WarSclerotic

The Chuck Hagel Controversy – Jeffrey Goldberg – The Atlantic.

( OK.  This does it for me.  With this article Goldberg has crossed the line.   I can’t take him seriously any more.  Inwardly, when I hear his name from now on it will be prefixed by the phrase “the scumbag.” – JW )

Goldblog wasn’t planning on covering the controversy surrounding the so-far theoretical nomination of Chuck Hagel to be secretary of defense, because it is, after all, theoretical, and because I think the situation is much more complex than both right and left think believe it to be, and who wants to get into it right now? I’m into enough at the moment.

But then I received an email being circulated among Jewish liberals who support Hagel, and it provoked me to think through some of the deeper issues here. The point of the aforementioned e-mail was to argue that Hagel is, in fact, “pro-Israel,” and it provides a list of the various times he’s voted for this or that on behalf of Israel in the Senate. “Senator Hagel cosponsored the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006,” for instance. “The bill, which became US law, declared it U.S. policy to oppose organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah…” And so on.

What struck me as unusual about the list is that it was framed as a response to right-wing criticism. It did not advance arguments you would expect to hear from the Left, but tried to mollify the Right. It contained nothing like, “Hagel is adamant in his support for a settlement freeze,” or somesuch; the letter was designed to say, in effect, “Don’t worry, Hagel is actually closer ideologically to Lindsey Graham than you think.”

About Hagel himself, I have mixed feelings: He is a patriot, and a smart and pleasant man (I’ve met him on a couple of occasions) and if he’s anti-Semitic, he went about hiding this from me pretty well. I think, based on what I’ve read, that he has harbored very naive views about Iran and Hezbollah (whether he still harbors them I don’t know) and that he’s not particularly sentimental about Israel. He has also accrued some unfortunate supporters, including and especially the scapegoater Stephen Walt, but Hagel can’t be blamed for this. The most troubling question about Hagel’s potential nomination for some people concerns what it would mean about Obama’s views on Iran. I’ve come to the conclusion (I came to it long ago) that Obama is serious when he says all options are on the table, and he might be so serious, in fact, that it wouldn’t matter if his national security adviser was Zbigniew Brzezinski. Hagel, no matter how far he’s moved, hasn’t moved as far as Obama has on the issue. But I’m not sure Hagel’s position in this argument is overly relevant, even if he’s sitting by the president’s side. And who better to sell the president’s militant Iran position than someone who comes from the realist camp? I really don’t think he would be able to influence the president away from the stand he has taken.

Anyway, it’s not Hagel’s record itself that prompts me to write. The strategy advanced by the pro-Hagel Jewish Left is a fine political strategy, I suppose, and I wouldn’t bother commenting on it, except that I just read that the Israeli political party HaBayit HaYehudi (the Jewish Home) is now poised to become one of the the country’s biggest parties. It might, in fact, be the third-largest party in the next Knesset.

The Jewish Home party advances an ideology that will bring about the destruction (the self-destruction) of Israel. The Jewish Home party seeks to erase the dividing line between Israel and the West Bank; it seeks to build more and more settlements; it seeks to absorb the West Bank’s Arabs into Israel as, at the most, second-class citizens. It seeks to empower Orthodox religious nationalism as the dominant ideology of the state turn Israel into the Jewish equivalent of a sharia state. And its policies would turn Israel into a pariah state, and Israel will not survive for the long-term as a pariah state.

How does this relate to Hagel? This is how: Maybe, at this point, what we need are American officials who will speak with disconcerting bluntness to Israel about the choices it is making. If the Jewish Home party becomes a key part of Netanyahu’s right-wing ruling coalition, you can be assured that there will not compromise coming in the forseeable future (it’s almost impossible to forsee compromise now.) Maybe the time has come to redefine the term “pro-Israel” to include, in addition to providing support against Iran (a noble cause); help with the Iron Dome system (also a noble cause); and support to maintain Israel’s qualitiative military edge (ditto), the straightest of straight talk about Israel’s self-destructive policies on the West Bank. Maybe Hagel, who is not bound to old models, could be useful in this regard.

And yes, I write this with some measure of despair.

Israel Hayom | Dennis Ross: If diplomacy fails, be sure the US will attack Iran.

IAF Chief Concerned over Hizbullah’s UAVs – Defense/Security – News – Israel National News.

Amir Eshel

Flash 90

Israel’s greatest concern is of increased attempts by Hizbullah to attain accomplishments by inserting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into Israeli territory, the Israeli Air Force said on Wednesday, according to a report on the Israel Defense website.

According to the IAF, Hizbullah is encouraged by the successful entry of its UAV into Israeli territory in October, and senior IAF officers said that up to 50 kilograms of explosives can be loaded onto a UAV which would serve as a precise rocket.

IAF Commander Major General Amir Eshel refused to say whether the IDF or the air force were connected to the series of explosions in Hizbullah’s weapon warehouses which occurred recently, and would only say that “it’s dangerous to sleep with rockets at home – whatever happens, happens.”

A huge explosion rocked Lebanon near the border Monday morning, and Hizbullah immediately accused Israel of carrying out an aerial bombing.

