Yeah, Israel! Inquiring minds like the WashPost’s Max Boot (Israel can’t stay neutral in Ukraine’s battle between good and evil) and Josh Rogin (As Russian atrocities mount in Ukraine, Israel must take sides) want to know! How long, O Israel? How long? How long can you not take sides in the greatest moral issue of our times?
Well, quite a while, I suspect. See, I think Israel, and our Middle Eastern “allies”, like Saudi Arabia—who are, Max assures us, a lot worse than Israel—have a theory, and that theory is, the United States is “done” with the Middle East. Of course, we aren’t actually leaving, and we’ll continue to go through the motions—continue to do all the little, multi-billion dollar favors that Israel and the Saudis have gotten used to over the years, because old habits are hard to break, and no one likes to offend anyone—but the good old days, when everyone who was anyone in the military intellectual complex knew their future was in the Middle East, are gone forever. No one is going to make his, her, or their career in the Middle East any more, and all the cool kids know it.
China’s the place for careers these days, Max and Josh. Sure, Ukraine is hot right now, so, yeah, it’s a possibility, maybe. Maybe. But China’s a sure thing. It's huge. This has the potential to make the old Cold War look like small potatoes! So forget about those guys in the Middle East! Because they’ve forgotten about you!
Afterwords
Last summer, I noted that former Trump Administration dude David Feith was complaining about Israel not playing ball with Uncle Sam; instead, they’re playing ball with China! Almost like they don’t think we’re important any more! Almost like they never really liked us in the first place! As if they were using us!
