| Slipping
Toward Armageddon
Israel
in Iraq
By Mark Gaffney
07/05/04 "Information Clearing House" -- There
it was, in black and white, the worst news one could imagine
staring back at me. I was seeing it, but still not really
believing: the latest Sy Hersh report in the New Yorker, “Plan
B, Israel Looks to the Kurds” (21 June 2004).
I didn’t want to be reading this. I had better things to do,
like bury my head in the Broncos official web page, where I
occasionally go to escape: browsing foo-ball trivia and empty
statistics about next season. With their big trade a done-deal
and with the fabulous new free agents it looks like the Orange
Crush will be back. But will the offense jell? Will Plummer step
into Elway’s big shoes and deliver at QB? Is this the year the
Broncos make another run at the Superbowl? Momentous questions
such as these…
Instead, I was wading through this nightmare of print a la Hersh,
about how the Israelis are now in Iraq, where they have no
business being (Can this really be happening?), arming and
training the Kurds in the north along the border with Iran. For
what purpose? Toward what end? Questions that no one seems to be
asking these days, certainly not in Washington, where Israel
holds court in the US Congress, no less than in the oval office.
Of course, it’s possible Hersh got it wrong. Yes, maybe,
there’s always a chance. But I knew better. Seymour Hersh is
one of our best and most careful journalists. He once told me
that he never prints anything without multiple sources. So
it’s probably all too true. If one set out to create a
doomsday scenario for the Mid East, one could not fabricate a
more explosive trigger. The writing has been on the wall for
many years, and now it all does appear to be coming to pass,
yes, before our glazed eyes. And no one is doing anything to
stop it, least of all John Kerry.
In 1991 George W. Bush’s daddy went to war in the Gulf, a war
I vigorously opposed. But at least George Sr. had the sense to
keep the Israelis out of it. From all reports George Sr. was
strongly opposed to the recent debacle. But Junior didn’t
listen to daddy. George W. was determined to one-up the old man.
The fact that Israeli operatives are now in Iraq explodes once
and for all the oft-repeated claim that America is an honest
peace broker. The whole world will now understand that this was
just another of Washington’s many deceptions. Bush’s
uncritical support of Sharon’s iron fist shows that even the
pretense of impartiality has now evaporated. And, to the shame
of every American who cares about justice, candidate Kerry has
seconded Bush on Israel without qualification.
Bush’s Iraq policy has imploded. In fact, there never was a
coherent policy, apart from grabbing the oil. It was always just
a bunch of lies packaged as patriotic slogans for popular
consumption here at home. And the Israelis, who wanted the war
(just about any war is OK with them) are now where they’ve
wanted to be for years, that is, on the Iran border, i.e.,
positioning themselves for the next round when the shinola
really hits the fan: the shooting match that will make
everything we’ve seen up until now look like a warm-up.
Clearly, Iran figures large in the Israeli calculus. Though it
was not reported here in the US media -- at least, I never saw
one word about it -- Iran was one of the key issues in the last
Israeli election. Sharon and his opponent Benjamin Netanyahu
squared-off during the campaign, and the issue was the specter
of a nuclearized Shi’ite theocracy. The debate was bitter.
Netanyahu took the view that it was too late to prevent Iran
from going nuclear, and that Israel must accept this and come to
terms. This inflamed Sharon, who accused Netanyahu of treason.
Clearly, Sharon believed, and still believes, that Israel must
go to any length to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons,
even if this means going to war (again), which means persuading,
pushing, and if necessary dragging the Americans into it.
I hasten to add that it’s far from proved that Iran is
building, or intends to build, Bombs. There is no smoking gun,
and no hard evidence insofar as I know. It appears that Iran’s
policy is to develop nuclear power for energy production while
keeping its options open for the future. Such a policy is
totally understandable, given Israel’s own massive nuclear
arsenal, the existence of which is beyond dispute, even if the
White House doesn’t want to be reminded. Let us remember,
Israel’s nukes are aimed at Tehran. Put yourself in the
Iranians’ shoes. It’s unreasonable to expect them to
forswear nukes forever unless WE in America are also prepared to
pressure the Israeli government to sign the NPT and open ALL of
Israel’s nuclear sites to inspectors. I mean the strengthened
IAEA regime of unannounced inspections, whenever and wherever.
Of course, the Israelis don’t need hard facts about what Iran
is doing. They are perfectly capable of generating their own. If
there were ever a case of a self-fulfilling
prophecy-coming-to-fruition, the current slide toward the next
Mid East war fits the bill.
A real leader in the White House would do the sane thing and
order the Israelis to leave Iraq, IMMEDIATELY. But we haven’t
had that kind of leadership since Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered
the IDF out of Sinai. At that time, in 1956, the Israelis had
joined the Brits and French in an unprovoked assault upon Egypt.
It was an attempt to oust Nasser, turn back the clock, and
re-impose good old-fashioned colonial rule on the A-rabs. Ike
foiled all of that, but not out of altruism. Ike’s purpose was
to assert US predominance in the region. Those were the glory
days after World War II when the US star was rising.
US predominance might have become a force for good in the Mid
East, with inspired leadership here at home. But, again, we
haven’t seen that kind of leadership for many a year – I
would argue -- not since the days of Abraham Lincoln. And
without inspired leadership we went the way of empire.
Are the Israelis serious? Judging from the recent deep cracks in
their alliance with Turkey, one would have to conclude: yes,
deadly serious. Israel has long cultivated a close relationship
with Turkey. Would they jeopardize this important alliance if
they were not serious?
The Turks are furious with Israel and also with Bush. They have
repeatedly warned the US that they will not tolerate an
independent Kurdistan on their border. Yet, the outcome of
Israel’s arming and training the Kurdish militias can only be
to feed Kurdish national aspirations. Serious repercussions are
likely too in the cases of Syria and Iran, which, like Turkey,
have large Kurdish minorities; not to mention both Sunni and
Shi’ite factions within Iraq itself, which have warned that
Washington is playing with fire.
Bleeding a little more each day from the daily news of this
disaster-in-the-making, the Bush administration has turned to
theater, the trial of Saddam Hussein, hoping, once again, to
divert attention. America loves a spectacle, bread and circuses.
Just like in ancient Rome. Cradle to grave entertainment…
Bush has also pinned his hopes on the so-called transfer of
power, banking that a hand-picked interim Iraqi government can
hold things together through November 7. (US Ambassador
Negroponte will be pulling the strings of power.) Beyond the
election it’s virgin turf. There is no plan. Bush: “We’ll
think of something…”
But events do not stand still. Don’t look now, but mighty
America is facing defeat in Iraq, and the Israelis are preparing
to turn our defeat toward their own ends…
Mark Gaffney is the author of Dimona the Third Temple, a
pioneering 1989 study of the Israeli nuke program. Mark's latest
book, Gnostic Secrets of the Naassenes, has just been released
by Inner Traditions Press. Amazon.com:
Books: Gnostic Secrets of the Naassenes: The Initiatory
Teachings of the Last Supper
He can be reached at mhgaffney@aol.com
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