[Washington Post] Richard Cohen - In a way, like Israel, Britain is also a strategic liability. Who needs that soggy isle? In a fight, it would be of little consequence. You could argue, therefore, that Britain is a strategic burden - and some made precisely that argument in the run-up to World War II. There are factors, though, that move the scale not at all but have an incalculable weight nonetheless. Who and what are we as a nation if we measure everything by self-interest? Who and what are we as a nation if we abandon our friends, blowing empty kisses to them as we cut them loose? Who and what are we as a nation if we don't calculate the incalculable: Values? Principles? Mearsheimer and Walt's argument is so one-sided - an Israel lobby that leads America around by the nose - they suggest that not only do they not know Israel, they don't know America, either.
2007-09-12 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive