This is what it has come to: In the US we have an imperial President who, like our founding imperialist "bully" President, Theodore Roosevelt, has a Nobel Peace Prize. In President Obama's case, he doesn't send out river gunboats and waterboard Filipino guerrillas to bring light to the benighted corners of the world. Rather, he has his own personal hit list for Seal Team targeted assassinations focused on the leaders of globalized guerrilla networks.
Those targeted for assassination now in 2012 are essentially the updated counterparts of the guerrilla armies that fought the British, French and American colonial occupying armies of the early and middle 20th century in places like Kenya, Vietnam and the Philippines. As the old, classic empires crumbled and faded, colonialism became imperialism. Once capital and power became fully globalized, naturally the opposing elements of bottom-up opposition formed globalized networks themselves. Thus, we have the much feared al Qaeda and a host of others that ebb and flow. In need of demons, the forces in support of a US Global War On Terror do their best to make the al Qaedas of the world into enemies worthy of the Myth of American Exceptionalism.
The dance between entrenched power and the bottom-up impulse for liberation goes on. Each side pursues its game plan by demonizing and attempting to murder the other. It's a very messy confrontation, now reaching into Africa, with lots of moral damnation to go around.
A Strange and Beautiful Interlude
Because I've written about Israel before, I'm on lists that send out pro-Israeli propaganda. The other day, I got a mailing that began with a cheerful, "Hello!" The tone was that of an old friend. The writer, apparently a US military veteran, advocated "national service" for all Americans based on an Israeli model.
"I am emailing you," he went on, "to bring to your attention the fact that Israel is the only country in the world that maintains obligatory military service for its women. So here is a great collection of Israel female soldiers in action. ... Israel's economy is fine, and its future looks bright. They are a happy and prosperous people, even though they are totally surrounded by those who demand their total destruction."
Israeli women with guns: "Come on, take your best shot, Iran!"
The writer went on to describe his own survivalist philosophy. He, then, attached 47 photographs of beautiful Israeli women wearing assault rifles as fashion accessories. After the final image -- the one on the right, above -- he wrote this in large, bold type: "Come on, take your best shot, Iran!!!"
OK, the right-wing man who sent this email may be overly horny, and it's pretty certain he's freelancing and not part of AIPAC. But when you consider this item in relation to reality, it's actually not that far off from much of the pro-Israel propaganda I receive. Like much of the right-wing thinking during our recent election campaign, it's totally aspirational and un-moored from a larger reality.
The propaganda always points out how wonderful and special Israel is and how everyone surrounding Israel is out to destroy it. The special genius and the great abilities of Israel and Israelis are always listed to justify Israel's policies. Making the desert bloom becomes like making the trains run on time, a justification for everything. Not to worry, Israel has the situation under control and can militarily obliterate all its foes if necessary. Its "highly militarized dependency" on the United States and Europe isn't usually mentioned, since the propaganda itself is intended to shore up this dependency.
I"m not a psychiatrist, but if I was and had the Israeli right on my couch I'd conclude it has lost its mind in some narcissistic mirror loop to the point it seems to be goading its neighbors to bring on the apocalypse. It's an updated and possibly even more frightening version of the old Cold War posture known as MAD, or Mutually Assured Destruction.
Is Sanity Possible in Israel/Palestine?
For the record, I support the State of Israel and recognize it does have a security problem. Also, talk by Hamas or anyone about destroying Israel is as crazy and indefensible as the continuation of Jabotinsky's Iron Wall by the Netanyahu government. Far right Israeli militarists would rather lead us to Armageddon than sit down to talk with a Palestinian as a fellow flawed human being with natural political interests in the land they assume is a gift from their God.
While both sides make diplomacy difficult, due to its military dominance the onus for diplomacy is on the side of Israel. Thus, a real route to sanity in Israel seems to reside here in the United States. The militarists in Israel only exist because, from the beginning, US leaders have punked out and gone along with the anti-diplomatic madness Tyler writes about in Fortress Israel. It's all there from the beginning, how Ben Gurion blew off all US efforts at diplomacy with Nasser and other Arab leaders. While lying to, or withholding information from, Eisenhower, Prime Minister Ben Gurion, General Dayan, Major Sharon and other determined militarists pursued preemptive attacks and killing forays into Egypt and other neighbor nations in hopes of setting off a larger war that they felt they could win.
So far, Israel has won most of these wars, with the exception of the 2006 invasion of Southern Lebanon, which most analysts say was a victory for Hezbollah. It should also be said, these wars were not entirely instigated by Israel. There's plenty of sin to go around. But the point is, Israel from the beginning has refused to pursue diplomacy and has, instead, pursued militarism and preemptive violence and war as a means of solving the problem of two peoples claiming the same land. That kind of war-determined policy can only lead to madness.
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