America and the Middle East

The masochism tango

President Barack Obama would like to avoid entanglement in the Middle East. He will not get his wish

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Readers' comments



L6QjhvJGVk in reply to Strait_Forward

Iran has signed the NPT. Israel has not - and it already has over 400 nuclear warheads with 3 types of delivery mechanisms. UN nuclear inspectors have never been allowed to visit Israel's nuclear facilities. Btw, Iran has a spotless record - it has never attached any country for well over 6 centuries!!! Nuclear unipolairty is a very unstable situation in terms of modern deterrence theory. Bipolarity or multipolarity is a much more stable paradigm. The super-powers need to join together and make the Middle East into a nuclear-free zone. Failing which, it actually serves USA's foreign policy interests if Iran (and Turkey) develop nuclear weapons.

L6QjhvJGVk in reply to Isaschar

"Israel must be unconquerable" - your comment. Interesting - I presume that is why Count Bernadotte was murdered by Israel. On 20 May 1948, Folke Bernadotte was appointed "United Nations Mediator in Palestine", in accordance with UN-resolution 186 of 14 May 1948. He finalized his proposals on September 16, 1948:


The next day he was assassinated by "members of the Jewish nationalist Zionist group Lehi (commonly known as the Stern Gang or Stern Group)". Many of the people who were involved in his murder were members of the Israeli government later. "A three man 'center' of this extreme Jewish group had approved the killing: Yitzhak Yezernitsky (the future Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Shamir), Nathan Friedmann (also called Natan Yellin-Mor) and Yisrael Eldad (also known as Scheib). A fourth leader, Emmanuel Strassberg (Hanegbi) was also suspected by the Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion of being part of the group that had decided on the assassination. The assassination was planned by the Lehi operations chief in Jerusalem, Yehoshua Zettler. A four-man team ambushed Bernadotte's motorcade in Jerusalem's Katamon neighborhood. Two of them, Yitzhak Ben Moshe (Markovitz) and Avraham Steinberg, shot at the tires of the UN vehicles. A third, Yehoshua Cohen, opened the door of Bernadotte's car and shot him at close range."

New York Times wrote that Shamir was one of the murderers: "One of those spirits, she says, signed his death warrant. He was part of a troika that led Lehi after its guiding force, Avraham Stern, was killed by the British in 1942. His name was Yitzhak Yezernitsky, a short bulldog of an immigrant from the Russian-Polish border. Four decades later, he became Israel's Prime Minister under the name Yitzhak Shamir."

"It is tempting to note that right after the Bernadotte killing, the Israeli Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, outlawed Lehi as "a gang of rogues, cowards and low schemers," and ordered that scores of its people be rounded up. Within five months, he had declared an amnesty and released them all. A few years later, Ben-Gurion moved to a kibbutz in the Negev. One of his closest friends there was a much younger man named Yehoshua Cohen."

It is strange that a country whose political leaders are assassins talks about international law. Murder and assassination have been routinely practiced by Israel from the pre-Israel period till now. It is obviously a perverse kind of Stockholm syndrome - i.e., the Jews use identical tactics like Nazi Germany used against the Jews. I presume that this may be the main reason why historically the Jews got kicked out of every single country on the planet!!!

L6QjhvJGVk in reply to Isaschar

"What about the Hebron Ethnic cleansing of 1929?" - your comment. What about this in history: Hebron has had a very violent history. Originally it was a peaceful town belonging to the Canaanites, until Joshua put an end of their boring life - as stated below:

