Quote:To that argument, if I were on the other side of the table, would be...and this differs from what the US sends to Israel?

 

Hezbollah lobs unprovoked rockets against innocent civilians in Israel. Israel builds weapons systems to protect their civilian populations.  Hezbollah uses civilians to protect their weapons systems Israel uses weapons systems to protect their citizens.  Do i really need to keep going?


 

Yes they hate them, and yes Israel is our ally. Fine. That does not compute in their way of thinking. Its basic. Oh..they can have weapons and nukes..but we cant?  To try to get into their head is futile. To get into the minds of the reformers over there is another. However with overthrowing govts, we've seen how great that can work out. So, its complicated. We dont trust them and they dont trust us. Then we have cat and mouse with the Russians. 

 

We had an opportunity to allow for the situation to resolve itself naturally.  In 2009 the reform movement reached critical mass and they could have very well overthrown the Iranian regime themselves.  What did we do?  we backed the repressive regime.  Just like we backed the Muslim brotherhood incorrectly.  Just like we toppled libya with no plan for regime change which has lead to chaos and the death of a US ambassador.  Just like we allowed the crimea to be annexed etc. etc. etc.  By any account, this foreign policy has been a complete disaster
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But, Trump says he has a plan for all this that would work, but dadgummit, he wont tell anyone.

 

given the fact that the person he would be running against is the author of the foreign policy that has lead to the world to burn around us how much does he really have to prove?


 

Keeping sanctions? That is basically trying to enforce your will. In negotiations both sides need to feel theyve won something. The smarter negotiator gets the bigger slice of the pie.

 

1.) that's keeping your leverage.  

 

2.) negotiation and diplomacy is a tactic to provide the best outcome within your foreign policy, its not a foreign policy in and of itself.  If a country or entity demonstrates that it cannot and does not want to negotiate or deal in good faith then callously surrendering your position against your own self interest is foolishness not statesmanship or good governance.  

 

There are those who look first to find moral equivalence or blame this country for our perceived sins, but when you are dealing with real actors on the world stage that have a political ideology rooted in centuries of conquest and domination you have to have the moral authority to stand up and say this far no further we will not sacrifice the life and safety of our citizens to FEEL GOOD!

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