Monday, February 03, 2014

In the Dark

I confess I am in the dark about what is going on in the Middle East. Of course you could argue that being a nobody, and living in an area as close to nowhere as possible, and having virtually no news except the no news we get from the Main Media through television and radio. I would inevitably be in the dark about most everything, except, of course, the trials and tribulations of New Jersey Fats.  I have no idea what is going on anywhere else, especially in the Middle East,  so I just guess about it.

I am inclined to believe that John Kerry is perhaps the worst, most inept Secretary of State we have ever had. Apparently the Israelis hate him, as do the Palestinians, and they all seem to agree that his suggestions for an agreement between them are ridiculous, and perhaps they are. Similarly, at the same time he is trying to deal with a solution to the Iranian problem he continues to threaten them with war if they fail to live up to his (our) expectations, not a position that could possibly please them or help. So, on the one hand he seems to want a solution to these rather intractable problems, and on the other he keeps alienating the various players on this complicated chessboard.

But what if, and a big if it is, he is actually not the “bull in the china shop” he appears to be. What if he and President Obama actually have a plan to bring about actual solutions to these long-festering problems? What if they are actually maneuvering to force a solution to these problems? It is pretty obvious that Israel is never going to agree to a Palestinian state unless they are forced to do so. It is equally obvious that Iran is not going to accept a solution imposed by the United States with respect to their behavior, nuclear or otherwise.
How, then, could it be possible to bring about solutions to these problems? On the one hand you must convince Israel that you are not going to risk their security, or their racist plans to claim the West Bank, and on the other hand you must convince them you will not allow Iran to challenge Western hegemony in the Middle East. This is no small task. It requires the most sensitive diplomacy coupled with the threat of absolutely dire consequences should it fail. You must convince Israel that it is in their long term interest to give up their dreams of expansion and genocide (and some captured territory), as well as give in to a viable Palestinian state, and you must also convince the Arabs and Israel that Iran, having made peace with the U.S., will not unilaterally or importantly upset the balance of power in the Middle East.

Could it be this is precisely what Obama and Kerry are trying to diplomatically accomplish, however surreptitiously? It would, of course, dramatically change the situation in the Middle East. American and European hegemony would suffer if not disappear. But as that is happening already, and there is nothing much we can do about it, would it not be better to be a partner in the new Middle East than a has been in the old?

Obviously Obama and Kerry could not admit this was what they are trying to accomplish. The mindless Congressional support for Israeli racism and (war) crimes would never agree to such a solution, and the even more mindless demand for war against Iran by the military/industrial/political complex (there is big money in war) would likewise  violently resist such a sensible solution. I don’t know if this is what Obama and Kerry have in mind. I hope it is. If they could succeed in solving the Israeli/Palestinian problem, along with the Iranian situation, it would be one of the greatest diplomatic triumphs of all time. Are Obama’s and Kerry’s threats of military action against Iran, and threats of boycotts against Israel, just idle threats for show, or for real? I know nothing. I am completely in the dark. I’m pretty confident, however, that ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu and his supporters are liars and warmongers.

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