The dangers of 3rd party help

Submitted by David Barnett (United Kingdom), Jan 28, 2017 at 18:49

I would just like to amplify ajnn's comment with an historical example.

Judah the Maccabee died with Judean independence neither complete nor secure. His brothers, Simon and Jonathan successfully used alliance with Rome to de-fang the Seleucid Empire from reasserting its control, while the new Hasmonean state consolidated.

It suited Rome to have an independent Judea as a buffer between Egypt (which it coveted) and the Seleucids. [Indeed, it was Antiochus' attempt to annex Egypt that set off a train of events leading to the Maccabee revolt].

Be that as it may, a few generations later, Pompey marched into Jerusalem, ostensibly to sort out a squabble between two Hasmonean brothers of the rule of this "ally" of Rome. And the rest, as they say, is history...

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".