After the brutal death in Israel of the American peace activist, Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death by a bulldozer, the following telephone conversation took place between Paul Wolfowitz and Ariel Sharon. Wolfowitz phoned Sharon and said, “Hey, Ariel, lighten up a bit. That was an American you killed and it is increasing the pressure on me and Richard Perle.” Sharon listened to Wolfowitz, gave a sub-human grunt and wiped his drooling saliva from his grotesque belly before hanging up.
Hava!
There is no doubt in any objective and honest person’s mind that there is a link between the US-led war on Iraq and Israel. That link seems to be growing with various revelations that cite the agenda which the neocons in the American administration share with the Likud Party in Israel. The neocons, a group of extreme ultra-right conservative politicians, mostly Jews, have basically taken over American foreign policy for the sake of protecting the Jewish state. There is a list of countries and regions in the Middle East that such leading neocons as Podhoretz, Bennett, Ledeen, Perle, Wolfowitz and the ex-prime ministers of Israel regard as targets for destruction. They include Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran. As is now widely known, the genesis of the idea for occupying Iraq dates back to the early 1990s.
Richard Perle, often described as the intellectual driving force behind President Bush’s world-view, has for years pressed US and Israeli leaders to go to war against Iraq. On July 8, 1996, shortly after Netanyahu’s election victory over Shimon Peres, Perle handed Netanyahu a strategy paper entitled “A Clear Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm.” It called for the removal of Saddam Hussein as a key Israeli objective and as a means of weakening Syria. The call for an attack on Iraq was then taken up in 1997 by a right-wing American group called “The Project for a New American Century” whose members included Richard Perle, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Eliot Abrams, Middle East Director of Bush’s National Security Council, Randy Scheunemann, President of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq and two influential conservative editors, William Krista of the Weekly Standard and Norman Podhoretz of Commentary.
With friends such as Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Vice-President Dick Cheney, and backed by half a dozen right-wing think-tanks, this group made a formidable pressure group. The terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11 gave the advocates of American empire and of the US-Israeli alliance their chance. They were able to make the inexperienced President George W. Bush, who came to power after a questionable election, the vehicle for their agenda.
The result is the war we are now witnessing. The ultimate objective is to change the map of the Middle East by destroying or intimidating all enemies of the US and Israel. If America’s imperium turns out to be benevolent, which is most improbable, the Arabs may accept it for a while. But they will always resist Israeli domination of the region.
That is the major flaw in the project. For whose benefit and advantage will there be endless wars in a region that holds nothing important for America except for oil which is sold to it anyway. Who would benefit from such enmity between the West and Islam and by putting the clash of civilizations into high gear? One simple answer — one country, one man, one party: Israel, Sharon and Likud.
Come on, give me hava!
Israel, the only country in the Middle East with weapons of mass destruction, disobeys all UN resolutions, occupies land and massacres civilians on a daily basis — with the complete blessings and support of the US government.
I beg you to give me hava!
This war could not have come at a better time for Israel. It is perfect and ideal. Israel will be encouraged to show restraint. During the Gulf War of 1991, the US bribed Israel to show restraint. This time not only is the US giving it billions but also giving it a green light as well for mass killings and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. What these neoconservatives seek is to shed American blood in order to make the world safe for Israel. They want the peace of the sword imposed on Islam and American soldiers to die if necessary to impose it. The neocons seek an American empire and “sharonites” seek hegemony in the Middle East.
The two plans fit perfectly. And though neocons insist that it was Sept. 11 that made the argument for war on Iraq and extremist Islam, the genesis of their war plans go back much further. America promised the world peace, freedom and liberty, but what it is doing in Iraq is nothing short of misery, horror and hypocrisy. The killing of innocent civilians in great numbers every day, all to protect a brutal terrorist like Sharon and his henchmen in Israel is shameful and disgraceful. Sharon of course is enjoying every minute of this tragedy.
Hava nagila hava.
Arab News Features 1 April 2003
