How the Relationship between the US and Israel Has Affected Relations with Iraq, Palestine, Iran - Research Paper Example

? How the relationship between the U.S. and Israel has affected relations with Iraq, Palestine, Iran, And Afghanistan How the relationship between the U.S. and Israel has affected relations with Iraq, Palestine, Iran and Afghanistan America’s relations with Israel have significant effects on its relations with other countries in the Middle East. Arabs generally have a feeling that America is supporting Israel blindly and keeps a blind eye towards the massacres conducted by Israel against the Arab world in general and against Palestine in particular. America’s foreign policies towards Middle East are influenced by its historical and cultural relations with Israel. Israel’s relationships with America are so strong because of the cultural similarities of these two countries. No other country in the world has ever succeeded in maintaining such a strong and long relationship with US as Israel does. Moreover, no other country in the world is getting such big financial and military aids from America as Israel does. Mearsheimer & Walt (2008) have pointed out that “As of 2005, direct US economic and military assistance to Israel amounted nearly to $ 154 billion, the bulk of it comprising of direct grants rather than loans” (Mearsheimer & Walt, 2008, p.24). Moreover, “Israel's bombing of Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981—despite formal criticism—was enthusiastically supported by the Reagan administration” (Zunes, 2006). Because of the strong relations with Israel, America never criticizes Israel even if Israel engages in illegal activities against the Arab world. Thus, America’s one sided affairs with Israel often provoke Muslim countries like Iraq, Palestine, Iran and Afghanistan. This paper analyses how the relationship between the U.S. and Israel has affected relations with Iraq, Palestine, Iran and Afghanistan During the Cold War, the U.S. and Israel had a joint strategic interest in defeating aggressors in the Middle East seeking to invade their neighbors and disrupt the status quo, especially if they had Moscow's backing. This became the essence of the U.S.-Israel alliance in the Middle East (Gold, 2007) America never liked the presence of Soviet Union either in Middle East or in Asia. When Soviet Union, interfered in Afghanistan, America did everything possible to expel Soviet troops from Afghan soil. They encouraged Taliban and Osama led Al-Qaida to fight against Soviet Union. They taught the Islamic fundamentalists that communism is against the religious beliefs and teachings of Islam. The rest is history now. America succeeded in expelling Soviet troops from Afghanistan; however, they forced to give huge prices for that later. The 9/11 incident and the current war on terror which destroyed the financial back bone of America were the outcomes of America’s injudicious efforts in Afghanistan earlier. “Despite the widely-held tail-wagging-the-dog assumptions, history has shown that the United States has frequently used Israel to advance its strategic interests in the Middle Eastern region” (Zunes, 2006). Neutral political observers quiet often confused to give proper answer to the question why United States is sacrificing its interests for Israel. In most of the issues in the Middle East region, America is playing its cards staying at the back drop. US don’t like the involvement of any other super powers in this region since the Middle Eastern region is blessed with immense natural resources like oil and fresh water. America is exploiting Israel-Arab enmity to block the interference of other superpowers in this region. However, America’s efforts are affecting them as a boomerang. “If the United States had not been a strong supporter of Israel, it would have been very difficult for Soviet Union to win friends and allies in the Islamic world”(Sheffer, 1997, p.32). At present most of the Arab countries like Iran, Palestine etc are in good relations with Russia. Moreover, America is facing stiff challenges in Afghanistan and Iraq. After the end of cold war and the defeat of Iraq in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the strategic considerations that had put Iran and Israel on the same geopolitical side in the latter part of the twentieth century evaporated. Soon enough, absent any common foes, Israel and Iran found themselves in a rivalry to redefine the regional order after the decimation of Iraq’s military (Parsi, 2008, p.2) The war on terror helped America to establish a strong hold in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, America failed to do so with Iran and Palestine. Iran is currently going ahead with their efforts to acquire nuclear arsenal amidst the strong protests from America and Israel. Israel and America know very well that Iran’s efforts will cause immense damages to America’s interests in future. America is currently playing every card to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear power. However, Iran so far resisted the combined Israel- American pressure successfully. “Some Israeli supporters and Iraqi born Israelis have raised astronomical claim for the despoiled property for the emigrant Iraqi Jews in modern Iraq” (Colley, 2005, p.8). America is keeping a silence over such claim which encourages Israel to expand its territorial claims even up to Iraq. Israel is already accused of controlling major portions of Palestine. America is saying nothing about Israel’s exaggerated claims which clearly show the discriminations or double standards in America’s foreign policies towards Israel and Arab world. If the United States had not supported Israel, it would have been difficult for Israel to raise such fabricated claims over Arab territories. Moreover, Israel would have been isolated in the world if America had not come to the rescue of Israel. Since 1982, the US has vetoed 32 Security Council resolutions critical of Israel, more than the total number of vetoes cast by all the other Security Council members” It blocks the efforts of Arab states to put Israel’s nuclear arsenal on the IAEA’s agenda (Mearsheimer & Walt, 2006). It should be noted that America is trying everything possible to force Iran to open its nuclear power stations for the checking of IAEA. At the same time, America has vetoed the efforts of IAEA to check Israel’s nuclear arsenal. In short, America’s double standards in its foreign policies towards Israel and Arab world are crystal clear to everyone in the world. Thus, America’s strong relations with Israel are causing big problems to countries like Iran, Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan. To conclude, America is keeping double standards in its foreign policies towards Israel and Arab world. The foreign policy applicable to Israel is not applicable to Arab world as far as America is concerned. The non-uniformity in America’s foreign policy towards Israel and Arab world is negatively affecting America’s relations with Arab world. References 1. Colley J. (2005). Alliance Against Babylon: The US, Israel and Iraq Publisher: Pluto Press (January 4, 2005) 2. Gold, D. (2007). Understanding the U.S.-Israel Alliance: An Israeli Response to the Walt-Mearsheimer Claim. 2007. Jerusalem centre for public affairs. Retrieved from http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=376&PID=0&IID=1795 3. Mearsheimer J.J & Walt S.M. (2008)The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (September 2, 2008) 4. Mearsheimer J and Walt S (2006). The Israel Lobby. London Review of Books. Retrieved from http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html 5. Parsi T. (2008). Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States. Publisher: Yale University Press; 1 edition (October 28, 2008) 6. Sheffer G (1997). US-Israeli Relations at the Crossroads Publisher: Routledge (February 28, 1997) 7. Zunes S. (2006). The United States, Israel, and the Possible Attack on Iran. FPIF Policy Report. Retrieved from http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3251 Stephen M. Walt (Author) › Visit Amazon's Stephen M. Walt Page Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author Are you an author? Learn about Author Central Read More