- As the following article points out, the US attack on
Iraq fits into a Zionist grand strategy of weakening Arab neighbors, which
was conceived long before the independence of Israel in 1948. To me this
appears like a very logical foreign policy for the Jewish state to hold,
though it doesn't help the US to advance this goal.
-
- The neocon aim for attacking Iraq is now revealed quite
openly in the major media--that Bush neocons were targeting Iraq for an
attack prior to September 11 and that the terrorist attacks provided the
pretext to implement their plans. What is still taboo is the neocon connection
with Israel. But the neocons have been closely tied to the Israeli right.
The original flagship of the neoconservative movement was _Commentary Magazine_,
sponsored by the American Jewish Committee, which has as its stated purpose
the protection of Jews and Israel. Neocons Richard Perle, Douglas Feith,
and David Wurmser even advised then Prime Minister Netanyahu to attack
Iraq in 1996 in their "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing
the Realm" policy paper. [http://www.israeleconomy.org/strat1.htm]
-
- In Israel, a military attack on Iraq had been discussed
by Oded Yinon in a 1982 policy paper entitled, "A Strategy for Israel
in the 1980s," which proposed a plan for the destabilization and fragmentation
of Israel's Middle East enemies. [http://www.theunjustmedia.com/the%20zionist_plan_for_the_middle_east.htm]
-
- As the following article illustrates, the idea of weakening
and dissolving Israel's Middle East neighbors was not just a Likudnik idea
but has been a central Zionist goal from a much earlier period, being promoted
by David Ben Gurion himself. "It is against this backdrop that Israel
has supported secessionist movements in Sudan, Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon
and any secessionist movements in the Arab world which Israel considers
an enemy. Yet the concern for Iraq and its attempts to weaken or prevent
it from developing its strengths has always been a central Zionist objective.
At times, Israel succeeded in gaining a foothold in Iraq by forging secret
yet strong relationships with leaders from the Kurdish movement."
-
- Zionist support for the Kurdish effort to weaken Iraq
actually began in the 1930s, before the state of Israel existed, and blossomed
in the 1950s and 1960s. "By the end of the 1950s and the early 1960s,
Israel became the primary source of arms and military training for the
Kurds in their fight against the Iraqi central government. While full details
have yet to be revealed, thousands of Mossad agents and Israeli military
personnel were located throughout northern Iraq under different covers
(military advisors, agricultural experts, trainers, and doctors); Israeli
support for the Kurds peaked during the second Gulf War after the Kurdish
takeover of strategically important and oil rich Kirkuk. The secessionist
movement, however, quickly collapsed after heavy military blows from the
Iraqi army before the United States imposed changes that ended control
of the centralised government and established an area of Kurdish sovereignty."
-
- Israel's goal has been not simply to weaken external
enemies but to weaken the position of the Palestinians-the internal demographic
threat that poses the greatest danger to the Jewish supremacist state.
The reason for this is that the Arab states provide spiritual and material
aid to the Palestinian cause. Without outside aid the Palestinians would
give up hope. The author writes: "Sequential wars with the Arab world
have given Israel opportunities to exhaust the Arab world, as well as tipping
the demographic and political situation against Palestinians. Even regional
wars which Israel has not participated in have benefited Israel and weakened
the Palestinian national movement The first and second Gulf War are a few
examples." Of course, some of Israel's wars have involved the expulsion
of Palestinians and the occupation of Palestinian lands. Even the US war
on Iraq in 1991 had this effect, although Israel was not involved. "Finally,
the second Gulf War of 1991 resulted in the expulsion of the Palestinian
community from Kuwait, which formed one of the primary arteries of Palestinian
income and power in the occupied territories."
-
- With Israel grand strategy in mind, it is apparent that
the current war on Iraq has already significantly weakened Israel's external
enemies as well as the Palestinians, even if the US is unable to establish
a puppet regime in Iraq.
-
- Israel - The Ultimate Winner
- Al-Ahram Weekly Online
April 17-23, 2004
Issue No. 634
-
- Saleh Abdel-Jawwad* examines, why Israel wanted the war
against Iraq
-
- An important question which continues to surface in the
war against Iraq relates to Israel and the effort by the Zionist lobby
to push the war option on the American administration as well as the American
public. In other words, what are the goals that Israel seeks to achieve
from the war in Iraq and how will it impact the Palestinian file?
-
- First, Israel regards any strike against the Arabs, and
particularly a chief enemy like Iraq, a major blow to the Arab order as
well as weakening the position of the Palestinians. After the Camp David
Accords in 1979, Egypt operationally removed itself (and continued to do
so until present) from the 'Arab/Israeli' conflict, while intertwining
its interests with the United States. Since then Israel has shifted its
attention to Iraq, given its status as the sole remaining Arab country
to have a powerful mix of resources unavailable to other Arab regimes:
petrol, financial assets, plentiful water supplies, significant fertile
soil, a sufficiently large population, a clear nationalist political agenda,
and military, industrial and scientific infrastructure.
