That would be Israel, natch.
No civilians are ‘ordinary’ in Israel
If you’ve heard any of the many interviews of Bibi Netanyahu after a radicalized Muslim pilot attempted to hijack a plane, you couldn’t have missed his comment that an “ordinary plumber”—that would be Yaniv Hayoun—had grabbed the co-pilot who had stabbed the captain of the plane and subdued him.As soon as the bleeding captain unlocked the cockpit door, others joined the rescue, saving over 170 passengers. What shocked me was how Bibi characterized those who jumped in to help. He kept calling them “ordinary citizens.” Seriously?
Those heroic men were anything but ordinary. What the prime minister didn’t mention was that probably most, if not all, of them had been trained in Israel’s outstanding military: the Israel Defense Forces.
In Israel, military service is mandatory for most men and women. Although only a small number serve in special forces, most serve in the reserves after their mandatory service ends, a duty that can continue until about age 40. These periods of service take them away from their jobs and families. Although active-duty forces are around 170,000, the reserve pool is about 465,000 and was severely taxed during the Gaza War.
The point is that these men and women are far from ordinary citizens. They understand that their service is vital to Israel’s existence. Whether we are discussing Lebanon and Hezbollah, or Hamas in Gaza; whether the focus is destroying nuclear plants in Syria or presenting a force of resilience and courage—Israel is a country to be reckoned with. No other country depends so completely on its military for its very survival.
S’truth. As for all the “not our ally” Shinola bubbling up from the (out-)gassier Reich-wing swampland districts, please permit me to crush that particular nasty, multi-legged crawly thing underfoot myself. Fact is, not only is Israel America’s ONE and ONLY reliable ally in the Mideast region, politically-speaking, they’re also doing us heap big favors militarily via taking much of the fight against Moslem terrorism upon themselves, stacking up squads, platoons, companies, battalions, and regiments’ worth of Hamas, Hezbollah, and/or ISIS pus-nutted-putrefactious deaders on their own initiative instead of just sitting idly back and letting us handle the light work for ‘em.
That being the case, and it damned sure is, then if Israel—a nation-state that punches well above its weight if ever there’s been one—feels the need to hit Uncle Sugar up for a squadron or three of pricey 5th-Generation fighter aircraft, high-tech battle rifles, class 4 body armor, and/or miscellaneous other bleeding-edge matériel…well, hey, that’s jake with me, I’ll take that deal six days a week and twice on Sundays.












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