Quote:
Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Ty, none of us are conceding anything of the sort.
In fact, we are reiterating over and over (and over) that Dingell's remarks repeatedly - in edited context or in their complete transcription - reveal that he regards Hezbollah and Israel as equal parties.
As such, I don't see how Hanson got it wrong.
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For starters, he didn't condemn Israel's use of violence.
Think about that for a little while.
And you didn't condemn Iran or North Korea. Why do you support Iran or North Korea?
eta: I would think that anyone sufficiently interested in politics here would recognize that Dingell is taking sides in a debate in the foreign-policy community about whether the United States should attempt to act as an "honest broker" for a Middle East peace agreement, or whethe it should side with our key ally in the region, Israel.
No one -- no one -- thinks that the people who support the "honest broker" option actually support Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria or Iran. The question is how best to support Israel and the United States' long-term objectives. By playing this role, we engineered a durable peace between Israel and Egypt at Camp David. So it's not like there's no precedent for this working. OTOH, the whole Oslo thing did not get Israel peace with the PLO.
Bush plainly has given up trying to play this role, and thinks peace is ultimately more likely if Israel beats up on, e.g., Hamas, Hezbollah and Lebanon for a while. I don't think this has worked out so well, but reasonable minds can differ, I suppose.
And then there are the Victor Davis Hansons of the world, who are advancing their side of this policy debate by smearing people like Dingell. I would wager that if you look at his whole record, Dingell has been quite supportive of Israel. None of you have bothered to do this. Instead, you are party to the smearing.
If you re-read Dingell's remarks in this context, it is pretty obvious what he is trying to say, and that he doesn't equate Hezbollah and Israel. Give it a try. It won't hurt your brain.
