Is It Clear to All What is Happening Here?

I don't mean to underestimate my readers, but many Americans do not comprehend what is happening in the Middle East, and so I am posting this.

1. Bush/Israel push for free elections in Palestine, thinking their pet Palestinians (Abbas/Fatah) will be elected.

2. Oops . . . Palestinians elect wrong group to run their government. They elect candidates of honest and efficient Hamas instead of corrupt Fatah. (What is “wrong” with Hamas is that it represents Palestinian interests rather than the interests of Israel and refuses to accept the Israeli occupation as legitimate.)

3. Despite the free and fair elections and formation of a stable, popular government under Hamas, Bush/Israel move to cut off funds from the Palestinian government and people in order to undermine the elected government.

THE LEADERS OF US/ISRAEL CARRY THE TORCHES OF DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM

4. Bush/Israel aid an effort by Abbas/Fatah to overthrow the legitimate government by force, but Hamas beats back Fatah and continues to control Gaza, leaving Abbas/Fatah forming a Bush/Israel backed illegitimate “government’’ in the West Bank, contrary to the election results. (The US press reports this in reverse, indicating that Hamas “seized” control of Gaza.)

5. Bush/Israel seek to bolster the unpopular and illegitimate West Bank faction by resuming some funding, freeing some unlawfully withheld funds which were due to the Palestinians long ago, and making a show of cooperation and generosity . . . all directed exclusively at the phony West Bank “government” instead of the elected government.

(Latest bulletin on Israeli good will: ‘CAIRO, July 17 (RIA Novosti) - Israeli authorities have stopped a convoy of trucks carrying UN humanitarian aid to Gaza at Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing near Egypt. Under the United Nations World Food Program, vital humanitarian aid has been entering Gaza through the Karem Shalom crossing under an agreement between Israel, the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas to facilitate the movement of supplies. The small, crowded Gaza Strip is heavily dependent on outside aid, and has been increasingly isolated. Over 15 trucks carrying sacks with wheat flour destined for Gaza were diverted earlier Tuesday to a warehouse in Egypt.’)

6. Suddenly Israel is ready to release some of its 10,000 plus Palestinian political prisoners to the obedient Fatah. ‘A committee of Israeli Cabinet ministers has Tuesday approved a list of 250 Palestinian prisoners to be released this week as a gesture in support of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.’ (Voice of America)

7. Recently booted British Prime Minister Tony Blair -- a loyal pro-Israel, anti-Palestinian, Bush lapdog – becomes European “envoy” to aid the mythical “peace process”.


THE BOYS PREPARE TO HELP THE PALESTINIANS

8. Bush now announces a grand Mideast Conference in which Abbas/Fatah will negotiate the future of the Palestinian people who refused to elect them and are still loyal to Hamas. Of course all of the Palestinian representatives to the conference will be hailed as “respected”, while the uninvited elected officials will be styled “terrorists”. US media -- even habitual critics of Bush -- hail Bush’s announcement as a sign that Bush is finally going to do something about the “peace process”.

‘BUSH ANNOUNCES MIDEAST PEACE CONFERENCE
U.S. pledges $190 million in direct aid to Fatah government’

‘AP WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday announced an international conference this fall to include Israel, the Palestinian Authority and some of their Arab neighbors to help restart Mideast peace talks and review progress in building democratic institutions. . .

‘Bush said the conference would include representatives from Israel, the Palestinians "and their neighbors in the region" and said participants would include just those governments that support creation of a Palestinian state. [Read: “those governments that support creation of a docile Palestinian entity conforming to Israel’s wishes”.]

‘He said Abbas and his new prime minister, Salam Fayyad, "are striving to build the institutions of a modern democracy."’
[That is probably the most outrageously hypocritical lie VIEW FROM THE MOON has ever quoted.

‘Bush also pledged increased U.S. aid to the Palestinian government of President Mahmoud Abbas and called for the convening of a meeting of "donor" nations to consider more international aid, including the Arab states of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.’

