12:00 pm ET
Aug 5, 2014

Foreign Policy


    • What does "even handed" mean. Don't support Israel NO MATTER what outrageous Hate Rocketing or Terror Tunneling OR massive use of children and other Arab civilians as human shields for rocket launching and storage sites Hamas and other terror groups engage in?? That isn't "even handed", that is a stab in the back to the only friend and democracy in the Middle East we've got! Appeasement is so natural when the other guy is being rocketed. Who will help us when the NEXT 9/11 occurs? Nobody if this poll reflects American amoral policy WHICH IT DOES.

    • What if the REST of the world reflects American Opinion and is "even handed" when the NEXT 9/11 Mega Attack upon our Country Occurs? Just what we deserve I would say.

    • We have to decide whether we are Israel's ally or not. If we want to be an ally, we cannot be "even-handed." That is the role of a mediator which simply tries to facilitate a solution without taking one side or the other.

      It really is not possible to try to be both. It only antagonizes both sides and is a dead end.

      Personally, I think we should choose the ally role. Israel is the only democracy in the Mideast that even comes close to sharing our values. Does anyone seriously believe we should equate Israel and Hamas? Does anyone think we should be Hamas' ally? I hope not.

    • with friends like this, who needs enemies?

    • yeah Obama is stabbing Israel in the back by funnelling billions of dollars in military aid to them every year ... er, wait

    • A majority of Americans would like our government to treat the Israelis and Palestinians equally. Instead, our government arms and subsidizes Israel, protects it from criticism, and winks when Israel steals Palestinian land and slaughters Palestinian civilians. Apparently, it doesn't matter what most Americans want. Most Americans support a woman's right to choose. Most Americans can't stand the Tea Party. Somehow, though, well-organized and well-funded extremists end up in control of our government's policies. It seems as if "democracy" isn't working very well.

    • Lawrence--if Mexico started shooting rockets at your residence, I would suspect you'd want our military to pound them into the earth so that they'd never pull something like that again. But since it's Israel, you'd like the nice Jews to go their doom just like they did in Europe.

    • We shouldn't be involved period. We have our own problems to deal with. Let both sides go at it on their own. The strong will survive and the weak will be demolished. This is how life has always worked.

    • Most Americans have been brainwashed by Jewish media. Jews hate Christians, they reject Jesus, call him a con-man & thug.

    • Terry330--Jesus was born a Jew and died a Jew. Without the Jews there would be no Christians. You don't know who are your friends and who are your enemies.

    • Gaza is an Open Sky Jail . Palestinians are trapped and prisoners and have nowhere to fly the bombs
      Those who support the policy of the Israeli government are a disgrace !!
      Israel DON'T WANT the peace ! They don't want to recognize a Palestinian State
      The Israeli blocus must to stop ! and the only way to resolve this is that a international force must to take place in Gaza like in the Lebanon and US and EU must provide money to the Gazan for their economic development .

    • Lawrence for a second there I thought you were talking about the Jews. Israel is a free and democratic country not much bigger then New Jersey and is surrounded by Arab totalitarian regimes. They didn't steal anything. The land was mandated to them. The Arabs were granted land as well and they refused because they did not want to live next to Jews. How hard is this to understand. As for the fact that the US supports Israel with military aid, they should. Its our only real ally in that whole god forsaken region of the world. In addition lets not forget the billions given to the Arabs including Egypt and the PLO. Israel should not be blamed because they actually use the aid to improve society instead of squandering it and keeping their own people down, then blaming Israel and the West for their misfortunes. These are the same people that cheered when thousands of Americans died on 9/11. How soon we Americans forget.

    • Lawrence and that is a stab in the back: Israel MUST use whatever aid it receives from USA towards military purchases from American companies. Israel provides as much or more life saving technology to USA. Stop the bs. The only thing that bothers both of you is that Israel is Jewish. As Upstate Investor said: you and your ilk would only be happy if Jews walked quietly to their death.

    • Only a international force in Gaza can guarantee the Security of Israel and protect the Palestinians and only a economic development of Gaza provide by the US and Israel can avoid than the victims of the bombs of Israel today will become terrorist tomorrow .
      But that the interest of The far right israeli government . They didn't want a Palestinian governemnt and a Palestinian State . Their interest is to maintain a climat of radicalization and made the Hamas the privileged interlocutor !

    • Unbelievable. People can't see the difference between one of the most free, most advanced, most civilized countries in the world, and a pack of seventh-century savages who chop off heads and strap bombs to their children.

    • What does it mean to be even handed between a mass murderer and his victim?

    • Most Americans couldn't find Israel on a map. I could care less what they think.

    • @ Michael

      Calling anyone against Israel anti-semetic is just idiotic. You do realize that more than 20% (and growing rapidly) of Israeli citizens are not Jewish, right? In fact, most Jewish people outside of Israel (and many inside Israel for that matter) prefer not to associate with the leaders of Israel since they have become more and more radical themselves. What does Israel provide the US in return for the billions we donate to them (and by them I'm not saying Jews)? Absolutely nothing.

    • These people who want even handed treatment for Muslim terrorist probably support child molesters

    • Interesting. One wonders what these numbers would be if the WSJ and other Mainstream Media hadn't been acting as affiliates for the Hamas News Network over the last month. Still, I'm heartened to see that a majority of respondents aren't falling for Hamas' propaganda.