"Joshua proceeds to utterly destroy the kingdoms of Lachish, Makkedah, the Gibeonites, the Libnahites, the Eglonites, the Hebronites and the Debirites. The five main kings were captured and Joshua had his men place their "feet" (genitals?) on the necks of these kings. Afterwards he killed the kings and hung their bodies in trees for all to see. The fact that his men putting their "feet" on the necks of the kings hadn't already killed them strengthens the theory that it was their genitals which the Israelites placed on the necks of the kings as an insult. The kings of the other cities were killed and laid on the ruins of their cities just like the king of Jericho. The Bible sums up all the horrifying bloodshed by saying, "So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded." - Joshua 10:27-40
When the remaining kings heard of the slaughter which Israel was performing across their land, they banded together to try to stop the horror. God kept his word and allowed Joshua to utterly destroy all of them as well. - Joshua 11:1-14
When the last remaining tribe tried to escape by running away into the mountains, Joshua hunted them down and kill them all. - Joshua 11:21
Of all the cities which God's chosen people came upon, only one of them was able to escape utter annihilation and that was because they pretended like they weren't from that area. These people acted like travelers who also worshipped the Israelite God and they told Joshua that they had come from a far away land to join with the Israelites. In that way, they tricked Joshua into making an oath of peace with them. He repaid their trickery by making the entire city and all their future offspring, slaves. No mention is made of why God didn't tell Joshua that he was being deceived. Joshua discovered the deception by deductive reasoning rather than divine revelation. - Joshua 9:1-27
The Bible says that no other cities made peace with the Israelites because God hardened their hearts and made them want to fight. God manipulated their hearts just so he could utterly destroy all of them and show them no mercy, resulting in their total extermination as he had promised Moses. - Joshua 11:19-20
After Joshua dies, God replaces him with Judah who commences to slay the people in the land of Canaan by the tens of thousands, burning their cities and not allowing any to escape. - Judges 1:1-20

The method of execution used by God's people was nearly always excruciatingly cruel. For instance, when a man took a garment, some silver and a piece of gold from a city that had been destroyed, Joshua had the man, his sons, daughters, oxen, asses and sheep all stoned with stones and then burned with fire. - Joshua 7:24-25
God tells Joshua that when the horses of the enemy are captured, they are to cut the hamstrings of the horses. David pulls a similar stunt with horses that he captures. Where's the ASPCA when you need them? - Joshua 11:6,9, 2 Samuel 8:4
Judah captures a king and has his thumbs and big toes cut off. The king doesn't seem to mind though because he claimed to have done the same thing to 70 kings himself and now God has paid him back. They take him to Jerusalem and he dies, probably from slowly bleeding to death. - Judges 1:7-8"

In 1922, the British Government census stated that the population of Hebron was 16,074 (Muslims), 73 (Christians), and 430 (Jews). What is the population of the Jews now?? How much ethnic cleansing has Israel done?? Btw, Bernadotte was a friend of the Jews - he saved many Jewish lives. Killing him was justified??

L6QjhvJGVk in reply to Isaschar

Just read your own comments - carefully. The key issue is that the Jews faced death and violence in nearly all of Europe - e.g., Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, etc. So the Jews decide to leave Europe - fine, most welcome. They decide to move to Asia - fine, most welcome. But, instead of behaving like guests (with humility), they are behaving like colonial conquerors (with arrogance). That is not acceptable at all. It is uncivilized and has to end. Colonialism is dead and buried - however, the expansionist and apartheid regime of Israel must amend its behavior. Consequently, Palestine is the only remaining colonial war in the post-colonial world. Kindly read your own comments - very carefully.

L6QjhvJGVk in reply to Isaschar

As stated earlier, the problem in Hebron and elsewhere in Palestine was a direct result of the Zionist plan to convert the people of Palestine into a minority in their own towns and villages. "In 1947, there were 630,000 Jews and 1,300,000 Palestinian Arabs. Thus, by the time of the United Nations partition of Palestine in 1947, the Jews were 31% of the population."







The Koenig Report stated this policy even more bluntly:






Eitan elaborated before the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee:





In 1937, he declaimed:


Ben Gurion formulated Zionist strategy very clearly:



L6QjhvJGVk in reply to Isaschar

The earlier "conquerors" were savage looters and killers, and so were the "ancient prophets" who used the "word of God" to justify their actions. God is used to justify killing. Here are a few examples of "real sadistic" texts from the Bible:


"If a betrothed virgin is raped in the city and doesn't cry out loud enough, then "the men of the city shall stone her to death." (Deuteronomy 22:23-24).



"Tamar (the widow of Er and Onan, who were killed by God) dresses up as a prostitute and Judah (her father-in-law) propositions her, saying: "Let me come in unto thee .... And he ... came in unto her, and she conceived by him." From this incestuous union, twins (Genesis 38:27-28) were born (both were boys of course). One of these was Pharez -- an ancestor of Jesus."


