ITT some people are confused by a figure of speech being applied to nukes.
Re Israel the democracy: Israel could be Bastard Dictatorship #12 and still get tons of US support & subsidised arms sales as long as the leadership was both stable and supportive of US strategic interests in the region.
The US doesn't give a shit how unpleasant a regime is - supporting a coup in Iran that re-installed the deeply unpopular Shah at the expense of a nascent socialist-ish, democratically elected secular government could be said to be directly related to the '79 Islamic Revolution, not to mention the CIA-backed Pinochet and more than 40 years of fucking around in South American politics, continued support of the House of Saud...
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate real politick in foreign affairs & statecraft, but holding up Israeli democracy as the reason the US supports it is naive at best.
Re Israel the democracy: Israel could be Bastard Dictatorship #12 and still get tons of US support & subsidised arms sales as long as the leadership was both stable and supportive of US strategic interests in the region.
The US doesn't give a shit how unpleasant a regime is - supporting a coup in Iran that re-installed the deeply unpopular Shah at the expense of a nascent socialist-ish, democratically elected secular government could be said to be directly related to the '79 Islamic Revolution, not to mention the CIA-backed Pinochet and more than 40 years of fucking around in South American politics, continued support of the House of Saud...
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate real politick in foreign affairs & statecraft, but holding up Israeli democracy as the reason the US supports it is naive at best.