A poor spin attempt on your part, once again.
"
I understand the commonly used definition of the word democracy, thanks." Are you sure? It wouldn't appear so. Therefore, I will provide the common definition:
1 a: government by the people ; especially : rule of the majority b: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections
Merriam-Webster Online"
Are you saying NONE of the countries I mentioned are democracies? " That is
exactly what I am saying.
"
If so, please give your reasons for saying this, and address each country individually, not some generic answer, thanks." Since you are unwilling to support your own assertions, I will disprove them.
Turkey -- Though probably the closest to an actual democracy, Turkey is a Parliamentary Republic. We also have fairly good relations with this country and are supportive.
Lebanon -- Like Turkey, Lebanon is also a Parliamentary Republic, though it differs on a few levels.
Egypt -- Has a Semi-presidential Republic
Algeria -- First, this is not a Middle Eastern Country, though part of what is considered the "Greater Middle East," and second they have a Presidential Republic system of government.
Bahrain -- A Constitutional Monarchy
Iraq -- Prior to our illegal invasion, she was under a Presidential Republic system of government, but closer to a dictatorship. They are now in the process of developing a Parliamentary Republic. There are indications it could become a Parliamentary Democracy.
Iran -- Was that a joke?! If not, Iran is an Islamic Republic.
and finally,
Israel -- A Parliamentary
DemocracyMe:
"Do we *unconditionally* support the only democracy in that region?""
You:
"We don't but it is a nice lie that the anti-Israel folks love to claim as fact."
"
This was a question, I wasn't claiming it as a fact." I said nothing of the sort. I even answered the question. I went one step further and explained who uses it.
"
Please answer the question with facts that back up your assertion that we do not unconditionally support Israel... Very simply, look at recent events. The US places conditions on aid and responses to Israel frequently. LBN and I/P are rife with examples as are any major news source. The other issue with your "question" it is an "infinite" question. Proving or disproving, as you are wanting, would be a monumental task. However, for simplicity sake, every time the US dictates what aid goes to Israel under what conditions, it is, as the word suggests, "conditional."
"
instead of using and ad hom/strawman implication that I am a liar and "anti-Israel"."
More definitions for you:
ad hominmen -- attacking an opponent's character rather than answering his argument.
strawman -- a person simply ignores a person's actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position.
My answer, as already stated, addressed your question and even provided additional information as to who uses it. Whereas you didn't claim it to be "fact," the qualification of you being a liar would not apply. Of course, repeating a lie and not knowing it is a lie, does not a liar make. A liar is one who
knowingly uses false information. Since you didn't use it as 'fact,' it cannot be used to determine if you are or aren't anti-Israel and that statement was, again, for the third time, to explain who likes to use that particular "fact." So, I implied nothing, it was a poor inference on your part.
ETA: "We support Israel because it is the only democracy in the Middle East" is a politically expedient sound-byte. There are numerous reason the US supports Israel and there are also other nations in the region which also curry favor with the US and are considered "supported" by us.
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