As long as you did in the IDF/AF, I'd imagine, Nige, since VR service doesn't count. How exactly did your own long years on the Herc force (for which I respect and commend you) give you special insight into Middle Eastern affairs?
That's a rhetorical question, Nige, as I would respect your view, as an intelligent chap who may have done staff college, and who must know the region, whether I agreed with it or not.
But aren't we supposed to play the ball, and not the man - the argument, and not its proponent?
In any case, direct personal experience isn't always necessary to have an opinion, surely?
Brick,
I don't recall having condemned Israel's latest bout of sabre rattling. I just question the neocon view that Iran represents a 'clear and present danger' to Israel, based solely on the lunatic ramblings of the Iranian President, which are (as someone pointed out) intended for domestic consumption, and which are part of a long tradition of Iranian empty rhetoric.
I would condemn precipitous pre-emptive action by Israel, because however tempting it may be to remove a potential threat, that would be against international law, and military action must always be justified by a real, meaningful threat (as existed in Afghanistan, but as arguably did not exist in Iraq in 2003).
Otherwise the USA would be lining up to bomb North Korea, Iran and Venezuela and that would be fine and dandy.
As to your anti-British tirade and cheap points about 'walking away' from the Mandate (League of Nations, not UN) and Rhodesia, they're beneath you. Or perhaps you think we should take lessons from the US example of disengagement, as demonstrated in Vietnam, Somalia and the Lebanon - or even Iran? And that's not beneath me, as you don't sink lower than a journo.