08-06-2010, 10:28 PM
Mark Stapleton Wrote:Anthony Marsh Wrote:[The US and British were already friendly with the Arabs to get their oil. If oil was the only thing they wanted, why be friends with the Jews who had no oil? How can the Jews wander around for 40 years in the desert and just happen to pick the ONLY spot which doesn't have ANY oil while being surrounded by trillions of barrels of oil everywhere else?
The new state didn't necessarily have to be sitting on oil. Perhaps the powers that be only wanted a friendly state in the neighbourhood to keep an eye on the Arabs. Maybe they didn't trust the Arabs.
I'm not necessarily wedded to the idea that oil was behind the establishment of Israel but it might have been a factor. In any case, it's turned out to be a big mistake. There's been nothing but hostility in the region for 62 years.
I never suggested that the British and US sided with Israel to get oil. Israel has no oil to offer. But maybe it is the hostility which they wanted. Certain people make a lot of money from the tension in the Middle East. The US sells Israel 200 F-16s and then Saudi Arabia wants 200 F-16s. We get our oil money back with weapons sales.