Our first and immutable commitment must be to the security of Israel, our only true ally in the Middle East and the only democracy, — 2004

My Take – I have to agree, even if I believe that the President wasn’t exactly speaking from the heart on this one.

Israel is the only country in the Middle East that is even approaching what we call a liberal, western-style democracy.  Yes, they have their issues, and I don’t always agree with them.  They’re obviously doing what they see as right for their nation, and that won’t always parallel with what we want them to do.  But so long as they don’t work against our interests, I don’t have a problem with that.  The United States should work with Israel the same way we would with Germany, Australia, or Great Britain.

Where the President and I diverge on this is that the President seems to have no problem doing things that seem to be done at the expense of Israel’s security and future.  Yes, the regimes that either fell or are falling with the support of the Obama administration weren’t democracies in any way shape or form.   At best, they were of the “One man, one vote, one time” variety.  But they were at least stable and didn’t lean toward the “burn the world down and make s’mores” side of politics, which the governments that replaced them seem to be embracing wholeheartedly.

True, Hosni Mubarak and Benjamin Netanyahu were unlikely to go golfing together, but they weren’t actively trying to kill each other either.  The Muslim Brotherhood, which won the election after Mubarak blinked and didn’t use his military to clear the streets with grapeshot, was voted “Most Likely to Start a Regional War” in high school, and has been trying to do just that ever since the polls closed.  I’m confident that whoever wins in Syria will join them in that little endeavor, probably using weapons that President Obama provided them.  Add to that the humongous number of weapons that are available in Libya now that NATO no longer cares all that much, and Israel may end up standing alone.  If they’re expecting President Obama to go on national TV and explain why he’s putting aircraft carriers and Marine Expeditionary Units in the Western Med when Syria and Egypt take another shot at the title, they’re deluding themselves.