Daniel J. Pipes

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Lieberman's Honest Assessment

Reader comment on item: Avigdor Lieberman's Brilliant Debut

Submitted by Wana 88 (United States), Apr 6, 2009 at 17:54

Lieberman as the new FM had the b---s to tell it like it is. Those in the audience who pretended to be shocked were pathetic. He showed leadership and competence when he outlined what the threats were (to Israel and to the Western world) and where they were emanating from. Something no other democratically elected leader has done in the West in recent memory.

When did it become conduct unbecoming of a statesman to declare --without ambiguity --what his/her state's interests required vis-a-vis policy? I only wish he had not left one rogue state out of the list: substituting "Saudi Arabia" for Iraq would have done the trick. But it is understandable why he left it out. Afterall, you can't show all your cards prematurely, and Israel is not the United States. It is ironic that the United States as the most powerful state in the world today cowers while a small one like Israel -isolated and surrounded-- has the gumption to act. Go figure. Finally, Lieberman was right on when he demanded RECIPROCITY from the Egyptians. I only wish we here in the US would demand reciprocity from our so called allies as well on multiple issues.


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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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