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Friday, June 08, 2007

US arming "moderate" Arabs? Another 1967 flashback

In 1966 and 1967, Jordan did not exactly see eye-to-eye with Syria and the PLO. By any measure, King Hussein was far more moderate and pro-Western than other Arab leaders, and the US naturally wanted him to stay in power.

Nevertheless, it is a bit disconcerting to see the first highlighted paragraph in the following news story from January, 1967:

So the US sent arms to prop up a "moderate" Arab ruler in danger from more radical Arabs, and five months later those weapons meant to be used against the terrorists were used against Israel.

And the terrorists the weapons were meant to be used against are the same people whom the US now considers "moderate" and in need of bolstering by sending support and allowing weapons shipments....