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan are the “moderate” Arab states whose leadership has been bought by the US. They will obediently support Israel’s interests while performing a show of concern for the Palestinians. The idea that “just” those bribed governments support creation of a Palestinian state is a stomach-turning bit of verbal acrobatics meaning just the opposite: The Palestinians want a Palestinian state. Lebanon and Syria and other Muslim states (including Iraq, if the US had not destroyed it) want a Palestinian state. The qualification for attendance at Bush's conference isn’t to want a Palestinian state, but to approve a toothless Palestinian mock-state subservient to Israel.

Short Items

While I prepare my first post in response to the reasonable recent question, “Am I putting too much emphasis on Zionist influence and not enough on other causes of American policies toward other nations?”, I’m going to post these bits and pieces.
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Hard to Find News

I found it difficult to find conspicuous coverage of what was probably the most important (to Americans) news of yesterday – the deaths of some 20 U.S. military personnel in Iraq. It was even more difficult to dig up news about the cause of the helicopter crash in which 15 died – a cause which U.S. authorities said was “under investigation”. But “The Boston Globe”
(which I’ve noticed is surfacing with some of the best coverage of news) stated:

“An Iraqi witness who spoke on condition of anonymity said the helicopter was felled by ground fire.

"’I'm not sure if it was a rocket or other projectile,’ said the man, a farmer. ‘After the helicopter was fired upon, it was obvious that it was losing control. Then it crashed with an explosion and the smoke started.’ The farmer said he and others dared not approach the wreckage to look for survivors, fearing that US forces arriving on the scene might fire at them.”
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Slanted Words

AP Jan. 18
“SEOUL (AP) — A high-level Iranian delegation arrived in North Korea on Thursday, the North's media reported, as the two hard-line regimes face international pressure to give up their nuclear weapons programs.”

How does a government qualify as a “hard-line” regime”?

I would think that the G.W. Bush government would win top honors in the category, “Hard-Line Regime”.
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From ”USAToday”, January 18:

“Opening of Vast Holocaust Archive Could Take Years”

Falsification in the headline: It is not a “holocaust” archive. It is the archive of the International Tracing Service (ITS) an arm of the International Committee of the Red Cross, in the German town of Bad Arolsen. Its frequent false publicity as a “Holocaust archive” will backfire when its contents are revealed – presuming (dream on) that the whole truth will be told.
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Hypocrisy Writ Large

From the New York Times:

“Rice Speaks Softly in Egypt, Avoiding Democracy Push"

“CAIRO, Jan. 15 — In the days before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with officials in Egypt, the news media here were filled with stories detailing charges of corruption, cronyism, torture and political repression.

“Ms. Rice, who once lectured Egyptians on the need to respect the rule of law, did not address those domestic concerns. Instead, with Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit by her side, she talked about her appreciation for Egypt’s support in the region.

“It was clear that the United States — facing chaos in Iraq, rising Iranian influence and the destabilizing Israeli-Palestinian conflict — had decided that stability, not democracy, was its priority, Egyptian political commentators, political aides and human rights advocates said.”

”Egypt’s government has piled up a long list of repressive actions, including ordering the police to block people from voting in parliamentary elections; delaying local elections by two years; imprisoning an opposition leader, Ayman Nour, on charges widely seen as politically motivated; battling with judges who have demanded oversight of elections; and imprisoning Talaat el-Sadat, a member of Parliament and the nephew of President Anwar el-Sadat, for a year in a military jail after he criticized the armed forces on television.”

All right, students. Can anyone tell the class why the Bush maladministration, in spite of its loudly trumpeted quest for “democracy” in the Middle East, cozies up to Egypt as “our friend” and a “moderate” Arab nation?

Which Authoritarian Governments?

It’s always nice to find a news items that expand on a topic from the last entry, the statement of an Israeli writer that, "A dialogue between Washington and Damascus [Syria]would arouse questions and fears in Jerusalem.”

This has now appeared on a wire service:

“The bipartisan Iraq Study Group headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III is expected to recommend in a report this week that the United States open up diplomatic channels with Iran and Syria to discuss the subject [of cooperation concerning Iraq]. That suggestion has already been received coolly by the White House, where some senior officials say opening talks with those two countries would in itself be a major concession to their authoritarian, anti-American governments.”

