America needs to connect the dots, ...

Rami Khouri in the DailyStar:

"... There has been much talk in the United States since September 11, 2001 about the importance of “connecting the dots” in analyzing global intelligence information. This means that different bits of information from various sources should be linked to each other to provide a fuller picture of an actual or imminent security threat that is not apparent from a single act or source of intelligence.

The same process of connecting the dots is useful for any American interested in learning why the United States now finds itself in the unenviable situation of fighting two wars in the greater Middle East with limited success, pushing very hard for a resumption of Arab-Israeli peace negotiations with equally elusive achievements, steadily moving towards a more strident confrontation with Iran, and, seeing Arab public perception of the US drop precipitously in the past year.

Here are four dots that thoughtful Americans should ponder carefully, while they connect them to learn why the US in much of the world has become the beacon of democracy and freedom at home, but also dishonesty abroad. These are three moves in the Congress (mainly the House of Representatives) to support an Israeli military attack against Iran, to suspend and review American military assistance to Lebanon for fear that US weapons might be used to fight Israel, and, to review financial support for the United Nations agency UNRWA, which provides basic health, food and education needs for Palestinian refugees, because of alleged anti-Israeli actions among UNRWA staff or facilities.

The fourth dot is the annual public opinion poll of four Arab countries released last week by the University of Maryland (conducted by Shibley Telhami) and Zogby International, showing that Arab views of President Barack Obama and the United States have plunged sharply in the past year. This year only 16 percent of Arabs are hopeful about US policy in the Middle East – compared to a healthy 51 percent just a year ago. More significantly, a whopping 61 percent of Arabs polled said that US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the most important reason for their disappointment with Washington. Arab support for Iran’s nuclear rights is massive and keeps increasing, while Arabs regard the US and Israel as their principal threat.

The three dynamics in the House of Representatives reflect the core problem with American foreign policy in the Middle East as seen through Arab eyes: Washington’s severe tilt toward pro-Israel positions is so intense that it wipes out prospects for the US to be a truly impartial mediator in peace negotiations, and hurts many other American interests in the region.

These three congressional initiatives will probably not be voted into law, but that is besides the point. In domestic American political terms, the point is that any public discussion of Arab-Israeli or other Middle Eastern issues must be framed squarely, repeatedly, and solely through the lens of what right-wing Israelis and other Zionists feel is in their interest. Everything else – Arab rights, American strategic interests, the vulnerability of young American troops in the region, the stability of Arab regimes – is secondary.

So the message from political America is that Israeli sensitivities, security and, in some instances, colonization policies, are the criteria by which all American actions in the Middle East are measured. American foreign policy thus becomes a proxy for Zionist fears and Israeli militarism. So Arabs get US military aid but cannot use it to defend themselves against Israeli threats or aggression. UN agencies that provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians should be emasculated in order for the Palestinian refugee issue to melt away. All support should be provided to Israel to attack Iran. If any American politician resists these rules, they either quickly conform or are booted out of office.

It took the Arab world about two generations to wake up to the reality that noble and widely operative American principles of fair play, even-handedness, justice and equality are almost totally sidelined when Arab-Israeli issues are concerned. Three principal reactions to this can be observed to date, and continue to develop: Islamist and resistance movements continue to strengthen and act throughout the Middle East; public opinion remains deeply skeptical and critical of US policy; and, once firm American allies (like Iran and Turkey) carve out very different, independent postures for themselves.

This leaves the US anchored in the region only to a wildly militaristic and increasingly isolated and even delegitimized Israeli government, along with Arab governments that are steadily finding themselves more distant from their own people’s sentiments and values.

There are enough dots to connect here to keep people busy in Washington for some months, if anyone there dares or cares to deal with the Middle East’s realities, as opposed only to those pertaining to domestic American power politics. "