I can't even come up with a plausible story in which defending
Israel and Taiwan is in our national interest defined in anything
but idealogical terms (democray is good, basically), ...
A former Israeli paratrooper told me many years ago that he thought
the US supported Israel because it was an `unsinkable aircraft
carrier' in a part of the world which provides much oil.
(A consequence of this theory is that the establishment of secure US
military bases along the Gulf coast and in Iraq will eventually lead
to a decline in US support for Israel. This consequence is diminished
if it is felt that Israelis will fight for their own purposes, but
that the results will help the US at lower cost to the US than having
the US do the fighting.)
Past reason to support Taiwan was that mainland China was a US enemy.
It is only a generation or so ago that the US made an (unwritten)
alliance with mainland China against the Soviet Union. Currently,
some think of mainland China as a possible future enemy of the US.
Others think of it as a huge market or as a source of cheap labor.
In any event, mainland China is printing money (or more accurately,
adding zeros to computer accounts) to purchase US government debt.
Thus, support of another `unsinkable aircraft carrier' helps if you
are more concerned with danger; abandonment of Taiwan helps if you are
more concerned about big markets, cheap labor, and funding the US
government and trade deficits.
In both cases, these provide `plausible stories' regarding the US
national interest without bringing in the question of democracy.
--
Robert J. Chassell
[EMAIL PROTECTED] GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8
http://www.rattlesnake.com http://www.teak.cc
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