Thanks, Israel!

Part of being an American means reciting without any particular thinking that "we have no greater friend than Israel!" Israel is supposedly our cooler head in the Middle East, our stepping stone to peace in the region, despite the fact that time and time again Israel does what Israel wants, America be damned. A few years ago HERE I wondered about our slavish devotion to this party line, and  last night's Israeli attack on an aid ship will (hopefully) put this thinking to the test, since the lemonade made here might be opening eyes a little bit:

It hardly seemed possible for Israel -- after its brutal devastation of Gaza and its ongoing blockade -- to engage in more heinous and repugnant crimes.  But by attacking a flotilla in international waters carrying humanitarian aid, and slaughtering at least 10 people, Israel has managed to do exactly that.  If Israel's goal were to provoke as much disgust and contempt for it as possible, it's hard to imagine how it could be doing a better job...it is only American protection of Israel that permits the Israelis to engage in conduct like this...but there would be something quite symbolically appropriate about having the U.S. stand at the side of Israel in the aftermath of this latest massacre, because it is only the massive amounts of U.S. financial and military aid, and endless diplomatic protection, that enables Israel to act with impunity as a rogue and inhumane state.  So complete is the devotion of the U.S. Congress to the mission of serving and protecting Israel that it even overwhelmingly condemned the Goldstone report, which found that Israel and Hamas had both commited war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity during the Israeli attack on Gaza. Israeli actions are a direction reflection on, and by-product of, the U.S. Government, because it is the U.S. which enables and protects the behavior.

The one silver lining from these incidents is that the real face of Israel becomes increasingly revealed and undeniable.  Not even the most intense propaganda systems can prettify a lethal military attack on ships carrying civilians and humanitarian aid to people living in some of the most wretched and tragic conditions anywhere in the world.  It is crystal clear to anyone who looks what Israel has become, and the only question left is how will the rest of the world -- beginning with their American patrons -- will react.

This is like having a teammate who's a complete douchebag that keeps dragging you into fights on the field while you shake your head at what an asshole the guy is.  Will be interesting to see how our usual lock-step brainwashed selves react to having to defend the act of attacking an aid ship.

But hey, we're supposed to be so worried about Iran, not Israel, right?

Right.