One of my favorite scenes from the Woody Allen movie Bananas occurs between two U.S. soldiers enroute to the fictional San Marcos. One soldier asks his buddy which side they were supporting in that nation's civil war. His friend responds that the U.S. was supporting both sides, "just in case."
Now that's realpolitik. It's real life, too. Right now, the U.S. is encouraging the Sunnis in Iraq to arm themselves to brace for a bloodier civil war ahead. Money and weapons we send to Saudi Arabia are also finding their way to the Sunni side of life. On the other hand, we are also arming the Shia-led, pro-Iranian government of Iraq, just in case, as we continue to balk at growing Iranian militarization.
We are also preparing a multibillion arms sale to Israel. However, to placate the more reasonable Arab governments in the region about an even more heavily armed Israel, we are also preparing multibillion arms sales to them, too. Bananas!
Now that's realpolitik. It's real life, too. Right now, the U.S. is encouraging the Sunnis in Iraq to arm themselves to brace for a bloodier civil war ahead. Money and weapons we send to Saudi Arabia are also finding their way to the Sunni side of life. On the other hand, we are also arming the Shia-led, pro-Iranian government of Iraq, just in case, as we continue to balk at growing Iranian militarization.
We are also preparing a multibillion arms sale to Israel. However, to placate the more reasonable Arab governments in the region about an even more heavily armed Israel, we are also preparing multibillion arms sales to them, too. Bananas!