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<h2><font size=4><b>Drumbeats of war: Israel’s dangerous
brinkmanship<br><br>
</b></font></h2><h4><b>Horace Campbell<br><br>
2012-03-01, Issue
<a href="http://www.pambazuka.org/en/issue/572">572<br>
</a><a href="http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80368">
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80368</a></b></h4><font size=3>
As the capitalist depression deepens, there are militarists in the United
States who are now openly championing war so that the US government would
embark on another massive investment for missile defense, rather than
discussing reduced military spending. The drumbeat of war is so loud that
it is becoming deafening. Accompanying this drumbeat is the unstated idea
that there are too many non-white people in the world and that a limited
nuclear war can be managed and won. Underlying the call for war is also
the racist fear of a world where whites are in the minority and in such a
war the racists can eradicate millions of non-whites and non-western
people from the planet. The immediate plans for war are now concentrated
in the Persian Gulf, with the escalating propaganda war about the nuclear
capabilities of Iran. However, at the present moment Iran does not
possess Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) so the discussion is
really about war with contingency planning for the escalation beyond
Iran. This is because the strategic analysts know full well that war with
Iran will escalate beyond the borders of Iran. Already Pakistan has
warned that it will come to the defense of Iran if it is
attacked.<br><br>
Decent humans everywhere must pay attention, actively mobilise and raise
their voices against the present mobilisation for warfare. There is a
debate on Ballistic Missile Defense among specialists. This struggle is
part of a larger context where every day there are reports of the
preparations by Israel to strike Iran. Inside the United States, those
sections of the financial-military complex that are gearing up for new
wars are stepping up the military information operations (psychological
warfare to implant fear) against citizens of the United States. In short,
the plans for war can be seen as a major propaganda war against the
citizens of the United States. There is desperation by sections of the
financial oligarchy who are afraid of the November elections and that
Barack Obama may win a second term. In this planning for war the
interests of the militarists merge with the present political leadership
in Israel. <br><br>
Report after report continues to come out that the Israelis will attack
to prevent Iran from developing nuclear capabilities. This is the same
Israeli state that possesses between 200 and 300 nuclear weapons. Israel
is already involved in electronic warfare, cyber war and other forms of
low intensity war against Iran.<br><br>
In our contribution this week we will underscore the point that this is a
very dangerous situation. This is brinkmanship and is designed to
intervene in the politics of the United States to push the society
towards a global war in order to secure the regional military monopoly of
Israel. This military monopoly perpetuates the status of Israeli military
occupation and illegal settlements in the homeland of the Palestinian
people. Next week the Prime Minister of Israel will visit the United
States and through the lobbying organisation, the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Prime Minister will seek an advantage by
manipulating the dangerous situation which can take humanity into nuclear
war. The brinkmanship is so dangerous that even Cold Warriors such as
Zbigniew Brzezinski (former National Security Advisor under President
Jimmy Carter) have suggested that President Obama should make it clear to
Israel that if they attempt to attack Iran's nuclear weapons sites the US
Air Force will stop them. It is not usual to read statements such as
these in the US media,
<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2009/09/zbig-brzezinski-obama-administration-should-tell-israel-us-will-attack-israeli-jets-if-they-try-to-a/">
“Obama Administration Should Tell Israel U.S. Will Attack Israeli Jets if
They Try to Attack Iran”</a>.<br><br>
Brzezinski had appealed to Obama three years ago, long before the
propaganda war reached this precipitous stage. Brzezinski, who considers
himself a strategic thinker, said today that if Israel attacked Iran, the
state of Israel would not survive in its current form. In short, it is
possible that we are entering a period of catastrophic warfare.<br><br>
ISRAEL WILL NOT WARN THE UNITED STATES<br><br>
