Steve Walt has a post saying George Mitchell should resign because there is nothing for him to do in the Obama administration, and that the U.S. will be judged harshly for our role in sustaining the Israeli occupation that has destroyed the two-state-solution.
How harshly will we be judged? One fears more violence. From Glenn Greenwald on Osama’s latest tape:
Bin Laden also warns the US there will be more attacks if it continues to support Israel. . . . Directly addressing Americans, [bin Laden] says: "It is unfair you enjoy a safe life while our brothers in Gaza suffer greatly . . . . Our attacks will continue as long as you support Israel. . . . America will never dream of security unless we will have it in reality in Palestine."
Greenwald goes on to argue that Al Qaeda has never really cared about the Palestinians, just repeatedly given them lip service. I think this is a misleading argument. As Mike Kinsley once wrote, If something is a factor– in this case in Osama’s twisted mind– then who’s to say it’s not the determinative factor? I wonder if Greenwald is fearful of backlash. But some of this backlash is strictly political: aimed at the lobby. A little while ago I came up with a provocative Daisy ad: It killed Bobby Kennedy… it blew up the World Trade Center… it got us into the Iraq War… It killed 13 people at Fort Hood… It just blew up a CIA station, killing 7 agents… It’s our special relationship with Israel. When will you say, Enough?
Is it really so outrageous to make such an argument, when the special relationship continues to dominate our policy and when it denies grievances that are so obvious to the rest of the world?
