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I agree with you completely. Most of us in Israel have always felt that the
constant U.S. urging of Israeli restraint against terrorism was dictated by
the necessity to maintain alliances with Saudi Arabia for oil and military
reasons, as opposed to ideological reasons. A common cliche here is "If they
didn't have the oil... (sigh)"
Unfortunately, I think a military retaliation is necessary as well as an
alternate energy program. Both Iran and Iraq are only one to three years
away from nuclear capability, not to mention the current readiness of
non-conventional weapons.
Here is a relevant article by the former prime minister of Israel, Binyamin
Netanyahu on that subject:
DISMANTLE TERR-SUPPORTING REGIMES
Comment By Binyamin Netanyahu
(September 14) - In 1995, I wrote in my book, Fighting Terrorism: "Extremist
Islamic terrorist organizations nullify in large measure the need to have
air power or intercontinental missiles as delivery systems for an Islamic
nuclear payload. The terrorists themselves will be the delivery system. In
the worst of such scenarios, the consequences could be not a car bomb but a
nuclear bomb in the basement of the World Trade Center.
"The rising tide of Islamic terrorism is qualitatively different from the
terrorism which the West has had to face until now. The various strains of
militant Islam see their ultimate destiny as leading to a final
confrontation with the Great Satan, the United States.
"What this new terrorism portends for America and the world and what can be
done about it has not yet been sufficiently understood. The growth of
terrorism has been accompanied by a steady escalation in the means of
violence, including those capable of bringing down entire buildings. The
very real possibility that terrorist states and organizations may soon
acquire horrific weapons of mass destruction and use them to escalate
terrorism beyond our wildest nightmares has not yet been addressed properly
by Western governments.
"It must be recognized that, barring firm and resolute action by the United
States and the West, terrorism will expand dramatically."
Ultimately, the explosion and collapse of the World Trade Center was caused
by 300 tons of jet fuel rather than by a nuclear device, and this means that
the tragic horror we experienced this week was not the worst possible
scenario. Down the line, a far worse catastrophe may be in the offing:
terrorist regimes like Iran and Iraq wielding atomic weapons. No longer will
individuals or buildings be the ones threatened by terror; entire cities may
be destroyed, entire states may be held hostage. The world is on the verge
of an abyss, and most political leaders have not properly gauged its depth.
The only way to fully understand this is to recall the effects of another
hate-filled ideology, Nazism, which also started as a local movement, and
which in just a few years became a world force. Nazism 60 years ago, like
fundamentalist Islam today, was also initially directed only against Jews
and other local minorities. It quickly became clear, however, that its
passionate hatred was directed against our entire civilization.
Then as now, the democracies were late in appreciating the horrendous
implications to our societies of a fanatic ideology bent on world domination
and lacking any inhibition about destroying lives in the process.
Hitler was working to develop nuclear weapons. If he had, our civilization
would have come to an end. Today, for the second time in the modern era, we
are faced with the possibility that weapons of mass destruction will fall in
the hands of a maniacal movement, whose leaders are blinded by their
fanaticism to a sober calculation of deterrence.
We could face terror and destruction on a scale that would dwarf even the
horrors of Manhattan. This is the greatest danger we have ever faced. Until
recently, no one dealt with it. The democracies have wasted too much time.
They are approaching the 12th hour. They cannot wait any longer.
The United States must lead the alliance of free nations to stamp out
terrorism and uproot its safe havens. We must declare terrorism as a crime
against humanity and the terrorist as enemies of mankind. We must destroy
the terrorist organizations, punish and dismantle regimes that support or
harbor them, and disarm their weapons of death.
For the suicide bombers are only the tip of the iceberg. Their actions could
not have been possible without a broad infrastructure of governments,
organizations, and ideological movements that support terror, directly and
indirectly. The battle lines are clear. Those who support barbaric terror
are dancing in Gaza and Ramallah, Beirut and Baghdad. Those who support
freedom and democracy are grieving in New York and London, Paris and Tel
Aviv.
Terror cannot be defeated unless it is completely uprooted. America must
lead the international war against terrorism, but Israel must do its share.
Here, right next to us - and in large measure, with our encouragement - a
terror-supporting regime par excellence, led by Arafat and the PLO, has
developed. And its capabilities grow increasingly stronger. It, too, like
the entire empire of terror, must be disarmed and demilitarized - before it
is too late.
The free world must defeat terror. If it does not, terror will defeat us.
Today's tragedies can either be the harbingers of much greater calamities
yet to come or the turning point in which free societies once again mobilize
their resources, their ingenuity, and their will to wipe out this evil from
our midst. Eradicating terrorism is not a "policy option" - it is a
necessity for the survival of our democratic society and our freedoms.
----- Original Message -----
From: Norman Winski <nwinski@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <realtraders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2001 10:58 PM
Subject: Re: [RT] show your colors/ Oil
> Gila,
>
> The conclusion at the end of Mr. Farah's essay is ridiculous. The US and
> the civilized world is addicted to oil. The way to eliminate an an
addiction
> is not to get more of the addiciton from another dealer. The way to
> eliminate this addiction is to find another source of energy that is not
> dependent on a foreign source. If you pumped the $50 Bil, we are about to
> spend on chasing bin Laden, on new energy sources such as fuel cell
> technology or solar energy we could soon tell the camel jockys to go take
a
> flying leap. They would soon be fighting with each other over a rapidly
> shrinking pie. The question then remains as to whether Bush and Cheney
will
> be willing to abandon their oil industry buddies in favor of securing
> America's future.
