Reply #13: Indeed... [View All]

[Darranar]

the socialist idea that capitalism and war go hand in hand has some truth to it. The major problem with capitalism (and therefore corporate imperialism) is the concentration of money, and therefore power, in the hands of the few. This often leads to violenece, whether instigated through the direct serving of corporate interests or through terrorists and the like generated from bad domestic situations brought by such interests.

We know about the imbalance of wealth in Saudi Arabia - is it any coincidence that from there the majority of the hijackers (as well as Bin Laden himself) came?

Quite a few people say that America's support for Israel is the reason for hatred of the US in the Arab world. There's certainly an element of truth to that but the greater factor to me seems to be the propping up of despotic, brutal regimes like that of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, and once Iran and Iraq. The principle purpose of this is the "defense of American interests" - aka an effort to secure the resources in the region for the US and the elimination of any who might oppose it.

Support and aid for Israel (or, rather, for the right-wing fools who lead Israel's government) is a facet of that American foreign policy that I described above; that policy is not a facet of support for Israel. Nor is that aspect of America's foreign policy due in any large part to such lobbies as AIPAC.

It is also interesting to consider that under Likud, Israel's economy is in a very bad state with no sign of improvement. Netanyahu announced awhile ago that the Likud was going to privatize some government-owned companies. The state of Israel's economy is in part due to the Intifadah and the refusal of both sides to make peace, and it is also in part due to the unwillingness on the part of the GOI to actually FUND social programs instead of letting them decay to nothingness.

Lastly, the best thing that can be done for world peace is better labor regulation for the global economy and an effort to crack down on corporate control of many Third-world countries. Destroying or attempting to destroy Israel will simply bring about more violence and unrest.