The explosion apparently was in an ammunition depot east of the port city of Tyre. Similar explosions have occurred in the same area in the past two years. Hizbullah has denied that it stores weapons and ammunition in southern Lebanon, but Israel estimates that the terrorist organization not only stockpiles ammunition and guns but also has built up an arsenal of more than 60,000 missiles.

Eshel also discussed the accomplishments of operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza last month. “The operation achieved accomplishments that are being studied throughout the region. This is a red light or a warning to anyone that attempts to operate,” Eshel said, according to Israel Defense. “However, we must not rest on our laurels.”

He added that “The IAF will be put to much more difficult tests than what was presented in Pillar of Defense. The enemy will utilize more force, and we will use more force.”

Eshel also referred to the issue of the deteriorating standing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying, “Syria’s process of disintegration is an existing fact. It’s in our back yard. There are stockpiles of advanced weapons there, including unconventional capabilities. I don’t know what will be on the day after. Beyond the questions, we have a key role to play and it is to deal with the unconventional weapons. This is an issue for Israel, one that stands before the decision-makers, and it is a very complex issue.”

Amman warns: Jihadists hijacking Syria revolution, may target Israel, Jordan next – Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper.

Jordanians saw the first signs two months ago when their intelligence service caught a cell of 11 Salafists who had assembled in Syria and were planning to attack shopping centers and Western embassies in Jordan.

By Anshel Pfeffer | Dec.20, 2012 | 8:17 AM | 13

Free Syrian Army fighters cover two dead bodies they found between rubble during heavy clashes with government forces in Aleppo, Syria. Photo by AP

By The Associated Press | Dec.20,2012 | 8:17 AM

AMMAN – Senior Jordanian officials warn that Syria may devolve into a “black hole that sucks Jihadists from around the world.” They claim that despite their warnings to Western nations and Israel against this expected development in their strife-ridden northern neighbor, advanced weaponry continues to flow into the hands of Salafist and Jihadist organizations who are gradually taking over the rebellion against the regime of Bashar Assad.

The Jordanians fear that with the collapse of the current Syrian government, this weaponry, together with the experience gained by the Jihadists, will be aimed toward other targets in the region – particularly Jordan and Israel. The Jordanians saw the first signs two months ago when their intelligence service caught a cell of 11 Jordanian Salafists who had assembled in Syria and were planning, under the aegis of Al-Qaida, to attack shopping centers and Western embassies in Jordan.

Jordan is working toward the integration of all minorities in the leadership of the rebellion (including Alawites not related to the Assad family ), in order to ensure a balanced future government of Syria and to avoid a slide into Jihadist chaos.

In Jordan there has been heavy criticism of another neighbor of Syria – Turkey, which has allowed fanatics to accumulate strength and ammunition at the expense of moderate and secular rebel groups. Many of the advanced missiles financed by the Gulf states and transferred to the rebels via Turkey in the past few weeks have fallen into the hands of fanatics, despite the attempts of Jordanian and Western intelligence services to ensure that only the rebellion’s moderate factions would receive them.

The secular faction of Syria’s rebellion absorbed another blow this week with the death of Col. Yusef Al Jader, an armored corps officer in the Syrian army who deserted to the rebels and had been thought of as one of the more charismatic and influential commanders among them. Al Jader, better known as Abu Furat, had been trying to minimize the influence of the Jihadists. His death during the battle for the military academy north of Aleppo further weakens the strength of the secular nationalists among the rebels.

Another significant development in the Syrian conflict is the enlistment of Palestinian refugees in Damascus to the cause of the rebellion. Until recently, Palestinians in Syria avoided taking part in the conflict, inter alia because of internal divisions of opinion. Although Hamas identifies with the rebels, especially those identified with the Muslim Brotherhood, other organizations such as the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front stayed with Assad.

At the beginning of the week, the Syrian army attacked the Yarmok neighborhood, home to over 100,000 Palestinians, killing 25 with artillery fire and air attacks. As a result, a battle broke out within Yarmok between the Popular Front and Syrian rebel forces, and thousands of Palestinians began to flee the Damascus area toward the borders with Jordan and Lebanon.

Jordan established several large refugee camps for those fleeing Syria, but arriving Palestinians are kept separate, in an industrial area known as “Cyber City”. Journalists are not allowed to visit the camp designated for Palestinians, and those refugees are forbidden to leave it in order to work or visit relatives.

In Jordan, where the regime is in the hands of the Hashemite dynasty and Bedouin tribes while the majority of the population is of Palestinian origin, the government is trying to avoid an additional wave of Palestinian refugees.

Arab media reports that the Jordanian army has declared a state of emergency, and that its troops have been issued gas masks in anticipation of chemical weapons being employed by the Syrian regime near the border remained unconfirmed yesterday. Nevertheless, senior Jordanian officials emphasize that they warned the world that the Syrians might use such weapons last year, and that such an eventuality will require the swift intervention of Western powers, since, according to the Jordanians, no nation in the region, including Israel, can overcome Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal.

UN confirms Hezbollah fighting for Assad i… JPost – Middle East.

Photo: REUTERS/Ali Hashisho