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A point for the Israel lobby theory, from Panetta

By Philip Weiss on December 5, 2011
panetta
‘Defense’ Secretary Leon Panetta

One of the big arguments against the Israel lobby theory is that our Middle East policy is driven by the military industrial complex. And so the Iraq war was a war for oil and military spending. This cynical materialist theory (spawned by Eisenhower in ’61) dismisses my cynical theory of history (spawned by realists in 2006), which turns on ideology and religion– that many of the war’s proponents wanted to make Israel safer by invading a country that had attacked Israel.

Well when I was in Cairo recently Issandr El Amrani, who largely agrees with me, said that if American corporate interests really were driving policy in the region, why not have a robust arms race among all the feuding countries there? Why not foster an arms race between Israel and Iran and Egypt– that would be great for profits! End the treaty between Israel and Egypt, let Egypt militarize itself even more…

But we don’t foster an arms race. And Leon Panetta explicitly does not want an arms race. From the Defense Secretary’s conversation with Kenneth Pollack at the Saban Forum Friday:

MR. POLLACK: …What do you think the consequences of Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapon would be and why do you – (inaudible)?

SEC. PANETTA:… once Iran gets a nuclear weapon, then they’re not – you will have an arms race in the Middle East.  What’s to stop Saudi Arabia from getting a nuclear weapon?  What’s to stop other countries from getting nuclear weapons in that part of the world?  Suddenly we have an escalation of these horrible weapons that, you know, I think create even greater devastation in the Middle East.

So a key for all of us – for all of us is to work together – together – to ensure that that does not happen.  We have made good progress in these efforts.  We continue to make good progress in these efforts.  That’s where we ought to continue to put our pressures, our efforts, our diplomatic, our economic, experts working together to make sure that that does not happen.

December 5, 2011 - Posted by | Economics, Timeless or most popular, Wars for Israel

3 Comments

  1. In what Alternate Universe does it say the same unconscionable Western Governments who facilitated Israel secret WMDs stockpile and that Israel, who has been selling Nuclear Weapons technology to the all and sundry ie South Africa and that Israel who started Iran on the road to Nuclear proficiency has a right to demand obedience from Iran who is one of the founding member of the NPT, a treaty organization Israel have never bothered to sign .

    I hope Iran is really in possession of at least one of the missing Nukes Israel salvaged from the South African decommissioned WMDs.site, for that should surely put the cat amongst the pigeons.

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    Comment by lydia | December 6, 2011

  2. […] A point for the Israel lobby theory, from Panetta (alethonews.wordpress.com) […]

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    Pingback by America, Israel and Iran – no way out. If Obama can’t stand up to Iran and Israel, he will set the US on a direct path to another Middle East war. « Middle East atemporal | December 14, 2011

  3. […] Un punct pentru teoria lobby-ul israelian, de la Panetta  (alethonews.wordpress.com) […]

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    Pingback by SUBIECTE pe blogul midle east atemporal – DECEMBRIE 2011 –partea a V-a | gerulia | May 13, 2013


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