Khan has so many good things to say in his short article and he highlights perhaps the second most important policy issue currently facing the world: Israel's interest in chaos, tension and war in the Middle East and the Lobby's interest in furthering that interest. The most important issue facing humankind (which I didn't notice that Khan addressed directly): Bush and Cheney's psychopathic, criminal intention to destroy civilization by means of permanent war.
One quibble goes to the heart of Khan's thesis that it's the Lobby which has determined or at least influenced Bush-Cheney's policy on Pakistan. I'd like to see some of the evidence. Musharraf has been smart enough not to cross Israel in any significant way that I've seen so far. And for their part, you'd think that the Israelis would have an interest in a stable nuclear-armed Pakistan, keeping said nukes pointed at Delhi rather than Tel Aviv.
The Bush-Cheney Pakistan policy has been the same as it's been everywhere (the one thing they're good at is consistency): do as much harm and cause as much suffering as possible.
One could guess that Musharraf would have been smart enough, if left to his own devices, to plan from the earliest possible date, for the transition back to Pakistan's version of democracy, and making it a point to leave his civilian office at the peak of popularity, so that, afterwards, when the time inevitably came to remove yet another corrupt civilian government, the country would once again be looking to him as a savior.
But enter from stage right, Bush and Cheney, warning him not to leave until they decide to allow him to leave, i.e., never. And the White House of course holds all the cards, seeing as how they've become the Paki Army's indispensable paymaster, not to mention bodyguard. Who knows but that close call assassination attempt in December 2003 was not one of the CIA/ISI's warning shots to ensure that Musharraf stays in line.
And as a result we are presented with the current chaotic situation in Pakistan, deteriorating by the day -- which once again suits the psychopaths just fine. The situation reminds me of the last Lebanon war of 2006 where Israel (Olmert) was begging Bush to call for an early cease fire so that they could say they won. And now Bush-Cheney and Elliott Abrams are rubbing their hands in anticipation of the coming Lebanon Civil war. It just occurred to me that they may not have to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran after all. Pakistan and Lebanon blowing up will do nicely instead, thank you, and the White House will suffer less pushback domestically and internationally. They won't even be seen to be blamed for it.
Ronald
November 9, 2007
Monopoly Power
Pakistan and the Israel Lobby
By BADRUDDIN KHAN
www.counterpunch.org
Recent events in Pakistan should serve as a wake up call. There is more to the Mideast region than Israel and its Arab antagonists. The Israel Lobby has been successful in inducing the United States into mis-allocating its resources to protect Israeli interests, and this is now having a profound and lasting impact. It is time for supporters of the Israel Lobby to face up to the fact that what is good for Israel is not necessarily good for the United States. The Mideast is not best viewed through Israeli interests, and there is much more at stake than Israel's welfare.
Pakistan is for all practical purposes under martial law. This is hardly a surprise outcome. Management of the "war on terror" was delegated by the Bush administration to strongman General Pervez Musharraf, who quickly fell in line after being presented with the alternative of Pakistan being bombed into the stone-age. Musharraf has managed the situation as well as he could, given his pre-condition that he stay in power (the economy, for example, has grown nicely during his tenure). This pre-condition, however, is clearly not acceptable to Pakistanis, and he is now being forced into elections. For the US, the shift in focus from Afghanistan, Bin Laden, and Al Qaeda to Iraq, Iran, and Israel's interests has proved to be seriously distracting.
Our Mideast strategy is managed directly or indirectly by the Israel Lobby. This Lobby functions as a "monopoly" in the manner of Microsoft. Until recently, no alternate viewpoints were seriously considered, and the Israel Lobby has represented itself as the establishment. Monopolies, however, corrupt the system; Microsoft distorted the software industry, and the Israel Lobby is corrupting our body politic. We are now seeing clear and tangible evidence of the consequences of this betrayal of American interests. Rather than pursue Bin Laden, vanquish the Taliban, and guide Pakistan towards democracy, the Bush administration was misdirected into attacking Iraq, and US power is now being targeted at Israel's perceived enemies such as Iran.
