"... Israel is a menace to US force protection..."

".... General Dempsey, according to my sources, reminded his Israeli counterpart that in 1991 and again in 2003, when the United States launched "coalition" warfare against Iraq, the US Administrations pressured Israel to sit on the sidelines, and pledged that the United States would guarantee Israel's safety.  Apart from a few stray Scud missiles that hit Israel in 1991, the United States fully lived up to that pledge to protect Israel at all costs.  Israel, in contrast, has no capacity whatsoever to protect the 100,000 American soldiers who would find themselves immediately in harms way in Afghanistan if Iran chose to retaliate against the Israeli strikes.  The same is true for American soldiers and sailors in Bahrain, Qatar and other Persian Gulf locales..."