More U.S. to Israel: Do As We Say ...

I noted in "U.S. to Israel: Do As We Say ..." a repeated pattern of the U.S. government permitting to itself exactly what it prohibits to Israel. "As American diplomats chastise Israel for its tactics," I wrote, "U.S. soldiers openly embrace many of those tactics." I then offered an explanation for this – not hypocrisy, bias, or holding Israel to higher standards but "the invisible assumption that Israel is engaged in a peace process while the United States is fighting a war." I offered several examples of this rank inconsistency and am listing others here as they appear.

July 22, 2003: U.S. forces found and killed Saddam Hussein's two sons, ‘Udayy and Qusayy, and this provides an even more compelling case. Imagine the sour official American reaction were Israel to kill the sons of its barbaric leaders in like fashion, especially if they were the #2- and #3-ranking political leaders, and then have the bad taste to celebrate this achievement, as did the U.S. government?

May 20, 2004: American deadly incursions are fine, Israeli ones are not. Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post explains in his article, "White House Criticizes Israel on Attack":

In rare public criticism of Israel, the White House rebuked the Jewish state yesterday for its deadly incursion into Gaza, saying it did not "serve the purposes of peace and security" and had "worsened the humanitarian situation." … The White House statement, issued in the name of press secretary Scott McClellan, stopped short of condemning Israel and did not ask for a stop to the incursion. The statement urged Israel to "exercise maximum restraint now." It also called on the Palestinian Authority to consolidate its security forces and "act to stop smuggling and halt terrorism."

The administration's criticism of Israel came after Arab television stations broadcast reports that U.S. aircraft had attacked a wedding party in Iraq that killed dozens of people near the Syrian border. U.S. military officials said the fighting involved insurgents, and a senior administration official in Washington said the reports of the U.S. attack played no role in the rebuke of Israel for its attack on civilians.

August 27, 2005: In his weekly radio address, IMRA points out, George W. Bush lauded Israel for retreating while emphasizing that his government intends to do quite the reverse:

During the past two weeks, Prime Minister Sharon and the Israeli people took a courageous and painful step by removing Israeli settlements in Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank. I congratulate the Prime Minister for his bold leadership. …

Our strategy is straightforward: As Iraqis stand up, Americans will stand down. And when Iraqi forces can defend their freedom by taking more and more of the fight to the enemy, our troops will come home with the honor they have earned.

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