Little Reminder: Gates (and the US) Is Not G-d

Under the headline Exclusive: IAF to ask US for world's most advanced jets, the Jerusalem Post reports:

[U.S. Defense Secretary Robert] Gates was here for talks with government officials on a range of key strategic issues including American plans - which Israel has objected to - to sell smart bombs to Saudi Arabia.

...On Thursday, Gates tried to ease Israeli concerns about the planned American weapons sale to Saudi Arabia as well as other US Gulf allies, saying that Washington remained committed to preserving Israel's military edge over its neighbors.

How would America go about doing that? By maybe, possibly, sorta, kinda, one day in the near future responding to the Israeli Air Force's interest in the American F-22 stealth fighter jet. Although that interest was not discussed during Gates's visit to Israel this week.

Gates also said his 24-hour trip to Israel did not include any discussions on taking military action against Iran. He reiterated his belief that diplomacy was the best course of action for halting Iran's nuclear program.

...Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv before his departure, Gates said he had urged Israeli leaders to look at the deal in terms of the "overall strategic environment" and stressed that Israel's neighbors had other alternatives for purchasing arms.

"I'm confident that the Russians would be very happy to sell weapons to countries in the region," he said. Gates said he affirmed the US would continue to help Israel maintain its qualitative military edge, but did not say whether the Saudi deal would go through. Israel is particularly worried about the planned sale of advanced air systems that would vastly upgrade the striking ability of Saudi warplanes, some of which could be stationed just several hundred kilometers from Israeli airspace.

In other words, Gates wants America to get in on the arms sales so they can beat the Russians and the Chinese to the checkout line. Don't fool yourself into thinking that a nice package of diplomatic sway comes as a free gift with every bomb purchase: America is no martyr. Trying to sell high-tech weaponry to the Arabs not only puts money in the bank, it appeases their little minions the world over at Israel's expense. After all, why should America care whether or not the Arabs have the bomb? Washington's not within shooting range, right? Who cares if a few military installations in Iraq and a nation of loyal allies (who also happen to be Jews) die in the process, as long as the fat cats keep their pockets lined and their homes nice and tidy?

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack wins the coveted Quote of the Week Prize with his classic:

"[Israel's military edge] is something that we are dedicated to helping Israel preserve for a number of different reasons - for their defensive needs, for the deterrent nature of that edge, as well as allowing Israel to take calculated risk in the interest of peace.

FYI:"...the State Department on Thursday didn't indicate that the F-22 would be available to help preserve that edge." In fact, there's still heavy debate going on in Congress as to whether or not the F22 will even be made available for sale in the future. Suddenly, we realize that this article isn't about Israel obtaining much-needed weapons technology at all; it's about America playing puppetmaster with Jewnocchio, aka the Olmerde government, whose collective nose is growing longer by the nanosecond.

On a more heartwarming note, "Before leaving Israel, Gates visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, accompanied by Peretz." How nice. He remembered to visit the museum honoring the six million murdered in the name of appeasing terrorists bent on world domination...er, I mean, "taking calculated risks in the interest of peace."

It took the deaths of six million Jews to convince the United Nations to grant a fraction of land to the Jews. How many more have already been murdered in the ongoing battle to retain Israel as our own? How many will die, still, for the right to live as Israelis--as Jews?