An extremely interesting article about why Israel might--and might have to--attack Iran some day
-commentary by Barry Rubin
link to article recommended by Barry Rubin: http://www.slate.com/id/2215820/
Read it as so far superior to what is usually written on such matters. The critique below is about secondary points which do not detract from the article's value but express some of my personal reactions.
Samuels is sympathetic to Israel and there are good--even very clever--aspects to the argument. But he has to earn his right to make an essentially pro-Israel argument by:
1. bashing Israel a bit, sometimes in rather silly ways.
2. says all sorts of inaccurate things about Israel.
3. understandably put everything in terms of US interests. This is reasonable for a U.S. audience of course but still it is an article about why Israel might have to take great risks.
4. miss the reality of the Arab world making it seem like a sort of black box rather than a place with serious malfunctions that messes things up on its own.
And finally, and most importantly, he omits the rather main reason why Israel has launched attackes on Hamas and Hizballah--self-defense, not restoring credibility as the main goal--and on Iran--belief that Iran might use nuclear weapons against it.
Again, though, an important article well-worth reading, making insightful points. Samuels has been writing good things and shown some real courage in doing so.
