In its essence, this law shackles every American president with a legal obligation to ensure that Israel maintains its military dominance over the Middle East. ---- know the enemy
they don't get this power by being good Americans On Oct 10, 8:15 am, excalliber stevens <[email protected]> wrote: > Panetta To Netanyahu:” Israel May Not Survive > The Current Arab/Islamic Awakening” > By Franklin Lamb > 09 October, 2011 > Countercurrents.org > Beirut: Three weeks after being named by President Obama in January > 2009 as the 19th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and > during his first day on the job which was February 12, 2009, Leon > Panetta, now US Secretary of Defense, signed off on a March 2009 “eyes > only” CIA Report that had just been completed by his new agency. > As reported at the time, the CIA Report predicted the demise of Israel > within 20 years, if present political trends in the region continued. > The CIA intelligence analysts concluded that it was unlikely that > Israeli leaders would grant even minimal concessions in order to > achieve a settlement with their neighbors, which comprise increasingly > disillusioned and rapidly growing dignity and justice seeking > populations. > The CIA Report noted that Israeli officials felt emboldened in taking > Palestinian land by the myriad support Israel was receiving from the > leadership of Egypt, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan and three > other Arab leaders. > Israel and its two most powerful US lobbies, the US Congress and > AIPAC, quickly squelched the 2009 Report and only seven copies were > eventually acknowledged, one by AIPAC and the others by staffers of > select supporters of Israel on key Congressional Committees. > During last week’s meetings with Israeli officials, both sides knew > that the 2009 CIA study was front and center even without Panetta > being the first one to refer to it. > President Obama sent Panetta to engage in frank discussions which > included the White House displeasure at Netanyahu’s repeated > humiliation of the President over the past 18 months and Israeli > threats to cut off Jewish aid to Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. > Panetta did deliver public statements which allowed Netanyahu to put > the best hasbara face on the meetings and he thanked the US Secretary > of Defense for “helping to improve US-Israeli relations.” > Panetta repeated at a news conference with his Israeli counterpart, > Defense Minister Ehud Barak some pointed generalizations. "At this > dramatic time in the Middle East, when there have been so many > changes, it's not a good situation for Israel to become increasingly > isolated. And that is what's happening," he said. > "There's not much question in my mind that they maintain that > (military) edge. But the question you have to ask he added is: was it > enough to maintain a military edge, if you're isolating yourself in > the diplomatic arena? At this dramatic time in the Middle East, when > there have been so many changes, it's not a good situation for Israel > to become increasingly isolated. And that is what's happening," he > said. > In private, according to Washington sources, the atmosphere was quite > different. Panetta reportedly made plain that given recent changes > among Middle East countries, meaning the Arab Spring and Islamic > Awakening, Israel was quickly running out of time. Its only choice was > to make peace with the Palestinians and her neighbors or perish. > During frank and sometimes heated exchanges, Panetta told the Israelis > that time is running out for a two state solution, which means time is > running out for Zionist Israel and that similar to apartheid South > Africa, following the Reagan years, the days of American propping up > of Israel are coming to a close. > Seemingly dwelling on the subject of the US being unable to continue > funding Israel in real terms with more than $6 billion every year and > being able to continue to guarantee Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge > (QME), Panetta told the Israelis that it was out of the question given > American domestic problems and the US process of substantial, if > partial, disengagement from the region. > At issue with the American inability and increasing unwillingness to > prop up Israel’s QME is the innocuous sounding 2008 Naval Vessel > Transfer Act shepherded through the Congress a month before the 2008 > US Presidential election by one of Israel’s unwavering lobbyists, Rep. > Howard Berman. > In its essence, this law shackles every American president with a > legal obligation to ensure that Israel maintains its military > dominance over the Middle East. > It is designed to assure that Israel’s regional hegemony is legally > mandated via Israel’s“Qualitative Military +*Edge” (QME). The US > Government must guarantee that “the sale or export of the defense > articles or defense services will not adversely affect Israel’s > qualitative military edge over any military threats to Israel.” > The term ‘qualitative military edge’ means the ability to counter and > defeat any credible conventional military threat from any individual > state or possible coalition of states or from non-state actors, while > sustaining minimal damages and casualties, through the use of superior > military means, possessed in sufficient quantity, including weapons, > command, control, communication, intelligence, surveillance, and > reconnaissance capabilities that in their technical characteristics > are superior in capability to those of such other individual or > possible coalition of states or non-state actors. > Panetta reportedly reminded Ehud Barak, during heated discussions > between the two defense ministers of the statement of an Egyptian > general back 1973 as reported by then President Nixon.According to > Nixon, an Israeli official asked an Egyptian general convalescing in > hospital, “We have defeated you Arabs three times (1948, 1967 & 1973) > why to you continue to resist us?” The Egyptian replied, "You may have > defeated us three times, and you may defeat us 11 times. But the 12th > time we will win and Palestine will be liberated." > The unavoidable signs seen by Panetta, as by his predecessor, Defense > Secretary Robert Gates, include nearly one dozen uprisings in the > region that share the goal, among others, of returning Palestine to > its rightful inhabitants. > The Egyptian people are reclaiming Egypt’s proud Arab position and > helping lead the cause to liberate Palestine as evidenced by their > intentions to expel the Israeli Embassy, scrap Camp David, abrogate > the capitulation agreements, including Egypt’s natural gas giveaway to > Israel subsidized by the Egyptian people, and made by the Mubarak > family doing business with Israeli officials. Panetta, and an > increasingly number of American officials as well as the American > public knows that the genie has been released and that Arabs, Muslims, > and all people of good will continue to inexorably confront the > remaining 19th Century colonial enterprise which is the artificial and > illegitimate Zionist implantation on Palestinian land. > Franklin Lamb is doing research in Libya. He is reachable c\o > [email protected]. He is the author of The Price We Pay: A Quarter- > Century of Israel’s Use of American Weapons Against Civilians in > Lebanon. > > http://www.countercurrents.org/lamb091011.htmwww.realindianews.blogspot.com -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