>
>
> Alternatively,
>
> Norman
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gila Brock" <brock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <realtraders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2001 3:52 PM
> Subject: Re: [RT] show your colors/ Oil
>
>
> > This article was written by Joseph Farah, an Arab-American journalist,
not
> > an Israeli:
> >
> > The Wakeup Call
> >
> > Joseph Farah
> > September 13, 2001
> >
> > America got its long-awaited, long-anticipated and long-dreaded wakeup
> call.
> >
> > The terror war came home in a big way Tuesday, Sept. 11.
> >
> > Everything has changed. Nothing will be the same, again.
> >
> > Just look at the impact the slaughter and destruction had on George W.
> Bush
> > and Colin Powell, for instance.
> >
> > For months, as Israel has faced, on a daily basis, similar terror
> incidents
> > carried out by people living within its very borders, Bush and Powell
have
> > told the Israelis over and over again: "Show restraint. Negotiate. Don't
> use
> > excessive force. Don't retaliate. Break the cycle of violence."
> >
> > Yet, within hours of the blitzkrieg attack on the World Trade Center and
> > Pentagon and the dramatic hijacking of four airliners, the Bush-Powell
> tune
> > had changed.
> >
> > There was no talk of restraint. There was no talk of negotiation. There
> was
> > no worry about excessive force. There was a promise of retaliation. And
> we,
> > as a nation, were assured that we would not lay down in hopes the
> attackers
> > would be satisfied with their blood toll.
> >
> > Bush, in fact, asserted he would hold any nation harboring the
terrorists
> > accountable for their actions. Israel has been coaxed and bullied by the
> > U.S. to do precisely the opposite.
> >
> > Now the U.S. administration says it is outraged and is determined to
> > "punish" those responsible for "the attack on freedom."
> >
> > I'm glad to hear it. And, far be it for me to question the sudden good
> > judgment being shown in Washington. But it's illustrative of what I have
> > been saying for the last year. The U.S. has been asking Israel to
maintain
> > an untenable course of inaction. In fact, Washington has helped to
ensure
> > that terrorism would spread beyond the Middle East to the shores of the
> U.S.
> > through its shaky, equivocal, timid, impotent, weak, half-way measures
in
> > the face of Israel's constant battle with terror.
> >
> > Does Bush really get it? Will he follow through on his own promise? Will
> his
> > demands on Israel change? Does he plan to follow his own advice?
> >
> > Who knows? Time will tell. But Americans would do well to remember this
> > moment - to reflect on the pain, to recall this mourning. This is what
> > Israel has been enduring in its own less dramatic way - day after day,
> drip
> > after drip, explosion after bloody explosion.
> >
> > Let me go further. We hear many pundits and administration spokesmen
> naming
> > names - Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq. Yet, I haven't heard a one of
them
> > mention the home state of the chief suspect - Osama bin Laden.
> >
> > He's not an Afghani, by the way. He's a Saudi - and that's where his
> support
> > comes from. That's where his money comes from. That's his lifeline -
> > oil-rich, "moderate" Saudi Arabia.
> >
> > Is Washington prepared to issue ultimatums to Mecca? If not, why not?
> >
> > The answer, of course, is oil - which is why as a matter of national
> > strategic defense, America needs to do what is necessary to achieve
energy
> > independence as quickly as possible. Wars do tend to get messy, you
know.
> > And America has the natural resources to be independent of Mideast oil.
> >
> > To do so, however, we've got to decide as a nation whether we are more
> > scared of radical environmentalists or radical Muslims. That's the
choice
> > before us.
> >
> > In a very real sense, we can look at the tens of thousands of casualties
> in
> > Tuesday's horror as casualties of the radical environmentalists, who
have
> > persuaded Americans they would be better off dependent on foreign oil
than
> > on marring the landscape or causing undue stress in the elk.
> >
> > It's time to get serious, folks. This is war. We don't fight wars with
> > people who control our vital natural resources. But we may have to fight
a
> > war with the people supplying us with oil. What are we going to do about
> > that?
> >
> > Americans may be called to sacrifice. I think they're ready for such a
> call.
> > They watched the devastation on TV Tuesday. They will rise to the
> occasion -
> > if their leaders in Washington ask them to do so.
> >
> > It's a time for sacrifices. That means even the elk in Alaska may need
to
> > lose a few acres of real estate for the greater good - saving the lives
of
> > Americans.
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Daniel Goncharoff <thegonch@xxxxxxxxxx>
> > To: <realtraders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2001 4:39 PM
> > Subject: Re: [RT] show your colors/ Oil
> >
> >
> > > In the interest of helping people to know their enemy better, I want
to
> > > express my opinion based on research over the last year that the main
> > > 'provocation' the US has committed against Islam is its continued
> > > presence in Saudi Arabia, which is seen as hallowed ground by Muslims.
> > >
> > > I take this from translations of speeches by Osama Bin Laden, which
are
> > > much more available from European sources, eg the UK press, then they
> > > are from US sources.
> > >
> > > Many Americans are perhaps deceived by the focus in the US press on
> > > other Arab nations that are extremely vocal in their opposition to
> > > Israel and, accordingly, to its strong ally the US. Most of these
> > > governments are, in fact, supportive of the US due to our protection
of
> > > Kuwait against Iraq, but they are not democracies, and therefore also
> > > allow anti-American feelings among their (mostly down-trodden) people
to
> > > continue bubbling up, diverting attention from their own regimes.
> > >
> > > Regards
> > > DanG
> > >
> > >
> > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> > > realtraders-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> > realtraders-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> >
> >
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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>
>
>
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>
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