>I think limiting it to the Pentagon and the messianic right >obscures the
origins and present nature of the US-Israeli >entanglement, which dates back
to when the US >replaced GB as the imperialist power in the ME - and
>elsewhere. Inheriting the British divide-and-rule structure >of dual
support for Arab and Jewish client states, the US >soon found itself in the
same predicament as the Brits, >when Jabotinski's followers decided it was
time to
>put Jews first and Brits became fair game. Although the >blowback from
Israel occasionally erupted in overt >military action against the US, as in
the 1967
>USS Liberty incident and the incidents between the >USMC and the Israeli
invasion forces in Lebanon in >1981, its primary form has been covert.
As a child I remember my parents watching and enjoying a movie about the heroic battles the Israelis fought. Wish I could remember the title. I think it might have been more successful than the Green Berets was in its mission to convert public opinion.
In my lifetime I think one of the things that turned public opinion in the US was watching the stomach-churning scenes of the Munich Olympics. At the same time, Mark Spitz became a top sports hero for the US. Also, there might have been identification with beleaguered Israel as it damn near lost the '73 war (requiring massive US military aid, though most Americans never knew how bad the Israeli situation was)--at the time the Vietnam War was ending so ignominiously for the US establishment.
When I was at Army basic training (as part of my National Guard enlistment, which happened to start just prior to the Iran hostage crisis), I met more than a few NCOs in the US Army who were vets of the '67 and '73 wars.
I think I never questioned the US pro-Israel stance until I realized what a mess of the ME the US had made during the Reagan era (really, the thinking about Vietnam and Watergate so dominated things anyway).
I remember my brother was already warning me because he was in the Navy as it transitioned from Carter to Reagan and all the officers were strutting around claiming 'Once Reagan becomes President, it's going to be a DIFFERENT Navy'. Never mind the fact that Carter was a real vet and a real Navy vet at that.
My brother has some very interesting stories about the Lehman (also called the Lameass ) Navy, including some to match the Caine Mutiny. There was a swearing, drinking , smoking Presbyterian minister who activated from the Naval Reserves and ended up in charge of the fast frigate my brother was on. One highly charged moment at the command center ended with an enlisted man screaming at the captain: No, goddamn it, SIR, buy your own smokes (the Capt. gave up smoking but was always trying to bum cigs).
The guy wouldn't listen to his sonar crew during war games and was constantly humiliated by the French subs they were supposed to be war gaming against (the French would pop balloons to the surface reading things like: 'You lose again USS *****! '--name withheld to protect the innocent. ) Right after my brother left the ship an enlisted man (disgruntled over a negative evaluation) stabbed and killed an officer. The enlisted man happened to be African-American and the officer white. But not to make too much of race here, every white, black, Hispanic or Filippino enlisted man I ran the story by responded 'Well, some officers have it coming, don't they.'
Charles Jannuzi