>
>It's historical memory of Auschwitz, not
>identification with Ariel Sharon, that is one
>of the principal drivers of U.S. policy.
>
Brad, I have some questions about your perspective on this. In all honesty, I see very little evidence for your view, and I don't really think these questions have rational answers. However, I do genuinely want to know what you think -- I'm not just asking to score points. If I'm wrong or misinformed, I'm willing to change my mind.
(Anyone else, please jump in too.)
1. If memory of the Holocaust is one of the principal drivers of U.S. policy, why do you believe U.S. support for Israel was limited until the 1967 war? I've seen claims that 99% of U.S. aid to Israel has been given since 1967. If the memory of the Holocaust had so much influence on policy, wouldn't you expect it to have had the most influence in the years immediately after the Holocaust happened? 2. If the memory of the Holocaust can have such powerful effects on U.S. policy, why did the U.S. government help Walter Rauff, inventor of the Nazi mobile extermination vans, escape from Europe? Why did we help Klaus Barbie -- the man who personally participated in torturing to death Jean Moulin, one of the leaders of the French Resistance -- escape? Why did we actually employ Reinhard Gehlen, the notorious Nazi head of intelligence on the eastern front? Has the U.S. government been completely transformed since it carried out these actions? 3. Why did Richard Nixon, while catching his breath after one of his endless anti-semitic tirades in the Oval Office, declare that "the best Jews are actually the Israeli Jews"? What was it that someone as deeply bigoted as Nixon liked about the Israelis? 4. The non-Jewish French had a hideous record during World War II of collaborating with the Nazis and enthusiastically handing over Jewish fellow citizens. Was memory of this the reason that France was Israel's greatest patron in the fifties and early sixties? If so, why did this memory manifest itself as arms sales to Israel, while at the same time French citizens seemed struck by historical amnesia about the extent of their collaboration?
Obviously, I'm extremely skeptical that your view can be squared with the historical evidence. But tell me if I'm wrong.
__________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Games - play chess, backgammon, pool and more http://games.yahoo.com/