They Won’t Rest until Everyone Is the Enemy . . . (Updated) 0

. . . because they really like blowing stuff up.

Steve Benen looks at how Turkey, which is a long-time ally of both the United States and Israel and a member of NATO, has suddenly become an enemy of both, according to some members of the right wing.

Remember that Turkey recently had one of its ships boarded on the high seas by Israeli commandos in an extra-legal assault; people died. In the old days, when I was a young ‘un, that was referred to as a “provocation.”

(The Israeli government apparently considers the mere existence of those who believe that the residents of Gaza need food, clothing, and medicine to be a provocation justifying what, had it been done by any other nation anywhere else, would be considered piracy. I consider the mere existence of certain persons to be a provocation, but that does not allow me to deny them food, clothing, and medical care.)

Now the Wingnut Wurlitzer (to use a phrase I’ve seen at Balloon Juice) is trying to transform Turkey into an enemy of the United States and Israel, despite history.

Benen specifically discusses Liz Cheney’s performance:

Even for Liz Cheney, this is pretty nutty. Turkey is not only a NATO member and long-time ally of the United States, it’s also been a key Israeli ally. Obviously, the May 31 raid has pushed the relationship to the breaking point, but labeling Turkey as a country that “threatens to destroy” Israel ignores years of history.

(snip)

Her entire analysis is completely absurd, but if recent months are any indication, this is a trend worth watching — how soon will other conservatives start characterizing another U.S. ally as an enemy?

History and facts are, of course, irrelevant in Greater Wingnuttia. WIngnuts are the Humpty-Dumpties of history.

They need more enemies because,

• when the only tactic you recognize is blowing stuff up, and
• when it’s bad form to blow up your friends, then
• you have to convert friends into enemies so you can fantasize about blowing them up.

No, it doesn’t make sense to me either, but I believe blowing stuff up should be avoided if at all possible (except maybe plastic model cars with firecrackers, but that was a long time ago).

But apparently it makes sense in Greater Wingnuttia, where fantasies of endless worldwide wars seem to satisfy on some deep emotional level.

Addendum:

The UK Observer opines:

As Israel’s security forces detained another ship attempting to run the embargo, the Rachel Corrie, the justifications for continuing the blockade were becoming ever more convoluted. As Bradley Burston, an Israeli columnist wrote last week, it is no longer about Israel’s defence but about the sterile business of defending the fact of the siege itself. It is worth recalling that the embargo was initiated not as a response to the rocket fire from groups in Gaza aimed at Israeli towns but in response to Hamas’s seizure of power in Gaza from a Fatah movement that had attempted to block Hamas’s popular mandate.

(snip)

History has shown blockades of this kind are rarely successful. Most notably, the decades-old US embargo of Cuba has achieved next to nothing. And the facts about Gaza are not difficult to establish.

As someone I know once said, Israel has its own wingnuts to contend with. And the Israeli wingnuts are running the show these days.

Furthermore, as someone else has pointed out, wars against ideas always fail. You can kill people; you cannot kill ideas.

Blowing stuff up rarely solves problems, here, there, and everywhere.