With the recommended diary detailing President Bush's plan to ramp up covert actions against Iran, I think it is important to take a look at one of the driving forces behind the Bush administration's war-driven foreign policy in the Middle East: Israel. Talking about Israel is taboo in U.S. politics, even on a progressive blog like Daily Kos. However, if we want to understand and address America's tattered public image around the globe we must understand how supporting Israel with arms and tax dollars hurts the United States at home and abroad. Let's take a look at several ways in which U.S.-Israeli relations are hurting this country.
1) Unconditional support for Israel damages opinion of America in the eyes of Arabs
Like it or not, the fact that the United States is willing to give billions of dollars a year in foreign aid to Israel regardless of Israel's actions means that every Israeli policy is seen as an American policy. And if citizens of other Middle Eastern countries feel that Israeli foreign policy is war-driven, they will, by extension, think that the United States is waging war on their countries. There is no excuse for terrorism, but one sure way to reduce attacks is to stop giving people reasons to be angry and side with extremists.
This article examines why so many Arabs are upset with the U.S. And it's not because many Americans live a different lifestyle than many Middle Easterners do:
In his in-depth study of the increasing anti-US sentiments the world over, [University of California professor] Mark Levin could not find any evidence to support the theory of the hatred of the US democracy or prosperity. On the other hand he found that most of the people in the world are angry at the American foreign policies.
Levin observed that most of the Muslims believe that their sufferings are caused by the imposition of unfair US policies. The US has been acting as the unchallenged superpower in the world dictating terms to the rest of the world, particularly hitting hard at the poor people in Asia and Africa. The US foreign policies are concerned only with the protection of its interests. If the US behaved in a more responsible and fair manner in dealing with international and regional issues it could easily have won the confidence and friendship of the rest of the world including the Muslims. Unfortunately what happened was just the opposite.
This is old news to most progressives. But as we seek to elect a new administration with a fresh outlook on foreign policy, we must keep this information in mind.
2) The Israel lobby helped to push the Iraq War and is lobbying for war with Iran
Far too few Americans understand the influence that AIPAC has on the United States' own foreign policy. AIPAC, a powerful pro-Israel lobby, helped to push the Bush administration's Iraq War policy. Last September, Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) was rebuked by some Democratic colleagues for saying that AIPAC had pushed the Iraq War from the beginning. However, he was correct in his assertion:
At an AIPAC session on Sunday night, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom proclaimed in a speech praising Secretary of State Colin L. Powell: "We have followed with great admiration your efforts to mobilize the international community to disarm Iraq and bring democracy and peace to the region, to the Middle East and to the rest of the world. Just imagine, Mr. Secretary, how much easier it would have been if Israel had been a member of the Security Council."
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AIPAC also promoted Israel's involvement in the Iraq war, though it has not been acknowledged by the administration. Citing the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, AIPAC reported on its Web site that the U.S. Army is using Israeli-made Hunter and Pioneer drones, computer systems and Popeye air-to-surface missiles. AIPAC and Israeli officials at the conference said that while such weapons are being used in the Iraq war, they were not provided by Israel specifically for it.
Israel was glad to have the U.S. invade Iraq, promoting the war behind the scenes so as not to give the appearance that they were egging the U.S. on. And now AIPAC wants the U.S. to strike Iran. This, from Counterpunch:
Now, as Israeli calls for a U.S. attack on Iran become more shrill by the day, AIPAC recognizes that the American people profoundly distrust Vice President Cheney and the nest of neocon liars he has sheltered. The Bush-Cheney war machine has been pretty well exposed, and that must worry the warmongers within the group. Israeli Defense Force chief artillery officer Gen. Oded Tira has griped that "President Bush lacks the political power to attack Iran," adding that since "an American strike in Iran is essential for [Israel's] existence, we must help him pave the way by lobbying the Democratic Party (which is conducting itself foolishly) and US newspaper editors. We need to do this in order to turn the Iran issue to a bipartisan one and unrelated to the Iraq failure." Tira urges the Lobby to turn to "potential presidential candidates. . . so that they support immediate action by Bush against Iran," while Uri Lubrani, senior advisor to Defense Minister Amir Peretz, tells the Jewish Agency's Board of Governors that the US "does not understand the threat and has not done enough," and therefore "must be shaken awake."
AIPAC's influence should not be underestimated. Democrats and Republicans alike speak at the lobby's conferences and fear retribution should they not support the lobby. In order to avoid another war in the Middle East, we must work to lessen the influence of AIPAC on U.S. foreign policy.
3) Foreign aid to Israel is costly to taxpayers.
At a time when we must spend crucial taxpayer dollars on domestic investments like healthcare and green energy to stem global warming, the U.S. sends Israel billions of dollars annually, the majority of which goes to the Israeli military. One economist suggested that between 1973 and 2002 Israel has cost U.S. taxpayers $1.6 trillion:
Since 1973, Israel has cost the United States about $1.6 trillion. If divided by today's population, that is more than $5,700 per person.
This is an estimate by Thomas Stauffer, a consulting economist in Washington. For decades, his analyses of the Middle East scene have made him a frequent thorn in the side of the Israel lobby.
I don't know about you, but I want my hard-earned dollars to be used for national healthcare, clean energy, infrastructure, etc. and not on tanks for the Israeli Defense Force.
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These are just a few reasons why unconditional U.S. support for Israel damages American interests. Why can't we have an open discussion about this with accusations of anti-Semitism? I think it is offensive to Jewish people to associate the actions of Israel and AIPAC with Judaism. My Jewish friends are some of the most progressive people I know and are almost universal in their condemnation of the Iraq War and U.S. policy in the Middle East. This diary is not intended to deflect blame for U.S. war policies from the Bush administrations. Instead, it is an attempt to acknowlege openly what few will - that Israel is putting the U.S. in a terrible position financially, publicly, and security-wise.
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UPDATE: Just wanted to say thanks to those who have contributed to civil discussion in the comments. I've learned some interesting things in the comments. Unfortunately, not all of the comments have been respectful, but the vast majority of them have been, proving that even though this is a sensitive subject we can, as Barack Obama says, "disagree without being disagreeable".