This week the western news agencies were full of reports that ‘Israeli
officials won't warn the US if they decide to launch a pre-emptive strike
against Iranian nuclear facilities.’ These reports detailed the
emissaries from the Obama administration to Israel and the posture of the
Israeli leadership. According to the
<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57386328/ap-israel-wouldnt-warn-us-about-iran-strike/">
Associated Press</a>,<br><br>
‘Israeli officials said that if they eventually decide a strike is
necessary, they would keep the Americans in the dark to decrease the
likelihood that the US would be held responsible for failing to stop
Israel's potential attack. The US has been working with the Israelis for
months to persuade them that an attack would be only a temporary setback
to Iran's nuclear program. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
defense minister Ehud Barak delivered the message to a series of
top-level US visitors to the country, including the chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, the White House national security adviser and the
director of national intelligence, and top US lawmakers, all trying to
close the trust gap between Israel and the U.S. over how to deal with
Iran's nuclear ambitions. Netanyahu delivered the same message to all the
Americans who have traveled to Israel for talks, the US official
said.’<br><br>
Next week the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu will address
the annual convention of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC), one of the most powerful political forces of the militarists in
the United States. AIPAC describes itself as the most important
organisation affecting the US relationship with Israel. Politicians in
the United States remain in fear of this organisation and their influence
has been documented in the book, ‘The Israeli Lobby’. Barack Obama has
been very careful in his dealings with AIPAC and he will also be
addressing this organ.<br><br>
Netanyahu who has consistently shown complete disrespect for President
Obama will be making his case for military support and will then draw in
those sections of the media that are integrated into the propaganda
efforts for the planned military attack. Last year when Netanyahu visited
the United States he lectured President Obama on what he ‘expected’
President Obama to do. Netanyahu went on to address the joint houses of
Congress and was given standing ovations 29 times in his bellicose
message before the citizens of the United States. Many of the
representatives who were applauding wanted to be sure that the cameras
did not catch them not applauding.<br><br>
Even the most pro-Israeli news outlets in the United States such as
<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/dear-mr-netanyahu-please-dont-speak-to-my-president-that-way/239199/">
Atlantic</a> had to comment on the disrespect, with Jeffrey Goldberg
commenting: ‘Dear Mr. Netanyahu, Please Don't Speak to My President That
Way.’<br><br>
As a politician who is more concerned with re-election that with world
peace, Obama has attempted to handle Netanyahu with delicate skill
despite the disrespect and open racism. Netanyahu was raised and educated
in the United States .His training was always linked to the far right in
Israeli politics, even while he lived in the United States. From the
diplomatic relations between the US and Israel over the question of Iran,
one would leave with the impression that it is the Israelis who are the
financial supporters of the United States and not the other way around.
Obama has bent over backwards to support the state of Israel and in
December 2011, in an
<a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/obama-to-u-s-jews-my-administration-has-done-more-than-any-other-to-support-israel-1.401892?localLinksEnabled=false">
address</a> to the conference of the Union for Reform Judaism, President
Obama said that ‘My administration has done more than any other to
support Israel.’ <br><br>
The entire political establishment in the United States has been
complicit in the illegal occupation and expansionist position of Israel
since 1956. There have been over nine wars since the war over the Suez in
1956 and the US has been suborned to support Israel in these wars.
Israel’s rationale for attacking Iran is to protect its security, against
a state that uses the rhetoric of ‘wiping Israel/Jews’ off the earth. The
reality, however, is that Iran has thousands of Jewish citizens. Israel’s
military and nuclear weapons capabilities are ‘beyond’ Iran’s. The true
reason for attacking Iran is that Iran poses a challenge to Israel’s
current military dominance in the region, not its security in the region.
