Good grief. Lately I’ve been wondering what larger geopolitical interests are served by the French-led (sic) Arab League approved (sic) military campaign against Gadaffi forces in Libya. Among my speculations has been the possibility that, at least on the diplomatic side, this intervention establishes a policy that could possibly justify a future similar response to Iranian repression of its indigenous democracy movement. It’s mostly just thinking aloud, not a coherent argument, not something I would say with any degree of certainty.
Well, here’s Frank Gaffney:
What I find particularly concerning is the prospect that what we might call the Qaddafi Precedent will be used in the not-to-distant future to justify and threaten the use of U.S. military forces against an American ally: Israel.
So. Yeah.
Okay, there is a big difference between the U.S. relationship with Iran and with Israel, as should be obvious to anyone who looks at the past 40 years of history or the billions in foreign assistance the U.S. had sent to Israel. Nevermind the difference between Israel and Libya, duh. But that completely eludes Gaffney, who is not merely idly speculating, but advances an imaginary scenario involving UN Security Council recognition of the Palestinian Authority, the “vehemently anti-Israel” Susan Rice and — get this — “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose unalloyed sympathy for the Palestinian cause dates back at least to her days as First Lady.”
Right. Clinton. No friend to Israel. Okay. It gets more ridiculous from there, as Media Matters explains in OMG! detail. I won’t replicate it here. It’s just too damn insane. However, while I continue to wonder about the larger global implications of this war action in Libya, I would like to thank Gaffney for holding up the fun house mirror to my musings from the abyss he fell into long ago and from which I will step ever so carefully away.
Frank Gaffney having one of his episodes. Via TPM.
For more right wing lunacy, Salon collects a roundup of reactions from the usual radio and blogging suspects.