… is an international military alliance?
Check.
NATO is based on a collective defence system, whereby NATO member states agree to the mutual defence of any member state in response to an attack by any external party?
Check.
A civilian vessel of a NATO state was attacked, in international waters, by a foreign military force?
Check.
So NATO is even now formulating plans to bomb the shit out of this aggressor under the mutual defence clause?
Erm, no.
Because the aggressor is Israel.
If, however, the aggressor had been Iran or North Korea, the cruise missiles would be winging their way to those states right now.
But not Israel.
Because they can do what they want.
That’s a Just system, isn’t it?
Ah, Kissinger has much to answer for, doesn’t he…?
I am not convinced that this is a one-sided issue.
If I keep tossing rocks over the fence into my neighbor’s yard, should I then be surprised when said neighbor decides to stomp my ass into a mudhole? Metaphorically speaking, that is.
Blonde, Aye, he does.
Bulldog, I think perspective is everything. If you had a dispute with your neighbour, as you describe, but either one of you hauled off at each other in, say, the middle of the freeway, would you expect the forces of law and order to swing in to action as they are mandated, or would you expect them to write a mildly-worded letter?
NATO has a specific section, at the heart of its treaty, that specifies mutual defence ‘to attack one member of NATO is to attack them all’. But not, it seems, if the aggressor is Israel even though the murderous Israeli attack occurred in International waters.
What pissed me off is how lightly Israel seem to have got away with sending a hit squad into foreign lands using British passports. Had some crappy Middle Eastern nation or Russia pulled that crap there’d be all hell to pay but if Israel does it they just get a bit of a bollocking in the media and a month later it’s all forgotten. Bulldog – I agree with you to a point, if I kept tossing rocks into your garden I would expect you to react. I would not however expect you to throw my children out of your garden, flatten my house and stop the Tesco van from delivering my shopping in an attempt to starve me and my family out of the area.