Drumbeats of War - The Mirrors Crack
The mutual reflections of US and Israeli policy have been the basis for the current peace in the Middle East. As long as both countries had mirror-image stances on Israel’s security, the Iranian nuclear crisis, and the Palestinians… there was a large degree of stability.
Now those mirrors have started to crack.
US Vice President Biden, who was supposed to be a close personal friend of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, came into Israel loaded for bear, and was none too gentle telling Israel they WOULD toe the line, and the US would decide what was good for them. He rode roughshod over Netanyahu, and linked the Iranian nuclear crisis with the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and demanded progress right now, damn it! And he did it all in the name of the American People, not much mentioning our President or his wishes (and who remains eerily silent on these issues.)
Oh, not so good.
The Israelis popped. They announced they would continue building in East Jerusalem. That was a cherry bomb to the peace process, sending everyone involved scurrying around like ants who have had their nest tramped on.
It is unclear whether Netanyahu simply allowed the announcement to happen, or caused it behind the scenes. The fact that he did not control the timing of the announcement has played sour in Israel as well as worldwide. He created a widening grease stain on his administration.
Defense Minister Barack almost went nuclear himself… no, that’s a bad word to use at this time… Barak heatedly disagreed with Netanyahu in public, and the Israeli Prime Minister was by turns flustered, fuming, and fidgeting. Before it ended, it is said they nearly came to blows.
Barak told Netanyahu that Netanyahu had permanently harmed Israel’s relationship with the current administration, and according to one source, destroyed the possibility of a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Oh? Was that in the works? It wasn’t supposed to be. Biden was supposedly in Israel to keep an unauthorized strike from happening while the US did… um, something, although it is unclear what, to keep the Iranians from progress on their nuclear program.
Today Sec. of State Hilary Clinton rammed Netanyahu with a phone call that boiled down to a queenly “We are not pleased” dressing down of the Israeli Prime Minister.
Saudi Arabia and the other Arab states were frightened by this sudden split between the US and Israel, and frantically called for reassurance from the US that we had not abandoned entirely our promise to keep Iran in line, one way or another. Sec. of Defense Gates is shuttling between Arab nations, trying to put oil on troubled waters (pun, or whatever that is, intended. Sorry).
But really… how could something so tiny seem to change the course of history?
It is often that way.
When heavy issues that can impact the whole world are balanced on the tip of a needle, a small event can shove things inexorably toward a great maelstrom. It is not the event. The event simply shows the direction of tempest that is already on its way.
Netanyahu is abasing himself with apologies (but not stopping the construction). Obama is… silent as usual. The Arabs are trying to see what they can gain out of this melee. And the US State Department seems to be planning revenge. Very bad stuff, everywhere.
I question how much of this was done on purpose to distance the US from Israel. That may be crediting all the players with much more cunning than they actually have. But if all this is just political charades, then it really does set the stage for a unilateral military strike by Israel. The US can stand on the sidelines and let them do the heavy lifting, then shake our heads and say, really, we told them not to do it. Really. We weren’t even friendly with them any more. Really.
And if all the players are incompetents, stumbling on the world stage in a comedy of errors that may turn into the greatest tragedy of modern times… well, I can believe that, too.
Coincidentally… or not so coincidentally… the Stock Market is poised for a huge ‘correction’ next week. It may not actually happen. It’s pretty clear that the market is being supported by the Big Boys, and it will not crash until they want it to do so. But the smell of a great bear is in the wind.
Ah. The waiting. That is always the hardest part.
Buy food. Get water. Store it.
