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Daniel Levy has a good post up on the Israeli attacks, and I'd highlight this portion:
Here’s the bad news folks – America is involved, up to its eyeballs actually. Today, after Israeli air-strikes that killed over 200 Palestinians in Gaza, the Middle East is again seething with rage. Recruiters to the most radical of causes are again cashing in. If Osama Bin Laden is indeed a cave-dweller these days then U.S. intel should be listening out for a booming echo of laughter. Demonstrations across the Arab world and contributors to the ever-proliferating Arabic language news media and blogosphere hold the U.S., and not just Israel, responsible for what happened today (and that is a position taken, for good reasons, by sensible folk, not hard-liners). America’s allies in the region are again running for cover. America’s standing, its interests and security are all deeply affected.Whether we like it or not, the Arab world largely understands Israel as a client state of America (or, conversely, America as a client state of Israel). Anger towards Israel effectively is anger towards America. Some of that anger manifests in terrorist recruitment. Some of it weakens moderate, pro-western governments in the region. It's of course antisemitic to say that Israel's actions and America's interests are not always and everywhere perfectly aligned, but that doesn't make it untrue. And if Israel and America are going to be intertwined, and if Israel's weaponry is going to be bought with American dollars, and if Israel is going to be protected by American support, then America has the right, and even the obligation, to demand that Israel take its interests in to account.
