Gustave > mankind is essentially an irrational system, otherwise the world wouldn't be afflicted by so much misery and plight....
I can't argue with that. Further, "reason" is different in different people's minds. However, in order to get things done invariably does require some common cause between the different parties as, in the present context, between the US right-wingers and the Zionists. This usually necessitates respect or consideration for the other party's views -- but seemingly not when it comes to Israel. It would appear Israel has no regard for anyone or anything -- except itself. Consider Iraq
newyorker.com
>>In a series of interviews in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States, officials told me that by the end of last year Israel had concluded that the Bush Administration would not be able to bring stability or democracy to Iraq, and that Israel needed other options. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government decided, I was told, to minimize the damage that the war was causing to Israel’s strategic position by expanding its long-standing relationship with Iraq’s Kurds and establishing a significant presence on the ground in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. Several officials depicted Sharon’s decision, which involves a heavy financial commitment, as a potentially reckless move that could create even more chaos and violence as the insurgency in Iraq continues to grow.
Israeli intelligence and military operatives are now quietly at work in Kurdistan, providing training for Kurdish commando units and, most important in Israel’s view, running covert operations inside Kurdish areas of Iran and Syria. Israel feels particularly threatened by Iran, whose position in the region has been strengthened by the war. The Israeli operatives include members of the Mossad, Israel’s clandestine foreign-intelligence service, who work undercover in Kurdistan as businessmen and, in some cases, do not carry Israeli passports.
a senior C.I.A. official acknowledged in an interview last week that the Israelis were indeed operating in Kurdistan. He told me that the Israelis felt that they had little choice: “They think they have to be there.” Asked whether the Israelis had sought approval from Washington, the official laughed and said, “Do you know anybody who can tell the Israelis what to do? They’re always going to do what is in their best interest.” The C.I.A. official added that the Israeli presence was widely known in the American intelligence community.
The Israeli decision to seek a bigger foothold in Kurdistan—characterized by the former Israeli intelligence officer as “Plan B”—has also raised tensions between Israel and Turkey. It has provoked bitter statements from Turkish politicians and, in a major regional shift, a new alliance among Iran, Syria, and Turkey, all of which have significant Kurdish minorities. In early June, Intel Brief, a privately circulated intelligence newsletter produced by Vincent Cannistraro, a retired C.I.A. counterterrorism chief, and Philip Giraldi, who served as the C.I.A.’s deputy chief of base in Istanbul in the late nineteen-eighties, said:
Turkish sources confidentially report that the Turks are increasingly concerned by the expanding Israeli presence in Kurdistan and alleged encouragement of Kurdish ambitions to create an independent state. . . . The Turks note that the large Israeli intelligence operations in Northern Iraq incorporate anti-Syrian and anti-Iranian activity, including support to Iranian and Syrian Kurds who are in opposition to their respective governments.<<
In other words, Israel, by arming the Kurds and thereby promoting internal and external conflict in Iraq, is prepared to undermine the alleged attempts of its "friend", the US, to create a unified and democratic Iraq. Something is wrong somewhere.
1. Does the US tell Israel to stop making trouble with the Kurds or does the arming of the Kurds give the lie to whole the American story about unity and democracy in Iraq?
2. It is clear that the arming of the Kurds by Israel will unify Turkey, Syria and Iran in common cause against the potential creation of a new "Kurdistan". Is this really what the US, or even the neocons, want? Or even Israel, itself?!
3. And there is no doubt that Israeli and Turkish relations are hardening considerably. So, is Israel prepared to pay the price and fall out with possibly its only "friend" in the region, Turkey? In fact, if Israel's clandestine arming of the Kurds does show that Israel is not prepared to consider the interests of its friends, including the US, and is even prepared to undermine them, then why does the US even bother with the needs of Israel? The bottom line is surely -- what kind of relationship actually does exist between Israel and the US? Because it certainly is a very expensive one for the US.
nationalreview.com
Note the title:
>>The End of the Affair? Israel and Turkey head for divorce.<<
And who says Israel's blatant "infidelity" can't also be the cause of a divorce from the US right-wingers?! |
