by Robert Jensen and Rahul Mahajan
For all the talk of a "special relationship" between the United States and
Israel, it's clear that for American policymakers there's nothing
particularly special about their support for Israel or rejection of
Palestinian rights.
For all the talk in Washington about peace in the Middle East, it's clear
that American policymakers are not much concerned about peace.
Instead, the primary aim of U.S. policy in the Middle East is U.S.
dominance over the region and its oil resources, through support for
regimes that play our game and through our ever-increasing military presence.
To the degree that U.S. policymakers believe backing Israeli conquest and
aggression in Palestine advances U.S. long-term business interests, support
for Israel continues. To the degree that peace helps solidify U.S. control,
peace is acceptable.
But U.S. policy is driven neither by unquestioned support for Israel nor
concern for people's suffering in conflicts. Any hope for real peace
requires getting past this rhetoric to the reality of U.S. policy.
That reality is clear: The central principle of every U.S. administration
since the end of World War II has been that the resources of the region do
not truly belong to the people of the region, but instead exist for the
benefit of Americans.
It is not simply a question of who owns the oil, but who controls the flow
of oil and oil profits. Even if the United States were energy
self-sufficient, U.S. elites would seek to dominate the Middle East for the
leverage it brings in world affairs, especially over the economies of our
primary competitors (Europe and Japan), which are more heavily dependent on
Middle Eastern oil.
One component of this policy is support for the oil-rich countries, such as
Saudi Arabia. Saudi rulers take their cut of the profits, channeling what
remains into investments in the West and the purchase of U.S. weapons. In
exchange, Saudi Arabia -- a monarchy that could not exist independently --
gets U.S. protection.
In this system, Israel is a key pillar of U.S. strategy. Especially after
its impressive military victory over the Arab states in 1967, Israel was a
hammer that was used to smash Arab nationalism, which could have upset the
system of weak, fragmented client regimes that the United States favors.
Israel serves as a local cop on the beat, in the terminology of the Nixon
Doctrine, and an integral part of the U.S. military-intelligence complex in
that part of the world. These roles became especially important after the
Iranian revolution in 1979, when the U.S. lost its other main base in the
region.
Israel also serves as a convenient foil for the United States. Even though
the United States has exercised tremendous, repressive control over the
region, until recently the brunt of Arab anger was always borne by Israel,
with the United States representing itself to the Arabs as a friend. The
U.S.-backed Arab regimes use this foil as well, diverting the anger of the
so-called "Arab street" away from those states' corruption and despotism,
to Israel.
This analysis is often rebuffed by pointing to the frequent tensions
between the United States and countries in the region, including allies.
How is it that these nations are our clients when they seem so unruly?
This simply reflects the complexity of maintaining control in such a
volatile region. It is common practice for empires to set up client regimes
in a region and then play them off each other, which not surprisingly
produces tension, especially when the governments are not representative of
their people. That's what U.S. diplomatic and military officials are paid
to do -- manage the tensions, always keeping an eye on the ultimate goal.
U.S. control -- not peace -">
U.S. leaders don't mind peace, so long as it is within a system that
doesn't threaten U.S. control. Yes, a Middle East in a constant state of
tension -- either engaged in war or on the verge of war -- has been
dangerous. But that's a price the United States has been willing to pay.
These points are crucial to answering the claim that U.S. leaders simply do
Israel's bidding. Of course there are well-organized and well-funded groups
in the United States lobbying very effectively for Israel. And of course
U.S. politicians feel pressure from vocal constituents who support Israel.
But those domestic political realities alone do not drive U.S. financial
and diplomatic support that allows Israel to continue to defy international
law in its 35-year military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has skillfully used the "war on terrorism"
banner to expand further the level of violence against Palestinians that
the United States will accept, and the expressions of reflexive support for
Israel in Congress have never been stronger.
But in the end, the U.S. policymakers shape foreign policy to benefit U.S.
elite economic interests, not those of another country.
The inevitable conclusion to draw from this is that United States cannot be
a positive force in the Middle East without a fundamental shift in goals:
The United States must replace its quest for control with a commitment to
peace AND justice, under international law.
Never has it been more crucial that Americans understand this. While Israel
steps up the violence in Palestine, the Bush administration plots a war on
Iraq. U.S. officials tell us Iraq presents a grave threat to the world,
though other nations (including Kuwait) don't feel threatened and all the
world (save Israel and the always-loyal Tony Blair) rejects the U.S. plans.
It's not that other countries support Saddam Hussein's brutal regime, but
that they see that a war on Iraq will deepen U.S. control over the region
at the expense of the Iraqi people. As U.S. officials talk about bringing
democracy and freedom to Iraq, they search for an Iraqi general who can be
trusted to follow U.S. orders if put in charge. All this after more than a
decade of economic sanctions -- demanded by the United States, largely to
break Iraqi control of its own oil -- that have killed a half-million Iraqi
children (according to a comprehensive UNICEF study).
The more the United States overplays its hand in the Middle East, the more
the rest of the world sees clearly U.S. intentions. The question is, can we
the American people see the same, and demand of our government a policy
geared toward justice not domination.
Robert Jensen is a professor of journalism at the University of Texas
and
author of "Writing Dissent: Taking Radical Analysis from the Margins to
the Mainstream"
/
His pamphlet "Citizens of the Empire: Thoughts on Patriotism, Dissent,
and
Hope" can be downloaded for free at
http://www.nowarcollective.com/citizensoftheempire.pdf
Rahul
Mahajan is a doctoral candidate
in physics. Both are members of the coordinating committee of the
National Network to End the War Against Iraq.
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