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The ‘Birth Pangs’ Of The New Middle East May Not Be The Ones The U.S. Has Wished For
Edward Luce for the FT:
How Netanyahu is ‘running rings’ around Biden (archived)
The US president had hoped to disentangle from the Middle East. But the turbulence in the region could influence the election and define his legacy
“Netanyahu knows how to play the Washington game better than most US politicians,” says Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat, now columnist for the Haaretz newspaper. “And he has been running rings around Biden.”
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On countless occasions over the past year, Netanyahu has appeared to agree to one thing with Washington and done the opposite in practice. Whether it is wranglings over the terms of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release, or the more recent attempt at a 21-day ceasefire with Hizbollah, each time Biden is left looking impotent. “The Biden administration seems to be saying, ‘We’re suffering from a bit of autumn damp,’ ” says Pinkas. “No, this isn’t seasonal damp, it’s Netanyahu urinating all over you.”
This has been the general theme of a media campaign for a while. "Natanyahoo is steamrolling Biden and the poor guy can do nothing about it."
I do not buy it. One phone call from the White House to the Pentagon would hold resupply flights from the U.S. to Israel. Without constant supply renewal the Israeli Air Force would have to stop its bombing campaigns in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen within days if not within hours.
But instead of calling the Pentagon the whole Middle East team around Biden, Antony Blinken, Brett McGurk and IDF soldier Amos Hochstein, has been urging Israel to extend its campaign.
They are hoping, like the neoconservatives in 2006 during the Bush administration, for the 'birth pangs of a new Middle East', which will forever change the strategic situation on the ground.
Behind the scenes, Hochstein, McGurk and other top U.S. national security officials are describing Israel’s Lebanon operations as a history-defining moment — one that will reshape the Middle East for the better for years to come.
The thinking goes: Israel has obliterated Hezbollah’s top command structure in Lebanon, severely undercutting the group’s capabilities and weakened Iran, which used Hezbollah as a proxy and power projector.
The internal administration division seems to have dissipated somewhat in recent days, with top U.S. officials convening Monday at the White House with President Joe Biden to discuss the situation on the ground. Most agreed that the conflict, while fragile, could offer an opportunity to reduce Iran’s influence in Lebanon and the region.
The conclusion from this is that Netanyahoo is largely doing exactly what the Biden administration wants him to do.
The strategic situation may well change. But it is not going to be the way Biden and Netanyahoo may hope for.
Most of the 200 missiles Iran fired on Israel two days ago passed through the Israeli air defenses and hit their targets with good precision. Some expensive air planes got damaged but no one was hurt. A similar strike on Israeli energy facilities could easily disable the country for months of years to come. A strike on IDF barracks or Israeli population centers could easily cause mass casualties.
Shortly after the strike President Masoud Pezeshkian met with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Doha, Qatar:
The Saudi minister voiced his country's determination to develop relations with Iran, Xinhua news agency reported.
"We seek to close the page of differences between the two countries forever and work towards the resolution of our issues and expansion of our relations like two friendly and brotherly states," he said.
He highlighted the "very sensitive and critical" situation in West Asia due to Israel's "aggressions" against Gaza and Lebanon and its attempts to expand the conflict in the region. He said Saudi Arabia trusted Iran's wisdom and discernment in managing the situation and contributing to the restoration of calm and peace in the region.
Yesterday the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, held Friday prayers in Tehran. Little remarked in western media was the fact that he sermon was largely voiced in Arabic and that the whole event was seen on Arabic live TV through AlJazeerah.
This already is a new Middle East in which the Gulf states are no longer hostile to Iran and which the religious schisms between Sunni and Shia has largely lost its power.
Who then is left of the former U.S. allies? On whom can it call for support in the region when it plans to attack Iran?
Has this whole U.S.-Israeli campaign really helped to "reduce Iran’s influence in Lebanon and the region"? Will continuing it ever do so?
My impression for one is that it has strengthened the front against Israel and the positions of Iran in and beyond the Middle East.
I think it’s very important for Barflies to re-examine our assumptions and perspectives on “Zionism”.
May I start by quoting Snake, who posted the following in the most recent Ukraine thread:
I believe Zionism has produced a trans-national, nation state transparent, well distributed global empire. Its empire seems to be based on an ideology that promises those who pledge their allegiance and who participate when called upon, wealth and materialist pleasures…an often it seems to deliver these goodies..?
In many places evidence appears to suggest the ideology causes its adherents to control many, many governments.. many, many corporations large and small.. many, many religions and many, many institutions.. its membership seems to cross all religions, all races, all nationalities, languages, churches and their religions, most political doctrines, and nearly all competing ideologies. Its not really a purpose behind the ideology more an objective consequence of the ideology which focuses on sucking everyone and everything into its dominance.
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Snake: you provided some excellent insights into the thematic constants across all the Zionist player-types.
