Saturday, October 10, 2020

When did Israel Become "America's Best Ally"?

 In the recent US Vice Presidential debate, the current US VP, Mike Pence dropped a throaway line that until nobody has noticed until now. He labeled Israel as America's "best ally," or a term meaning the same thing.

I think that from at least 1917 the "best ally" of the US was either Canada or UK. Under Trump both of those alliances were downgraded, although they were loyal to us for all that time.

So now we have the supposedly new "best ally" (might be slightly different wording, but it means this), Israel.  

Now I am much more for Israel than many on the left and elsewhere. I have long supported the two-state solution set in Oslo in 1992 or thereabouts. But the current admin throws that into a trash can.

On June 8, 1967, Israel sank the USS Liberty, killing 34 American citizens, wounding 171. 

Sorry, Israel may be an "ally" of the USA, but this throaway line that somehow it is US.s "best" or "top" or "leading ally" is just a joke.

For the record, if the current POTUS is not reelected, this fantasy will be undone and we shall return to our long established relationships.  Sorry any fantasists who think otherwise, but Canada is a closer ally of the US than Israel.

Barkley Rosser

6 comments:

2slugbaits said...

Yep. I think Pence had it backwards. It would have been more to the point if he had said the US was Israel's best ally.

Sandwichman said...

Canada here. We don't want to be "America's best ally."

rosserjb@jmu.edu said...

S-man,

I can understand why not, but I note that it was not Canada's leaders doing anything in particular that led to Canada's demotion from that position, but those our current leader.

Not Trampis said...

how about us down under.
We have fought in every damned war you have started.

rosserjb@jmu.edu said...

OZ is up there, and I think Trump has not dumped on you guys as much as he has on Canada, maybe because there is so much less trade between the two countries, so OZ cannot be accused as much of stealing US jobs. But the sign of what was true in the past is that when the US has needed really secure secret help, well, it has been Canada that has been relied on, as in when Americans were gotten out of Iran through the Canadian embassy's assistance. Heck, until Trump came along Canadian industries such as steel were viewed by the US DOD as part of the US industrial structure secure for defense needs, but then Trump went after them with tariffs.

Not Trampis said...

fair call