The Mideast Crises & Morality | National Catholic Reporter

The Mideast Crises & Morality | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Where to begin.  Hamas and ISIS are not governments, they are revolutionary organizations and the first rule of revolution is not to win on the battlefield, but to goad the estabilished government into still harsher action to radicalize the population.  This seems to also be the first rule in fighting terrorism, because an emerging Israeli peace movement is beginning to threaten the establed order in Israel - which includes the settlers movement that was never happy pulling out of Gaza in the first place  and was especially distrubed when Gaza won in a free election championed by those uber-democrats, Bush and Cheney (idiots).  Still, it was entirely illegitimate for Israel to blockade Gaza for seven years - indeed, its war crime - even worse than the sanctions against Iraq and Iran.  Luckily, Iran did not take the bait and move militarily.  Score one for good example.



The instability in that region is the result of the Defense Guidance issued when Cheney was the SecDef of the first president Bush and was designded as a way to avoid demilitarization at home as the result of the cold war. When he became Vice President, he put it back into action - including a program of disinformation about Iran's nuclear ambitions.  We have met the enemy and is us.  As far as ISIS, the air strikes will help the Kurds, not change the balance of power.  Ultimately, it will be Muslim and Jewish women who will settle this - who will reject terror tactics (even with the fire crackers Hamas is using) and put an end to the cycles of violence in the Middle East.  Until they do, expect nothing from within the region.  In the US, it is time to demilitarize, no matter what.  That means don't ever vote Republican again for President.  It is time to stop putting the desires of Israel over the need for peace.  The biblical sign people are searching for has nothing to do with Judaism.  When the King of the North (Israel) returns, that will be the sign people are looking for.  As the Roma have not yet appointed a king, this will not happen any time soon.  Sounds silly, so are the apocolyptic dreams of Evangelicals for the end of the world happening due to Israeli politics.