Well said...

I agree with everything you said... every syllable you wrote is 100% Titus-approved.

I wasn't making the parallels to show the error of Israeli ways or the inevitability of their demise, but to better demonstrate their precarious position in the region. The Crusader presence in the Levant was NEVER secure, and was certainly never "certain". One cannot read even a cursory history of the era and not see the almost untenable position those people had placed themselves in. What was worse for them was that they seemed to attract only the WORST possible immigrants from Europe to come to Palestine to help secure the "peace" of Jerusalem's Christian rule.

Furthermore, Israel has something the Crusader "Franks" never had... superior military advantages in technology and tactics. As long as Tel Aviv has a hand on the trigger of a nuclear weapon and a sound platform to deliver it from (and they do have those), they will always have the "upper hand" in deterrent politics and policies.

Your point about no peace without victory is a good one, and one that is forgotten all too often these days (although I couldn't follow the Okinawa analogy, no matter how many times I read it... sorry). I wouldn't go so far as to say that Israel hasn't made some "mistakes" over the years (the attack on the USS Liberty jumps to mind...), but their ability to routinely bargain from a position of power and authority has done them much service since 1948, no question. That is another trait Israel doesn't share with Outremer 850 years ago... Israel knows how and when to fight. The Crusaders routinely started fights they couldn't have won... ever (Raynald of Châtillon is a perfect example).

Israel has the potential to be a shining light in a dark desert (pardon the pun), and already exists as a fairly strong example of a functioning democratic state in a region that is not historically famous for functioning democratic states. The world has taken an unfortunate view of Israeli policy about domestic security, and this has been compounded by some small but telling mistakes on the part of the Israelis. What is without question, however, is Israel's right to exist as a free and sovereign nation, and that it has, as such, a right and a duty to protect its people and interests from threats and attacks. The only arguments to the contrary that anyone can make with any clarity and force are those based on the narrow interpretation of Qur'anic texts and Islamic traditions, and I fail to see how god-hating liberals across this nation and the world can base their arguments THERE, of all places.