Hank,

Until the US invaded Afghanistan and then Iraq I used to think that the reason the US bothered to support Israel was to have a convenient bad cop in the ME neighborhood. Nice to have Israel knock out an Arab nuke facility so we don't have to do it and leave our fingerprints on the scene. That concept doesn't hold water any more, if it ever did. The frustration of it all has me returning to the notion that we should level the playing field by giving the Palestinians all the same weapons and training we gave and still give the Israelis. Then the Palestinians won't have to throw rocks and lob 3rd rate Syrian or Iranian rockets. Maybe they'll wipe each other out, which still seems like it would be doing the rest of the world a favor. I mean, who needs 'em?

I think I'm going to blame Moses. I read that he led the Jews around the ME for forty years and finally settled in the only place that doesn't have oil. Those are God's chosen people? That doesn't add up, does it?