-
- Second, war against Iraq will likely lead to dissolution
of the country, even if this is not an immediate American plan. Such dissolution
would be in accordance with Israel's vision of the region, and would greatly
enhance Israel's power. This regional vision is based on a 19th and 20th
century orientalist perspective of the Middle East. According to this view
the region is seen as a mosaic composed of many ethnic groups, cultures
and nationalities. Furthermore, Iraqi residents are also divided along
Sunni, Shi'ite, Kurd, and Christian lines. Likewise there are powerful
regional, denominational, and tribal allegiances concentrated around economic
and politically important cities such as Baghdad, Tikrit, Basra, and Mosul.
A mosaic perspective of Iraq would reject Arab national ideology and the
relationship of Palestine to the Arabs. It would also legitimise Zionism,
based on the idea of Jewish nationalism and power for the weak.
-
- Abba Eban succinctly described Israeli Zionist ideology
in this respect, in his collection of writings entitled The Voice of Israel.
Eban contests the assumption that the Middle East represents a cultural
unit, and that it is incumbent upon Israel to integrate within this unit.
Instead he 'clarifies' that the Arabs always lived disparately and that
the short periods of unity only took place under the power of the sword.
He continues by describing how political divisions were not introduced
by Western colonialism, and stresses that the cultural and traditional
ties which unite Arab countries are insufficient to form the base upon
which political unity can be achieved.
-
- For this reason, successive Israeli governments have
adopted policies based on the principle of supporting non-Arab ethnic minorities
such as the Kurds in Iraq or the Maronites in Lebanon. Literature on the
Zionist movement -- particularly those published at the end of the 1930s
and the beginning of the Arabisation of the Palestinian question -- indicate
that the Zionist leaders in general, and yeshiva leaders in particular,
placed their hopes and concerns on establishing relationships with every
minority within the Arab world and neighbouring non-Arab countries.
-
- Since the end of the 1930s, Ben Gurion articulated some
principles which would become indisputable Zionist tenets:
-
- 1.The Arabs are the primary enemy of the Zionist movement.
To confront this chief enemy, it is necessary for Zionism to search for
allies in the East to stand with its allies in the West. These are needed
to act as a counter force and support the power of the Zionist project
when faced with this (primary) confrontation. At the end of the day it
is a 'bloody struggle between us and them'. Therefore, any group or sect
which opposes Arab nationalism -- "the primary enemy of the Jewish
people"-- or is prepared to fight against it, is an ally which helps
Zionism implement its settlement and state-driven policies.
-
- 2.The Jewish people, who have been subjected to the terrorism
and oppression of various governments, and particularly those who lived
in Arab countries, perceive all minorities and groups "oppressed"
by the Arabs or Muslims as allies and partners. Thus the need to free oneself
from this oppression is felt and in common to both.
-
- The two principles above form the basis of what is known
as the 'Theory of Allying the Periphery.'
-
- 3.After the establishment of the state of Israel, Ben
Gurion hoped to develop this theory further and create a ring of adversaries
around the Arab countries. He focused his on attention on building strategic
relationships with Turkey, Iran and Ethiopia (Encirclement Theory). He
also aimed to expand the links of this encirclement against the Arab world
by expanding Israel's relationships with other Asian and African countries.
The most recent phase of this policy focuses on India -- largely as a result
of Pakistan's possession of nuclear weapons, the emergence of Hindu revisionism
in India, and the desire to penetrate India's enormous market.
-
- Ben Gurion's ideas (the Theory of allying the periphery
and the Theory of encirclement) which were formulated with other Zionist
leaders, have provided the basis for interacting with allies in regards
to the Arab world.
-
- It is against this backdrop that Israel has supported
secessionist movements in Sudan, Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon and any secessionist
movements in the Arab world which Israel considers an enemy. Yet the concern
for Iraq and its attempts to weaken or prevent it from developing its strengths
has always been a central Zionist objective. At times, Israel succeeded
in gaining a foothold in Iraq by forging secret yet strong relationships
with leaders from the Kurdish movement. In sharp contrast it failed to
gain allies amongst the Coptic community in Egypt primarily because of
the historical continuity of the Egyptian state.
-
- Communications with the Kurds began at the end of the
1930s. The responsibility of establishing contacts with the Kurds fell
to the infamous Zionist intelligence operative Rubin Shiluah -- one of
the important planners and thinkers of the strategy of "allying the
periphery".
-
- Shiluah, who at the time was living as a spy in Iraq
-- under the guise of studying at a Jewish school in Baghdad -- would take
trips to the mountainous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. The relationships
he formed there towards the end of the 1940s were primarily with Kurds
who were willing to help Iraqi Jews reach Palestine through Turkey.
