April 28, 2011
We should decide whom to support in the Middle East based on who will work vigorously to curtail female genital mutilation, arbitrary imprisonment and executions, torture, stoning adulterers, and other atrocities. Instead we primarily base our Middle East policy on what’s best for Israel followed very closely by what’s best for big oil. Apparently what’s good for Exxon Mobil is good for America.
Western pundits admit the dynamics are different from one Middle Eastern country to another, but they can”t admit they have no solid grasp of what those differences are. It’s the old Rumsfeld thing about “known knowns…known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns.” The common threads are oil prices, Israel’s desire for the Arabs to be in disarray, and our military’s appetite for splendid little wars to keep in fighting trim.
Our Founding Fathers tried making it impossible for religion or special interests to unduly influence the government. Apparently they failed. We should heed George Washington’s advice to “steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world” and keep our hands off the Middle East.
