Warning Extremely looong post. You've been warned.
This question actually deals with more than just US-Israeli relations. It deals with the Middle East policy over all. Some people in various media sources have been clamoring for a war with Iran and I have seen that sentiment repeated on yakkstr as well. The talking heads on TV have convinced a lot of people that Iran is a menace and needs military intervention. These people also believe that there is a large pro-US contingency in Iran and we would be welcomed as liberators if we went in. Just like Iraq, right?
Here's the thing I don't get. Our newspapers and TV stations may blather on a thousand times a day about attacking Iran and bombing its people, but if even one Iranian talks about fighting back, he is being “aggressive” and “threatening”; we can impose sanctions on anyone, but if the sanctioned country embargoes oil shipments to Europe in response, it’s being “belligerent,” and so on. This right here is a fine example of American exceptionalism. This double standard that not only can US do no wrong, we're free to say whatever we want. As soon as someone raise a voice critical of the US, they're immediately labeled as someone who hates freedom, or have their names be put on a list somewhere.
There are countless other examples of double standard that the US has about this region. The only consistent aspect of US Middle East policy is our unflinching devotion and support of Israel coupled with future speculations on resource acquisition. This is why you don't hear a peep about Saudi special forces thumping the crap our of peaceful demonstrators in Bahrain. Why we supported strong arm dictators like Mubarak, the Assad family, Khadaffi and Saddam Hussein for the last 30 years. Of course, now that Arab Spring has toppled many of those dictators, US is calling for democratic elections in the region, throwing the old leaders we were doing business with (and making fistfuls of money with) under the bus.
We really should be careful what we wish for, though. You give the Arabs democracy and the Palestinians will elect Hamas. Tunisia will elect Al-Nahda. Egypt will elect the Salafists[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salafi). Libya still has a long way to go. And to make things even more interesting, Al Qaeda has now come out in support of the insurgents in Syria, which takes the wind out of the sails criticizing Assad. Amidst all this, now we're talking about a war with Iran.
The thing that these people forget about is that Iran has a population of at least 70 million people, with a vast percentage of their population under the age of 35. They're not going to lay down like the Iraqis did. Nor do we have the capabilities that we had going into Iraq. Nor do we have any international backing should we decide to take on this endeavor, except for Israel. In fact, the ones clamoring for war against Iran is taking a page from the Iraq warmonger playbook.
The thing that I find really strange is that no one would gain anything if US and Iran got into a war. Israelis think that they would benefit from a war between the two nations, but even that is not guaranteed. The ones who call for the destruction of Israel are by and large operating outside of Iran. Their capabilities would not be diminished in any substantial way. Of course the Israeli lobby is 100% behind this campaign, but how good of an ally is Israel to the US? It's clear what a great ally US is to Israel, but is there reciprocity? Does Israel give US a reach around as they peg the US?
Israel has sent spies to the US to steal all kinds of state secrets. Israeli diplomats routinely meet with spies and often gets caught. Israel runs one of the most aggressive and damaging espionage networks targeting the US. Israel and its intelligence services often feature prominently as a threat second only to China. In 2005 the FBI noted, for example, that Israel maintains "an active program to gather proprietary information within the United States." A key Israeli method, said the FBI report, is computer intrusion.
The media and government officials don't want to talk about this issue due to the extreme sensitivity of the U.S.-Israel relationship, coupled with the burden of the Israel lobby, which punishes legislators who dare to criticize the Jewish state. There's no denying that the Israel lobby is one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the United States and they have even infiltrated and courted the Evangelical Christian community. The support for Israel becomes total and complete especially when religion is thrown into the mix.
John Mearsheimer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and Stephen Walt, Professor of International Relations at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University wrote a paper called "The Israeli Lobby" in which they detail the influence the Israeli lobby has on the US government, foreign policy and aid to Israel. It's a long read, but it's well worth a read. If you're too lazy to read it, the wiki article on the paper can be read here
A part of the way Israel and the supporters gain sympathy is by exploiting the memory of the Holocaust to further Israeli and financial interests. This particular point was analyzed by Norman Finkelstein in his book, "The Holocaust Industry". Both him and Noam Chomsky has come out in criticizing Israel for publicizing the Holocaust not to raise awareness, but to exploit and profit by it. Finkelstein has caught a lot of grief over his doctoral thesis from Princeton, a critique of a book titled "From Time Immemorial", which he exposed as a total and complete fraud. He was denied tenure at De Paul even though students and faculty all supported him. This allows us a glimpse of the power of the Israeli lobby.
Now here's the thing. Obviously the Israeli lobby is going to promote any policies that are beneficial to the interests of Israel, but do the interests of Israel and the US go hand in hand? While it is true that the stakes are much higher for the Israelis and the security of their nation should take precedence above all, what if the security of Israel inversely effects the security of the US? The two nations are not linked inextricably. They do not share a common fate. If they did, there would be no need for Israel to spy on the US.
Here's another thing I don't get. Looking at it from a religious perspective, the Jews rejected the new covenant with Jesus. They still adhere to the Abrahamic covenant. They are heretics. (Plus, they killed Jesus) This, and the status they enjoyed in government, were among the reasons that fueled the Spanish Inquisition. They had to either convert, or die. I don't see the evangelical community clamoring to convert the Jews at all. In fact, I see the evangelical leaders of this country embrace the Jews while hating the Muslims, who accept Jesus as a prophet and beatify Mary. The problem with Islam is the fact that they believe that Mohammed is the final prophet. There's a discrepancy there when compared to Christianity. I get that. But why is the cognitive dissonance of the Jews rejecting the new covenant not addressed at all?
Like I mentioned earlier on this post and elsewhere, you give the Arabs democracy and they elect governments hostile not only to the US, but also hostile to the Christians living in that area. All over Dar al Islam, from Nigeria and Sudan all the way to Pakistan, Christian minorities are persecuted, attacked, killed. The Islamic governments that pop up after the Arab Spring is not helping the matters at all. Newsweek had a great article on the global war on Christians in the Muslim world. Coptic Christians in Egypt and Iraq are getting killed daily. And yet, very little of the Christians in the US seem to care. In fact, they seem to be more concerned with the fate of the Jews in Israel (the people who have rejected Christ). What gives?
So like the title of my post states: Why Israel?
Any insight any of you could provide to some of my questions would be greatly appreciated.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading.
Bonus An article recommended by Norman Finkelstein by Alastaire Crooke, from Asia Times titled "Putting Match to Tinder" about the current situation in the Middle East.
"And yet, very little of the Christians in the US seem to care. " You are kidding, right? Maybe Obama and his administration do not care, but that is not true of Christians in America. There is very little I can do about it. That is one thing I DO expect the federal government to do -- protect people who believe the way most of us do everywhere in the world. Of course, there is only so much the federal governement can do as well, like better analyze whether removing people like Gadhafi is in our best interest. Sometimes it is better to support the evil you know than the evil that will replace them.