U.S. and Israeli interests are not identical. They often collide, and when they do, U.S. interests must prevail. Moreover, we should never view the current regime as "America's best friend." Indeed, since the time of Ben Gurion, the behavior of the Israeli regime has been Jekyll and Hyde. In the 1950s, its intelligence service, the Mossad, had agents in Egypt blow up U.S. installations to make it appear the work of Cairo, to destroy U.S. relations with the new Nasser government. During the Six Day War, Israel ordered repeated attacks on the undefended USS Liberty that killed 34 American sailors and wounded 171 and included the machine-gunning of life rafts. This massacre was neither investigated nor punished by the U.S. government in an act of national cravenness.

He quotes Rabin saying, "...there would be a brief moment of opportunity for Israel to make peace with its near partners before the Iranians recover from the Iran-Iraq war and become amore serious enemy,” What he and many others do not take into account is that ANY agreement signed on paper is worthless. Regimes change, and whoever Israel makes a deal with today, will eventually be out of the picture. Then, what? That is why it's so absurd to give land away in exchange for a piece of paper. The Arabs can go back on their word in a matter of minutes. Israel would have to go to war and win, losing lives and risking everything, before it could get any piece of land back. We don't have a world enforcer of treaties. The UN is a joke. Superpowers are fickle. The only peace treaty possible is always a temporary one, and it should be as simple as to promise not to attack each other, and maybe some economic and cultural cooperation. That's all. The surrender of Jewish land should NEVER be part of a peace treaty.

absolutely right.....it was surprising to me to see israelis & their supporters in the US cheering for iraq's invasion when any begginner chess player will see that even if democracy had prevailed in iraq (much less anarchy) it would not be in israel's best interest for above reasons especially weakening it's puppet regeme neighbours like jordan.....the region is radicalised more every decade getting worse & even though israelis may say in pride....we will never let anybody threaten us, at the end it was an unnecessary conflict of choice....have fun....Rabin was absolutey right....

pretty clear this dude is right. US will not go into another war, and the only feasible way to stop Iran to which American people will agree to is with harsh economic sanctions.

So let me get this right. Israel should have allowed the Iraqis to continue finaceing Suicide Bombers? Israel is responsible for the US screwing up in Iraq for example failing to bring in members of the old iraqi army into the security forces etc. Israel should give up all her land for the sake of a maybe peace in Iraq. Iranian Islamic extreamist in Iran would never have built the bomb. Sure I see where you are a expert.

Thanks to your stupid,badly and wrong war on Irak.

"The surrender of Jewish land should NEVER be part of a peace treaty."

he is telling the truth! that is the true picture emerging right now!

My take on this is that Israel will pay the price for President Bush's blunders in mishandling the war. For one thing, Mr. Bush does not have a clue who our enemy is. He calls them "terrorists." He does not know who our enemies are. I think it is always a mistake for Israel to look to the US to fight her wars. Saddam financed suicide bomber's families in Israel? Small wonder, after he saw how Israel stoody by helplessly while he launched some 39 scud missiles on Israel's cities and towns during the Gulf War. Could the Jews have been more pathetic than we were during the Gulf War depending on this anti-Semite in the White House along with his Jew-hating Secretary of State? The one we now have in the White House is merely a chip off the old block. Israel will pay a heavy price putting her trust in this thin reed of a US president.

i am not a proponent of the jewish global conspiracy theory but when u trivialize the discussion like that by claiming that Iraq's financing suicide bombers was the problem..... then either u're dumb or misinformed.... this is a pretext lumped by Bush in his attempt to B.S american ppl to go to war with iraq along with the other bogus reasons....yes saddam did pay suicide bombers money but if u think they would not have done it wihthout his money instead of their dispair or if his demise would've stopped it....god help u with ur brain... elevate the discussion first for the respect of ur own mind. Finally, Israel did not push for the War against Iraq but it certainly could've stopped it, if for nothing at least its own interest....u shot urselves in the foot....when the major war engineers in states happen to be Bonefide Zionists like Pearle or Wolfowitz.... or jewish supporters of israel like liberman....u can't deny israel could've stopped it for its own sake at least.

I careless what happens, I just want to see our troops to come home in regular passenger airplane seats, not in body bags in cargo planes. The weapons and billions of $$$ we give to Israel every year are more than enough, let Israel fight its wars and invade Iran if it feels threatened by Iran. So no US war with Iran no matter how much Israel's supporters push for that and try to paint Iran as a threat to the US. Americans won’t buy the same crap twice.

You say that the USS Liberty incident was never inevstigated by the US. This is not true. The incident was fully investigated by various departments in the US and all led to the conclusion that the attack was an accident. You say Israel's policy to the US is Jekyll and Hyde but you haven't given the long list of Israeli contributions to this country, from the secrets of the MiG to technological and economic cooperations. You just point out 2 incidents and assume this makes Israel backstabbing.

Your statements about the 1950's is made up BS of course, but if you have any proof please, show me. The USS Liberty in fact was investigated once by the US Navy and twice by Israel. While I know that morons like you love to throw mud on the wall just to see what sticks I believe lying is crossing the line. So back up your big mouth with research and I'll be glad to show your sources are mostly if not all bias or antisemitic, prove me wrong!!!

