Democratic Palestine : 1 (ص 24)
غرض
- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 1 (ص 24)
- المحتوى
-
New Chapter in US-Zionist Strategic Cooperation
While reading the following article, one must
bear in mind the attempt of the western media
and officials to portray the US-Israeli strategic
alliance agreement as something new. True, the
US and ‘Israel’ will escalate their joint involve-
ment in the Middle East more openly, but the idea
itself is old. This agreement is the result of over
three decades of close political, economic and
military. cooperation. It is, moreover, a
continuation of the ongoing Camp David
conspiracy which is enacted in successive phases,
each emphasizing different methods and points of
attack. While the Memorandum of Understanding
signed in Nov. 1981, set out the principles of US-
Zionist strategic cooperation, the new agreement
is a concrete working program based on these
principles.
Overview of the agreement
The strategic alliance agreement was announced on
Nov. 30th, after the conclusion of high level talks in
Washington D.C., between Israeli Prime Minister Shamir and
Defense Minister Arens and their counterparts in the US
administration, Reagan and Weinberger. It was agreed to set
up a joint political-military committee, which is scheduled to
meet in early January, to discuss joint military exercises,
stockpiling US military equipment in ‘Israel’, US purchase of
Israeli supplies and services, etc.
This was the first time Reagan had received an Israeli
Prime Minister in 18 months, and their meeting was billed as
signalling renewed friendship. Shamir’s having replaced
Begin offered the chance for the US and Zionist leaderships
to take qualitative steps to coordinate their strategy more
closely, while at the same time trying to disassociate their
new plans and moves from the atrocities and failures of the
Begin-Sharon era.
The agreement comes at a time when both the US and
Israeli political and military strategies are bogged down in
the quagmire that they have created in Lebanon. This is due
to the heroic resistance of the Lebanese National Resistance
Front, the Syrian forces and the Palestinian revolution,
especially against the capitulationist May 17th Israeli-
Lebanese accord. Having previously underestimated the
obstacles they would encounter, Shamir and Reagan centered
their talks on, in Shamir’s words, “confronting the Soviet-
supplied military build-up in Syria”.
The idea of the political-military agreement between
Washington and Tel Aviv is to send a clear signal to Syria and
the Soviet Union that there is no gap between the US and
Israeli strategy in the Middle East, and that US and Israeli
interests are one and the same. This dispelled any illusions
that the US was intending to depend less on ‘Israel’. On the
contrary, the role of the Zionist state as US imperialism’s
watchdog in the Middle East is broadened and given more
strategic significance. In view of Reagan's intention to run for
the US Presidency in 1984, reinforced cooperation with
‘Israel’ might give him the option of withdrawing the
Marines, if this was needed to enhance his chance of
reelection, without jeopardizing implementation of US
policy in Lebanon. Already, there are discussions in US
24
military circles to deploy some of the Marines closer to the
Israeli occupation troops, while securing the rest on the 6th
Fleet vessels.
The US decision to stockpile military equipment in.
‘Israel’ and hold joint military maneuvers makes the Zionist
state a forward base for the Rapid Deployment Force on its
way to the Gulf. This is further proof that the organic link
between Zionism and imperialism, and especially its military
aspect, does not diminish over time, but grows stronger. The
very existence of the Zionist state is rooted in this link, while |
at the same time the US needs a reliable fortress in an area as
vital as the Middle East. Without lessening its dependence on
‘Israel’, current US imperialist policy dictates the presence of
its own forces, as seen in Lebanon and the efforts to set up
permanent military bases in the region. The 1983 strategic
alliance agreement is an attempt to coordinate the historical
Israeli role with US imperialism’s increased emphasis on
military intervention. At the same time, increased US military
presence in the area increases the likelihood that a local
conflict can explode into a regional one, threatening world
peace. Simply stated, the US-Israeli agreement is a new
declaration of war against the Arab masses, and a challenge
to the forces of peace and progress all over the world.
US-Israeli declaration of war
While directed against all nationalist and progressive
forces in the area, the current focus of increased US-Zionist
cooperation is to break Syria’s nationalist stand. During his
visit to Washington, Arens was quoted as saying, “the
possibility of a joint US-Israeli military action against Syria is
a function of the extent of the challenge. If there were to be a
military challenge, I suppose all options are open.” Thus, it
came as no surprise when US warplanes, on December 4th,
for the first time in the Middle East conflict, staged a direct
military attack on the armed forces of an Arab country
(Syria). According to the International Herald Tribune, Dec.
Oo, a Pentagon spokesman confirmed that the raid was
discussed with the NATO allies beforehand. This, coupled
with Arens remarks, proves that the attack was premeditated.
The timing of the US aggression against Syria is proof that it
is directly applying its part of the agreement.
‘Israel’ - new NATO member?
While petitioning for more US aid, Shamir compared US
aid to ‘Israel’ with greater expenditures for NATO. The
comparison is also apt in terms of US-Israeli cooperation in
Lebanon, for in reality the US is promoting an unofficial
NATO venture under the cover of the Multinational Forces’
mandate.
With the strategic alliance agreement, the Zionist state is
overtly accentuating the role it has always occupied in
imperialism’s anti-communist strategy, globally and
regionally. Accordingly, ‘Israel’ is given carte blanche to
attack liberation movements in defense of US interests, on
the pretext that they are the advance contingent of the ‘Soviet
invasion to come’. In reality, the strategic alliance agreement
is directed against all the anti-imperialist forces indigenous to
the area, and against the support they receive from the
socialist community. It is a new litmus test for all the US
‘peace’ initiatives in the area, showing once again that these
are primarily designed to keep the Zionist state as the
strongest in the area, as the chosen way of insuring imperialist
dominance. - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 1
- تاريخ
- يناير ١٩٨٤
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
Contribute
Position: 50121 (4 views)