I am always surprised how we in US have been bamboozled by this financial parasitic and at times unhealthy one sided relationship. I understand supporting our allies and all that (in times of need, and if no detriment to our own economy etc..) However there are those that argue our relationship with Israel is one of the main causes why our country
has to protect our own boarder against threats. If you all want a very serious read (and yes it is long read , but a well thought out paper) . It also points out how we have been bamboozaled into even being allowed to debate the relationship at all in congress and in open quarams like this thread post without those questioning the health of our ties being labeled as Semi-semites. No one want to even discuss it. Totally taboo subject imposed by effective Israel lobbyists.
Read the following
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http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/john-mearsheimer/the-israel-lobby John Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science
at the University of Chicago.
Excerpts - (but please go to link and re-read in entirety and in full-context.)
excerpt 1 -
Beginning in the 1990s, and even more after 9/11, US support has been justified by the claim that both states are threatened by terrorist groups originating in the Arab and Muslim world, and by ‘rogue states’ that back these groups and seek weapons of mass destruction. This is taken to mean not only that Washington should give Israel a free hand in dealing with the Palestinians and not press it to make concessions until all Palestinian terrorists are imprisoned or dead, but that the US should go after countries like Iran and Syria. Israel is thus seen as a crucial ally in the war on terror, because its enemies are America’s enemies. In fact, Israel is a liability in the war on terror and the broader effort to deal with rogue states.
More important, saying that Israel and the US are united by a shared terrorist threat has the causal relationship backwards: the US has a terrorism problem in good part because it is so closely allied with Israel, not the other way around.
excerpt 2
As for so-called rogue states in the Middle East, they are not a dire threat to vital US interests, except inasmuch as they are a threat to Israel. Even if these states acquire nuclear weapons – which is obviously undesirable – neither America nor Israel could be blackmailed, because the blackmailer could not carry out the threat without suffering overwhelming retaliation.
excerpt 3
A final reason to question Israel’s strategic value is that it does not behave like a loyal ally. Israeli officials frequently ignore US requests and renege on promises (including pledges to stop building settlements and to refrain from ‘targeted assassinations’ of Palestinian leaders). Israel has provided sensitive military technology to potential rivals like China, in what the State Department inspector-general called ‘a systematic and growing pattern of unauthorised transfers’.