One day of air strikes is what is needed to put Iran back a few years in which time the Junta may be overthrown. Bush (not any other President) needs permission to bomb Iraq or anywhere else. War? When was the last time a U.S. president asked permission to go to war! WW2

Look, although we have given Israel $20,000 for every Jewish citizen, Israel refuses to stop building the settlements that are the cause of the Palestinian intifada. Likud, Labor and Kadima governments have all dragged the US' good name through the mud and blood of Ramallah, ignored successive American presidents’ requests to restrain themselves, and sold U.S. weapons technology to China, including the Patriot, the Phoenix air-to-air missile, and the Lavi fighter, which is based on F-16 technology. Only direct U.S. intervention blocked Israel’s sale of our AWACS system. Elsewhere, Israel suborned Jonathan Pollard to loot our secrets and refuses to return the documents, which would establish whether or not they were sold to Moscow. Even when Clinton tried to broker an agreement at Wye Plantation between Israel and Arafat, Bibi Netanyahu attempted to extort, as his price for signing, release of Pollard, so he could take this treasonous snake back to Israel as a national hero. Tell me, do the Brits or even the Japanese, some of our closest (but less bragging) allies, behave like this?

Once Israel accepts that IT is not the big dog on the block because uncle Sam bankrolls it. Iran and Israel have a lot in common, one that comes to mind is there's no historical enmity between the Jews and Iranians, especially the Shieh. This is period of history when both Iran and Israel have been under the yoke of two extremist religion-based political gangs has come to the end of its dangerous course. Once the extremist Zionism and Islamism are eradicated - that day won't be too far away judging the pathetic polictical conditions of both countries - the Jews and Shieh can live together. The Sunni Arabs, especially the rabid Wahhabi gangs simply cannot live with anyone other than their own tribal kins. They hate Christians, Jews and more than both of those the Shieh. Iran has the largest indigenous Jewish population in the ME ouside Israel and those ancient bonds will bring them together, to the chagrin of the Wahhabi. On another note, putting Iran and Al Qaeda in the same sentence is the sigh of utter ignorance. Go figure.

Israel gained somewhat by our (US) incursion into Iraq. It's enemies to the east were weakened. Iraq had threatened to incinerate Israel during the first Gulf War, which seems forgotten. As far as Israel prodding the US to invade, it did not disapprove officially, but was not totally convinced of it's feasibility. Israel also had varying opinions, as did the US Jewish community. The US occupation did not influence Iran at all. Iran had decided on it's nuclear program long before 911. Nothing has changed except Saddam is no longer a counter to Iran. Both Iran and Iraq were arch enemies of Israel however. Israel can wipe Iran off the map, and take Iraq and Syria with it, if push comes to shove. As far as peace, a weak Israel will make it's enemies more aggressive and willing to take a chance of Jihad. A nuclear-strong Israel is the best and only deterrent. You cannot talk to thugs, criminals and maniacs..(Arabs)

Saddam could control Iraq and keep Iran in check ....what the whole US army couldn't. Saddam regime is a family bizness and he would not allow Al-Qaeda into Iraq. He may be cruel to his ppl, but he hasn't kill an American @ least not intentionally. I would say blame Bush for this.

The time is not in the side of Israel ,we connot afford more wasted years of nowhere from right wing dimogojy .Peace is strategic necessity for Israel more than the Arabs, you like it or not.We didn't like Arafat now we have Hamas,we don't like Hamas we will have Al-quaeda.WE didn't like Saddam now we have Iran and so on.We will wait till the hole Middle East will be run by Islamist extremist .

First of all, Doc Holliday, before you go calling people names, if Jon Dietrich's statements about the 1950's are made up BS, why is there a page on wikipedia on the Lavon Affair which describes "a scandal over a failed Israeli covert operation... in which Egyptian, American and British-owned targets in Egypt were bombed in the summer of 1954"? Scroll down to the bottom, past the part were it mentions how 25,000 Egyptian Jews bore the consequences, to where it mentions how "in March 2005, Israel publicly honored the surviving operatives, and President Moshe Katsav presented each with a certificate of apprection for their efforts on behalf of the state, ending decades of official denial by Israel." Certificate of appreciation, efforts on behalf of the state, presented by Israeli President Moshe Katsav, publicly honored, no proof here! Pretty quick to pull out the old anti-Semite card, weren't you? By all means, would you please show that these sources are bias or anti-Semitic, as you pointed out you would be glad to do? To Jon Dietrich, I'm not sure if you knew that today is the fortieth anniversary of the USS Liberty massacre by Israel's Air Force and Navy. Forty years and no justice.

A brave and honest man that has the guts to say the truth. He has far more clout and credibility than I but, it is a shame that his assessment will fall on deaf ears. If people will not heed this analysis then it will put the security situations in both the US and Israel in peril but, I would say Israel is worse -off just because of it's geographic proximity and stands to fare worse by ignoring this article. I want to say that Israeli citizens, politicians and leaders are still living in the past and evaluating the threat based on the old paradigm. Then again though I don't know that for a fact since most of the commentators on here seem to be non-Israelis trying to pass themselves off as such. The definitions of war and peace have changed dramatically. Military art has changed forever and I hope someone in the governments of Israel and the US realize this and start taking appropriate action.