"While the Israelites were camped at Acacia, some of the men defiled themselves by sleeping with the local Moabite women. These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, and soon the Israelites were feasting with them and worshiping the gods of Moab. Before long Israel was joining in the worship of Baal of Peor, causing the LORD's anger to blaze against his people. The LORD issued the following command to Moses: "Seize all the ringleaders and execute them before the LORD in broad daylight, so his fierce anger will turn away from the people of Israel." So Moses ordered Israel's judges to execute everyone who had joined in worshiping Baal of Peor. Just then one of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman into the camp, right before the eyes of Moses and all the people, as they were weeping at the entrance of the Tabernacle. When Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest saw this, he jumped up and left the assembly. Then he took a spear and rushed after the man into his tent. Phinehas thrust the spear all the way through the man's body and into the woman's stomach. So the plague against the Israelites was stopped, but not before 24,000 people had died." (Numbers 25:1-9).


This is only the trailer - to see the whole story, just read the book!!!

L6QjhvJGVk in reply to Isaschar

You speak about 1929 in Hebron - that was clearly wrong to remove Jews who were living in Hebron. The issue is that by that time the Zionist plan to ethnically cleanse the whole of Palestine had already started, and communities (Christians, Jews and Muslims) who had lived peacefully in Palestine for centuries had started taking sides, based on religion. That is, indeed, the problem with the 3 Abrahamic religions - their prophets represented the same God, but the messages were different. Very strange. It is always a bad idea to base any constitution or charter on quotes from ancient texts whose mystery author (i.e., God) has never been seen. In my view, it is more important to read the pronouncements of the actual "policy makers" in recent history. In this context, here are a few quotes from key members of the Zionist movement:











The key issue here is that the ethnic cleansing of Palestine was planned decades before 1947.

L6QjhvJGVk in reply to Pez D Spencer

"This is to say that neither Iran nor Turkey are 'natural' nation states. Far from that" - your comment. The subject of what is a "natural nation-state" is very interesting from the point of view of historians. It seems that according to you, Iran and Turkey do not qualify. Who does?? Is the USA a natural nation state?? What about Germany?? Brazil?? Italy?? Peru?? Israel?? By your definition, at least 60% of the world does not qualify for nation state status. A lot of modern historians would be interested in your comments on this issue. Happy New Year.


What a silly article.

Mr. Obama has pulled America out of Iraq, and reduced its presence in Afghanistan. He has renewed the fight with Al Quada and killed its head. He has at no cost of American lives, and a semblance of cost of Iraq war, ousted Gaddafi from Libya. He has seen the peaceful end of Mubarak in Egypt and has managed to ridge the gap between Europe and America on Iran. He has put the Iranian regime in a choke. Economically isolated and politically out of touch with its own people and the Arab street.

Gone are the day that America was the bad guy from Morocco to Pakistan. There is ambiguity but overall I would say the president has done more to fix America's position and relationship in middle east than any other president in the last 30 plus years.

Yet this article does not acknowledge any of these successes?

I can't say that I read an unbiased view of reality.


Israeli only listens to and respects white presidents. Given their ideology and founding philosophy, race is at the core of their being. South Africa had the same problem. So the problem is not of the Middle East, and did not start there, but is a remnant of America's handling of South Africa and Rhodesia and Vietnam. Vietnam , if one could recall, was another white man's problem which that white man could not handle (the French) and the US went in to clean things up. If I recall, that ended rather badly for both the white groups.

stands for truth

Mr Obama much like all previous US Presidents is hamstrung by powerful pro-Israel American Lobbies and the submissive US Congress.
The obsession over Iran going Nuclear is just a smoke screen.Iran has no plans for building nuclear weapons.US Intelligence knows it as does the IEA.Iran has provided the UN agency access to its facilities and as far as it is public knowledge they do not say Iran is building one.

As against this Israel holds hundreds of Nukes thermo nukes etc.Its clandestine activities have been exposed long time ago.

But no US President had the courage to demand of Israel what it has been asking of Israel.

The only sane solution is to push for a Nuclear Free Middle East.Will it happen? Not a chance! Israel wants to remain a bully on the block and in that it has a very loyal US Congress.


