A few days ago, The Christian Messenger’s editor asked me where the US administration’s sympathies would lie in the event of a Chinese attack on India. Although I replied to his email query, his question made me introspect and this analytical comment is a result of that.
Firstly, I would like to tell my readers that I come from a family whose members have had distinguished careers in the military, protective and defense services of the United States. I have the utmost respect for the US military, intelligence, protective services and overseas State Department personnel for their devoted, unrelenting and often unrewarded work that sometimes has tragically ended some lives.
Secondly, I have lived in countries in turmoil and personally experienced the aftereffects of military coups, communist protest, unrest and tribal warfare during multiple conflicts and wars. Among the carnage, I have seen people shot, hacked up and executed by hanging.
I have heard first-hand accounts of ignored intelligence, battle frustrations and failures, political blunders and disregarded war crime atrocities. There have been allegations that sometimes intelligence advice was altered during politically charged environments as the military or security officials may have been pressured to be politically correct. I’m not alone in projecting that this perceived activity gives the feeling to outsiders that many politicians, worldwide, don’t regard impending warfare as critical unless it’s happening to them.
Now, I want to make something else very clear. Mistrust is not about the American individual. Israel and many countries in the Middle East know that the average American can be supportive, empathetic and generous in contributing their lives, money and time. Nonetheless, our governments’ past history and behavior concerning our allies and warfare tell an entirely different story.
Since War World II it can be persuasively argued that USA has not taken a committed stand for anybody in the world or they would have won the wars decisively (we’ll have to wait and see about Korea). Even before that, the US was hesitant to get involved in anything out of their borders.
What USA has done is fight vicious, effective clandestine wars in addition to small, limited wars actually classified as ‘conflicts’ in the hope that they might be resolved quickly. Instead, these conflicts turned into long drawn-out wars like in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan except for some tiny incursions like in Panama and Grenada.
This pattern along with public utterances, treaties and behavioral traits displayed during conflicts give the impression USA’s decision to enter war is motivated purely by politics and perhaps finance. Unfortunately, the motivation for warfare might not be because of alliances, democracy, freedom, suffering and death. What is more pitiful is the US gives the illusion they will help countries or populations fight for democracy. Then they sit by and watch the abuse and slaughter while ‘condemning it with words’, not with action. You only need to look at Syria and before that the protests in Iran to get my point.
Also read: Does Iranian leadership indicate that history is repeating?
Unfortunately, USA is blind to this alleged behavior as many times its deeds have not reflected its words. The US thinks it is doing everyone a big favor with its delusions of protection while pushing change and democracy while the local citizens fighting for rights get tortured and massacred.
This conduct has not escaped the attention of USA’s allies and friends since the Shah of Iran, forward to North Africa particularly in Egypt to Mubarak, and the current treatment of Israel. Nevertheless, out of respect for the average American, most serious political contentions amid the US and allied foreign politicians are kept out of the public arena.
Therefore, it’s anybody’s guess what USA would do in any potential war scenario be it in the Indian subcontinent or in the Middle East. And this is precisely why Israel is prepared to strike Iran alone.
Also read: Middle East in 2012: What lies ahead for Israel?
But in defense of American ignorance, it’s probably because, thankfully, USA is not daily threatened with aerial bombardment on its borders. The Americans don’t have rockets exploding in California, Arizona, Washington State, or Montana. They don’t have surrounding nations threatening artillery and guided missile strikes with chemical and biological tipped warheads. Their soldiers are not kidnapped in Florida, New York or Kansas. Their civilians are not continually endangered by terrorists wielding body bombs, axes, knives and automatic rifles. They don’t have civilians cut down by marauding terrorists driving bulldozers and semi-trucks. These might be the reasons why the US administration appears to have a tremendous lack of urgency and empathy for Israel (unless, of course, the politicians are on TV!).
On the other hand, rumors of divergent views between Israel and USA do serve a purpose. They bewilder the Iranian leadership! Some questions that arise now are: Are US and Israel in disagreement about attacking, or is it a ploy of more pressure? Or are they actually setting a trap to attack? If the Iranian leadership and military wasn’t confused and paranoid before, they certainly are now.
However, nowadays everything happens so fast and there is no room for miscalculations or mistakes. Most never even dreamed that the North African governments would collapse in days and Israel knows massive missile strikes could saturate a country in less than an hour. In this age of high-speed projectiles, jets and communication networking, countries can fall in days and be obliterated in minutes. Therefore, there is no margin for error. None!
No disrespect is intended to the allies but Israel’s primary concern is protecting its citizens and it is secondary if it makes USA mad, upsets the British or the French. It is inconvenient if Israel annoys the Russians or the Chinese but Israel’s sole objective is to protect and defend its population and its way of life. How many leaders or politicians in this world can say that and pass a lie detector test? How many leaders or politicians have experienced attacks, terror and annihilation threats equal to that of Israel?
Worse yet, what kind of ally or friend restrains a person or country and denies its right to safeguard itself from continual harassment and probable assault by weapons of mass destruction? The USA or EU wouldn’t risk the danger, so why do they demand it from Israel?
Also read: Why Israel’s ‘friends’ won’t stand up to Iran
What is crazy is that Israel is accused of being a warmonger (for protecting itself) and a trigger-happy nation. Nothing is farther from the truth. Much agony and decision precedes Israeli combat. Why? Because the Israel Defense Force (IDF) is a people’s army, each able person must enlist. Everyone from the Prime Minister, Cabinet positions and party divisions probably has a family member in the military and the persons sent or killed could be their relative. Plus, the politicians themselves most likely served in the IDF and some still bear the scars.
Israel is a tiny country with a small population that deeply respects life, sincerely mourns death, and disregarding the humanity, Israel cannot afford to lose anyone.
Also read: What is the State of Israel really like?
Consequently, if the USA truly wanted Israel’s trust and reliance, one thing they could’ve done is build permanent US military bases and US defense infrastructure in Israel while maintaining them with constant US personnel. That kind of commitment might have created a better atmosphere of confidence (and contributed towards regional stability).
Read more columns by the writer
Don Davis has over 20 years experience in analytic research particularly regarding Israeli, Middle Eastern culture, behavior and historical patterns. Don is based in Israel, from where he monitors and evaluates worldwide information on finance, technologies, industries, and the military/political environment for a US consulting company.