by NOAM CHOMSKY
They claim there’s an existential threat from Iran, but according to the U.S. strategic analysis, the threat is that Iran doesn’t obey orders and is a deterrent to Israel’s efforts at regional dominance. But if the Israelis fool themselves into thinking Iran is an existential threat, the outcome of that you can’t even think of.
It’s not that Iran is that rational either. There’s a possible conflict brewing in the region, which is really frightening to think about. As you may know, Iran has announced that it intends to send ships to break the Gaza blockade. If that happened, all bets are off. Israel could go berserk. It’s a powerful state with hundreds of nuclear weapons. They could decide to destroy the region and destroy themselves in the process. Who knows. It’s scary.
Israel has a doctrine that goes back to the 1950s. They sometimes call it the Samson Complex, named after the most respected and honored suicide bomber in the world. Samson was a famous hero who killed a lot of Philistines. As the story goes, Delilah cut off his hair and he lost his strength and the Philistines captured and blinded him. But his hair grew back and he regained his strength. He was in the temple surrounded by thousands of Philistines when he pulled down the temple walls and killed himself and more Philistines in his death than in his lifetime.
The Samson Complex means if the world presses Israel too far, they will go crazy and bring down the temple walls. Of course, they’ll be killed too. This attitude is part of the national psyche and it’s expanding now. And it’s not a joke. It could happen.
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