The US was fairly isolationist till the development of nuclear weapons. At that point, having a nation which hates us getting nuclear weapons would make for a "Pearl Harbor" like the US has never seen.
If it wasn't for Israel, Saddam would have had nuclear weapons during the gulf war.

Where I agree with Chomsky is that there is really no such thing as international law. It's simply a series of conventions between nations which are often violated. Where I disagree with Chomsky is that this is something that can be cured without effectively handing a huge amount of power to rather brutal non-democratic states. People have rights. Nations don't have rights, except as they safeguard the rights of people.

What is it with the comment factory and it's obsession with Israel? Chomsky above states that:

"The Israeli lobby has some influence, but it is limited. That was demonstrated in the case of Iran, once again, last summer, during the presidential campaign, the time when the influence of lobbies is at its peak. The Israeli Lobby wanted Congress to pass legislation that came close to calling for a blockade of Iran, an act of war. The measure gained considerable support, but then suddenly disappeared, probably because the White House made it clear, quietly, that it was opposed."

Yet you have "Goerge Washington", like bush in with the Iraq war, trying to make his case with ad homenim attacks and tenuous links.

"A passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification." ~George Washington Farewell Address

"The nation which indulges toward another habitual hatred or habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interests." ~ George Washington

"Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none." ~ Thomas Jefferson