How Trump's Weakness Betrayed America's Interests in IranThe American people seem completely unable to elect leaders capable of putting their own interests above those of Israel's
In mid-February 1945, a dying Franklin Roosevelt, on his way home from his final meetings with Stalin and Churchill at Yalta, met with Saudi King Ibn Saud on the deck of the USS Quincy on the Great Bitter Lake in Egypt. An account of the conversation from the Office of the Historian of the US State Department reads, in part: His Majesty called attention to the increasing threat to the existence of the Arabs and the crisis which has resulted from continued Jewish immigration and the purchase of land by the Jews. His Majesty further stated that the Arabs would choose to die rather than yield their lands to the Jews. His Majesty stated that the hope of the Arabs is based upon the word of honor of the Allies and upon the well-known love of justice of the United States, and upon the expectation that the United States will support them. The President replied that he wished to assure His Majesty that he would do nothing to assist the Jews against the Arabs and would make no move hostile to the Arab people. He reminded His Majesty that it is impossible to prevent speeches and resolutions in Congress or in the press which may be made on any subject. His reassurance concerned his own future policy as Chief Executive of the United States Government. His Majesty thanked the President for his statement and mentioned the proposal to send an Arab mission to America and England to expound the case of the Arabs and Palestine. The President stated that he thought this was a very good idea because he thought many people in America and England are misinformed. What Saud was saying, in other words, was: Why should Arabs have to pay the price for Germany’s crimes? Yet even then, the longest-serving president in our history recognized that when it comes to the politics of the Levant, the Lobby rules. In the 75 years since its founding, Israel has repeatedly undermined the United States and has murdered numerous American civilians as well as 34 members of the crew of the USS Liberty. Still more, Israel poses a unique, continuing and dangerous counterintelligence threat. It acts with impunity because Congress is bought and paid for by money funneled to it from its domestic lobby, AIPAC. It treats US presidents like doormats. Bill Clinton famously asked after his first meeting with Netanyahu in 1996, "Who the fuck does he think he is? Who's the fucking superpower here?” Good question. Americans are increasingly asking themselves with regard to Israel: At what point does it become enough? We seem, as a people, unable to elect presidents or even more than a handful (if that) of senators and congressmen who are willing to place American interests before Israeli interests. Joe Biden spent much of his last year in office doing his level best to make the United States complicit in its genocidal campaign against the Palestinians. And on Saturday night, Donald J. Trump caved to the demands of the entitled, cynical and entirely loathsome Benjamin Netanyahu and his powerful loyalists in America, including radio presenter Mark Levin, mogul Rupert Murdoch and casino heiress Miriam Adelson, to commit an act of war against Iran on false pretenses. Indeed, there were no more nuclear devices under that mountain than there were WMDs in Iraq. Reports are now surfacing that John Ratcliffe, the deeply unimpressive and wholly dishonest Director of Central Intelligence had, in the manner of George Tenet, cooked the books. In response to all this, Iranian state television issued a warning on Sunday morning: "Now every American citizen or military personnel constitutes a legitimate target." Let us speak plainly and without pretense: This is a war of Israel's making; but it is a war that Donald Trump was too weak, and too vainglorious to stop. James W. Carden is editor of The Realist Review on Substack. Landmarks: A Journal of International Dialogue is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell Landmarks: A Journal of International Dialogue that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless they enable payments. |