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Entry: Was It The Oil, All Along? Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/was_it_the_oil_all_along#10272 Post contents: Walt and Mearsheimer, in The Israel Lobby, make a powerful case that the lobby controls US policy towards Israel and the Palestinians, but not the whole Middle East. They say for the Persian Gulf the Israel lobby can cheerlead different sections of the foreign policy and military decision makers, but not tell them what to do. If you believe in some latter day Protocols of the Elders of Zion, consider that the US relationship to the modern Middle East began in 1944-5, when FDR cemented the US relationship to Saudi Arabia because of its oil. This was three years before Israel declared independence,23 years before the US began to support Israel diplomatically and militarily, and about four decades before anyone took notice of an Israel lobby. Then, the real turning point came in the mid-1950s, when the US effectively dislodged Britain as the dominant power in the Persian Gulf. As for Israel, its primary military supporter in 1948-50 was the Soviet Union, which supported Middle East anti-colonial nationalist movements in order to break-up the British empire. Then, France was Israel's major supporter, which is why Israel fought the 1967 war with French, not US, weaponry. From the 40s onward the object of the US was to secure control over Persian Gulf oil, which means control of over 2/3 of the world's easily recoverable oil reserves. This is why the Persian Gulf, extending to the "stans", Turkey, the Horn or Africa, Diego Garcia, etc. have numerous aircraft carrier groups and hundreds of US military installations, a good chunk built since the first Gulf War. So, yes it has been about oil since WWII, and the best the Israel lobby can do is ride this wave, just like they sold themselvs to the US after 1967 as a bulwark against Soviet influence in area (discreetly keeping mum about the East Block weapons which Israel used in 1948). So roll up those conspiracy theories and start reading about the history of the Persian Gulf. Michael Klare's Blood and Oil is an excellent start! Sent at: 2008 10 07