While this is O/T the fact is that the way US dealt with Third Reich and Soviet Union was the way to go. They have made grandiose mistakes for sure though and commited heinous crimes themselves too [beginning right when the country was born], there is no doubt about that. What comes to their policies as a whole, I believe that they should withdraw from most of the bases abroad and first and foremost pay attention their own problems before telling others how to behave. Disarming, no noo... That would be insane.
What comes to Israel, I have pragmatic point of view. I have boycotted them since I learned enough, but that state is there to stay. A tiny fraction of Arab land that is, we (Finns) would never be where we are if we could not forgive and strive for compromise, we have lost much more and never conquered our lands that we eventually lost in the first place (*cough cough*). We did not lose 1 % or something like that, through the centuries we lost the most. I am descendant of a refugee family myself: the branch that stayed in Russia perished, in WWII we lost all of our lands because of Soviet imperialism. We were lucky enough to lose no one in battlefield but Soviet partisans attacked our family farm, raped the women and killed everyone excluding children who were in the woods herding the cattle. I know the hate. the burning hate and how it consumes the people. We have forgiven by now, we do not bear grudge anymore and we move forward - but we will never forget and that is one of the reasons why I am myself member of volunteer defence organization. When I see how passionate hate has infected people who are not even involved, that is weird (not meaning you YMJ, but you know the type)
Besides I am being optimist, you know.. the current conflict is barely over a century old, the most difficult part of it is counted in decades.. Eg. The Germans and French fought over a millenia, a good battle between those two killed more people than the Jewish-Arab conflict as a whole has. Sooner or later they will realize that they are just bleeding themselves and they could and should work together instead of fighting. That day will come. But first the previous/current generation of the leadership has to go. Israelis do not have the leaders they need for the change now, Arabs are just moving towards the possibility. But sooner or later..
