Comments on: Let’s you and him fight! https://habitablezone.com/2012/01/27/lets-you-and-him-fight/ Fri, 03 Apr 2026 22:41:18 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: bowser https://habitablezone.com/2012/01/27/lets-you-and-him-fight/#comment-11461 bowser Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:42:48 +0000 http://habitablezone.com/?p=9038#comment-11461 There are quite a few accounts of what happened to the USS Liberty. Israel is beneath contempt for what they did, and the US, in abandoning their own, should have had 10 or 12 courts martial with hangings the result. http://www.usslibertyveterans.org/ There are quite a few accounts of what happened to the USS Liberty. Israel is beneath contempt for what they did, and the US, in abandoning their own, should have had 10 or 12 courts martial with hangings the result.

http://www.usslibertyveterans.org/

]]> By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2012/01/27/lets-you-and-him-fight/#comment-11450 ER Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:38:59 +0000 http://habitablezone.com/?p=9038#comment-11450 Israel can be totally ruthless and unprincipled when it comes to matters of her own security. Considering her present strategic situaton, and her past history, this is not too surprising. But this attitude can be unfortunate when she feels justified in treating her friends with the same ferocity and disdain whe reserves for her enemies. The incident of the USS Liberty attack, which occurred just prior to my going in the Navy, comes to mind. There were a lot of rumors buzzing around in the fleet about that incident which have never been resolved to my satisfaction. Over 20 years ago, I worked on a project that involved the Israeli military. My firm had developed a software process that allowed the management and interpretation of certain types of military data. (I hesitate to be more specific than that, not because it was classified, but because it does involve proprietary commercial secrets that may still be of value to someone). The Israelis learned of my company's breakthrough in this technology and asked for a demonstration project to assess its efficiency and accuracy. They brought a great deal of data with them, an IDF colonel and his staff to "observe" and worked with us closely as we modified our system to fit their data and came up with a product that met their specifications. It took us months, and cost us a fortune. The results were spectacular, and our clients took them home for evaluation. We never heard from them again. Once they had their proof-of-concept, they turned it over to their own people to develop independently. It gave them the technology for free, after we had gone through a lot of work and money on spec in good faith. We felt cheated. A few years later, we sold a similar system to the Red Chinese (it was the Reagan administration, when security took a back seat to business) and we felt their business behavior was more ethical than that of our "friend and ally". There was a lot at stake for our firm, a contract would have meant a great financial success for us, and it would have established our reputation in this new field. I've always gotten the impression that the Israelis see us as their big, tough, but not too bright big brother. They expect us to do whatever it takes to help them out if they get in a fight. On the other hand, if things turn out too tough for us to handle, they are under no obligation to stick their necks out for us. I am suspicious of Israel's enemies, and I certainly sympathize with Israel and its unfortunate history, but I don't trust the Israelis. When I was a kid I saw that splendid propaganda movie "Exodus". I can still remember the stirring lyrics of the theme, which were added after the film was released. "This land is mine, God gave this land to me. This brave and ancient land, to me." Even for a kid, that struck me as a bit arrogant. Israel can be totally ruthless and unprincipled when it comes to matters of her own security. Considering her present strategic situaton, and her past history, this is not too surprising. But this attitude can be unfortunate when she feels justified in treating her friends with the same ferocity and disdain whe reserves for her enemies. The incident of the USS Liberty attack, which occurred just prior to my going in the Navy, comes to mind. There were a lot of rumors buzzing around in the fleet about that incident which have never been resolved to my satisfaction.

Over 20 years ago, I worked on a project that involved the Israeli military. My firm had developed a software process that allowed the management and interpretation of certain types of military data. (I hesitate to be more specific than that, not because it was classified, but because it does involve proprietary commercial secrets that may still be of value to someone).

The Israelis learned of my company’s breakthrough in this technology and asked for a demonstration project to assess its efficiency and accuracy. They brought a great deal of data with them, an IDF colonel and his staff to “observe” and worked with us closely as we modified our system to fit their data and came up with a product that met their specifications. It took us months, and cost us a fortune. The results were spectacular, and our clients took them home for evaluation.

We never heard from them again. Once they had their proof-of-concept, they turned it over to their own people to develop independently. It gave them the technology for free, after we had gone through a lot of work and money on spec in good faith. We felt cheated. A few years later, we sold a similar system to the Red Chinese (it was the Reagan administration, when security took a back seat to business) and we felt their business behavior was more ethical than that of our “friend and ally”. There was a lot at stake for our firm, a contract would have meant a great financial success for us, and it would have established our reputation in this new field.

I’ve always gotten the impression that the Israelis see us as their big, tough, but not too bright big brother. They expect us to do whatever it takes to help them out if they get in a fight. On the other hand, if things turn out too tough for us to handle, they are under no obligation to stick their necks out for us.

I am suspicious of Israel’s enemies, and I certainly sympathize with Israel and its unfortunate history, but I don’t trust the Israelis. When I was a kid I saw that splendid propaganda movie “Exodus”. I can still remember the stirring lyrics of the theme, which were added after the film was released.

“This land is mine,
God gave this land to me.
This brave and ancient land, to me.”

Even for a kid, that struck me as a bit arrogant.

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