<br><br>
When the Israelis launched their war against Hezbollah in July 2006, the
limitations of the ‘superiority’ of the Israeli military was exposed. At
the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009, the Israelis launched an
unprecedented war against the people of Gaza. What was distinctive about
the atrocities was the outrage in every part of the world. This outrage
was especially significant in Egypt where the military led by Hosni
Mubarak had been silenced with payments so that the people of Egypt did
not come to the assistance of the Palestinians.<br><br>
The Egyptian revolution has shifted the political balance and even though
the military is in control, this military cannot survive a new war in the
Middle East. This is probably the most decisive strategic shift in the
Middle East and North Africa.<br><br>
FOR HOW LONG CAN OBAMA BE PUSHED AROUND BY THE
NEO-CONSERVATIVES?<br><br>
The Obama administration has been complicit in the support for the
expansionist policies of Israel. In this current economic and financial
crisis a war with Iran will not only be about Iran, it will have global
implications. Humanity is now faced with a clear danger of global war. In
an effort to establish early warning mechanisms with China, the Obama
administration has been working to establish direct lines of
communication between the People’s Liberation Army of China and the
Pentagon. When the Vice President of China Xi Jinping visited the United
States in February he visited the Pentagon. Xi Jinping was seeking to
dampen the anti-China rhetoric in the USA.<br><br>
Over the past four years many in the peace movement have grown tired of
the discussions in the media about a possible attack on Iran. However,
what is different now is the convergence of the military planning of
Israel with the desperate forces of the financial barons. There are also
some economists who believe in military Keynesianism.<br><br>
Obama in an effort to stall entered into the propaganda war against Iran
instead of calling on Israel to cease its expansionist policies and the
building of new Jewish settlements. In efforts to appease the Israelis,
Obama initiated the imposition of harsh sanctions on Iran. However, the
militaristic wing in Israel is not waiting for these sanctions to take
hold. Barack Obama and the top echelons of the US military are against
this war. Army General Martin Dempsey, the Chairperson of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, told CNN that such an Israeli strike would be
‘destabilizing’ and ‘not prudent.’<br><br>
The current serving military are reeling from the massive opposition to
the US occupation of Afghanistan. It is in the midst of this military
debacle where those in the financial military information complex are
pushing for a new war against Iran. These sections of US capitalism want
to ensure that there is no reduction in US military spending and are
linked to media houses that are invested in the outdated military
industrial complex, including the failed strategic defense initiative.
Today Glen Greenwald posted
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/29-3">a detailed
commentary</a> on ‘Gen. McCaffrey Privately Briefs NBC Execs on War with
Iran.’ <br><br>
From the contents of this commentary along with the power point
presentation of General McCaffrey, the reader is exposed to the thinking
of those ex-generals who are predicting a war with Iran in the next 90
days. These discussions of immediate war have also drawn in a wider
debate about the ability of the United States to defend itself against
missiles.<br><br>
REVIVING THE STAR WARS DEBATES IN THE MIDST OF THE CAPITALIST
CRISIS<br><br>
Last week the US television network C-SPAN showed a discussion that was
held on 1 February at the University of California Berkeley on Ballistic
Missile Defense. The most striking position was that of Professor
Theodore A .Postol who was warning that the United States does not have
the capability to defend itself against a missile attack. This debate
caught my attention because Professor Postol, a scientist from M.I.T who
has previously worked for the Naval Operations at the Department of
Defense, was holding his own in his argument on the flawed and dangerous
missile plans of the Pentagon. Behind this discussion was the contingency
war planning for war against the people of Iran. Any serious scholar of
previous wars knows that the planned Israeli attack on Iran will escalate
beyond Iran, so these military experts on ballistic missiles were
contending on the options without stating that they were discussing the
possible consequences of an Israeli attack on Iran.<br><br>
Participants in this discussion argued passionately about US ballistic
missile defenses and the future of US foreign policy. Among the topics
they addressed were the current nature of the nuclear threat, future
deterrence strategies and non-proliferation efforts. When one stripped
away the heat of the arguments it became clear that the experts were
basically discussing the possible outcome of a nuclear war. Earlier
Postol had written in response to a Pentagon report on the state of US
preparedness for defense against Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. In
that argument relating to the Ballistic Missile Defense Review Report, he
had warned that,<br><br>
‘With regard to current missile defense technologies, there are no new
material facts to support any of the claims in the report that suggest
that the United States is now in a position to defend itself from limited
ICBM attacks or that any of the fundamental unsolved problems associated
with high-altitude ballistic missile defenses have been solved.’<br><br>
Despite this warning, there are those sections of the military-industrial
complex who believe that the United States can win a ‘limited’ nuclear
war and that the mythical Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) can be real.
