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No More Israel in 10 Years
Expect a new Middle East one day.
by Stephen Lendman
On September 17, the New York Post quoted Henry Kissinger saying:
"In 10 years, there will be no more Israel. I repeat: In 10 years, there will be no more Israel."
He didn't mean Israel will self-destruct or collapse. His view mirrors the combined assessment of 16 US intelligence agencies. Months earlier, its report headlined "Preparing For A Post Israel Middle East." It wasn't released publicly so no link.
It concluded that Washington's national interest is at odds with Israel. The so-called special relationship is counterproductive. What benefits Israel geopolitically often harms America.
It's time to stop letting the tail wag the dog. America loses more than it gains. Serious reassessment is long overdue.
In their book titled "The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy," John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt argue that Israel is "increasingly a strategic liability....It is time for the United States to treat Israel not as a special case but as a normal state, and to deal with it much as it deals with any other country."Doing so "means no longer pretending that Israel and America's interests are identical, or acting as if Israel deserves steadfast US support no matter what it does."
James Petras said "(t)he US-Israeli relationship is the first in modern history in which the imperial country covers up a deliberate major military assault by a supposed ally."
He referred to the 1967 USS Liberty attack. Israel bombed and strafed it. Dozens of US seamen were killed. Around 170 were wounded. The vessel was heavily damaged. Israel got away with murder. It wasn't the first or last time.
It's time to cut ties and move on. In May 2008, former US official Richard Holbrooke headlined a Washington Post op-ed "Washington's Battle Over Israel's Birth," saying:
In early 1948, Washington witnessed an "epic struggle." Behind the scenes, policy makers wrangled over how to respond to Israel's May 14 declaration of independence. Influential Truman officials shared opposing views. Lesser ones favored recognition.
Notable ones against included Defense Secretary James Forrestal, diplomat George Kennan, Defense Secretary Robert Lovett, presidential advisor John J. McCloy, defense strategist Paul Nitze, Secretary of State Dean Acheson, and General George Marshall, whom Truman called "the greatest living American."
