tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post2653285208222669272..comments2023-10-21T07:44:20.549-04:00Comments on The Existence Machine: Notes on the Israel LobbyRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08014014605639738887noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post-87978505534143289712008-02-14T19:42:00.000-05:002008-02-14T19:42:00.000-05:00Thanks for the intelligent and well-written post. ...Thanks for the intelligent and well-written post. I only wish I could regularly force myself to write with as much focus or energy.<BR/><BR/>Some thoughts on the Mearsheimer/Walt Israel Lobby thesis:<BR/><BR/>It's a shame about the backlash they have received from their article and book, because it will undoubtedly harden their own stance about the Israel 'Lobby', when indeed, as you rightly point out, they should be doing some hard thinking about what they are arguing.<BR/><BR/>What I find most interesting about the specious reasoning you mentioned, the "basic error" that leads them to "leap to the conclusion that the Lobby determines that unsuccessful policy," is very similar to how 9/11 Truthers like Barry Zwicker arrived at their conspiracy. Not that Mearsheimer/Walt's is conspirational, but that seem leap in reasoning is the same one that has led some many, especially on the Left, to assume that because the United States ruling class benefited from what happened on 9/11 (as detailed in Frances Fox Piven's 'The War at Home: The Domestic cost of Bush's militarism') it must then have planned 9/11 as well, in order to benefit from it.<BR/><BR/>Your comments about the naivety of Mearsheimer and Walt is well-made. They seem to apply an 'aberration' idea to their understanding of American foreign policy: that is, without the 'Israel Lobby' American foreign policy toward the Middle East might be more enlightened or less hardline. Again, this is a similar sentiment to those who assume that G. W. Bush's presidency is some kind of aberration, and that if only Gore were elected everything would be okay (I sympathize with Americans who hold this view, but it isn't particularly useful for understanding the situation).<BR/><BR/>A riposte to Gelb's point might be that even without Israel, U.S. strategic and economic 'interests' in the Middle East would be broadly similar.<BR/><BR/>Oh, that accursed word 'national interests'. It is almost as bad as the abstractions historians and journalists use when they say "Britain wanted this..." or "Russia desired that..." an abstraction that when used in public discourse serves to reinforce the illusion that the capitalist state serves everyone's 'interests' equally.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post-31267773517905689222008-02-10T19:49:00.000-05:002008-02-10T19:49:00.000-05:00Thanks, Brandon.Another comment was posted, which ...Thanks, Brandon.<BR/><BR/>Another comment was posted, which I've decided not to publish. It's not abusive or anything, but it's simply the entire text of someone else's lengthy post about various serious rebuttals of the Mearsheimer/Walt thesis. I decided not to publish it because of the combination of how much space it takes up and its existence elsewhere. If anyone wants to see it, it can be found here:<BR/><BR/>http://jeffweintraub.blogspot.com/2006/04/some-rebuttals-to-mearsheimer-walts.html<BR/><BR/>It includes links to various articles and reviews, such as Gelb's, as well as responses from Chomsky, Stephen Zunes, and others (including C. Hitchens, and the completely unreliable Alan Dershowitz, who cannot be considered "serious" by anyone).Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08014014605639738887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post-41160993942992579042008-02-10T12:31:00.000-05:002008-02-10T12:31:00.000-05:00The right-wing's embrace of the Isreal Lobby, etc....The right-wing's embrace of the Isreal Lobby, etc. etc. has always disturbed me for many of the reasons you suggested. <BR/><BR/>The extent of it really only hit me a few years ago, when Poli.-Sci classes would have a few conventionally Neo-Con white- like, truly white, you know what I mean- kids in it whose minor was Jewish Studies. The Right is using Israel etc. to hold over the heads of the left, to appear open-minded and to embrace a minority that uh, let's get real, isn't quite the same as well, actual minorities. It's safe and really kind of disgusting...<BR/><BR/>The part that really clicked for me in this was Gelb's mention that there is not some CONSPIRACY or anything, which makes anyone who critiques this- including your very even-handed blog entry- look crazy. It's not a conspiracy because the whole thing is right in front of our faces, that doesn't make it okay though or acceptable...good post.brandonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05331746353766612879noreply@blogger.com