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I agree with much of what Hassan says concerning the centrality of the US-Israel alliance. But I'm not sure that Hassan gets to the bottom of the subject. He states <There is no doubt that oil is a major factor in the US imperialist plans. But it is my belief, and that of the majority of Arabs, that THE MAJOR reason is Israel and its protection.> and asks <is it a lie that Zionists control decision making on US foreign policy related to the Middle East?> No, it's not a lie, but neither is it accurate or precise enough to be true. Why has the US-Israeli partnership proved so enduring throughout the past fifty years of expansionist wars, uprisings and massacres? Why is GW Bush now risking his relations with pro-US Arab regimes by endorsing Sharon's brutal escalation? One reason often cited is the economic and political power wielded by Jewish capitalists within the US government. This is a false and dangerous misreading of US Middle East policy. If alliance with Israel was not also in the interests of the US capitalists who are not Jews, their anti-semitism, which is still rife, would be enough on its own to dissolve the alliance. The idea that powerful sectors of US capital - for instance, the oil corporations - support policies towards the Middle East despite judging them to be against their own interests, out of sympathy for the Jews and their suffering during WW2, is absurd. It also feeds into dangerous "Jewish consipracy" myths. This misconception about what guides US foreign policy is widespread in the Middle East. It reflects the desire of Arab bourgeoisies and the middle class for a more equal relationship with imperialism. Pro-US Arab regimes are humiliated by US support for Israel's military occupation. It prevents these regimes from obscuring their subservient status and the fiction of national sovereignty. The biggest Egyptian and Lebanese capitalists, the princes of Saudi Arabia and the emirs and sheiks of the Gulf have moved the bulk of their huge personal fortunes out of the Middle East, to New York, London and other imperialist centres. The Saudi royal family alone has removed an estimated $600bn from their country, which is suffering from falling living standards, high unemployent, and a government forced to cut essential services whenever the price of a barrel of oil drifts below $18. Despite the fabulous wealth of the Middle East's Arab ruling families, their countries, all of them, remain oppressed, exploited semicolonies, a status which they share with the rest of the Third World. The US and UK imperialist governments do not want partnership with the corrupt super-rich Arab regimes, they want subservience, in return for which the US will grant protection and a place for their snout in the trough. A central pillar of Washington's global power - its control over the world's oil supplies - is inconsistent with a Middle East under the control of its people. For all their oil and weaponry, the US cannot rely on unstable Arab regimes to preserve this imperialist order. However, it can rely on Israel to be a "bulwark against Asia, the advance post of civilisation against barbarism", as envisaged by Theodor Herzl, founder of the modern Zionist movement. This is why the US maintains Israel's military supremacy over its Arab neighbours and confers on it, alone in the Middle East, the right to possess weapons of mass destruction. _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk