(This was written before Cruz dropped out. It is still relevant because Trump’s position on this seems to mirror that of Cruz. I have made some changed to reflect the present state of affairs.)
Before he dropped out I wanted to see if Cruz had a position on Israel. The reason I wondered was if his father lived under a communist government I would hope he would have the understanding of what it is like for the Palestinian people to live under the shadow of Israel with its restrictions and rules that treat them like serfs. Since he father escaped Cuba prior to the communist take-over, maybe he would not understand and neither would his son.
I was hoping Cruz would have a Reagan approach – Israel knew Reagan had its back even though he did things to displease it greatly. A prominent American-Israeli supporter wrote: “Reagan was very tough on Israel, and some of his policies caused both short and long-term damage, but his policies also led to significant improvements in Israel’s economic and military strength, and raised the U.S.-Israel friendship to a higher level.
The ledger doesn’t really capture the sense of the time and the man, however, which takes me back to where I started. Reagan projected the feeling that he truly appreciated Israel’s role in the world and that the occasional tensions did not affect his fundamental commitment to Israel’s security, so when he said Israel and America “will always remain at each other’’s side,” we believed him.”
I’d also add that Reagan said that the Israeli settlement were not illegal but merely “ill-advised” and “unnecessarily provocative.” They were uniformly discouraged by all presidents since him.
That’s the approach I favor and that is the approach Obama has taken. It seems to me you cannot continually take land from a defenseless people and expect them not to react. Didn’t we experience that during the 19th century with the native American tribes.
Obama had difficulty dealing with a guy like Netanyahu. He wanted to run America as well as his homeland. In a never before happening in America he was the first foreign leader to come here and campaign against a sitting president. Any disagreement with his ideas he labeled as anti-Israeli. He gave the Israelis reason to mistrust Obama. He did nothing to dissuade the thought that because Obama had a Muslim father and his middle name being Hussein there was a possibility he’d go with his own when push came to shove.
When I wrote about Cruz I told how he was interviewed by the Jerusalem Post. I said his answers should make any American who is hoping that someday Israel and the Palestinians may achieve a fair peace cringe. It seems axiomatic to have peace both sides must be pushed a little more than they would like.
Here’s what Cruz said:
“And I also agree with Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu that a nuclear Iran is an existential threat to the nation of Israel.” Netanyahu has been urging the United States to attack Iran since the Bush administration. One of his major problems with Obama is that we refused to engage in a war and lose American lives against Iran for Israel .
Cruz stated: “I believe it is the single greatest national security threat facing America – the threat of a nuclear Iran” and “I will rip to shreds this catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal.”
It is unclear Trump holds that position. Some write that he does, see here and here, and especially here, and others say he will work with it even though he calls it a bad deal. Hopefully we will get an answer but isn’t it amazing that at this late date we still do not know his position on it. That is squarely the fault of our media not to have pinned that down in the many interviews and debates he has provided.
If Trump plans not to go along with the deal, he should follow-up and say what the natural consequences of that action will be. I guess we have to go back to Senator McCain to get a quote: “bomb Iran.” The absurdity of the United States walking away or renegotiating the deal — one by the way that I do not like because it brings Russian and Iran closer but I now accept it because the horse has run out of the barn – leaves all the other nations of the world still free to deal with Iran, All it accomplishes is puts the United States on a war footing toward Iran. We must find out where Trump stands on this. You want more involvement in that area?
When asked about the Palestinians Cruz said: “As it regards to US policy, I think for far too long, American presidents have attempted to dictate the terms of a peace settlement. In my view, America has no appropriate role dictating the terms of a peace settlement. If Israel chooses to negotiate and reach a settlement with the Palestinian Authority, that is Israel’s right as a sovereign state, and America can help provide a fair forum for negotiations. But it is not the role of the American government to attempt to lecture the Israeli people or dictate terms of peace.”
Cruz’s demagoguery was shown. The U.S. has never dictated a peace settlement to Israel so why is he suggesting that it has. The United States has been pushing, urging, threatening to withholding aid, expressing displeasure and other measures but that is far from dictating. We do have the right to lecture the Israeli people. They are the beneficiary of huge American funding by means of outright grants and loan guarantees. If they want our money we do have a right to express our feelings about what they do.
What then is Trump’s position on this?
(Continued in part three.)
thought is the slave of life
and life is time’s fool
and time that takes survey over
all the world….
overheard by Elbows Wychulis at the
Hillbilly Ranch or was it Nuno Cam’s Gym
after experiencing a night of fine dining
at Joe and Nemos.
