Andrew Sullivan Finds A Use For The U.S. Military — Restraining Israel

Andrew Sullivan, who continues to build on his journey away from moderate conservatism and into the welcoming arms of the extreme left, has added another key piece of that transformation — anti-Israel hostility. Sullivan, who in addition to being completely obsessed with hating Sarah Palin was a prominent anti-war voice during the Bush administration, seems to have found a military cause he can endorse — containing Israel and providing a shield for Hamas, behind which they could safely launch a continuing rain of missiles on to Israeli civilians:

My own view is moving toward supporting a direct American military imposition of a two-state solution, with NATO troops on the borders of the new states of Palestine and Israel. I’m sick of having a great power like the US being dictated to in the conduct of its own foreign policy by an ally that provides almost no real benefit to the US, and more and more costs.

Of course, Sullivan is wily enough to throw in a pro forma condemnation of Hamas too:

And, yes, I’m also sick of the war crimes and theocratic insanity of Hamas, and the lame passive-aggression of the PA, and the inability of the Palestinian leadership to prepare for actual governance as opposed to the victimized preening and theatrics and violence they prefer to the difficult compromises required if we are to move forward.

But the effect of what Sullivan supports would be to give Hamas a kind of support they could never have dreamed of — a military force patrolling their borders with the explicit mission of preventing any Israeli response, but without any mission that would allow them to actually go in and shut down Hamas’ own missile factories, smuggling routes, and launch sites. And the bonus would be a ready supply of propaganda foils, for there is little doubt that if Hamas attacked the NATO force Sullivan proposes, Sullivan would eagerly join the ranks of those who would insist that there be no consequences, lest doing so harm the Palestinian civilians behind which Hamas routinely shields itself. The belief that Sullivan would favor Hamas is made evident by his embrace of the old anti-Semitic conspiracy theory about those rascally Jews exercising a conspiratorial dominance in the U.S. government that trumps U.S. national interests. (To preempt the whining of anti-Israel progressives: No, not all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic, but as shown by the Nazis’ reliance on exactly the same conspiracy theory, this particular variety definitely is.)

But at least Sullivan has made clear his priorities. He opposes military action by U.S. except when the purpose of the military action is to restrain Israel. Then it’s fine.