Could A Palestinian State Become Our Next Vietnam? (Updated)

David Bedein writes that putting aside any dissatisfaction Netanyahu's coalition or the Palestinian Arabs may have with what he said, one of the conditions Bibi mentioned is a direct challenge to US policy:

And Netanyahu's demand that the Palestinian State be demilitarized clashes with President Obama's current allocation of funds and American military personnel to train the new Palestinian army. The American justification is that the Palestinian soldiers are being trained to fight Hamas, but the Palestinian army is now in negotiation with Hamas with the goal of forming a joint command.

Let's think this through:

o Obviously the Palestinian Authority is far to weak, nor is it popular enough, to deal with Hamas on their own. Some kind of military presence is necessary. If Netanyahu seriously wants to see a demilitarized Palestinian state--that means that Israel will continue to do the policing for the forseeable future. No matter what the official status of the proposed Palestinian state, having the IDF patrol the streets is something that the Palestinian Arabs cannot be expected to swallow.

o At the very least, the Palestinians will ask for some other country--or the UN--to police the area. That is an idea--considering the failure of the UN in policing Southern Lebanon--that will be equally unacceptable to Israel.

o The one country that would be acceptable to both Israel and the Palestinians would be the US. Thus US soldiers would end up keeping the peace in the West Bank.

Imagine the irony if the end result of Obama's intensive intervention in the Middle East ended up with a new Vietnam/Iraq for the US...

UPDATE: Caroline Glick sees it differently:

The only way to ensure that a Palestinian state is demilitarized is to send in forces to demilitarize it. Obviously the Americans won't take such a step. In Gaza, a militarized Palestinian state already exists and the Americans have no intention of demilitarizing it for us. As for Judea and Samaria, today, the only thing the emerging Palestinian state has to show for itself is its US-built army.

The only force that would ensure a Palestinian state (or states) stays demilitarized is the IDF. But by appointing the US the guarantor of its demilitarized status, Netanyahu is inviting the US to lie and so make it impossible for us to take the steps necessary to ensure that the Palestinians lack the means to threaten the country. [emphasis added]

Read the whole thing.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

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