Essentially Postol was spelling out the truth that the billions spent in
the defense industry on the Reagan SDI had been a waste of money. Only
this week we have been reminded by the Wikileaks of the privately run
intelligence firm Stratfor and its connections specialised parts of the
US Government, other countries and military organizations, as well as
private companies like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon.
Stratfor perfectly mirrors the shadow government with military and
financial connections and we are given clear information of how operators
use intelligence information to make money in the financial
markets.<br><br>
The war plans are advanced with the Wall Street speculators in on the
planning so that the futures markets are pushing up the price of
petroleum. Every day in the US media there are commentators who are
wondering why the price of oil is going up, but these commentators are
there to ensure that there is no Congressional investigation into the
banks and oil companies who are in the ‘futures market.’ These
speculators have information on the advanced war plans.<br><br>
The advanced preparation for the media spin on the need for the United
States to ‘guarantee the security of Israel’ is now evident in the
mainstream press. This corporate media condemn Iran’s alleged involvement
in terrorist attacks against Israel around the world, yet are silent on
the low intensity warfare by Israel against Iran, including
assassinations. There is documented information that there are sections
of the Israeli security and intelligence agencies that are involved with
the Jundallah, an anti-regime terrorist organisation operating in
Iran.<br><br>
This military information operation against the citizens of the United
States is, in my view, one component of the elections in the United
States. The conservative Republicans have great difficulty in putting up
a candidate who is credible for the forthcoming presidential elections.
As the crisis in Europe deepens, there is the necessity to transfer more
political power to the one per cent by bailing out financial initiations
that are insolvent. Instead of supporting the prosecution of the
speculators such as those of MF Global and Bank of America, the media is
diverting the energies of the US citizens towards war. War in itself will
provide the cover for more austerity and bailing out the banks. Such a
bailout cannot be tabled at the present moment when the political
initiative is in the hands of the mass of the population who are calling
for an end to the bail out to the banks. It is the majority of citizens
of the United States who will bear the costs of war in terms of higher
prices for food and fuel and jobs. The Occupy Movement has inserted
itself in the political process and is preventing the spin doctors to
take the lead.<br>
In desperation the forces who support the one per cent are seeking ways
to divert the 99 per cent from the depression, and war is as good a
diversion as any. It is here where the strategic planning of the Israeli
conservatives converges with the most conservative capitalists in the
United States. These two social forces share the belief that Obama can be
pushed around and candidates such as Rick Sanatorum is willing and ready
to mobilize the Christian soldiers who want to go to war to defend ’the
holy land.’ Former President Jimmy Carter grasped the essential racism of
this faction of the US political establishment when he said, ‘an
overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward
President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black
man.’<br><br>
WAR CANNOT BE CONTAINED<br><br>
I started out this commentary with reference to the disputes at the
highest levels of the US government over the forthcoming war against Iran
and the requirement to supply Israel with the military, political and
logistical support for a strike against Iran. In this preparation for war
additional resources are being channeled to the United States Central
Command, that section of the US military that is currently trapped in the
midst of a the people of Afghanistan. It is this Central Command which is
now being beefed up for full scale war and the Pentagon has requested the
re-allocation of some $100 million in military spending to speed up war
preparations. While Israel would keep the US in the dark about an attack,
US has also made ‘plans’ and devoted ‘resources and assets’ to react to
an attack and counter attack contingencies The Wall Street Journal, in an
article last Saturday, February 25, that ‘US Bulks up Iran defenses” was
explicit that ‘the extent to which war planners are taking tangible steps
