Maybe just the appearance of objectivity?
Now I know it is sacrilege to say anything disparaging about Israel and its relationship within United States foreign policy. Even well informed realists such as John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt are thrown under the bus after revealing the extent of Israeli’s influence over US foreign policy. Both were attacked and condemned for their informative work entitled The Israel Lobby. If their research is not enough then please find either of Scott Ritter’s books Iraq Confidential or Target Iran to get an in-depth view of the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) influence on US foreign policy. However, if one reads the information, they make a startling revelation: Israeli interests and US interests are not always the same. And from a realist’s point of view (zero-sum game and balance of power) following another countries goals will ultimately lead to disaster.
However, even mentioning this truth will lead to Anti-Semitic cries. And calls of racism or Islamo-fascism will be tossed toward anyone even hinting at an objective view concerning Israel. This objectivity has once again been lost at the UN; a place where sanctions and resolutions are spun off like cotton candy at the local fair. However, the UN sanction and more unlikely resolution is a sign of international faith and fairness. Countries are part of the UN so that they can have a voice and if apparent wrongs occur, such as civilian deaths due to warplanes, some recourse can be developed. This is now lost. With the veto power held by the US, it has seen fit not to investigate civilian deaths of Palestinians in Gaza. As the BBC reports:
The US has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning an Israeli attack in Gaza that killed 18 civilians, including women and children. The draft, which also condemned Israeli military operations in Gaza, followed Wednesday's attack in Beit Hanoun. The US ambassador at the UN, John Bolton, described the text as unbalanced and politically motivated. Ten of 15 Security Council members backed the resolution. Four abstained - Denmark, Japan, Slovakia and the UK. This was the second time this year the US used its veto on a draft resolution on Israeli military operations in Gaza. The US has a history of vetoing resolutions condemning Israel which it feels are biased against the country, says the BBC's Laura Trevelyan at the UN in New York.
Is this rational? In a realist sense this is irrational. A country must at the very least appear to be objective. The US lost another golden opportunity to reenergize her legitimacy as an honest broker in the Middle East. With Iraq as a lost cause and Iran moving towards pure hegemonic rule in the region, we need all the friends or the appearance of friends we can get. A resolution would go far in the international space as a shift in rhetoric. It would, at the very least give the appearance of impartiality. Something the US desperately needs. Just another out for the Bush White House; at least we’ve hit the 7th inning stretch.
posted by JDAvignon at 4:42 PM
7 Comments:
I'm afraid there is no hope for the middle east because Islam has been hijacked by their extreme factions. Alah and Jesus Christ could come down to develop a peace plan and they would fail. The Arabs cannot get along, whether its Hamas, PLO, Hezbollah, sunnis, shiites or wahabis, they don't agree internally. But they all agree on one thing and that is that the destruction of the West is the overarching goal. Yes Israel is an irritant, but the infidels must be converted or die.
Watch the show on Glenn Beck tonight -- he has had the courage and convinced CNN to air this piece that demonstrates what the Islamic World across the Atlantic listen and watch everyday.
But they all agree on one thing and that is that the destruction of the West is the overarching goal? If this is so then it is even more important to create an appearance of impartiality. The people need to see that, not the extremists. If we are trying to change the region through extremists, then we are truly lost. We must understand that the extremists are just that extreme. Understand that they are mad and move onto the masses. The masses don’t want bloodshed the masses are caught between the death squads and the religious extremists they want understanding. I know diplomacy is long road but easy matters like a probe into the killings ion Gaza and restore much weight. Lastly, Glenn Beck? You have got to be joking or lazy or both. Think for yourself and pickup a book on the Middle East, read from both sides and turn off that box!
I hope you put aside your high brow, elitist gown and watched the show. That show highlighted what the "masses" really think over there. The reason they think that way is because their only source of information or moral guidance spews out from hate filled Imams, in their cloistered mosques, who want to return to the days of Suleiman. Their dream is to destroy the West and we need to wake up to this fact. On their map their is no road called "diplomacy"
,the only road is the one that leads to our graveyard, then they will be happy. Wake up...
Again, pick up a book. And turn off the TV. Here are a few:
The Middle East and What Went Wrong by Bernard Lewis
The Great War for Civilisation by Robert Fisk
Understanding Iraq: The Whole Sweep... by William R. Polk
Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism by Dore Gold (you'll love this one)
Devils Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam by Robert Dreyfuss
See no Evil: The true story of a ground Soldier inthe CIA's war on terrorism by Robert Baer
Boomerang! How covert wars have created enemies across the middle east and brought terror to america by Mark Zepezauer
A Histroy of the Modern Middle East by William Cleveland
Also these make great stocking stuffers!!
Actions speak louder than words. Their actions have followed their words. 911, Bali, London, Madrid, Kobar... the hits just keep coming, but you want to bury your head in these books -- any way you slice it, the Wahabis have imported their twisted concept of Islam to the world and are now reaping their rewards. Stay tuned for the next hit...
I guess , in your view, staying uninformed is a course of action.
You have to stick your head in the sand or a pile of books to stay uniformed.
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