[Peace-discuss] Fw: [socialistdiscussion] The Freeman Affair & It's Significance

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: John Reimann 
To: socialist discussion 
Sent: Monday, March 16, 2009 11:42 AM
Subject: [socialistdiscussion] The Freeman Affair & It's Significance


Some comrades may have followed the flap over the attempted
appointment of Charles Freeman to head the National Intelligence
Council. This is the council that sorts through all the intelligence
reports and weighs up these for policy makers, including the
president. As such, although it is relatively obscure, it can play an
important role. Think "weapons of mass destruction" for instance, or
nowadays, think "Iran nuclear device". Given the centrality of the Mid
East to world politics and within that of Israel, and one can see why
Freeman's
attempted appointment was so controversial.

Just to make sure that there is no misunderstanding: US SUPPORT FOR
ISRAEL IS DICTATED FIRST AND FOREMOST BY THE INTERESTS OF THE US
CAPITALIST CLASS. I have always believed this. However, the interests
of US capitalism and those of Israeli capitalism are obviously not one
and the same at all times. And even in Israel, I believe that it's
possible that the Israeli capitalist class's control over affairs has
been weakened and Israeli expansionism has gone further than even they
may have wished. Further, US politics have become more corrupt than at
almost anytime in the past. This is the significance of the
denunciations one hears here about "special interests": The interests
of one or another clique of capitalists are met to the detriment of
the efficiency of the US capitalist system as a whole. This doesn't
mean that the overal interests of the US capitalist class are
attacked, but that the system is made to function less efficiently,
and incorrect tactics are adopted at times, for instance. How is this
done? Bribery, pure and simple. In fact, this was how the first
bailout bill passed the House of representatives (although in that
case the bill overall did represent the interests of the major wings
of US capitalism). This bribery is mainly organized through different
lobbying groups.

Probably the most influential of these bribery groups is the American
Israeli Political Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Part of the reason for
their influence is the vast amount of money they have. Another is
their having teamed up with the neo conservatives and the Christian
fundamentalists. It was this holy trio that orchestrated the defeat of
Freeman's appointment.

Freeman's sin? He was committed to separating US tactical interests
from those of Israel. For instance, he openly opposed the settlement
policy of Israel. He never, ever, opposed US policy in the region in
general, nor a US alliance with Israel, but he has called for what
amounts to a break with the influence of the holy trio. For this, he
was denounced and his appointment was defeated. (Freeman has since
said that the term "Israel Lobby" is incorrect and it should be called
the Netanyahu/Lieberman lobby. In other words, this lobby really
represents the interests of a particular wing of Israeli capitalism.)

However, some are now calling this a Pyrrhic victory, the lobby's
Waterloo. Let's not forget that Obama came to power as the candidate
of that wing of the US capitalist class that is less ideologically
driven, less influenced by the fundamentalists and the idiot
neo-conservatives. In other words, more pragmatic. One analyst of
Freeman's defeat pointed this out:

"Since the election, many lobby members have viewed a number of Obama's
top appointments, including Shapiro, who's taken the Middle East
portfolio at the National Security Council, and Kurtzer, who's in line
for a top State Department job, with great unease. Take retired Marine
general and now National Security Advisor James L. Jones, who, like
Brzezinski, is seen as too sympathetic to the Palestinian point of view
and who reputedly wrote a report last year highly critical of Israel's
occupation policies; or consider George Mitchell, the U.S. special
envoy to the Middle East, who is regarded by many pro-Israeli hawks as
far too level-headed and even-handed to be a good mediator; or, to
mention one more appointment, Samantha Power, author of A Problem from
Hell and now a National Security Council official who has, in the past,
made comments sharply critical of Israel."

It could well be that this victory will harden the determination of
the major sectors of the US capitalist class to cut the influence of
the Israel lobby. If so, then one means of doing so will have to be
through a media campaign that further exposes Israel's crimes. This
will have an influence on the public mood.

John

-- 
Check out:
http://www.iww.org/en/blog/1411

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