Oh we yearn for the Golden Age
of Politics
When you could watch the Lionel
Train display at downtown Jordan Marsh
during Xmas season
knowing J Edgar Hoover had your back covered.
ugh!
in other new
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/16/april-third-month-in-row-to-break-global-temperature-records
Matt, anyone,…..
In other breaking news AN HOUR AGO….
The first ever (of the major four) American pro sports team SELLS OUT by agreeing to
place an advertisement on their game jerseys.
What the……….?
76’s…StubHub…..next year.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/15559477/philadelphia-76ers-sell-first-nba-jersey-advertisement-stubhub
76’ers.
Matt
I need some help with
this petition
https://www.fightforthefuture.org/2016/comey-resign/
Tell FBI Director James Comey to Resign
Sign to add your name to the open letter below.
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11,323 signatures
Not in the United States?
Fight for the Future will send you updates on this & other campaigns. Privacy
OPEN LETTER TO FBI DIRECTOR JAMES COMEY: YOU’RE OUT OF CONTROL. IT’S TIME TO RESIGN.
FBI Director James Comey,
Your recent statements and actions in the Apple vs FBI case have made it clear: you’ve lost touch with reality in your misguided crusade against basic encryption technology. You repeatedly stated, under oath, that the FBI had no alternatives other than forcing Apple to build a backdoor into the San Bernardino iPhone, a claim that technology and security experts quickly disproved. If your statements to Congress were not outright lies, they imply that you are deeply ignorant of basic technology. In this modern age, that’s unacceptable for someone in your position. But the FBI’s very public mishandling of the Apple case is just the latest example of your dangerous lack of judgment and regard for civil liberties. The media may not mention it, but we remember that you authorized Bush’s massive, illegal domestic surveillance program; that you approved torture techniques like waterboarding; that you moved effortlessly from the DOJ to defense contractors and hedge fund boards and now to the FBI. We’re afraid that after all these years unchecked, you’ve lost sight of what’s good for American Democracy.
Director Comey, you’re off the rails and your extreme behavior is putting lives in danger.
We all know that the Apple v. FBI case was about more than just one iPhone. When pushed, you admitted as much yourself. This was just your latest of many attempts to circumvent the constitution in the name of fighting terrorism. But the worst part is that your quest against encryption is not only an attack on our civil liberties, it’s an attack on our all of our security and public safety. Encryption protects our hospitals, airports, and power plants. Your obsession with demonizing basic security technology could seriously harm our national security.
We’re not the only people who are concerned for you. Current and former NSA directors have spoken out against you. NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers has called the FBI’s campaign against encryption a “waste of time.” Rogers believes that end-to-end encryption is foundational to this country’s future.
When even the NSA thinks you’re spying too hard, it’s time to resign.
You’ve been pursuing this destructive path for a long time. As Deputy Attorney General under President Bush, you helped invent the illegal mass surveillance of all Americans, in part by forcing the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to rubber stamp a dramatically expanded (and illegal) reading of surveillance law, creating and subsequently upholding the NSA’s warrantless eavesdropping program.
Perhaps the most upsetting part of it all is that while the FBI under your leadership has committed itself to dangerous and illegal activities, you have refrained from doing a critical part of your job: investigating crimes committed by the politically powerful. Instead of prosecuting banks, you literally work for them. You haven’t even read the infamous torture report, which details flagrantly illegal activity by the government and even the FBI.
Why haven’t you investigated torture? Perhaps because you authorized “enhanced interrogation techniques” like waterboarding, or maybe because you personally pushed forward a case in which an American citizen was imprisoned and and tortured on American soil for years without a trial.
We’ve written to you today because enough is enough.
You’re hurting your own reputation, but you’re also hurting us. You’ve lost sight of what’s important, and what so many people love and value about America. If you continue as FBI Director, we believe you will do irrevocable harm to our country. We implore you to resign.
You wrote that “we refused to engage in a war and lose American lives against Iran for Israel .”
I wish that you could write the same about war with Iraq or ISIS related pseudo-states, for Kuwait, Israel or otherwise. Plug in your nation-states of choice in the phrase “war with … for …”.
Reinstate compulsory military service for all males and females so that everyone has a better chance of having a family member at risk, even if it means only a six to twelve month minimum term of active service while training, subject to recall if needed. See whether that moderates the rhetoric or at least expands the knowledge of the consequences of military action.
I am uninterested in those for whom you will not vote. Tell me for whom you will vote, and why. Your other choice is not to vote, which makes your non-contribution to the process irrelevant and meaningless.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_dog_Democrat
I bet a finner on Hillary.