[larryjohnson]

Pat writes well.

[chukcha]

Pat writes well, but he makes wrong conclusions.

He is right about "democracy" baloney. Iran, give or take, is a democracy. Yet, it is very ant-American. Currently, any Muslim democracy will be hostile to the U.S.

Strong Israel - whether a democracy or a monarchy - is in this country's strategic interest. Here is why.

To some extend, the current events repeated what happened in the forties.
In the 90's this country was playing an "honest broker" game in the Middle East, while being attacked continuously in many areas. 9/11 was a declaration of war and nothing less. Bush understood this very well - there is less push on Israel, and no talks with Arabs.

It is time to abandon old alliances. Forget about Old Europe. The formula - enemy of my enemy is my friend - still works.

Which countries are actively fighting Muslim expansion? USA, Russia, and Israel. I agree with Pat - countries shouyld make alliances based on current interests. Russia and Israel should be our closest friends now.