to prepare for a possible conflict with Iran, even as top White House and
defense leaders try to tamp down talk of war and emphasize other
options.’<br><br>
The Wall Street Journal is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who is himself facing
possible prosecution under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) –
legislation designed to stamp out international corruption. Rupert
Murdoch and his extensive media enterprises have been integrated with
psychological warfare fronts such as Bell Pottinger. It is the psychops
planners that are in the forefront of the war planning. While serving
members of the military and National Security establishment are against
the supply of heavy bunker buster bombs to Israel, the mainstream press
is championing the strike on Iran.<br><br>
David Sanger of the New York Times, in
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/sunday-review/syria-iran-and-the-obama-doctrine.html?ref=davidesanger">
an article</a> on ‘Syria, Iran and the Obama doctrine’ promoted war
explicitly when he wrote: ‘Arm the Syrian rebels! And, while we’re at it,
give the Israelis the tools they need bunker-busters, refueling
aircraft so that if they decide to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities,
they’ll get it right the first time.’<br><br>
In this way Sanger made it clear that the call to arm rebels in Syria is
part of the wider war plans of Israel against Iran. It is in the midst of
this massive cry for war where Zbigniew Brzezinski warned the hawks in
the United States that if war comes, the state of Israel in its present
form will cease to exist.<br><br>
BRINKSMANSHIP IS VERY DANGEROUS<br><br>
Benjamin Netanyahu is working against those forces in Israel who want
peace. The president of Israel, Shimon Peres, is against a military
strike against Iran. Members of the intelligence community in Israel are
against this attack. Netanyahu, however, has been pumped up by his
alliances with the most conservative factions in the United States. He is
seeking a political advantage by creating the impression that he is
willing and able to push a highly dangerous situation to the limit rather
than concede. Many analysts have correctly grasped the reality that the
question of the possibility of nuclear war is unwarranted because it is
the Israelis who are in possession of nuclear weapons. <br><br>
I have included the debates on Ballistic Missile Defense because it is
known that once this war breaks out there will be a full scale war beyond
the present electronic warfare, cyber wars, sanctions and low intensity
assassinations. It will not be a one day affair. It will not be confined
to the Persian Gulf and the Straits of Hormuz. Zbigniew Brzezinski, who
has recently completed a book on ‘Strategic Vision: America and the
Crisis of Global Power’ is seeking to stem the wave of militaristic talk.
Brzezinski is calling on the United States to maintain open lines of
communication with China. Meanwhile, Rick Sanatorum said plainly, he is
ready for a war with China. Newt Gingrich, Rick Sanatorium and Mitt
Romney all share the militaristic front of the financiers. It is not by
accident that Sheldon Adelson, chairman of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., and
the fifth wealthiest man in America as recently ranked by Forbes magazine
is one who is willing to spend whatever it takes to put a Republican in
the White House. Adelson joins the Koch brothers who are promoting the
most conservative agenda against humans in the USA.<br><br>
The peace movement cannot leave it up to Obama or up to Brzezinski to
oppose the war against Iran. The Egyptian revolution has shifted the
political calculus and while Brzezinski is looking to the east, the sober
Israelis must be examining if the so called peace treaty with Egypt can
hold when they start this war.<br><br>
We are in a revolutionary moment and it will be more difficult to pay off
a more “democratic Egypt,” to maintain a bogus peace treaty with Israel.
This democratic opening in Egypt offers the peace movement new challenges
and it is up to the forces of peace internationally to bring back the
peace initiatives of Brazil and Turkey to demilitarize the issues of the
potential nuclear capabilities of Iran. At the same time the peace
movement must intensify its efforts to denuclearize the world because
there are politicians and generals who believe that they can reduce the
non-white population in the world by limited nuclear war.<br><br>
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* Horace Campbell is Professor of African American Studies and Political
Science at Syracuse University.<br>
* Please send comments to
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