Peace in the Middle East

Today I'm giving guest blogger status to someone who clearly knows more about the middle-ease that I do. I won't identify Mr. X unless he gives permission but here is his take on reccent events:

"I think you are wrong about the U S Israel connection as per
your blog.

Israel gets more military aid from the U S than any other
country, but there has been an unwritten agreement, going
back half a century or more, that the U S would never intervene
militarily. I don't know what would happen if Israel was really
thereatened with an overwhelming invasion, but Arab military
power has til now been so inept, and there has been much
bluster and cowardice, and little action by them.

What has happened is that Shiite Iran is emboldened by the
presence of a Shiite led government in neighboring Iraq. Oddly
enough we have given Iran, a much greater threat to U S and
world security than Iraq, a present of a Shiite led government
that will align itself with Iran as soon as the U S leaves. So Iran
has played its card with the Shiite-led Hezbollah which it has
been bankrolling for a very long time, and probably overplayed
it. The Lebanese government is really a Syrian puppet, and has
never reigned Hezbollah in. The U S went after the Taliban
government in Afghanistan because they harbored Al Kaida
(sp?), so Israel's invasion is not that different.
Israel has never hesitated in going after its enemies if it
perceives itself as being threatened, with or without U S cover.
I don't know how public opinion in Israel feels about the
situation in Iraq, but most commentators on the American left
feel that the U S presence weakens, rather than strengthens
Israel's security, and they could point at the current situation
and say 'I told you so". I have to add that the intellectual
architect of the Iraq war, Paul Wolfowitz, was a religious jew
and a staunch zionist, and part of his thinking was that the U S
presence in the middle east would strengthen Israel's security.
When this was proven wrong he walked away, went to the world
bank, and is now raising money to feed starving children in
penance."