I usually like Andy Rooney, but sometimes he is wrong, and last Sunday he was dead wrong.
First, I didn’t get the analogy about the German shepherd and the Chow in a dog-fight. Are the Israelis supposed to be the German shepherds and the Chows the Palestinians or the other way around? I had a German shepherd when I was in college and it was a good people dog and the smartest dog I ever met. I have never had a Chow, but they have a bad reputation. If the Palestinians and the Israelis are going to be characterized by these dogs, what about the rest of the Arabs, like what would you use for Syria or the Saudis?
We tend to spend a lot of time discussing the issues of the Middle East without looking at the whole picture. In my opinion we are witnessing a global battle for the world like we had with the Soviets a couple of decades ago. Like the battle with the Soviets, the war is being waged on many fronts and in many venues. The battle for the media is extreme, and mostly weighted on the Palestinian side. For example, Andy Rooney used a charged term in his commentary yesterday. He called Arafat a “toothless tiger”. Is Arafat really a “toothless tiger”. I don’t think so. If Arafat were really ineffectual now, why aren’t we hearing much from his replacement? Because anyone who speaks up will be dead. I think that Arafat still has a lot of teeth, even in two rooms in Ramallah. If he didn’t he would be dead now.
I don’t know if Ariel Sharon really wants peace, but I do know that the people of Israel want peace. As Israel is a democracy like the United States, peace is not a matter of the leader’s personality or personal feelings. As soon as the Israelis think that Sharon is not serving their purposes they will get rid of him. Israel has had a string of prime ministers since Arafat came on the scene. That should tell the average reader something. I can’t be sure of what the Palestinians think about Arafat, but I am sure that the Palestinians aren’t ready or able to get rid of him.
The networks do a lousy job of trying to look impartial. While they complain about the Israeli campaign to root out the terrorists, our “good friends” the Saudis are never questioned. What happened to all of Osama bin Laden’s family members that were allowed to leave the country without being questioned and what about the money offerings for terrorist families? Has anyone questioned why the Saudis can refuse us the use of our airbase to attack Iraq and then have a telethon for homicide bombers? Also, why did most of the 9-11 terrorists come from Saudi Arabia? Am I missing something, or is there something that the Saudis know that someone doesn’t want them to reveal? Perhaps we need to have a telethon to overthrow the Saudi government.
However, the thing that really riled me was Andy Rooney’s attempt to make a complex problem simple and a simple problem complex. I’m sure that Israel is very appreciative of the vast amount of aid that the United States gives it. I’m also sure that they would be happy to give up all that aid, in exchange for peace and security. The complex issues include: oil, how a shame based society relates in the modern world, the global reach of Wahabbism, why millions of Palestinians are being held in limbo in refugee camps by other Arabs, the lack of a European conscious, the effect of “Big Oil” on the United States governmental processes, how the United Nations became a “lap dog” for the third world and the Arabs, and the effect of centuries old rivalries between the Arab states. These are complex issues that affect the entire world and almost everything that we do in the civilized world. The simple explanation is that what we are seeing is what you get when dictatorial feudal societies of one religion are given the means to manipulate the democracies of another religion that they hate and fear.
I still like Andy Rooney, but perhaps he should concentrate on issues that can be better addressed in his five-minute slot. How about some comments on why the networks support dictatorial regimes?