by Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n
Tribune Media Services<\/p>\n
Recently, an open mike caught French president Nicolas Sarkozy and American president Barack Obama jointly trashing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sarkozy scoffed, \u201cI cannot stand him. He\u2019s a liar.\u201d<\/p>\n
Obama trumped that with, \u201cYou\u2019re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two days later, in one of the most bizarre op-eds published by the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0in recent memory, Paul Kane suggested that the United States could literally sell out its support for democratic Taiwan for about $1 trillion. He argued that the Chinese might be so thankful to us for letting them get their hands on the island that they might forgive much of what we owe them.<\/p>\n So why does the United States take risks in guaranteeing the security of countries such as Israel and Taiwan? Surely the smart money \u2014 and most of the world \u2014 bets on their richer enemies. The Arab Middle East has oil, hundreds of millions of people, and lots of dangerous radical-Islamic terrorists. China is more than one billion strong, with the fastest-growing economy in the world.<\/p>\n But President Obama should remember that America does not think solely in terms of national advantage. In fact, only the United States seems to have an affinity for protecting tiny, vulnerable nations. In two wars, and more than twelve years of no-fly zones in Iraq, America saved the Kurds from a genocidal Saddam Hussein.<\/p>\n Greece today has few friends. Its northern-European creditors are furious with its profligacy and duplicity. Nearby, an ascendant Turkey is flexing its muscles over occupied Cyprus and new finds of gas and oil in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean. In short, a bankrupt Greece of only 11 million people, residing in one of history\u2019s most dangerous neighborhoods, has few strong friends other than the United States. The same is true of Christian Armenia, which likewise is relatively small and near to historical enemies in Turkey and Russia.<\/p>\n All of these peoples \u2014 Israelis, anti-Communist Chinese, Kurds, Greeks, and Armenians \u2014 have a few things in common. They have relatively small \u2014 and often shrinking \u2014 populations, aggressive neighbors, few strong allies, many expatriates and refugees in the United States, and tragic histories of persecution and genocide. Half the world\u2019s Jews were lost to the Holocaust. Had Mao Tse-tung \u2014 the most prolific mass murderer in history \u2014 gotten his way, the entire anti-Communist Chinese population who fled in terror to Taiwan would have been wiped out. In the early 1920s, nearly a million Greeks perished in Asia Minor \u2014 ethnically cleansed by a Turkey that had at one time conquered and occupied Greece for more than 350 years. A million Armenians perished in the breakup of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The stateless Kurds have often been persecuted by Arabs, Iranians, and Turks.<\/p>\n We should remember that in the late 1940s Greece and Taiwan would have disappeared as free, independent countries without American military support and guarantees. Armenia did not exist as a free nation until America helped to force the collapse of the Soviet Union. Kurdistan emerged as an autonomous province only when America deposed Saddam Hussein. Israel might have vanished during the 1973 Yom Kippur War without massive American military aid.<\/p>\n Of course, these historically persecuted peoples can at times be testy allies, and they can even sound anti-American. Their national characters \u2014 reflecting centuries of oppression \u2014 understandably can seem prone to collective paranoia and conspiracy theories. Yet Israel, Taiwan, Kurdistan, Greece, and Armenia are democratic states, with rich histories, and have survived against all odds.<\/p>\n In the next few years, as never before, our small friends will be tested. Iran has promised to wipe out Israel and may soon get the bomb to do it. We are withdrawing all troops at the end of the year from Iraq, and Kurdistan will then be entirely on its own. Russia often talks about reconstituting its former Soviet states into some sort of new imperial federation. China thinks it is only a matter of time before Taiwan can be absorbed. The new Turkey is beginning to look a lot like the old imperial Ottoman sultanate.<\/p>\n Yet if protecting these small states is risky, our concern also reflects positively upon the singular values of the United States. The United Nations has neither the will nor the capability to ensure the security of these countries. The eroding European Union talks grandly of international values but rarely risks its blood or treasure to defend them.<\/p>\n Only America is moral enough and strong enough to protect the world\u2019s historically vulnerable but culturally unique peoples. It would be a shame if we forgot that \u2014 either out of desire for profit or because we became fed up with the bother.<\/p>\n \u00a92011 Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services Recently, an open mike caught French president Nicolas Sarkozy and American president Barack Obama jointly trashing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sarkozy scoffed, \u201cI cannot stand him. He\u2019s a liar.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[846,196],"tags":[12,149,1028,331,235,575,1032,1016,1037,1072],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-n9","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8272,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/israel-jews-and-the-obama-administration\/","url_meta":{"origin":1435,"position":0},"title":"Israel, Jews, and the Obama Administration","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ PJ Media Even some Democrats in Congress have come to the conclusion that after the brouhaha over Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu\u2019s speech before Congress, President Obama wants to radically downgrade the long American special relationship with democratic Jewish Israel \u2014 and perhaps has a dislike\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Middle East"","block_context":{"text":"The Middle East","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"President Obama meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Oct 1st, 2014. (Rex Features via AP Images)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/obama_netanyahu_3-8-15-1-500x310.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9704,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-resilience-of-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":1435,"position":1},"title":"The Resilience of Israel","author":"Megan Ring","date":"January 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson\/\/ National Review Despite the mess around it, Israel is in its best geostrategic position in decades. Israel would seem to be in a disastrous position, given the inevitable nuclear capabilities of Iran and the recent deterioration of its relationship with the United States, its former patron\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Russia"","block_context":{"text":"Russia","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/europe\/russia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7088,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/a-modest-proposal-on-ukraine\/","url_meta":{"origin":1435,"position":2},"title":"A Modest Proposal on Ukraine","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/\u00a0NRO's the Corner\u00a0 Of all the advice to Obama to reverse his brand of Carterism, the best might simply be to shut his eyes, and every time he gets angry and is about to say something about Israel, stop, and think first to substitute the reset\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ukraine"","block_context":{"text":"Ukraine","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/europe\/ukraine\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9736,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/9736-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1435,"position":3},"title":"01\/12\/16 From an Angry Reader:\u2026","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"01\/12\/16 From an Angry Reader: Dear Mr Hanson: I would like to comment on your Room for Debate in the Daily Southtown regarding treatment of Israel. Where does the Prime Minister of Israel, with a population of 8 million, get off slamming President Obama of the United States with a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Angry Reader"","block_context":{"text":"Angry Reader","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/angry-reader\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6610,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/netanyahus-necessary-crankiness\/","url_meta":{"origin":1435,"position":4},"title":"Netanyahu’s Necessary Crankiness","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"We can afford to be overly optimistic about Iran, but Israel can't. by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/\u00a0National Review Online\u00a0 So far, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani\u2019s peace ruse is still bearing some fruit. President Obama was eager to talk with him at the United Nations \u2014 only to be reportedly rebuffed,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Iran"","block_context":{"text":"Iran","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/iran\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/3855774245_7c8b709f4c-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":841,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obama-off-the-cuff\/","url_meta":{"origin":1435,"position":5},"title":"Obama Off the Cuff","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online Conservatives caricature 24\/7 Barack Obama\u2019s reliance on the teleprompter. True, his speeches are scripted; but we forget why so: He is very good at reading a prepared script as if he were talking off the top of his head, and he is very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/obama-administration\/commentary-obama-administration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1435"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5741,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435\/revisions\/5741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}