The Gaza Flotilla: The Biggest Demagogue

Let’s take a look at two of the latest editions of “Who Wants to Be the Biggest Demagogue?”

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is considering a trip to Gaza in order to break the siege imposed on the Strip by Israel, Lebanese newspaper al-Mustaqbal reported Saturday, quoting “knowledgeable sources”.

[…] According to the report, Erdogan told the American administration he was planning to ask his navy to escort another aid flotilla, but that American officials asked him to delay the plan in order to look into the matter.

Not to be outdone, the Mad Mullahs of Iran propose the same thing.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards are ready to provide a military escort to cargo ships trying to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday.

“Iran’s Revolutionary Guards naval forces are fully prepared to escort the peace and freedom convoys to Gaza with all their powers and capabilities,” Ali Shirazi, Khamenei’s representative inside the Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency.

Both instances, of course, would be considerably more provocative than mere words. I would venture to guess—not being any kind of expert in international law—that having Navy warships escort ships to break a blockade that has been declared and enforced for three years might be, oh, let me think… an act of war? Especially if the ships are Iranian, a nation that is supplying Israel’s enemies, that has financed the murder of Israeli citizens and attacks on Israel soldiers, and the nation that is pulling the strings on Hamas’ capture of an Israeli soldier.

The good news is that both statements are sheer bluster and demagoguery. Erdogan is using the Mavi Marmara incident to flog Islamist sentiment in Turkey for all its worth, but he’s not stupid enough to actually board a ship heading to Israel. And I don’t think the Turkish Navy is stupid enough to let him. The Turkish armed forces are said to be still led by secular Turks, which is why Erdogan wants to stir public opinion up against Israel. It’s in the Islamists best interest to keep the propaganda coming. That’s why they released pictures of the IDF soldiers beaten up and surrounded by Turks. The fact that the release of the photographs bolsters Israel’s case that the Turks were terrorists? Erdogan doesn’t care, because those pictures will be all over the Turkish news for years to come, and wind up on posters at anti-Israel protests all over the Middle East.

As for the Iranian threat, well, Iran isn’t ready to have the world see it for the terrorist state that it truly is. There will be no Iranian Revolutionary Guards openly threatening Israel. They are in Gaza training Hamas. They are in Lebanon training Hezballah. They are in Syria, arming all three. Iranians won’t be on warships in the Mediterranean, approaching Israel openly, because that would give Israel a casus belli against Iran. And the last thing the Iranians want is for Israel to claim a legitimate right to attack them. No, Iran operates via its proxies in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and now Turkey.

There are a lot of bloodthirsty readers of right-leaning blogs who seem to think that a good, old-fashioned war is just what Israel needs to stop this nonsense. That is absolutely false. There really is almost zero chance of a war between Turkey and Israel. Neither country wants it.

As for war with Iran, well, that won’t happen either, because Iran doesn’t want to go to war with Israel. The Iranians know the Arab world lost every conventional war it ever fought with Israel. That’s why they’re arming Israel’s foes. It is in their best interests to keep fighting the asymmetrical wars, because they’re winning on the propaganda front. So take both the above offers in the spirit in which they were given: As demagoguery to stir up the home crowd. They’re empty threats.

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6 Responses to The Gaza Flotilla: The Biggest Demagogue

  1. I’m going to wager that Erdogan gets purged in a military coup or assassinated by a Kurd by year’s end.

    -ls/cm

  2. Lee says:

    In case you missed it:

    “Friday, June 04, 2010
    When You’re Right, You’re Right [Jonah Goldberg]
    Josh Rogin reports on the Turkish ambassador:
    “For a final solution, you cannot ignore Hamas. That’s what we are saying,” said Ambassador Namik Tan. “This is not the first time that we are trying to bring this into the discussion. We have told this to the Israelis, to our American friends, to our international interlocutors, everyone. How could you imagine a final solution without Hamas?””

  3. Yeah, but he didn’t mean what you think he means. It’s a case of using incredibly insensitive wording, not a “Let’s kill all the Jews” mentality.

  4. Michael Lonie says:

    Meryl,
    Let us hope you are correct.

  5. Veeshir says:

    There are a lot of bloodthirsty readers of right-leaning blogs who seem to think that a good, old-fashioned war is just what Israel needs to stop this nonsense.

    I don’t think that, but I do think that enemies of freedom are seeing a chance right now that
    they might not see again for a long time to come, a very weak president who always sides with
    the dictator. It’s been 30 years since the last one after all.

    So it’s in their interests to get their wars going now while they still have Obama to tell
    both sides to step back.
    So I would be utterly unsurprised if Iran did just what they’re threatening to do.
    Especially if they’ve managed to make a nuke or two. 5 years ago I was told Iran was 5 years
    from getting a bomb.
    And if they can’t make their own, there are at least two places I can think of who don’t like
    Jews Israel enough to give them nukes.
    Russia and Pakistan, Pakistan for religious reasons, Russia just because a war in the middle
    east makes their oil worth that much more.

  6. Tatterdemalian says:

    Might doesn’t always make right… but weakness does always make wrong.

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