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Riffing off your post, it occurs to me that Zionism has become a global political party. There are:
a. Spoils to be divvied up
b. A social order (Mainly Zionist-Jews at the top, or Non-Jews-who’ve-Taken-The-Oath) (e.g. Trump, Biden, etc.)
c. A loyalty “oath”
d. A dogma (we are chosen, shining city on a hill, the only civilized people on the planet, etc.)
e. A mythos. The Mossad, David and Goliath (and the Start of David), the Invincible Iron Dome, The Maestro (Greenspan @ Fed), etc.
f. An ethic: “do to or be done to”. “Escalate first and most”. “Never give the mark* an even break”
g. Strong enforcement of the loyalty oath. That’s the role of AIPAC and ADL here in the U.S.
It’s a crass, gang-land type political party. It makes no pretense of “doing good for others”. It “does good” for its members, and has a clear, highly-developed antipathy for non-members.
Those “ethics” I mentioned – and we’re seeing them on full display in Israel – those ethics are a toxic brew, and if you layer on the Chosen-ness (any behavior is justified because we’re God’s Chosen, all other people are cattle), well, you’re going to see a horror-show … and indeed we are.
And, as Snake pointed out in his post, this “political party” spans nations and cultures and time.
I think that you’ve put your finger on it, Snake. Good insights.
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Maybe you’ll ask: “what additional value does it offer to characterize Zionism as a political party?”.
A: Because now you know what you’re dealing with. How to destroy a political party? Take away the gravy train; take away the spoils to be distributed.
What are Russia and China and by extension BRICS doing to defeat the U.S.?
Take away the spoils. The Dollar. The Russian resources. African resources. S.American resources.
What else is happening? Myth-busting. Invincible Israel … isn’t. That myth got punctured a few days ago.
And what else is happening? “do to or be done to” is about to be reversed. Iran has escalation dominance now (I assert) and Israel can’t “do to”. Iran said “we’re not going to be restrained any longer”.
But that doesn’t mean Israel/Zionism won’t try.
One thing we know is that the Dogma is very, very powerful; Zionists have drunk a lot of KoolAid, and I for one don’t think they can make the psychological turn. They’re feeling pretty Chosen.
But now everyone’s got all their money on the table, the cards have been dealt, and in the next week or so we’re going to see either Israel (and by extension the rest of the Zionist Party) broken, or all-but-Zionism broken.
I ask all barflies: define Zionism.
What is it, how did it get so powerful in so many places, and what are its weaknesses?
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* “mark” is U.S. slang for the innocent, naive person who’s about to get cheated
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Oct 5 2024 18:32 utc | 73
forgive the lengthly comment
It is a from the UNZ Review comment thread and is an article unto itself
I post it in full as there is no way to link it
“Astute comment WingsofaDove…
The Jews have been and still are the power behind the throne. But actually running things involves more than strategy and tactics. Execution, if not thoroughly parsed before considerations of strategy are elaborated, much time and material and treasure is destined to be wasted. Strategy must never be a fixed target. Objectives cannot be realized without a thorough examination of capabilities.
Strategy informs tactics. Tactics are informed by capabilities. Capabilities require a realistic assessment of ones treasure, of ones material, of ones time and not least … who will execute the strategy?
What too will be the ultimate cost of a thorough commitment; this is the question that must be asked before moving a single soldier. What do we hope to achieve? This must be the first question. Various diagramming schemes have evolved to map the inputs — all of which are intend to calculate the value of the whole.
Without a thoroughly realistic assessment of success why begin the action. Politicians are opportunists. These are the people whom assume readiness, fire away — mouths and guns blazing, and aim at the wrong targets. They usually have no idea about capability. Most of the time their objectives are pipe dreams.
Obviously Jews have an objective though. Perhaps they have achieved some of their objectives. They are no longer the power behind the throne. They have been exposed. They are though, sitting not on a throne, but rather on a whoopee cushion! The entire world is seeing them for what they are — now, in real time. My dad called them operators — people with an ulterior motive!
This time is different. Jews are still deploying the old scapegoat i.e. blaming the goat for destroying the peace. This time it is obvious the Jews are raising the goats and clearly they are Jews’ tying them to the stake.
And they are not the first people to discover that they have gotten way ahead of themselves. Among other things this includes failing to understand not everyone’s objectives are the same as theirs. Their objectives naturally employ what they think is a winning strategy. But most certainly the Jews are discovering their strategies stink.
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Yes the Jews chose to emerge as the dominant force in America. They planned it. Their tactics though, of destroying America while elevating themselves is backfiring. They objectively failed to consider that much of their success relied on the almost unlimited power of at least two of their strategies. Control over the money supply and thus control over U.S. policy — which they bought and to this day, buy.