The last thing Obama needs to do is listen to John McCain and they NeoCons, they were wrong on every foreign policy issue since 9/11 and have been a disaster to the country.


There is very little that Obama can do concerning Israel/Palestine as long as part of the governance of the Palestinians ,Hamas , insist that only the destruction of Israel will satisfy them. All the rest - Israeli building on the West Bank, UN support for Palestinians etc.etc. is just so much bum fluff that titilates the naive and malicious but not much else. Really its so obvious it's embarrassing - it's like England being asked to make peace with Nazi Germany even though Hitler wants only England's total destruction. Why is it only Israelis see how ridiculous this is? And nobody it seems want to mess with the Hamas.
The rest is also out of Obama' hands. The so called 'Arab Spring'has opened up a Pandora's Box of the aspirations of the Arab 'street' who really believe that radical Islam and Sharia law will bring them out of poverty and eliminate corruption - and the American Imperialists and Zionists are preventing them from this.
The world must wake up to the fact that radical Islam is inimical to all the values of the free West and it's appeasement towards them will not make life better. The opposite, appeasement will make them bolder and Iran with the nuclear bomb will be a danger to the whole world. It seems that the US are very scared to eliminate this Iranian threat after getting involved in the useless war in Afganistan and now only want to be left alone. But life unfortunately will not stop while America licks its wounds. Obama will have to make brave decisions.
Incidentally Israelis do not think Obama is a bad President or bad for Israel - as usual the wishful thinking of the "Economist" gets in the way of the truth!


Israel has nuclear weapons the US should first get rid of them before talking about a possible Iranian bomb

Damn Dirty Ape

I'm skeptical that a nuclear Iran is much of a threat to the US. No doubt it would make Israel uncomfortable but I would rank it alongside a nuclear North Korea and Pakistan. It is very easy to send the message out that if an atomic weapon is ever used against the US, all three nations would be put to the torch with a rain of atomic weapons. Mutually assured destruction worked wonders for the cold war, unilaterally assured destruction should work for the post-cold war just fine.

Pez D Spencer in reply to RajaPoru

Saying that Israel is racist in any way is an absolute negation of reality:
Israel is the only country in the world that actively saved tens of thousands of black people (Ethiopian Jews), and brought them to live in Israel, took care of housing and educating them, and invested heavily in integrating them into its modern society and economy.
Any person from any race who becomes Jewish by conversion, automatically gains the right for an Israeli citizenship.
There are tens of thousands of Israeli citizens from foreign origin, and from all races.
20% of Israeli citizens are Arab (I.E. 'Palestinians' - Muslim, Christian and Druze), and they enjoy full rights, including freedom and prosperity that no other Arabs in the Middle East benefit from.

ColoradoJack in reply to Isaschar

"Except Israel"? In the past four years , how much death has been caused by, say, Palestinians, and how much by Israeli bombs, rockets, artillery, bullets and even tear gas canisters, for heavens sake. And talk about racial hatred, have you read the ravings of the hard right Israelis and Israeli supporters? Wake up and get real. Yea there is death and hatred in the Middle East, but Israel is one of the leading perpetrators.


The last sentences in the article:
“There is no such thing as benign neglect when it comes to the Middle East,” says Robert Danin, formerly of the State Department. If Israel-Palestine stays stuck, if Syria descends into prolonged sectarian hell and if Iran gets the bomb or gets bombed, the outlook for both the Middle East and for the United States (for the two remain yoked together) will be bleak."

Why should the outlook be bleak for the U.S. ? Benign neglect is not even the right policy, the Middle East should be ignored outright by the USA. It has already usurped enough U.S. attention and money over many decades. Yes, many of the foreign policy establishment types within the Washington Beltway will regret this very much, but the U.S. bears no special responsibility for the Middle East, as people like Robert Danin would like you to believe. Therefore, it should disentangle completely from the Middle East and lower its profile there and let the peoples of the Middle East sort out their own economic and political mess. The shale oil and gas revolution in the U.S. makes it possible to disentangle from the troublesome region and to reduce its very costly military presence in the region. And why should the U.S. worry about an Iranian nuclear bomb ? It will be no threat to the U.S. as the U.S. would be able to retaliate and nuke every single square mile of Iran.



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