From the 1970s onwards, Israel aided the development first of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza, and subsequently Hamas, created by the Brotherhood during the 1987 intifada. The aim was to undermine the authority of the secular PLO. “Bolstered by this policy”, the Times of Israel observed last week, “Hamas grew stronger”. Those who want to maintain the land of Israel solely for Jews and those who want to eliminate Jews from that land are as much in a mutual embrace as in a death struggle.
And this was reported by UPI in 2002:
...according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials, beginning in the late 1970s, Tel Aviv gave direct and indirect financial aid to Hamas over a period of years.
Israel "aided Hamas directly -- the Israelis wanted to use it as a counterbalance to the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization)," said Tony Cordesman, Middle East analyst for the Center for Strategic Studies.
The Times of Israel reports that,
[b]olstered by this policy, Hamas grew stronger and stronger until Saturday, Israel’s “Pearl Harbor,” the bloodiest day in its history — when terrorists crossed the border, slaughtered hundreds of Israelis and kidnapped an unknown number under the cover of thousands of rockets fired at towns throughout the country’s south and center.
Where all of this will end is anyone's guess; the odds of the conflict spreading are significant. The only thing I know with any certainty is that reflexively supporting Israel, no matter what it does, will only ensure that the suffering on both sides is prolonged, and the press does no one any good by self-censorship in this matter.
Consequently, the anger, resentment and hatred felt by Palestinians today will find new generations to carry on this conflict, either overtly or through repeated, smaller attacks, long into the future.
Well said Lorne. RG
ReplyDeleteThanks, RG. The more we know, the better we can exercise our critical faculties.
ReplyDeleteIt is not always wise to sponsor opposition groups. The US Republicans tried this with the astroturf Teaparty movement and it turned on the Establishment Republicans. There is good reason to believe that various efforts and financial support the Okhrana (Secret police force of the Russian Empire) supplied to revolutionaries while infiltrating their organizations really helped bring about the October Revolution.
ReplyDeleteUS aid to various "moderate" groups in Iraq and Syria has helped fuel terrorism in the Middle East and Africa.
There are times when masterful inaction is a good idea.
OT: Any news on the RCMP greenbelt investigation?
In my view, Anon, so much of American foreign policy has been about interfering in or helping to overthrow governments. One needs only to look at the results of that in places like Iran and Afghanistan today. Blood and treasure wasted.
DeleteI suspect the RCMP investigation into the Greenbelt corruption, just getting started, will go on for several years. I hope with it hanging over their heads, the Fordites will have very limited success in "changing the channel."
so much of American foreign policy has been about interfering in or helping to overthrow governments
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I think it is based on a very simple-minded view of the world, generally, in historical circles referred to as the "Great Man of History "hypothesis".
Without Galileo we would never have realised the Sun is the centre of the Solar System. If Hitler had been killed in WWI, Germany would never have gone fascist. Killing Osama bin Laden will cripple Al Qaeda and so on. Assassinating Fidel Castro will give us back Cuba.
So far this is not working well.
All the USA has to do is overthrow the "leader" of Country X and everything will be hunky--dore. The CIA's first real regime change effort in Iran probably reinforced this idea. It went really well for twenty or so years until the total melt-down of the Shah's regime.
Patrick Armstrong a former DND and DFAIT Russian analyst has a fascinating blog post on this. THE GREAT AMERICAN DELUSION – JUST THAT ONE GUY
Thank you for the link, Anon - an excellent article, one that exposes both the simple-mindedness of American thinking and the hubris that attends it. As the article says, the failure to see context, and viewing the world through a pretty narrow lens, means that their efforts are doomed to repeated failure.
DeleteI read a book about the CIA recently, called Poisoner in Chief, by Stephen Kinzer. It outlines the Agency's efforts at developing mind-control techniques, mostly using drugs like LSD. It also dealt with the development of assassination methods to handle 'troublesome' international personalities, again, the objective being to eliminate individuals, just as your link discusses the simple-mindedness of the American worldview. One of the most chilling aspects of the book detailed the complete indifference the CIA had to lives, even
American lives, that they deemed expendable.
There is little of virtue in what the U.S. has done over the years in pursuit of what they believe is their God-given right to arbitrate the world.