[fabsroman]

Val, this is a touchy subject for Jews just as immigration is a touchy subjecy for Hispanics. However, I don't think we have many Hispanic/immigrant hunters on this board. These are also subjects that need to be addressed.

As M.T. said, the relationship with Israel started with Truman because it was an election year. Today, it is still touchy because there are still a good amount of Jewish voters in the US, just as there are now a bunch of Hispanic voters in the US. So, our foreign policy stances are taken based upon what is good for politicians to get into office (i.e., support Israel and do nothing about immigration) instead of what is good for the country. If Italy were causing us this much grief, I wouldn't be sitting here saying we should back them and I have absolutely no issue with what we did with Italy in World War II. My dad's siblings even had to hide from allied bombers during World War II and my dad can slightly remember having to go through air raid drills. However, my dad has gotten into quite a few fights with his Italian friends that say that they like Italy better than the US. Along with telling them to go back to Italy if they do not like it here, some of the arguments actually came to blows. When I was younger, my dad also took the position that if he had to go to war against Italy he would, but he would request that he not be involved in bombing, shelling, or raiding his own town.

Supporting Israel has cost us the Twin Towers, a portion of the Pentagon, several soldiers in the War on Terror, and billions of dollars in aid and to Israel and supplies for the War on Terror. However, if we had never supported Israel from the get go, there would be no terror at all because the arabs wouldn't have a good reason to hate us so much. I have no issue with the Jews in this country, except for those that want the US to unquestionably support Israel without thinking about what is actually good for the US.