Historically-speaking Israel is what may be called a 'latest case scenario'. Historically, the Israelites were not the original possessors of the area we now call 'palestine'. If it is to be taken as a 'historic book', the Torah is indicative that Abram was from present day Iraq and emigrated to Palestine, where the inhabitabts allowed him to settle.

That his descendants would later grow in number to dipossess them, is the story of the 'chosen people'. That those chosen people were dipossessed themselves, on numerous occasions, including an exile to their 'natural' homeland and eventual Roman-induced 'diaspora' away from Palestine, is also the stuff of history.

Historically speaking, then, the present-day 'arabs' have as much claim to Palestine, by virtue of what remains of Canaanite 'blood' in them, as do modern day jews who carry probably not much more residual genetic material from the original 'Abrahamites'.

If 'posession is nine tenths of the law', which seems to be the real rationale for Zionist claims, then we have the stuff of all disagreements, and the potential for an equitable resolution, or on-going struggle - with the constant potential of history being re-written, again.

History, in this case, is on nobody's side.

If that doesn't make you want to sent a battalion of the Screamin' 423rd in there on a weekend furlough, I don't know what could.

If they were running guns into central america, they'd be considered entrepreneurs and would probably qualify for a government grant. But food and hospital supplies into Gaza will get them a "stiff sentence"?

Whatever Israel's got, America's being infected.

Sounds ominous, considering the US has been arming (and advising and mentoring, etc) the Philippines to fight a communist/Moslem rebellion for the last 15 years. What are they going to need to fight China? A fleet of B1's and another 30 divisions?

Or perhaps it has something to do with cozying-up to the Vietnamese in the hope they'll want to take a poke at China for us. That would be quite the revenge.

CNN had a gal reporting live from downtown Damascus on Friday waiting for something to happen when the Mosques emptied. Obviously she was in the wrong place because correspondents miles away in Lebanon knew and reported 10's of people shot down in the street while government sources were reporting the shootings of numerous police and security men by armed gangs.

Sometimes gunfire doesn't carry very far, but with Syria in the state we're being told it is, you'd think that somebody would have been telling her there were other places to go.

Like smashing your car into the garage door, what happens next can seem very important and worth doing. But it's always better to avoid costly accidents, if possible. Deliberately driving into the grarage door is the act of an idiot, or a very precise demolition expert. In light of what's happened in Libya over the past two months, it looks a lot like the latter.

America isn't setting much of an example in its drive to world hegemony. It might be better to tackle a real biggie in the kind of war the US Armed forces were designed for. And soon, before these tea pot tempests bust the war machine.

Did the Czechs find out that the US had Prague and Bratislava targetted for the 'nukuler' treatment back in the 'bad old days' and come to the realization that having a 'nuclear shield' only extended the number of US targets, rather than actually protecting anything?

Good for them. Now the Poles need to wise up, too. The Rumanians and Bulgarians are in love with their new 'freedumb.'

Mike Yon is as much a creative writer as an eyewitness. He writes from one perspective as well. Since a meeting with GWB a couple of years back, the military 'bloggers' Yon included, have been co-opted to 'toe the company line' to tell the soldiers' story. They've done a pretty good job of preparing their readership for a victory, very slow in coming, and/or developing the faith to be patient and persevere blowing billions on the 'cause' that sees the greatest professional military business on earth repeatedly 'deked' by sneaker-clad volunteers who seem to 'get by' with a goat and a handful of knock-off AK rounds.

Netanyahu is doing no more than other Israeli leaders of past times. He's applying the first principle of all schoolyard fights, hit them harder, first, and they'll leave you alone. If you aren't a bully.

For the schoolyard bully, however, there is always somebody who thinks they're tougher and the challenge is always developing. Or there is always a victim who will fight back. Such has it been with the 'gallant' little state of Israel, having fought off the other bullies, the schoolyard belongs to it. But like all bullies, it only has to lose one fight, and everything changes.

I'm inclined to think that the 'hopefulness' of Jews is largely bragadoccio and that the 'Masada Moment' - another national suicide is never far from consciousness. That's what an Israeli loss will look like: Arabs kaput and, hopefully, enough time for another contamination-generated diaspora.

As the Fuhrer said, any society that isn't purified in the fire of war becomes effeminate and unworthy of existence.

Gimme a Sieg?