Mustang
Gold Member
Before I start in on this thread, let me preface it by mentioning a variation of an old saying:
Struggles and armed conflicts aren't just fought on a battlefield. They're fought in the court of public opinion too. In case anyone needs a history lesson on that front, it would behoove them to recall the American Civil Rights struggle. It was news images of water cannons and German Shepherd police dogs being unleashed on peaceful Black demonstrators which ultimately turned American public opinion against the gov'ts of the American South in the early 1960s. Israel faces a similar PR disaster despite the fact that most of these kind of reports don't get much airtime in the USA.
In truth, the story below isn't even the one I was looking for. I saw a report this morning on CNN about a 3 year old Palestinian child who was wrapped in bandages in a hospital. Obviously, the story below is from last month.
The POINT is clear as long as you're not too obtuse to see it or too partisan to acknowledge it. When a militarily far more powerful foe launches a military assault on a weaker opponent in the name of self-defense, it better be careful regarding its targets and the scale of its assault, or it's going to look like plain old brutality.
While I know that there are a lot of Israel supporter who are unapologetic regarding these assaults, at some point you have to ask yourself if it's doing more harm than good to the cause if it creates widespread sympathy for the Palestinians in the court of world public opinion in the process.
But this thread is not meant so much to be about Israel versus the Palestinians and who's right, or who's MORE right. This thread is meant to be about what's in America's interest. You see, the Israelis are using weapons systems that WE supplied to them to launch these military campaigns. Think how that makes Arabs view us when they see dead children at the hands of weapons we supplied to the people who are using the weapons against them. Think that might create a terrorism problem for us in the process?
"We won the battle, but lost the war."
Struggles and armed conflicts aren't just fought on a battlefield. They're fought in the court of public opinion too. In case anyone needs a history lesson on that front, it would behoove them to recall the American Civil Rights struggle. It was news images of water cannons and German Shepherd police dogs being unleashed on peaceful Black demonstrators which ultimately turned American public opinion against the gov'ts of the American South in the early 1960s. Israel faces a similar PR disaster despite the fact that most of these kind of reports don't get much airtime in the USA.
In truth, the story below isn't even the one I was looking for. I saw a report this morning on CNN about a 3 year old Palestinian child who was wrapped in bandages in a hospital. Obviously, the story below is from last month.
The POINT is clear as long as you're not too obtuse to see it or too partisan to acknowledge it. When a militarily far more powerful foe launches a military assault on a weaker opponent in the name of self-defense, it better be careful regarding its targets and the scale of its assault, or it's going to look like plain old brutality.
While I know that there are a lot of Israel supporter who are unapologetic regarding these assaults, at some point you have to ask yourself if it's doing more harm than good to the cause if it creates widespread sympathy for the Palestinians in the court of world public opinion in the process.
But this thread is not meant so much to be about Israel versus the Palestinians and who's right, or who's MORE right. This thread is meant to be about what's in America's interest. You see, the Israelis are using weapons systems that WE supplied to them to launch these military campaigns. Think how that makes Arabs view us when they see dead children at the hands of weapons we supplied to the people who are using the weapons against them. Think that might create a terrorism problem for us in the process?
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