Sophistry – “to make a clever argument with the intent to mislead or be dishonest".
When I recently saw this word for the first time, I was compelled to look it up because it was in reference to how the press, the United Nations and the leftist global movement were piling up on little Israel for enforcing a blockade against Hamas in Gaza. Never mind that at the core of Hamas’s charter is a reference to destroying Israel, never mind that Hamas has shot over 10,000 rockets into Israel from Gaza since it took over in a violent coup on June 15th 2007. Never mind that the “innocent” Palestinians in Gaza elected Hamas to a legislative majority of seats in 2006, never mind that Israel allows 10,000 tons of Humanitarian aid in to Gaza DAILY, never mind that Egypt is an equal participant in the blockade of Gaza.
I could go on and on about the hypocritical absurdity of the dual value system that the world uses to judge Israel, but being on the defensive constantly isn’t going to change the tactics of the masters of “sophistry” – the Muslim/Arab world. After all, they have monopolized the United Nations and the global agenda for over 60 years, at the expense of legitimate tragedies of humongous proportions. Let’s be candid and honest. In the last 3 days, over 150 people were massacred in Kyrgyzstan and hundreds of thousands left homeless. All the UN could muster was serious “concern”. It is likely that thousands will die there before the week is out, yet not a peep out of the Arab world, no UN Security Council condemnations, no requests for inquires – virtually no response or concerns.
Are we to blame Israel, Iran, Turkey or so-called peace activists for the brutal recorded assault on the Israeli Navy personal? Maybe all of the above, but President Obama - in my opinion - is the main ingredient in the accelerating tensions in the Middle East. His policy of engaging terrorist regimes like Syria and Iran, the perception that he is leading a strategic reversal of American foreign policy – has created a fear that America’s global security treaties born through decades of multi-lateral understandings with dozens of countries are becoming worthless at breathtaking speed.
The fear of being caught isolated without the American security umbrella, be it Japan, South Korea, Israel – or even Europe, has created a scenario where countries like North Korea and Iran are more apt to exploit these fears by “probing” to determine Obama’s leadership resolve. Sinking a South Korean Navy Vessel – killing 26, or sending a locked and loaded flotilla into an inevitable clash with the Israeli Navy are not random acts. In both instances, President Obama blinked by not supporting both South Korea and Israel – and event went out of his way to limit their response.
The lack of a credible US response backing up Israel – either in word or deed – will surely result in deeper military probing by Israel’s enemies– which will make it more likely that a preemptive strike and/or a military conflagration will take place sooner rather than later.