Does the White House really dislike authoritarian governments so much that it refuses talks with them even when there's a really good reason to talk, such as saving American lives in Iraq? No. In this case it’s because Iran and Syria are on Israel’s hit list. Authoritarian governments of anti-American countries which have been “tamed” and are not immediate targets in Israel’s “Destroy all Competition” policy get very different treatment.

Egypt and Jordan received rich rewards, and are now favored by the White House as “moderate Arab states”, after they yielded to American pressure to sign peace treaties with Israel. Both their governments are just as authoritarian as those of Syria and Iran.

“Egypt is dominated by the ruling National Democratic Party, which uses a 23-year-old emergency law to restrict civil liberties. There are strict limitations on the establishment of newspapers and political parties, and presidential elections are single-candidate referendums.” Christian Science Monitor, 2004.

“In 2005, the government of Egypt faced unprecedented public criticism when Egyptian democracy activists challenged President Hosni Mubarak's quarter century of authoritarian rule. Some of the most serious violations according to HRW's 2006 report on Egypt include routine torture, arbitrary detentions and trials before military and state security courts. Discriminatory personal status laws governing marriage, divorce, custody and inheritance which put women at a disadvantage have also been cited.” Wikipedia

If that’s the case, why is Egypt “our friend” if Syria is not? Egypt was the first Arab state to recognize Israel and establish diplomatic relations with Israel, with the signing of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty (1978-79).

What did Egypt get for what most Arab states regarded as a betrayal? Answer: Lots of money from the U.S. taxpayers. “Aid” is central to Washington's relationship with Cairo. The US has provided Egypt with $1.3 billion a year in military aid since 1979, and an average of $815 million a year in economic assistance. Also, each year USAID gives $200 million to the Egyptian government in cash handouts to do with as it pleases. It is distributed by the Egyptian government in an anarchic way, through personal contacts and political influence. Those cash handouts have probably bought a lot of limousines, wine, and expensive clothes. (The president of Egypt at the time of the treaty was even rewarded and depicted as a hero in a Hollywood movie, "Sadat" -- banned in Egypt.)

Did Israel get anything out of the treaty with Egypt besides official diplomatic recognition and its major goal of neutralizing a major arch-enemy? (Of course it was already the largest recipient of U.S. "aid".) In a separate Israel-US Memorandum of Agreement the United States spelled out its commitments to Israel (but not Egypt) in case the treaty is violated, and provided for the future supply of military and economic aid to Israel. Also, the treaty proposed a linkage between peace with Egypt and Palestinian autonomy that was never implemented; the unfulfilled promise allowed Egypt the illusory pretense of helping the Palestinians while requiring nothing of Israel.

Jordan followed in 1994 with the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace, and also received U.S. payoffs. Since then it has been, after Israel and Egypt, the third largest recipient of U.S. taxpayer largesse.

Jordan calls itself a "constitutional" monarchy, but in fact is an authoritarian monarchy. “By any standard, Jordan is nowhere close to joining the ranks of the world's democracies and remains, in form and function, an absolute monarchy.“ "Jordan: Democracy at a Dead End", by Shadi Hamid (Fulbright Fellow in Amman, Jordan, conducting research on democratization and political Islam in the Arab world.)

So, the proclaimed distaste of the White House for Iran’s and Syria’s “authoritarian” governments has no more to do with authoritarianism than the invasion of Iraq had to do with weapons of mass destruction. As always in U.S. Middle East policy, it’s Israel, Israel, Israel.

End note: The following figures are somewhat out of date, and Iraq is now listed as a large recipient of U.S. “aid”, but the 2003 numbers illustrate my point. Those are the kinds of sums it is costing us to support Israel and neutralize two of its enemies.


Israel - The largest recipient of US largesse in 2003, getting $2.1 billion in military aid annually; $600 million in economic aid.

Egypt - Egypt was the second largest recipient with $1.3 billion in military aid; $615 million for “social programs”.

Jordan – Was the third largest recipient. In 2003 it got $250 million in economic support; $198 million in military financing.