Debbie:
I will never forget a time in my freshman year of college (longer ago than I care to admit) when I was watching news with my roommate (a German-American from Potsdam, NY) and the story was about some Nazi or other (I forget which) who was being prosecuted for war crimes. My roommate’s response, more or less, was “Why don’t they just leave this poor man alone?”
When I tried to explain to him that genocide should have no statute of limitations, and told him a little about my grandparents’ experiences in Auschwitz, Kitritzleben and Funfteichen concentration camps, he stared at me blankly and said “yeah, but that was a long time ago.”

ibn Abu on May 5, 2009 at 3:38 pm

So much for the flagship of neoconservatism. I wonder what’s coming next from intellectuals on the Right.

NormanF on May 5, 2009 at 4:04 pm

Is ther anyway for you to remove the link? I think if people want to revamp conservatism, they gotta stop associating with people like this

mindy1 on May 5, 2009 at 4:35 pm

I ended my subscription to TWS a few years ago when Fred Barnes and Bill Kristol started hyperventilating in favor of amnesty for illegal aliens.
Note to Terzian–did the Armenian “massacre” really even happen?

lexi on May 5, 2009 at 6:59 pm

If Terzian is Armenian, and I think he is, what would he be saying if the issue was the deportation of a Turkish guard involved with the Armenian Genocide?