Jews effectively control the tax regime and Wall Street! This has led to the financializing of the entire economy of the United States. The U.S. economy is a classic Ponzi scheme. Jews seem oblivious to the fact the citizens of United States cannot afford to aid the Jews’ to realize their objectives. Using America citizens, the Goyim — their treasure, their time, their materials, their children — while undermining their moral conscience is no longer proving to be a durable strategy.
It looks to me as though the Jews do not understand compromise or diplomacy. These two are strategies. But they seem not to understand abrogating treaties they themselves promulgated is undiplomatic. Lying while conniving already how to undermine and abrogate the agreements they sign includes an army of lawyers writing the small print. Their voracious appetites are never sated.
The evidence no such thing as conscience! What evidence of conscience, compromise, or diplomacy is there among Jews’ anywhere — Netanyahu is the classic bull at a gate. He is impatient, hasty, thoughtless, while ignoring everything in his way.
Working behind the scenes for the past five Centuries in America was a patient strategy. Their tactics include: financial dominance by selective lending and foreclosure, the promulgation of inflation and deflation, Ponzi scheming, antagonizing manufactured enemies, contract padding, the promulgation of endless wars and foreign adventures, monopolization of productive assets, selective assassination, bribery, blackmailing etc. — all done on an industrial scale and the list does not include the offshoring of manufacturing and jobs, and the debasement of education and health.
Imagining there is enough treasure, time, material and people willing to fight and capable of fighting for the Jews’ Globalist dominance objectives which are clearly against the Goyim’s best interests is folly.
Clearly when Jews’ say ‘we’, they intend it to have the Goyim imagine they are included in the ‘we’ which the Jews’ deploy when they are encouraging the Goyim to fight for America.
Americans have been presented with a Hobson’s choice in the coming election. Both candidates are positioning themselves to support Israel. Harris claims under her administration Jews will continue to enjoy American protection. Trump claims he will deploy America’s young men to fight Iran.
Why are Americans being propagandized to believe either candidate is other than a puppet of the people with the “real power at the top.”
Did the Jews’ not understand the power of the Internet was not control but instead exposure. It appears the people in the Middle East figured that out. Millions of people around the world witnessed the Mubarak regime being overthrown in Egypt in real time. Before the Internet and cell phone technologies I imagine Mubarak would never have been overthrown. Tyrannies hate the spotlight.
The West is experiencing the spotlight. Its dominant elites hate that. Much of the agonies of the past Century and especially their causes have been successfully covered up. People were not watching the events unfold in real time. They experienced the agonies in real time. But they were covered up. Plenty of useful idiots aided the coverups.
For instance. The Bolsheviks were Jews. They promulgated the Russian Revolution. Indeed Jewish bankers refused to loan the Tzar money necessary to continue the economic growth Russia was successfully pursuing. But the Jewish bankers had no problem underwriting the two revolutions there to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. And what followed was a nightmare of frightful genocide of the majority ethnic Christian population. This was successfully covered up! How many people reading this post have any idea of what the Jews promulgated in Russia. It has been covered up. Today the world would have at least witnessed this evil! Would they have done anything about it?
Only savages absent a conscience could have thought to plan and execute such an evil and then cover it up. Jews are at it again in Ukraine today. Jews got their Balfour Resolution in return for the Jews in America advertising to the gullible citizens of America that the war in Germany was a fight for democracy and freedom. It was for exactly the opposite. The Jews wanted Palestine for a homeland, which once the ink was dry on the Balfour letter to Rothschild, the extermination of the Palestinians — Jews, Christian’s and Moslems — could commence!
There is nothing which occurred in the 20th Century which was not promulgated by Jews’ for Jews’ which was not concealed by a skein of lies, deception, and heinous propaganda few truly understood. Many that did understand were simply disappeared, murdered, assassinated, or banished.
But today the proof is in front of our eyes! What is lacking is paradoxically the collective realization in the West that we are captive of something in which we are imbedded. It appears that the strategy in Gaza is an abnegation of the Jewish convention. They are sacrificing themselves and the world is witness to the terror of the situation. Israel is surrounded! But the Arabs and Persians are refusing to fight on the Jews’ terms of engagement. The resistance is patient, measured and intentionally consistent with the right to defend themselves. Obviously the Jews are the aggressors. The same thing is playing out in Ukraine. The Jews there are sending Ukrainians to fight the Russians. Hundreds of thousands of white Christian men are dying for a false premise. Putin has no intention of making a war of expansion. He is simply and carefully restraining his defense. Something like a good chess player.
The Jews are shaking in frustration. There is nothing in their experience fighting in the spotlight. But there they are! They are doing their utmost to extend their murderous and perfidious regime throughout the world. The world has their number. Today the Jews are alone. They are hated. They are mistrusted. They killed their host country — the U.S. — where they dominate. But they are increasingly isolated. One can almost see them quivering in impotent rage. The world is watching.”
by
werpor
Posted by: ld | Oct 5 2024 18:52 utc | 85
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