Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

East is East and West is West

East is East and West is West….

Once the meaning of the above truism really sinks in you will understand better why Western minds are nervous about the Iotola getting a nuke. The thought of being able to accomplish with a push of a button what they have historically been unable to achieve through conventional arms is almost euphoric. When they see that nuclear mushroom cloud rising up out of the desert they are not horrified, like a typical Westerner. For them it is more akin to an orgasm. (Remember that Palestinian girl dancing gleefully the day the Twin Towers fell? Was anybody paying attention?)

When the West had a monopoly on Nuclear Weapons we could count on the fact that a model based upon reason would be used in decisions regarding employment. Mutually Assured Destruction worked to deter the West from using these weapons on one another. To the typical Middle Easterner, however “Reason” is a rather amorphous Western concept… It is a process they have never bought into at the visceral level. Oh, some of those who once attended foreign Universities can explain it, and when they argue in the United Nations they can come up with all kinds of “reasons…” however, this is just part of a game that is played to further their political interests.

They believe deep down that anyone who settles differences through negotiations and diplomacy is doing so out of weakness…. And they have been stringing the West along and shaking their heads in contempt for a long time. What they understand is the “Rat-Tat-Tat” of an AK 47 rifle and see nuclear weapons as simply a grander version of the scimitar. If Iran gets a nuclear weapon you can bet that reason will not be a big player in any employment considerations. The same minds that concluded there wasn’t a Holocaust, and that 911 was an inside job will scratch their butts, stroke their beards and BANGO!, the world will be bathed in a spectacular display of nuclear fireworks. So don’t think for a minute that just because the West had Nukes for 50 years and restrained themselves that the “Faithful” will continue the long proud tradition.

The Israelis are in a huge bind. They are a bunch of very talented tactical thinkers….beyond that they are severely constrained. Some of the greatest genius of recorded history has emerged from that gene pool but they have a fatal flaw. They can’t agree on anything. They are their own worst enemy. They should be glad they are surrounded by hostile Arab neighbors because left to their own devices they have traditionally self destructed . So when it comes to regional or world order thinking don’t expect too much from them. If we expect them to pull our chestnuts out in the Middle East, think again. Physician heal thyself…. The cobblers child has no shoes… Where they can apply their minds to a single small focus, they excel but where they have to network together for the greater good of their State, the limitations begin to show.

No doubt these observations will get me labeled as anti-Semitic. The truth is I feel a sense of attachment. Historically they have faced adversity that sends a shiver down my spine and fills my heart with empathy. They have become the red-headed step child of the West and I admire and wish them well but they have some huge internal problems. The Holocaust took something from their corporate identity… a part of their soul never grew back. Actually it started well before, when they were evicted from Spain…Or maybe it goes back even further to new testament times or even into the old testament days. Maybe it goes back to acts of genocide set down in the earliest records of history. Whatever the problem is, it’s deep seated and chronic. What I will say is that they need to worry more about the threat they pose to themselves than their neighbors. Their enemies only triumph after they have neutered themselves to the point where they fall apart and turn to procrastination and in-fighting.

“Why are you going there Percy?” you ask…and the reason is because many believe the Israelis will act unilaterally and take down Iran before they get their hands on a nuclear weapon. This might happen (I doubt it) but if they do it will spark an action that will make them look like the aggressors. They will be the ones who set in motion, forces that cannot be recalled. What it will take to scourge the problem will require a heavy dose of combat power, that will push conventional weaponry to the limits of their utility. It will leave collateral long term fallout in both the figurative and literal sense. This act will fracture once more the fragile corporate identity of the state of Israel. They will surrender the moral high ground to Arabs. The Arabs will scream to the world, we didn't start this Jihad, the Jews did. Better to move some of their people, abroad “temporarily” (A big chunk) if a nuclear war ever looks imminent…let the men remain at home and duke it out. Better that, than entrench themselves more deeply behind the isolation eight-ball. An evacuation of non-combatants would send a signal that even the Arabs would understand and an unmistakable signal that the Israelis have the will and capability of dealing with anything the Iranians dare serving up. (Their people would not be such a large part of a hostage equation) They need to begin considering some tough options before its too late, and strategic thinking isn’t their long suit.