ZGram - 10/25/2001 - " Israel: Strategic Ally or Constant Impediment?"

[Ingrid Rimland]

Copyright (c) 2001 - Ingrid A. Rimland

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

October 25, 2001

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Sometimes in the affairs of men and nations some things NEED to be said -
and said strongly!  Matt Giwer, fabled Free Speech Internet Activist, says
what the overwhelming correspondents to the Zundelsite feel:  It's time to
dump Israel, to cut the apron strings.  It's time to put America and
American interests FIRST!

[START]

"Strategic Ally or Constant Impediment?"

by Matt Giwer

Israel and its supporters have been relentless in repeating the assertion
that Israel is a strategic ally of the US. They can rarely make a statement
regarding the relationship of the two nations without asserting that as a
mantra.  Much cynicism has been heaped upon the "ally" part of that
question. Very little has been said on the "strategic"  part. Just what is
its strategic value?

 As examples of strategic value our bases in Germany, England, Greece,
Spain are strategic assets. Even our bases on little Diego Garcia in the
Indian Ocean are strategic assets. These permit pre-positioning troops,
supplies and the hardware of war. The US has no bases in Israel. Given the
US bases in Turkey, Greece and Saudi Arabia there is not the slightest need
for one in Israel.

 With the modern reliance upon air power, passage through friendly air
space to get to the enemy in the shortest distance is strategically
valuable for many reasons. Israel is land-locked to the North, East and
South by nations ranging from unfriendly to hostile making it useless for a
US airbase.

 If we look back to the Cold War days we do not find a strategic value for
Israel. Rather we find a political entity with the military capability to
confront Soviet sponsored military expansion in the region. One can argue
that was strategic but it was limited to a small part of the Mideast and
far from the oil region. With the Cold War over and with a US base in Saudi
Arabia in the middle of the oil region Israel cannot be considered of
potential, future strategic utility in any sense.

 At times the US has considered some countries to be strategic assets such
as the Union of South Africa for metals needed for military jet engines and
oil in the Mideast today. Israel has no particular mineral assets and
certainly no rare ones. It exports no finished products which could be
considered necessities for the US.

 It is clear by inspection Israel has no strategic value to the US. The
territory of Israel is of no value. The mineral assets of Israel are of no
value. Its products are of no value. It follows clearly Israel is of no
value to the US strategic or otherwise.

 In reviewing the record we find Israel was useless to the US in the Gulf
War. We find Israel is useless in this current terrorism war. We can go
back further and find it did positive harm to the US with its invasion of
Lebanon in 1982 and provoking war with Syria in 1967.

 In addition to specific events we find Israel's on-going policies of
military occupation, illegal settlement and oppression of Palestinians,
even if not one of the causes of the 9/11 attack, certainly pretexts which
can be exploited to the benefit of terrorists in recruitment and
organization. Israel has not only refused to even slow down it insists upon
escalating them.

 Rather in this present near crisis, Israel has moved to take advantage of
the 9/11 attack to exacerbate every detrimental policy. Israel has done
everything but give a straight out refusal to cooperate. It has declined
every request to cooperate and support the US. Are those the actions of
even a friend, much less an ally, much less a strategic ally?

 And in making matters worse Israel is directly harming the US effort to
establish a coalition. One might even suggest it is deliberately doing so
with that as the objective. That Israel would act as it is without fear of
US response suggests its Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, truly believed it
when he said in the Knesset, "Jews control America" a month after the 9/11
attack.

 We cannot find any strategic value of Israel to the US. We do find Israel
refusing to act as an ally. We even find Israel believing Jewish Americans
are more loyal to Israel than to the US and apparently acting accordingly.
These are not the acts of an ally.

 As a result of the 9/11 attack the true colors of Israel are being shown
to the US. Israel's idea of being an ally is only when it benefits and not
if bound to reciprocate. It has the unmitigated gall to impugn the loyalty
of Jewish Americans. These are not the acts of an ally but of an enemy.

 [END]

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 THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:  (in response to the above...)

"Excellent points all. You might even add that the "ally" relationship is
so fantastic that it allows one of the allies to militarily attack the
other (USS Liberty) and rob and sell its military secrets abroad (Pollard
etc) with impunity, something unique in history."

 ASMarques