We did not "stand by helplessly" during the Gulf War when the scuds flew. Israel agreed not to "interfere" so as not to break the alliance which included Saudia Arabia & other Arab countries, which didnt want Israel involved. However, there were limitations and if Iraq had crossed the red line, they would have seen some pretty nasty fireworks. Moreover, we do not look to U.S. to fight our wars, thank you. Your fighting in Iraq has no strategic value for Israel and as above article points out, is to our detriment. Dont think that any American lives are being lost because of Israel, as the U.S., Britain & allies went into Iraq on own initiative. I believe the fact that no WMD were found is because Iraq had 6 months to transport them all to Syria.

Why Israel should be responsible for US problems ? 3000 us citizens were assasinated by fanatics . USA reacted by eliminating the terrorist straining camp and financing governments . The reaction was legitimate,. When when you start to fight bugs or virus colony , you need to do it until the completion. Iran is the head of the snake . Ignoring it will make the world life miserable and impossible to use in our cars radioactive oil, because iranians will use atomic bombs against their neighbourgs . Stop to report all the issues on Israel back. Iran is a formidable potential danger and cannot been allowed to pursue his destabilization work Ayatollahs were CIA creation to stop communism expansion . They need to kill their golem creature. For Arabs sunnites and Europeans are on the same side of Israel , why not the USA ? Learn from the past . Hitler should have been stopped . This hesitation made 50 millions deads and terrible destruction and pain in the world . Never again my friends , never again !

Just forget the stupid talk. If ANYBODY is dumb enough to do ANYTHING. The WHOLE REGION will be UNINHABITABLE. Do you want to disagree?

Where were you when they launched an attack on Iraq?You thought it was an easy ride,yah?Now, why do you blame Bush............very soon some more reasons for you to blame Bush will arise................keep a count,John.

One thing we need to understand. George Herbert Walker Bush and his son, George W. Bush are anti-Semitic. They are close personal and financial friends with the Saudi Wahhabis. 9/11 was a Saudi (proxy) attack on the US. Mr. Bush covered all this up. He is covering for the murderers of thousands. Yitzhaq Shamir made a huge mistake, listening to (heeding the smooth-talking) James Baker. Baker is a Jew-hater. Don't you know this? What alliance? What alliance would have been broken? Did the Arabs drive Saddam out of Kuwait? No. It was an American war. All this "coalition" nonsense that we are being fed is nonsense. Americans are dying in Iraq because of Bush's incompetence. I agree, America's fighting in Iraq has no strategic value for Israel but this US president is trying to force Israel to pay the price to appease his Arab friends. This whole idea of an alliance or a coalition is phony. Your prime minister, whose party you voted for, is groveling and prostrating himself before Jew-haters. Don't Jews in Israel have any self-respect? Why aren't you demanding this man resign?

Mr. Riedel admits that Israel may be better off since Iraq has been redesigned because of the war. I submit to you that Israel still exists because of the Iraq war. Mr. Riedel tells us that Al Qaeda has recovered because of the Iraq war. I submit that Al Qaeda has morphed and reinvented itself by updating it's hatreds and means of destruction. The covering has been lifted from the true desire of Al Qaeda, Hamas and all the 'fighters of the infidels' and this includes Iran's leaders. Would we rather they had remained hidden?

been written in such a limited amount of space. I will address many of the phony charges and refute them. 1) " ignored successive American Presidents requests to restrain themselves " This is FALSE. a) during Gulf War 1 Bush Sr. asked Israel not attack Iraq or join the coalition publicly, Israel complied. b) Even after Iraq began to shoot Scud missles into Israel Bush asked Israel not to respond, Israel for the first time in its history did NOT fire back. Just to name a couple, which means Jon is a liar. 2) " Israel sold US weapons Tech to China " Again this a false claim. Here Jon Takes one story and makes two incidents to create the false image of a backstabbing friend. What Israel was accused of by Reporters Evans & Novac was selling Patriot missle techology to China. It was fully investigated and found NOT true. 3) The truth is Israel has improved the USA weapons on all systems mentioned by Jon ( Patriot, Phoenix, F-16 ) In fact it was just reported that Israel just fired the first successful test of the Phoenix missle with Israels improvements on the targeting system. 4) Israel improved the AWACS many years ago and the USA sold the improved model to Saudi Arabia with Israels improvements. It was Israel that was upset with the US for selling it to a nation still at war with Israel. 5) While it was true that BiBi wanted to get Pollard out of jail and sent to Israel, Clinton asked CIA Head Tenet about it, he said he would resign if Clinton agreed and it was taken off the table. It is important to note no info was ever sent to Russia that is a complete lie. Pollard sent satellite photos of Arabs movements around Israel, to Israel, everything else is BS. I make no excuses for Pollard he was a traitor. Often we have good hearted people with bias info, or antisemtic people who intentionally distort and write from known bias sources to futher an evil agenda.