380 Barack H. Obama: The Unauthorized Biographycommenting that the problem was not centered in the State Department or the White House, but
rather among the Jewish voters of “New York City. Miami. We have a large vote — vote, here in
favor of Israel. And no politician wants to run against it.” McPeak also claims that a combination of
Jews and Christian Zionists are manipulating U.S. policy in Iraq in dangerous and radical ways:
“Let’s say that one of your abiding concerns is the security of Israel as opposed to a purely
American self-interest, then it would make sense to build a dozen or so bases in Iraq. Let’s say you
are a born-again Christian and you think that Armageddon and the rapture are about to happen any
minute and what you want to do is retrace steps you think are laid out in Revelations, then it makes
sense. So there are a number of scenarios here that could lead you in this direction. This is
radical....” (Ed Lasky, ‘Obama Advisor Accuses Jews of “McCarthyism,” American Thinker.’)
Maybe, but then again, Brzezinski is crazier than any neocon.
Many of the criticisms leveled by the Obama camp against the Israelis and their US supporters
are unquestionably true, but this does not make them any less opportunistic. The main objection
against Israeli right-wing extremists of the Netanyahu type is that they are implacably opposed to a
general peace settlement for the Middle East, and in this they agree completely with Brzezinski and
Obama, who want to use the Middle East as a staging area for confrontation and possible war with
Russia and China. The Israelis have acquired quite a few enemies for themselves by their brutal
and arrogant behavior during the Bush regime era, but it is always a mistake to let one’s outlook be
distorted by hatred, and one senses that much of the anti-Israeli rhetoric is of this type. It helps to
have some understanding for the subjective predicament of the Israelis themselves. Under Bush,
Israel was the unquestioned strategic center of the world, with many exertions of the United States
devoted to eliminating present adversaries and future challenges for the Israeli regime. With
Brzezinski, by contrast, the Israelis are finding themselves radically demoted from the status of
linchpin of the world to that of just another expendable pawn in the Polish revanchist’s apocalyptic
confrontation with Moscow and Beijing. In this, the Israelis are far from alone: Europe, Africa, the
Middle East as a whole, and the United States itself are all seen by Brzezinski as expendable pawns
in this apocalyptic struggle with the two capitals of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It is
simply a fact that the Iran which Brzezinski is intent on building up and then launching against
Moscow may well surprise the old revanchist by striking out in completely unexpected directions,
and Israel could very well be one of them. The Israelis therefore have every right to object
vehemently to the new US imperialist line that takes so little account of their survival. Even worse,
it is clear that Brzezinski regards Israel, with its 500 to 600 nuclear weapons, and relevant delivery
systems, as a possible trump card to be played against the Russians. Naturally, in such a
confrontation Israel’s lack of geographic depths when measured against the immensity of the
Eurasian superpower could well lead to the annihilation of the Israelis. All in all, the new
hegemony of Brzezinski over US foreign policy spells nothing but trouble for the Israelis and for
the rest of the Middle East.
We must however add that the Israelis need to steer clear of leaders like Netanyahu, and rather
embrace the outlines of the Yossi Beilin -Yasser Abed Rabbo Geneva Accords of November 2003,
which call for two independent, sovereign and inviolable states, quite possibly separated by cordons
of foreign troops, with the demolition of all Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, and the
strict abrogation of any Palestinian right to return into the future Israel. Both of these measures
need to include substantial compensation for the people involved. What needs to be added to this
plan is the idea of a regional Marshall plan for the economic developments and postwar
reconstruction of the entire Middle East, including not just Israel and Palestine, but also such
devastated areas as Lebanon, Iraq, and Sudan, and the redressing of the pernicious effects of many