I for one would rather talk about Silas Nathaniel Manchester any day than a fresh war in the Middle East. Especially when I don’t even know what I should think about it. When it comes to all things Middle Eastern my first reaction is always—What?? Again?? These people are infuriating with their thousand year old feuds, Imams and Rabbis. If the place wasn’t dripping in oil, the rest of the world would have walled the entire region off behind 1000 foot walls three centuries ago. “You stole my land!! NO!! You stole MY land!! Did not! Did too!!
The thought that a theocratic regime like Iran might build an atomic weapon is not exactly the sort of thing that helps anyone sleep at night. I feel relatively sure that if it were the Iranians who got atomic bombs before Israel did, that they would already have used them against them—making good on their constant threat to wipe Israel off the map. Israel rightly worries that if the Iranian state were to acquire a bomb, it would attempt to do just that. So, I suppose I understand why they acted when they did. I try to think about how we would feel if the shoe were on the other foot and it was the Canadians who were determined to turn the US into smoldering rubble.
But, I guess thats where it ends with me. Yes, Israel has every right to act to insure their continued existence. But what about us, what about America? Why are we jumping in the middle of that cesspool of treachery? Why did the President commit us to another Middle East war when he ran as the candidate who wanted to end—endless wars. There is no war in history more unending than the Arab-Israeli war. Will this escalation bring this conflict to a miraculous end, or will it just widen it and raise the stakes from maddening, annoying, Middle Eastern Bullshit to unimaginably dangerous WWIII? Time will tell.
Still…sometimes I look at a map of that region and it staggers me that the tiny state of Israel has lasted this long. They are totally surrounded by people who despise them. There are less than ten million of them. There are almost more Jewish people in America than there are in Israel. They have been attacked many different times by their neighbors, several times on different fronts—and yet—they abide. But like everything having to do with real estate…it’s all about location, location, location! The Holy Land is without debate the worst neighborhood in human history.
Here’s an idea…Israel is roughly the same size as New Jersey. Mr. Trump is always talking about how he loves to make deals. Here’s one…how about New Jersey for Israel—straight up. That way, our allies, the Israelis get out of harms way. Then the Palestinians can try their luck with New Jerseyans. If they think that the Mossad was tough, wait until they run up against the Mafia mobs from South Jersey!
Seriously though, maybe making jokes about such a huge geopolitical nightmare like this is in poor taste. All I can really do right now is hope wish and pray that our leadership knows what they are doing. The optics in that regard are not reassuring. But, I pray Godspeed for the men and women of the armed forces who will be tasked with doing the really hard work of making somebody else’s plans a success.
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