American ViewpointClash of civilizations for Israel’s and the neo-cons’ sake [Archives:2004/768/Opinion]

By Richard Melson
www.cambridgeforecast.org
For the Yemen Times
The basic idea of the Zionist/neo-con grouping is to bring about a global civil war between America-led-by-Israel and the Arab and Muslim world.
This would result in:
– Israel's “eternal” domination of the Middle East via nuclear weapons.
– Neo-con, ie Jewish, domination of world policy, via the control of Washington.
The Zionist/neo-con grouping has a kind of now-or-never urgency about them and fear that globalization might mean that non-Western peoples could eventually achieve a say in world affairs and one day perhaps threaten to supplant them. They have what is called in German, “Torschlusspanik” (“door will close on me panic”), with the world at an either/or crossroads. Either the Palestinian will be defeated, or Israel and the Jews “lose” not only the territories, but the whole world as a political territory.
Degrading and killing and “bantustanizing” the Palestinians or expelling them entirely is seen as the key “symbolic theatre” in this counter-globalization movement.
The basic idea is to depict the theme of the 21st century as the battle between Islam and the West, and that is why Jewish commentators on radio and TV keep using the word “Islamo-fascism,” hoping to frame this century in a way that overwhelms rival frames. The idea is to use 9/11 to give them the carte blanche to do what they want, in the same way that the Nazis hoped to use the Reichstag Fire of February 27th, 1933 to engineer fear and hysteria.
The Committee on the Present Danger, headed up by Woolsey, Lieberman (Al Gore's 2000 running mate), and Senator Kyl.

Committee on the present danger
Statement by Lieberman and Kyl, July 20, 2004:
The successful handover of sovereignty to the Iraqi people last month offers fresh hope for stability and democracy in their country, but it could also mark a turning of the tide in the world war against terrorism. While the deposed tyrant and terrorist Saddam Hussein stands trial, the people of the great Muslim country he suppressed for so long are now standing proud and free, and taking control of their own destiny. And they are showing strong support for their new leadership and new optimism about their democratic future. According to a BBC/Oxford Research International poll released this month, 55% of Iraqis believe their lives today are quite good or very good, 56% believe their lives will get better in the next year, and 70% believe Iraq needs democracy.
These survey results are significant because they show we are making real progress in the war of values and ideas in Iraq, ideas that are at the heart of the larger war on terrorism. Iraq has become a proving ground for the freedom and security we are fighting for, and a tough test of our resolve in this fight. The terrorists in Iraq and beyond will never beat us militarily. But they can defeat us politically if they succeed in their strategy to terrorize, demoralize and divide America and its allies.
The liberation of Iraq has important implications for the region and for the broader war on terrorism. The leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties have so far stood firm in their commitment to finish the job in Iraq and to fight the war on terrorism to victory. But that bipartisan consensus is coming under growing public pressure and could fray in the months ahead. Although the tide is turning in the war on terrorism, a political undertow in this country could wash out our recent gains. We must not let this happen.
To make sure it doesn't, we are re-launching today the Committee on the Present Danger, a group of citizens of diverse political persuasions who will work to sustain and strengthen bipartisan support for the war on terrorism in Iraq and beyond.
The Committee on the Present Danger was first formed at the dawn of the Cold War in 1950 to educate Americans about the growing threat of Soviet communism. Democratic senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson of Washington state revitalized the group in the mid-'70s; this time it was focused on working for a stronger stance toward the Soviets and the increased defense spending necessary to carry out that policy.
In this third incarnation, we intend to focus the committee on the present danger our generation faces: international terrorism, from Islamic extremists and the outlaw states that either harbor or support them. The Sept. 11th 2001, terrorist attacks awoke all Americans to the capabilities and brutality of our new enemy, but today too many people are insufficiently aware of our enemy's evil worldwide designs, which include waging jihad against all Americans and reestablishing a totalitarian religious empire in the Middle East. The past struggle against communism was, in some ways, different from the current war against Islamist terrorism, but America's freedom and security, which each has aimed to undermine, are exactly the same. The national and international solidarity needed to prevail over both enemies is also the same. In fact, the world war against Islamic terrorism is the test of our time.
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