arius on May 5, 2009 at 8:02 pm

Debbie, this is slightly off topic, but I think it’s time we start looking at Israel in the proper light. Many think that the U.S. should stop it’s support of our friends in Israel.
Here is a terrific compilation of reasons Israel is the best friend America has; it’s lengthy, but worth it:
Joseph Cisco, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state, assistant to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the 70’s said to Mr. Shmuel Katz adviser to Menachem Begin:
“..if we were not getting full value for our money, you would not get a cent from us.”
Israel gets LOANS from the United States that it pays back.
For example:
In 1952, as the Cold War got started, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, Omar Bradley, called for the integration of Israel, which was only four years old, into the Mediterranean basin area in light of the countryís location and unique capability.
Ö
In 1967, Israel defeated a radical Arab pro-Soviet theater offensive, which threatened to bring about the collapse of a pro-American Arab regime in the region, disrupt oil supplies, and thus severely undermine the American standard of living. The U.S. gained valuable military information from an analysis of the Israeli-captured Soviet equipment, including SAM 2, SAM 12, Mig 21 aircraft, Soviet T54 battle tanks. In fact, Israel gave an entire squadron of Mig 21ís to the United States, which was dubbed the ìTop Gun Squadronî and was used by the U.S. Air Force and naval forces for training purposes.
Ö
Since 1967, Israel [has] transferred captured Soviet weaponry systems to the United States Pentagon after every conflict: ë67, ë67-í70, ë73, ë82, 1990. They even transferred SCUD remnants from the Gulf War that had been fired on Israel, and the 2006 Hezbullah war against Israel, where they transferred missile components supplied by Iran, to the United States.
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In the 1967-í70 thousand day War of Attrition, The Israeli armed forces, armed with American aircraft successfully defeated a Soviet-suppplied air defense system, pointing out the deficiencies in Soviet air defense doctrine to U.S. defense planners. Israel shared captured military equipment, including a P2 radar, [for] which they stormed an island, Green Island, dismantled this two-ton radar and had it helicoptered, airlifted out, off the island, back to Israeli lines, and then they turned it over to the United States.
Ö
In 1970, Israel brought about the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Jordan, at a time when the U.S. was tied up by wars in Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia, thus preventing the fall of the pro-American Hashemite regime and the installation of a pro-Soviet, radical Palestinian terrorist regime.
Ö
In 1973, thanks to U.S. resupply, but without U.S. forces, Israel defeated Soviet-trained and equipped Egyptian and Syrian forces. Israel again shared captured Soviet equipment, including battle tanks, with the U.S. Israel emerged as the only reliable ally, where U.S. troops could land, where U.S. equipment can be prepositioned, where the U.S. has friendly port facilities in Haifa and Ashdod, in the entire Middle East region. This too has saved the United States billions of dollars. And the list goes on.
Ö
In the 1970ís, Joseph Cisco, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state, assistant to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during the latterís ìShuttle Diplomacy,î told the Israeli author and military expert, and adviser to Menachem Begin, Shmuel Katz, quote, ìI want to assure you Mr. Katz, that if we were not getting full value for our money, you would not get a cent from us,î end of quote. So this is a kind of off-handed manner in which they say, yes, the United States is benefitting from what they get from Israel.
Ö
In 1981 Israel bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak, delaying Saddam Husseinís quest for nuclear weapons. It thus provided the United States with an option of engaging in conventional wars with Iraq in 1991, when they liberated Kuwait, and in 2003. Just imagine if Saddam had the bomb and we went to liberate Kuwait, and in fact the past vice-president of the United States, Dick Cheney, [had] a photo in his office, Iím sure he took it with him, of the bombed out Iraqi reactor, to remind him of this invaluable service that Israel did for the Free World, not just for Israel.
Ö
The vice-president of General Dynamics [Corp.], which produces the F16 fighter jet, has stated that Israel is responsible for 600, thatís six-zero-zero, improvements in the planeís systems, modified by Israel to make the plane much better, and it is estimated to be worth, these modifications, billions of dollars, which spared dozens of research and development years for General Dynamics.
Ö
In 1982 Israel destroyed Soviet anti-aircraft batteries in Lebanon that were considered immune to American weapons. Israel promptly shared that operationís lessons, estimated to be worth billions of dollars, with the United States.
Ö
Another item: Former Secretary of State and NATO commander Alexander Haig has stated that he is pro-Israeli because Israel is the largest Ameican aircraft carrier in the world, that [it] cannot be sunk, does not carry even one American soldier and is located in a critical region for American national security.
Ö
Next: During the first Gulf War, in 1991, Israel provided invaluable intelligence, an umbrella of air cover for military cargo, and had personnel planted in the Iraqi desert to pick up downed American pilots.
Ö
Furthermore, General George Keegan, former head of the United States Air Force intelligence division, had publicly declared, quote, that ìIsrael is worth five CIAís,î end of quote. He further stated that between 1974 and 1990, Israel received $18.3 billion in U.S. military grants. During the same period Israel provided the U.S. with $50 to $80 billion in intelligence, research and development savings, and Soviet weapons systems captured and transferred by Israel to the United States. In 2005 Israel provided America with the worldís most extensive experience in homeland defense in warfare against suicide bombers and car bombs. American soldiers trained in IDF facilities and Israeli-made drones fly above the Sunni triangle in Iraq as well as Afghanistan, providing U.S. Marines with vital intelligence.
Ö
In September, 2007, the Israeli Air Force destroyed a Syrian/North Korean nuclear plant, extending the U.S.ís strategic arm. It provided the U.S. with vital information on Russian air defense systems, which are also employed by Iran. It bolstetred the U.S. posture of deterrence and refuted the claim that U.S.-Israel relations have been shaped by political expediency.
Ö
In 2009 Israel shared with the United States its battle-tested experience in combatting Palestinian and Hezbullah terrorism, which are the role models of anti-U.S. Islamic terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, contrary to what the current administration labels as ìoverseas manmade disasters.î
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The U.S. GIís benefit from Israelís battle tactics against car bombs, improvised explosive devices, and homicide bombing. An Israeli-like ally in the Persian Gulf would have spared the need to dispatch U.S. troops to Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and unfortunately there is no other country. Israel has relayed to the United States, lessons of battle during the Cold War, Soviet military doctrine and counterterrorism, including aircraft security, homicide/suicide bombing, which reduce American lossses in Iraq and Afghanistan, prevent attacks on U.S. soil, upgrade American weapons, and contribute to the U.S. economy. Without Israel, the U.S. would have been forced to deploy tens of thousands of American troops in the Eastern Mediterranean basin at a cost of billions of dollars a year.
Ö
Senator Daniel Inouye [D-Hawaii] has recently, well a few years back, 2005, argued: ìIsraeli information regarding Soviet arms saved the U.S. billions of dollars. The contribution made by Israelís intelligence to the United States is greater than that provided by all the other NATO allies of the United States combined,î said Senator Inouye.
Ö
Israelís utilization of American arms guarantees its existence, but at the same time, it gives the U.S. military industries, such as Boeing and General Dynamics, a competitive edge comared to European industriesÖwhile alsoÖboosting American military production, producing American jobs and improving Americaís national security.
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Japan and South Korea, for example, preferred the Hawkeye spyplane and the MD500 chopper, both purchased and upgraded by Israel, over comparable British and French aircraft.
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The American industries want the U.S. aid to Israel to continue. The bulk of that $1.8 billion in U.S. aid to Israel must be spent in the United States. That provides jobs for some 50,000 U.S. workers. Virtually all of the $1.2 billion in annual economic aid goes for repayment of debt to the United States, incurred from military purchases going back many years. This debt is now close to being liquidated, contrary to what some of our other allies still owe us. Donít worry. The present administration wants to lend money to Cuba, which nobody in the world wants to loan money to.
Ö
Innovative Israeli technologies have a similar effect on civilian and computer related industries and agricultural industries, which view Israel as a successful research and development model. Members of the Congress, then Vice-President Cheney and [former] Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld are aware of Israelís unique contribution to our interest. But they all wonder why post-1993 Israel doesnít use its impressive contribution as leverage, in sharp contrast to pre-1993 Israel. And thatís because the leftist government just wanted to show that they could make peace with the Arab terrorists that want to kill them.
Ö
To conclude, what does Israel do for the United States? In contrast to our commitments to South Korea, Japan, Germany and other parts of the world, not a single American service person needs to be stationed in Israel. Considering that the cost of one service person, per year, including backup and infrastructure, is estimated to be about $200,000 per year, and assuming a minimum contingent of 25,000 troops, and we have much more in many of these places, the cost savings to the United States, on that score alone, are on the order of $5 billion a year.
If anyone tells you Israel is a drain and weíre just pouring money into it and get nothing, tell them to take another swig of Koolaid and put their head back in the sand, because they donít know the reality. No other ally has done as much or sacrificed as much since the Cold War.
Andy in Agoura Hills

utah333 on May 6, 2009 at 10:25 pm