{"id":1335,"date":"2003-02-19T18:53:00","date_gmt":"2003-02-19T22:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.meehawl.com\/Blogfiles-wp\/?p=1335"},"modified":"2003-02-19T18:53:00","modified_gmt":"2003-02-19T22:53:00","slug":"likudniks-israel-and-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meehawl.com\/Blogfiles\/2003\/02\/19\/18\/53\/likudniks-israel-and-iraq\/","title":{"rendered":"Likudniks, Israel, and Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s very tempting for zealots to link inextricably a US conquest of Iraq with Israel’s territorial ambitions in the region, and more dangerously to continue to push forward aggressive military adventures to realise these ambitions. I’ve mentioned this before<\/a>, but Time’s Joe Klein puts it much better<\/a> than I ever could:
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the Bush Administration hasn’t done very much to bring about peace in the Middle East; in fact, it has allowed a bad situation to grow worse … a stronger Israel is very much embedded in the rationale for war with Iraq. It is a part of the argument that dare not speak its name, a fantasy quietly cherished by the neo-conservative faction in the Bush Administration and by many leaders of the American Jewish community.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Of course, any non-positive analysis of Israel’s military hegemony in the region leaves one open to accusations by demagogues of anti-Semitism<\/a>, the prevalence and vehemence of which seems to me to be the closest incarnation of heretic denunciation in our modern society. Again, I must leave it to others to defend me<\/a>:
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The lack of public discussion about the role of Israel in the thinking of “President Bush” is easier to understand, but weird nevertheless. It is the proverbial elephant in the room: Everybody sees it, no one mentions it. The reason is obvious and admirable: Neither supporters nor opponents of a war against Iraq wish to evoke the classic anti-Semitic image of the king’s Jewish advisers whispering poison into his ear and betraying the country to foreign interests.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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And there’s more<\/a>:
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The Clinton administration was close to Israel’s moderate Labour Party; Bush’s camp is totally aligned with Israel’s aggressive far right and mirrors its views and policies to a remarkable, unprecedented degree … Many Americans simply don’t understand their leadership is about to plunge the nation into an open-ended, dangerous colonial war. All the propaganda about democracy, human rights and regional stability is the same kind of double-talk used by the 19th century British and French imperialists who claimed they were grabbing Africa and Asia to bring the benefits of Christian civilization to the heathens.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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It’s very tempting for zealots to link inextricably a US conquest of Iraq with Israel’s territorial ambitions in the region, and more dangerously to continue to push forward aggressive military adventures to realise these...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t