey

Israel has been cautious in Lebanon, fearing not only for the lives of its soldiers, but also that an overly aggressive military campaign will alienate world opinion and force its hand diplomatically at the UN. However, Israeli leaders ought to worry more about a different scenario, one in which American policymakers, analyzing the Israel Defense Forces' failure to defeat Hezbollah after 30 days effort, lose their faith in Israel's ability to "get the job done" on issues of shared strategic interest.

Should the IDF lose its aura of invincibility in American eyes, Israel's perceived value as an ally could decline sharply. This reassessment in Washington, when combined with a continuing and even heightened determination by Arab states and jihadists to destroy Israel, would be catastrophic for its security.

For decades, Israel has enjoyed an extremely close relationship with the United States. These ties have grown even stronger during George W. Bush's presidency. Israeli leaders should not, however, take American support for granted. There is, of course, a tremendous reservoir of good will and genuine affection for Israel among Americans; but sentiment and habit alone are not a sufficient basis for an enduring U.S.-Israel alliance. The hard truth is that Israel must appear to be, and be, a winner in order to remain a valuable strategic partner for the United States.

As Israel's leaders once understood, the Washington-Jerusalem strategic partnership has always been nurtured by a steady stream of Israeli successes, both in defending its own security and in advancing American interests. These successes ranged from humbling the Soviet Union's Cold War Arab clients, proving the superiority of America's weapons over Russia's (the IDF's 1982 downing of 85 Syrian MIGs being a perfect case in point), to providing invaluable intelligence and being a democracy in a sea of autocracies.

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749293.html

[iamthebandfanman]

1. oh dont worry fair isreali's

the united states will continue to give you WMDs. Someones gotta take the blame for pushing the button, after all. lol.

[AlamoDemoc]

2. Here is how Kenneth Brown puts it;

"Israel's political strategy towards its neighbors comes from the barrels of its guns: to maintain and even increase its own military superiority by all possible means, while undermining the State’s implacable enemies.

Ben Gurion long ago argued that Israel had to keep its enemies at bay by hitting them regularly. "Peace is not our principal interest," he said. He never believed that Israel could live at peace with the Arabs. His successors have remained faithful to this view. "We are a European nation: we have no affinity with the Arabs," was how Barak put it.

The military establishment that shaped Israeli policy ever since the foundation of the state never accepted the armistice lines of 1949 and waited for the chance to move Israel’s borders eastwards, which came in 1967. Sharon’s unilateralism in regard to some of the territories did not depart from the policy of occupation and containment, although it did acknowledge the military and economic costs of holding onto all of them.

The retreat from Southern Lebanon in 2000 undermined the myth of the army’s invulnerability. The ferocity of the war now against the Hezbollah and Lebanese civilians in general may be considered the army’s revenge and an attempt to restore its image. So far, according to the press, the Hezbollah has continued to fight and has paralyzed half of Israel with its missile attacks. (Y. Marcus, Haaretz, 24.7.06).

Yet, Israelis for the most part seem to believe once again that this is a just war in which their powerful army will be victorious. According to surveys quoted by the IDF spokesman, they “believe officers more than politicians.” The U.S. government, and public opinion, has long ago ceased to try to curb Israeli fire. Many would argue that, at least for the Bush government, the ‘special relationship’ has become one of undiluted collusion."

*Kenneth Brown, originally from Los Angeles, is the founding editor of the Paris-based biannual review Mediterraneans/Méditerranéennes.

[FlavaKreemSnak]

8. That is what they mean when they talk about shared values etc

I know it probably not politically correct but it is true. Maybe America needs Israel in the Middle East for military and business reasons but the reason it is so popular with the public is because most of the Israelis are Europeans just like the Americans, so it is this kind of thing where they say well we have to support Israel because of shared values, etc, but it is really about Europeans sticking together. But if you count up all the people in the world, the European ancestry group are really a small minority, it is just that we have most of the weapons and the money. But the only way we can keep it is to keep most of the people in the world under bombing and crackdown, which is getting more and more expensive and is going to mean a lot of changes in the way we live our lives, a lot of the things we take for granted will have to be sacrificed to pay for it.

[chimpymustgo]

11. Bull's eye. Thanks for your insightful anaysis. eom

nt

[theoldman]

3. For many years the Israelis did the dying.

Now we are doing the dying and the American public will not put up with this. The Israelis are fighting for their very existence. We are trying to stop a few attacks. Israel will be a short time winner in the war but the loser in world politics. I think that world sympathy for Israel is drifting away. We all know that there is no sympathy for us.

[xchrom]

4. seems to me hizbullah has done

what it needed to do.

fight israel to a stand still for a period of time -- and let everyone else watch.

[iamthebandfanman]

5. exactly

ive told all of my friends that.

[AlamoDemoc]

9. I will even go further and say that Hezbollah will be the victor....

in the long and short term of the conflict. In addition, no CNN, FOX, or AIPAC profane propaganda machine can reverse this course.

[adriennui]

10. why not look at the "root causes" of israeli militarism

seems to have worked for the palestinians and other mid-eastern groups.
once upon a time, beginning in europe in the 1200's israel was expelled from enfland, 1400's the same from spain and portugal. let's skip a few centuries to germany...millions of jews were sent to die...why? because they were jews. let's not count pogroms in russia, slaughters in egypt, poland, latvia, saudi arabia.
the jews got very angry...they were given a homeland in the middle east where some have been living for thousands of years. all of a sudden the jews get strong and proud. you can't blame them especially after being attacked by its' neighbors soon after its birth.

oh my, now the entire world is pissed off...most of all, those groups that are sitting on oceans of oil. but that isn't stopping israel from fighting for it's mere existence.

so i will tell the world what i only wish israel would do. "tough shit, go f--k yourselves, we are here to stay."

[MrPrax]

6. Is it winning?

Hezbollah shoots down IAF helicopter deep inside Lebanon

11 IDF soldiers killed Saturday in south Lebanon

Eleven Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed and another 11 seriously wounded in heavy clashes Saturday with Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon, after Israel dramatically expanded its ground operation in the area.

In a separate incident, an Israel Air Force helicopter was shot down by Hezbollah fire on Saturday night. Hezbollah claimed the helicopter was struck by an anti-tank missile. IDF sources confirmed a helicopter had gone down. The sources said there were no combat soldiers aboard, but added that there had been casualties.

Under cover of intense artillery fire, IDF forces reached the Litani River, which is some 20 to 30 kilometers inside Lebanon, military officials said Saturday evening.

....

Dozens of soldiers were hurt during the fighting in Lebanon on Saturday. At least 23 of them were taken to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa for treatment.

None of the soldiers killed on Saturday were reservists.

Haaretz

Exactly what is 'winning'...only the writer knows...but they are sure that Lieberman's not winning is BAD for Israel (hint hint)...pure pablum

[partylessinOhio]

7. Seems to me the jig is up. Israel already lost in the eyes of the world.