AIPAC Still a Problem

This posting from Sic Semper Tyrannis raises my hopes that this administration may not roll over and play dead in negotiating with Israel, like the last one did. Maybe they will consider Israel to be a separate country from the US and deny a visa to an Israeli who spied on America using the AIPAC employees against whom criminal charges were recently dropped, and who apparently "ran" Pentagon employee Franklin. If they deny the visa, they will get tremendous pressure from Jewish Americans like Senator Joe Lieberman and Congresswoman Jane Harmon, who consistently put Israel's interests ahead of America's. If push comes to shove, it will be interesting to see whose side Lieberman, Harmon and company come down on.

What about Rahm Emanuel as a Jewish-American; as Obama's chief of staff won't he look out Israel's interests? His family is very pro-Israel. It sounds like he actually served time in the Israeli Army, although not in uniform so as not to mess up his American citizenship. I don't know. Perhaps he is Israeli enough not to be subject to the wildly right-wing attitudes that characterize AIPAC and other American Jewish organizations, except perhaps J-Street. There is much healthier debate and much more difference of opinion in Israel than among American Jews. Or, perhaps because of the potential conflict of interest, Emanuel and Obama have an agreement that Emanuel will keep hands off Middle East policy. Obama has shown himself to be concerned about maintaining a high middle ground on most issues, and it's conceivable that he's done this or something like it with Emanuel.

Why Change US Commander in Afghanistan

Firing Gen. McKiernan and replacing him with Gen. McChrystal in Afghanistan has been described as the first such command change during wartime since Gen. MacArthur was fired during the Korean War. I don't know if that's media hype, or whether the Pentagon is pushing that interpretation to emphasize a change in policy. If it's meant to be something big, as the press is saying, then as this blog asks, what does it mean?

To me the main difference is between sort of an old-fashioned, big Army fight, and a new style, guerrilla, counter-insurgency fight. I'm not a military expert, but I think the former strategy wins wars, while the latter one wins battles. That raises the question, what is our end-game in Afghanistan? If it's something less than a tradition victory, which we probably haven't won since World War II, then this change makes sense. The Russians tried for an old-style victory in Afghanistan, and it didn't work out too well.

Israel Objects to Truth about Its Nuclear Capacity

Israel is in a tizzy because the US has stated publicly that Israel has nuclear weapons and has called on Israel to join the NPT. This FT report is just factual, while this JTA report is more alarmist. The Israelis appear worried that the US will try to make Israel adhere to the same treaty requirements that it is trying to make Iran adhere to, in order to reign in Iran's nuclear program. Israel does not believe it should be subject to the same regime as most other nations in the world. There are only a few holdout who refuse to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty, including North Korea, Pakistan, and India, as well as Israel.

Maybe the US was preparing for this by releasing information earlier about Israel's nuclear capability.

AIPAC Should Register as a Foreign Agent

This blog makes a good argument that AIPAC should register as a foreign agent. I suppose that American Jews believe that Israel's interests and America's interests are identical, and therefore AIPAC is not working for a "foreign" state. But not everyone accepts the hypothesis that Israel is a 51st state. If AIPAC did what it does for Russia or Iran, for example, rather than Israel, there would be a huge outcry about what it does. Maybe the Iranians will start their own AIPAC, but their "I" will stand for Iran. I presume the US government would give it even-handed, "fair and balanced" treatment vis-a-vis the Israeli AIPAC, let it do the same things.