Bolton places interests of U.S. “Friends” above those of the U.S.
John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, criticized Barack Obama for saying that the threat posed to us by Iran isn’t as serious as the threat from Soviet Union was:
An “asymmetric” threat to the U.S. often is an existential threat to its friends, which was something we never forgot during the Cold War.
More plainly, Bolton is saying that the American people must sacrifice their self interest so that Israel doesn’t have to defend herself alone. It doesn’t matter that Iran isn’t a serious threat to America, it is a serious threat to Israel, whose interests must be placed before ours.
You can substitute for Israel any of the Arab states in the region that we finance. But mostly you’re supposed to hear “Israel” and envision scary-looking Persians ransacking the Holy Land, while Jesus Christ looks on and weeps.
How is this not socialism on a global scale? How can John Bolton, with a straight mustache, criticize Obama for advocating that America act in the best interest of America, and assess threats as they pertain to America? Golly, you’d think Obama was running for President of the United States instead of Leader of the Free World™!
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:2-3)
If I take an hour out of my day to help a friend, I’m going to spend the other 23 hours going about my regular daily activities. I’m not placing my friend’s interests before mine, I’m just helping him out.
How do you figure that the American people are sacrificing their own interests for that of Israel? Please explain.
The friend analogy doesn’t work. You have friends because you enjoy their company and because you have mutual interests and values. You can’t characterize the relationship between two countries in the same way.
We give many billions of dollars to Israel. This money comes from American tax dollars. American tax dollars come from American citizens. So American citizens are paying (with the threat of violence if they don’t) Israel’s tab. If that $100 or so a year was money they wanted to spend buying guns for Israelis, I guess it’s not a problem for them (except that it was taken by force). For everyone else, it’s violent wealth redistribution, which is necessarily sacrificial for its victims.