On the other hand my sister and two brothers became “zionized” in college. My sister made aliyah in 1966 and my 2 brothers followed in in the early 70′s. The differences in our perspectives of Life and the World can all be traced back to one formative event. I got polio in the epidemic of 1946.

I was completely paralyzed and recovery took many, many years. When one is weak and dependent one learns humility and patience. Since I was “different” from my peers ( After years of treatment and a dozen operations, I learned to walk with a severe limp) I learned “compensation” techniques. I used my brains more than body. I learned to have a sunny disposition, humor and generosity so kids would like me even if I could not play their physical games.

Both my parents worked so my Grandfather became my primary caretaker and while everyone was away at work or school he and I would spend countless hours on his stories and his politics. Politically I am his mirror image – I believe in an Israel as a Jewish homeland BUT it’s viability depends on it moving back to more or less the 67 borders.

In my working career, I became Senior Vice President of a huge financial company and was in charge of International operations. For many years my family moved from one country to another (with two teachers provided by the company) and I became more of a global citizen. My business success depended on my being able to empathize and understand different cultures.

My own family reflects that globalness. I have a son living in Hong Kong having married a buddhist girl from Mongolia where they met while both were getting advanced degrees from Keio University in Tokyo. I have a daughter who lives in Bangalore, India having met and married a Hindu man while both were studying at the London School of Economics and another son living in Amsterdam having married a nice Dutch Jewish girl.

As far as my relatives in Israel are concerned they think I am crazy to dilute my heritage ( I married 39 years ago a nice Lutheran girl from Minnesota). My relatives an I enjoy the Israeli national pastime – having yelling arguments about politics. But family is still very important to all of us and that binds us together. We yell at each other and we weap together. Last November we buried my sister Rachel in Ariel and vowed that our families ties could bend but will never be allowed to break.

In short my Grandfather, polio and international experience made me who I am today and college and Israel made my relatives. Israel is a different culture. I understand it even though I don’t always agree with it. It’s no different from living in Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Italy and Spain, I understand those cultures even though I don’t always agree with it.

I attended an AEI conference in Washington DC in the fall of 2002. I heard Frum, Muravchik, Gerecht, and Kagen all give talks on the necessity of hurrying up and getting the Iraq war started. Even timid questions from the audience about the repurcussions of such a war were met with -we cannot waste time we have to get the muslims “straightened out”. Their disdain for muslims was so strong that one would have thought those people were something less than humans.

They simply wanted the killing to start.

just make me shake my head.

Someday I hope to be able to put myself in the heads of many of the commenters here, as you do the hawks, so that I to can see the world more clearly.

He is right, Klein’s characterization applies only to some liberal hawks, and he should not have generalized so broadly. Klein is accurate, however, about those to whom his remarks do apply. These hawks focus now on the mismanagement of the Iraq war and try their best to dodge the question of whether or not it was a good idea in the first place (Hillary). If only we had done this or that…..

When it comes to discussing Iran, vagueness afflicts every position not on the extremes of “bomb Iran now” or “military action can not work here”. Most vagueness is unavoidable, since judgment entails reliance on an unknown future. A lot of vagueness is intentional, however.
A case in point are those with long lists of the dangers Iran poses (we know! we know!) without a hint of realistic analysis of how those dangers might be removed without causing even bigger dangers in the region and the world. Some of them make the case for war while diligently avoiding saying so outright.
The same is true of many who make the case against war while retaining the ‘last resort; optionn.
They dodge describing what would trigger utilizing this handy last resort.

What is sorely needed is a hard look at what is and is not militarily possible today and hard nosed analyses of the repercussions of each option. We can line up in dove/hawk lines once we know of what our choices realistically consist. I’m glad to note some voices speaking along those lines, but there are far, far too few.

As a preview for commenters reading this thread, I’ll say that in it I will take up Klein’s challenge explicitly, providing what I see as a *detailed* “liberal hawk” approach to the problems posed by Iran.

I have no idea where Klein gets the impression that liberal hawkishness is a common phenomenom, unfortunately liberal hawks are extremely rare. That is why most liberals disgust me these days.

Michael certainly pays lip-service to “war as a last resort” but at the same time, he buys into all of the pro-war propaganda. He makes bold assertions about Iran’s involvement in Lebanon and Iraq without proof. Assertions that if true, already put us in a de facto state of war with Iran.

If the “liberal hawk” has become such a common phenomenon, where are their think-tanks and periodicals?

Kevin might want to pick up some old issues of The New Republic.

Iraq was a prime example of hawks driving the US to an unneccesary war. When the UN inspectors could not find any WMD even at sites the CIA said were active, Bush told the Inspectors to leave. The hawks wanted a war and they didn’t give a damn about planning. They simply wanted the killing to start. These same voices are now being raised to start a war with Iran. That war will prove to be just as futile and expensive in men and money as Iraq.

Michael – you should examine your heart to see if you genuinely want to use war as a LAST resort. From everything you write, I see you as having an itchy trigger finger. Wars are necessary in a nation’s existential fight for existence. Vietnam and Iraq did not meet this test and I don’t think Iran does either. Israel’s 2006 war against Lebanon and 1956 war on Egypt did not meet this test either, but 1948,1967 and 1973 did. I could justify war if all Mideast oil were to stop since the West’s economic lifeblood depends on it.

In short, I am skeptical of both hawks and doves because I believe emotions drive their positions. Most doves are too close to pacifism for my taste and most hawks I know in the US and Israel are too much in love with death and destruction.