-
- By the end of the 1950s and the early 1960s, Israel became
the primary source of arms and military training for the Kurds in their
fight against the Iraqi central government. While full details have yet
to be revealed, thousands of Mossad agents and Israeli military personnel
were located throughout northern Iraq under different covers (military
advisors, agricultural experts, trainers, and doctors); Israeli support
for the Kurds peaked during the second Gulf War after the Kurdish takeover
of strategically important and oil rich Kirkuk. The secessionist movement,
however, quickly collapsed after heavy military blows from the Iraqi army
before the United States imposed changes that ended control of the centralised
government and established an area of Kurdish sovereignty.
-
- Similarly, Israel supported the Shah of Iran in its struggle
against Baghdad. The beginning of Israel's relationship with the Shah was
formed when the Mossad, acting in accord with British (MI6) and American
(CIA) intelligence, worked to bring about the collapse of the democratically
elected Iranian leader Mossadeq in 1953. Their role remains a secret to
this day. The relationship forged with the Shah enabled Iran to be the
primary importer of Israeli products until the rise of Khomeni. Israel
also played a role in training the SAVAK, the infamous and brutal intelligence
service which protected the Shah.
-
- Likewise, Israel has worked closely to monitor Iraq,
and has done everything in its power to prevent it from developing nuclear
capabilities. In this context, Israel destroyed the Iraqi reactor during
its assembly in France in 1977. It also assassinated scientists who worked
in the Iraqi nuclear programme -- most notably the Egyptian scientist Yehya
El-Mashd who was assassinated in Paris. They also assassinated the brainchild
of the Super Canon in Brussels, and destroyed the Usaris Iraqi nuclear
reactor in 1981. At the same time Israel provided arms to Iran during the
first Gulf War.
-
- Israeli enmity towards Iraq precedes the Saddam Hussein
regime -- originating after Iraq participated in the 1948 War. At the time,
Iraq was the sole country participating in the war which refused to participate
in the negotiations leading up to the Rhodes Armistice agreement in 1949.
Likewise, Iraq sent reinforcements to the Jordanian front in 1967. In addition,
Iraq continues to refuse to acknowledge UN Resolution 242 and was actively
engaged in the defense of Damascus in 1973.
-
- Third, war as an end in and of itself, is an ever- present
Israeli objective. Sequential wars with the Arab world have given Israel
opportunities to exhaust the Arab world, as well as tipping the demographic
and political situation against Palestinians. Even regional wars which
Israel has not participated in have benefited Israel and weakened the Palestinian
national movement The first and second Gulf War are a few examples.
-
- The War of 1948 resulted in the expulsion of 800,000
Palestinians, representing 87 per cent of the population to come under
Zionist control. The War of 1956, according to declassified Israeli documents,
relating to the Kufr Qasem Massacre, sought to facilitate a new wave of
expulsions and to bring about the occupation of the West Bank. The expulsion
of 400,000 Palestinians during the 1967 War, and the subsequent occupation
of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, further facilitated Israel's ambitions
as a regional powerhouse. The Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 also
resulted in dangerous demographic changes for Palestinian refugees. Of
the 450,000 Palestinians living in Lebanon in 1982, no more than 250,000
remain today. (Had the war not taken place, the number of Palestinians
in Lebanon would have reached at least 650,000). Not to mention the social,
morale and political subjugation the Palestinians in Lebanon faced as a
result of that war.
-
- The first Gulf War between Iraq and Iran also disempowered
the Palestinian cause: the Arab world was split into two camps, Arab resources
were squandered, oil income was depleted, and Arab attention was taken
away from the Palestinian question. This all negatively impacted the Palestinian
position.
-
- Finally, the second Gulf War of 1991 resulted in the
expulsion of the Palestinian community from Kuwait, which formed one of
the primary arteries of Palestinian income and power in the occupied territories.
In my opinion, Yitshak Shamir sought, through the implementation of the
1990 Massacre, to exploit these events by creating a dynamic that would
result in the expulsion of West Bank residents. The massacre took place
within the Haram Al-Sharif compound three months before the outbreak of
the 1991 Gulf War. Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian demonstrators,
killing twenty. Yet at the time, the American administration which hoped
to preserve the Arab alliance in the war against Iraq, was one of the main
reasons which prevented Shamir from realising his plans.
-
- * The writer is a professor at Beir Zeit University.
-
- http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/print/2003/634/op2.htm
-
- Also, see the 'War Conceived in Israel' article which
is linked under the map of 'greater Israel' after scrolling down to it
on the left at http://www.nowarforisrael.com
-
- NO US/UK SOLDIERS SHOULD HAVE TO DIE IN IRAQ FOR ISRAEL
TO GET OIL:
-
- http://www.nogw.com/warforisrael.html
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