Is there a historical treatment somewhere of how GWB came to conclude that Iran was part of the Axis of Evil? Why is the political machine still so aggressive toward them? Is someone paying for that aggression? If so, who?
I find myself generally supportive of bilateral diplomatic agreements between historically hostile states, so am not as bearish on the AAs as Mr. Larison as to say that I oppose them outright. However I think we should be clear-eyed about what they are and what they aren’t.
Much of the fanfare is unwarranted—the agreement with Sudan, for example, was an international shakedown over desperately needed loans, capricious usage of “state-sponsor of terrorism” as tool of coercion, and one that seems to be unraveling as I type. The AAs are also something else to point to deflate the notion and to stop indulging in the mythology that Israel is a nation surrounded by enemies operatively-sworn to its destruction and thus gets security exemptions from the usual expectations we hold for liberal democratic states (an aspiration Israel claims in its 1948 declaration.) How can anyone still claim this while touting the AAs as a world-historic event?
Of course the elephant in the room regarding the AAs is that it sidesteps the Palestinian question and breaks the bulwark of Arab state unity in support of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders as described in the 2002 Saudi-led Peace Initiative. That—King Salman’s baby--was the default Gulf state position that the AAs provided an alternative for. The US has long since abandoned its position as “honest broker” and now the Gulf States have dropped their unity and demand for a Palestinian state. I think that’s the real purpose behind the “Glory Be the AAs” propaganda campaign.
Thanks, Daniel, for continuing to expose the criminal nature of much of US foreign policy. The corporate media unfortunately refuses to provide an honest accounting, and worse, often leads in cheerleading our imperial crimes. Your clear and concise writing is always a perfect antidote for much of the drivel we get from the MSM. Please keep up your valuable work.
Is there a historical treatment somewhere of how GWB came to conclude that Iran was part of the Axis of Evil? Why is the political machine still so aggressive toward them? Is someone paying for that aggression? If so, who?
I find myself generally supportive of bilateral diplomatic agreements between historically hostile states, so am not as bearish on the AAs as Mr. Larison as to say that I oppose them outright. However I think we should be clear-eyed about what they are and what they aren’t.
Much of the fanfare is unwarranted—the agreement with Sudan, for example, was an international shakedown over desperately needed loans, capricious usage of “state-sponsor of terrorism” as tool of coercion, and one that seems to be unraveling as I type. The AAs are also something else to point to deflate the notion and to stop indulging in the mythology that Israel is a nation surrounded by enemies operatively-sworn to its destruction and thus gets security exemptions from the usual expectations we hold for liberal democratic states (an aspiration Israel claims in its 1948 declaration.) How can anyone still claim this while touting the AAs as a world-historic event?
Of course the elephant in the room regarding the AAs is that it sidesteps the Palestinian question and breaks the bulwark of Arab state unity in support of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders as described in the 2002 Saudi-led Peace Initiative. That—King Salman’s baby--was the default Gulf state position that the AAs provided an alternative for. The US has long since abandoned its position as “honest broker” and now the Gulf States have dropped their unity and demand for a Palestinian state. I think that’s the real purpose behind the “Glory Be the AAs” propaganda campaign.
Thanks, Daniel, for continuing to expose the criminal nature of much of US foreign policy. The corporate media unfortunately refuses to provide an honest accounting, and worse, often leads in cheerleading our imperial crimes. Your clear and concise writing is always a perfect antidote for much of the drivel we get from the MSM. Please keep up your valuable work.