A Shift
One of the more deplorable things about politics is that most people never change their minds on a subject; once they have made their decision about an issue, it will stand in ther mind no matter what evidence is presented against it. They make fantastic mental leaps in order to assimilate the evidence into whatever idea they already have. I hope that I never become like that.
Today I came across an article from last year that has shifted my opinion on the Israeli question.
http://web.israelinsider.com/views/10767.htm
If you don’t care to read the whole thing, in essence, it states that Nazi propaganda was very widespread throughout the Arab world during the 30’s, and that it has helped shape many of the anti-Semitic views throughout the Muslim world, to this day. I was unaware that Hitler’s words were able to reach such an audience.
Now, this doesn’t mean that I’m ready to sign on and say that we need to bomb Iran in order to save Israel from certain destruction. A great deal of the hatred that Muslims have for Israel come from Israel’s own policies in dealing with the Palestinians, and much of the same could be said for America’s foreign policies. I do not believe that we are in the Middle East to protect Israel, or to bring democracy to the masses: this war is, was, and always will be about oil. But reading the impact that the Nazi message had on many of the people: “God in heaven, Hitler on Earth,” is disturbing enough for me to think that maybe Mr. Bush isn’t entirely wrong when he compares these regimes to Germany in the 30’s.
Scaling back America’s empire abroad would go a long way to improving our image around the world and would slow the growth of terrorist ideologies, but we should never at any point negotiate with any party or nation that has taken Hitler’s words to heart.
