Petraeus Tries to Backtrack

Petraeus has been reported by Haaretz on 3/27/10 as having phoned Ashkenazi to backtrack on his indictment of Israel as a threat to U.S. security. He claimed that “bloggers” took his remarks out of context. I hereby express my profound thanks to the general for his public reference to my efforts to publicize his courageous attempt to point out the nakedness of the emperor. And, yes, I did take his remarks out of context; after all, the context is in an official report to which I do not have access. If the general will send it to me, I will review the context. Otherwise, I stand by my reporting of his remarks.

And, by the way, Haaretz also reported that Petraeus told reporters:

We noted in there that there was a perception at times that America sides with Israel and so forth. And I mean, that is a perception. It is there. I don't think that's disputable.

Exactly. There is indeed “a perception” on the part of virtually every person on earth that “America sides with Israel.” Obama said we do, Bush said we do, Clinton (Hillary and Bill) said we do, 300-odd Congressional recipients of Israeli money just said in a letter that we do. Petraeus, you have the most incredible talent for stating the truth! No one is arguing with you. Everyone in the word perceives the Washington bias toward Israel because it exists and because all the decision-makers in Washington proclaim it as though it were something to be proud of, and because Netanyahu and Sharon and other leaders of the militarist Israeli right wing sneer about it publicly and dangle their control of Washington in the faces of even the most obsequious American politicians.

And that accurate perception is why the U.S. is properly held responsible for the apartheid, the collective punishment, the aggression, the murder of enemy leaders, the ethnic cleansing. The U.S. paid Israel the coin needed to maintain this policy, and the U.S. will pay again when the victims get revenge. So, that settles that.

Now, General Petraeus, I just have one question: who got to you?

_______________________ 

For a concise definition of what "America sides with Israel" means, see this Haaretz report on how Washington is really treating Israel during this "crisis" in bilateral ties.