    • It's a little hard to be even-handed when one side unequivocally denies the right of the other side to exist, and demands their extermination. That's like saying you'll compromise and take only half the dose of cyanide.

    • ahahahahahahaha. that someone can say this with a straight face is just sad. tea baggers are clueless

    • That Israel complains and whines about Hamas denying there right to exist when Israel does the exact same thing. Oh and btw, most of the people who feel that Israels actions are justified are clueless.

    • @funny. It's the same for everything though. It's easy for people to simply agree with what they are told. It takes work to actually develop an individual opinion.

      But that the interest of The far right israeli government . They didn’t want a Palestinian governemnt and a Palestinian State . Their interest is to maintain a climat of radicalization and made the Hamas the privileged interlocutor !

    • Rand Paul was just caught in a lie on the Greta Sustern Fox News program. He said he never voted or supported cutting aid to Israel. He told Greta he did not. She persisted, and he lied:

      Rand Paul, who did in fact in 2011 support cutting aid to Israel, again flip flops and lies to someone interviewing him on television.

      "I haven’t really proposed that in the past,” Paul told Yahoo News when asked if he still thought the U.S. should phase out aid to Israel, which is engaged with Hamas in Gaza for weeks.

      Yet in 2011 when he proposed cutting “welfare” to Israel:
      "Giving money to the country is especially unwise considering Israel’s relative wealth. “I think they’re an important ally, but I also think that their per capita income is greater than probably three-fourths of the rest of the world,” he said. “Should we be giving free money or welfare to a wealthy nation? I don’t think so.”

      Campaigning in Nebraska for Senate candidate Ben Sasse, Paul stated that he never supported it legislatively.
      “We’ve never had a legislative proposal to do that. You can mistake my position, but then I’ll answer the question. That has not been a position—a legislative position—we have introduced to phase out or get rid of Israel’s aid."

      Catch the lie?
      Rand Paul offered his own budget in 2011 that would have cut $500 billion which included cutting aid to Israel, but because the Senate never actually voted on it he has the nerve to say it’s never been his legislative position.
      Greta Sustern asked him another way and he still pandered and lied.

      But just last week he was taking credit for sending money to Israel--
      “Israel has always been a strong ally of ours and I appreciate that. I voted just this week to give money—more money—to the Iron Dome, so don’t mischaracterize my position on Israel.”

    • While this conflict about tunnels and lobbing fireworks has gone on, the stock market hath done nothing, therefor what is the big concern, if Wall Street isnt worried about this idiocy in the sand why should we be concerned.

    • When the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor, we dropped atomic bombs on them.

      When the Germans blitzed the British, the Allies firebombed Dresden , killing over 100,000 people.

      Where was the proportional response? Proportional response is BS.

    • The atomic bombing of Japan saved more lives, both American and Japanese, than any other strategy would have. Firebombing of Dresden, while reprehensible for its attack on a civilian center and proximity to Germany's surrender was proportional in that the Germans bombed civilian targets in London to convince the Brits to surrender. The fact remains Israel is virtually invulnerable to any attack Hamas or the Palestinians can launch on them. This in turn, gives them the room to punish Palestinian civlian centers in an effort to fatigue the Palestinians out of fighting back, while incurring little to no losses of their own. The only thing that kept the U.S. and Russians from taking each other out was MAD(Mutually Assured Destruction) and the unbearable risk associated with provocations. As long as Israel has a green-light to continue their actions with no costs whatsoever, they'll continue to and the conflict will only garner more pro-Hamas sympathy.

    • Even handed means what? In this context you have one group wanting to destroy the other and commit genocide. Hamas is getting the means to do so in the form of ever more advanced weapons. They have the motive, the means and have an ongoing opportunity.

      Those people who want to treat the intended victims of mass murder to be treated even handedly with the perpetrators should logically want to treat rapists handedly with their victims. That doesn't happen, but it points up the essentially two faced nature of modern liberals and media. It isn't a pretty sight and usually marks a mature state of political decline.

    • It seems to me that Israel could have dropped several "daisy cutter bombs" in Gaza in order to bring a quick resolution to the incessant rocket fire on its citizens that was perpetrated by Hamas terrorists, BUT this isn't the Israeli way. Time and time again Israel has honored cease fire after cease fire, while Hamas has broken cease fire after cease fire. The Israeli way is live and let live, while the Hamas way seems to be a desire to destroy the State of Israel. The Israeli's want peace with protection from further attacks, thus the mandate for a disarming of the Gaza strip.

      Israeli citizens have not gone into Gaza or the West Bank, and blown themselves, and others up in suicide bombings in the past, nor does the Israeli constitution call for the dismantling of any Palestinian State. The terror has always come from the Palestinian side, whether we discuss the Munich incident at the Olympics, or the multitude of bus and suicide bombings in Israel since it's formation, before the borders of the West Bank and Gaza were controlled or closed. Yes, there is a great deal of distrust on the Israeli side as they work to protect their citizens.

      For peace to become a reality the Palestinian's must want peace more than they want the destruction of Israel. Until an uprising of the Palestinian people occurs and the terrorist organization known as Hamas is overthrown I'm afraid peace will be a dream that might never come to fruition.

      One can only hope that the message that is heard across Gaza and the West Bank is that good neighbors make for improved social and economic stability and growth for ALL, and that terrorist activities lead to war and suffering BY ALL.

      I choose peace..., what do you choose..

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