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Culture War Roundup for the week of February 20, 2023

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I am aware that the foreign policy apparatus of the US Government disagrees with me, but that's sort of begging the question. Look at, for example, the mass overrepresentation of Zionist influence in the architecture of the Iraq war. So saying something like "the foreign policy administration of the US Government disagrees with you" doesn't really engage my argument that American foreign policy interests are captured by Zionist influence, and a massively disproportionate of American foreign policy elites have strong loyalty to a foreign power! When in history would that sort of dual-loyalty be tolerated?

Joe Biden pandering to Israel by boisterously claiming that billions of dollars in handouts to Israel is the "best investment we make" would be strong evidence for my conclusion. Interesting that Biden symbolically downplays American interests and domestic investment by calling its handouts to Israel as the "best investment it makes."

I do agree, though, that American support for Israel is in-character for the USA. After all, there is probably no demographic more supportive of Israel than white Evangelicals, and that support is at its foundation built on superstitious belief in biblical prophecy and a subsequent high-regard for Jews as God's Chosen People... But the regard that white Evangelicals have towards Jews and Israel is not reciprocated, as there is no demographic that Jews hold in lower regard than white Evangelicals. The foundation for this "alliance" does not at all rest in sober-minded, strategic vision.

It's motivated by lobbying efforts of a a hugely influential portion of the American elite with dual-loyalty, combined with a religiously-brainwashed American base of support that blindly supports Israel based on biblical prophecy. It's in-character for the USA, but it's an indictment of that aspect of an American culture rather than a rational justification for the state of affairs or an explanation for why this alliance is so strategically important.

Do you think refugee crises and regional instability would be less likely after a genocidal Islamist government takes over a previously Jewish-majority nuclear power? If so, why?

Those things have been the outcome of decades of the status quo. Zionism has had ample time to solve these problems and demonstrate its value as an allied stabilizing-force in the region, but it's utterly failed in that task. The future is not looking better. Why would we double down on just constantly deferring to Israel's insolence? I don't see an Islamist government as a likely outcome of a single-state solution. There are other compromises like Jerusalem being internationally administered.

Do I think Israel will nuke Istanbul? No. Do I think Israel would turn the Middle East to glass before it faces a genuine military threat? That's possible enough to scare me far more than Hamas nuking Istanbul. And it's scary because I know I cannot trust the American foreign policy apparatus to stop Israel from taking the entire Middle East down with it if it faces an actual threat to its "conquests."

In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Arab forces were overwhelming Israeli forces and Prime Minister Golda Meir authorized a nuclear alert and ordered 13 atomic bombs be readied for use by missiles and aircraft. The Israeli Ambassador warned President Nixon of "very serious conclusions" if the United States did not airlift supplies. Nixon complied. This is seen by some commentators on the subject as the first threat of the use of the Samson Option.