The Israel Lobby has labored at caricaturizing Muslims as natural enemies of the United States. It has succeeded in skillfully amplifying Israel's contempt and fear of Arabs, into contempt and fear of Muslims by mainstream Americans. This has required a sustained campaign, and the results speak for themselves: after 9/11 80%+ of Muslims the world over were pro-US, and today a similar percentage is anti-US. Such swings in public opinion are not accidental, and reflect US actions under the "war on terror", and a calculated strategy to provoke an adversary into being.
There are now numerous excellent and well documented books that describe the Israel Lobby, its machinations, and the detrimental impact of its pervasive influence. It is time for us to switch our priorities to other countries that are being neglected at our peril, foreign policy things that matter, reduce the importance of Israel and its concerns, and refocus to American interests.
Badruddin Khan lives in San Francisco. He can be reached at: bkhan@hotmail.com
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Is the following story true? I think there will be more conflicts of this kind in future. China, too will flex it's muscles soon. It's soon going to be a tripolar world, far worse than the Cold War days. The brainchilds of a uipolar world will find out how deadly and costly it is going to be. Any big country won't allow it to be surrounded by surrogate states of countries far away.
It's going to be the New Great Gameplan to rule oil and gas with America, Russia and China being the key players.
George Soros & The Georgian Conflict
GEORGE SOROS & THE GEORGIAN CONFLICT
By Brother Nathanael Kapner, Copyright © 2008
THE GEORGIAN “ROSE REVOLUTION” was funded by the Hungarian born Jewish financier, George Soros. The Rose Revolution forced President Eduard Shevardnadze out of office on November 23 2003 (St George’s Day in Georgia).
Soros installed Shevardnadze’s young protege, Mikhail Saakashvili, as the new and current President of Georgia. During the three months before the coup, Saakashvili, who was schooled & groomed in America, was glorying in lavish treatment from the Zionist led US State Department and the Jewish controlled media. And in the previous summer Soros had flown Saakashvili and his followers to a “revolution training seminar” in Belgrade Serbia.
Back in Georgia from his training by Soros in Belgrade, Saakashvili led thousands of demonstrators brandishing fresh red roses in their takeover of the President’s palace. This occurred in the freezing Georgian winter when fresh roses had to be flown in — courtesy of the Jew, George Soros, who had spent $42 million on his new Georgian puppet. No sooner had Saakashvili taken office that he vowed to bring the Russian supported South Ossetia & Abkhazia breakaway provinces back under Georgian control.
Soros and the US State Department, indeed, had publicly committed themselves to propping up the current anti-Russian Georgian President, Mikhail Saakashvili, considered by many to be an authoritarian thug. A confrontation between Russia and the US was now in the works. And it has come to a head with the recent conflagration in South Ossetia.
A BOILING HOT GEORGIAN COLD WAR
AMERICA’S PRO GEORGIAN POLICY is explained by Georgia’s access to the Caspian Sea’s oil wealth. The US backed British Petroleum (BP) pipeline, running from the Caspian Sea through Georgia, then below the Black Sea into Turkey, delivers oil to Europe and the US. The US & its European allies have been competing with Russia for control of the Caspian oil rich region.
The pipeline runs only 60 miles south of the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, which sits right smack in the middle of northern Georgia. South Ossetia broke away from Georgia in the early 1990s and exists as an independent state with full Russian support. Most South Ossetian residents hold Russian passports.
The US considers Georgia as an ally and supports its desire to join NATO and the EU. Moscow opposes both goals. Georgia’s pro Western stance has riled Russia because Moscow regards the entire region as its own sphere of influence.
In April 2002, the US started the “Georgia Train and Equip Program” which involved US training of Georgian forces. Soon after, Georgian militaries were sent to Iraq to form part of the US/UK occupation forces there. With regard to the current South Ossetia conflict, the US has been supplying Georgia with both equipment and military advisers. And Russia is now accusing the US of orchestrating the war.
Moreover, the US partner in Zionist international hegemony, the State of Israel, assisted Georgia in its August 8 2008 attack on the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, with a bevy of its own military advisers. This brought the conflict to a military climax.
Thus, Georgia will continue to be a cold war hotspot with Russia and the US competing to control the Caspian oil bonanza. And the Jew, George Soros, and his puppet, Mikhail Saakashvili, have brought this new cold war centered in Georgia to a boiling head.
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