Okay, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Jordan and the Saudis get together...

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

Backed under the table by Russia and China...

What do you think would happen to Israel?

And would it stop there?

Just a "what if?"

[cali]

1. Too unlikely

to even speculate about, and things are bad enough anyway without indulging in such scenarios.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

6. I don't think so with the possible exception of the Saudis...

There are a lot of pissed off people in the rest of the world and at this point I think Washington might say "you're on your own."

The Government in Israel has been behaving like Bushco and there might be retaliation against the US by proxy here.

[Master Mahon]

10. US to sell arms worth over $ 6 bn to Saudi Arabia

No, I think the House of Saud, will be well prepared now to hold it's own against any internal problems keeping them from supporting BushCo.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14131.htm

[endarkenment]

2. Backed with what?

Conceivably we could return to the cold war situation where client states had a get out of jail free immunity card backed by a super power's nuclear threat. Absent that level of backing none of these nations combined or separately can match Israel's conventional force and Israel has a nuclear force that can obliterate them all anyhow.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

11. Combined? I think they do. And if Israel pulled out Nukes you can

believe the Russians and Chinese would steep in to protect the oil fields.

[Clarkie1]

4. Why ask "what if" questions that are so absurd? nt

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

7. You think it's absurd, I don't.

So why bother posting in a thread like this if you believe it to be absurd?

[azurnoir]

8. That's not so absurd

in fact that is the way things were a couple of decades ago, and as Mr Mubarak said today what is happening now threatens to undo the progress that has been made.

[cool user name]

18. How's that absurd?

Was WWI and WWII absurd?

That's how they started. Nations A and B allied with C and D so E and F had to get on the side of G and H.

All of a sudden the whole fucking alphabet was at war!

[chefgirl]

5. You read my mind

In a way, I've been expecting this for a while, and when I brought up other countries banding together to kick our ass one other time here on DU, it was basically laughed off.

At the time, I actually felt a little better that I seemed to be the only one who thought it was even a distant possibility.

In the past few weeks however, this thought has come creeping back in my mind. No one is invincible, not even the "GREATEST MILITARY EVER ASSEMBLED", and if a bunch of other countries ever decide to come at us in an organized way, we're fucked.

-chef-

[loves_dulcinea]

12. republicans board the israelis on cruise liners (for free)

bring them to america, where they immediately make themselves useful by taking jobs in construction and landscaping.

the israeli's then begin to cause problems by not learning english or blending into american society in general.

the israeli's become known for youth gangs and drug running, border ignoring in general. vigilante groups begin to rouse other rabble against the israeli's, and so on.

absurdity is its own reward.

[tocqueville]

9. they won't

at least not now

if you want bad case scenarios there is a risk (created by Israel and by the US in Iraq) that Hezbollah type islamists take over in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and of course Iraq. Al Quaeda is not a real risk except for some suicide bombers. There could be then a front to attack Israel conventionally backed by an Iranian threat of nukes to counter the Israeli one. BTW nukes can always be bought in Pakistan, it depends if Musharraf stays in power or not.

Russia won't back islamists because they are fighting them in Chechenya and traditionally the Russian Empire have always wanted a quiet border in the south. Besides they sell practically all the oil Israel needs.

The Chinese are more interested in Israeli high tech (based on US high tech) than backing islamists. They have their own problems with them to in the north west.

the primary risk is that Israels attitude create the CONDITIONS for the bad case scenarios.

[SammyBlue]

13. 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 that happened

and the arabs got erased.

Way to post wanting the destruction of the Jewish state, though. . .are you part of Hamas and Hezbollah too, since that's what they want as well.

Ignore land welcomes you.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

16. Wow. It's nice here. So quiet...

And there's flowers...
and that cute Snuggles teddy bear.

I do not want the destruction of the Jewish state. I believe they are behaving in the same manner that the Bush administration is and I am afraid that if they don't change their tune matters worldwide will go from bad to worse.

[Pavulon]

14. And syria says to iran...

couldn't think of anything good here...

Never happen

[Emit]

15. I just read a piece from PINR yesterday, with similar

concern -- it refers to the "world's three largest oil producers, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iran" and a potential "successful economic strike against the United States" having "the possibility of triggering a global economic recession in 2007."


http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=532

[Taxloss]

17. You really like imagining the destruction of Israel, don't you?

This is the second thread you've started about it. What gives?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

19. No, I don't like that.

I fear for it. Me? I want hostilities to stop and see at least some form of diplomacy tried.

What frightens me is that sentiments are charging and there may be a snowball rolling down the hill that's too large to stop before it runs it course.

During the cold war if someone wrote about the consequences of a nuclear war destroying America it diodn't mean the writer was anti American or wanted America destroyed. It meant that we might want to stop and look at potential results of the behavior of the day.

Peace.

[Taxloss]

20. Well, Jordan and Saudi hate and fear Syria and Iran

so that's a clear obstacle. And Russia and China are aas concerned about energy security as the USA, so they're unlikely to sponsor all-out war in the Middle East simply in order to see the destruction of Israel, and for no other good reason. They don't want an Islamist Middle East, either, so there's another two obstacles.

If those were overcome, there would be two possible outcomes:

1. Israel receives overwhelming aid from the USA and the rest of the West and wins the war, annexing even more neighbouring territory into the bargain;

2. Israel receives no aid and the Western world is confronted with a genocide that makes Rwanda look like a squabble and/or an unprecedented and enormous refugee crisis.

[Behind the Aegis]

21. Redux of the birth of Israel.

Then again, depending on what type of support was given by the Russians and the Chinese, we could see Holocaust 2: We Are Just Here for the Israelis. :eyes:

[McCamy Taylor]

22. Iran and Saudi? The two puppet masters together? Their pawns are

battling so nicely in Lebanon already. Why should they sit down at a table and talk?

[Laotra]

23. What would happen?

Arab Peace Initiative (Resolution 242 borders against recognition and normal economic and political relationships with all Arab states) would no longer be on the table, I presume?