Policy question

Considering it seems that we only see fit to intervene militarily against aggressors when our own territory or peoples are in peril, as in the case of the Falkland Islands and Afghanistan, or when we have vested interests at stake, as in Kuwait, and yet we support aggressors who have themselves invaded foreign lands when it suits us, as with Israel: small wonder, then, that Arab observers seem bewildered and even angry at our foreign policies, especially when one further considers that our combined military might ordinarily seems to be ranged against Muslim leaders or peoples, as was the case in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq. And yet when victims of aggression are Muslim, we stand by and watch, as we did in the case of the Kurds. And now, we are in support of the aggressor in the Middle East, which once more pits us against the Arab and Muslim nation, or would-be nation, in this case.

Is it not time for us to question our own foreign policy, in particular toward Israel, and to understand how its current incarnation serves only to incense Muslim nations? And is it not time to explain a few home truths to Israel’s politicians about their relative position vis-a-vis aggressor or victim?

Phil Deamer,

Lawrence