NEWS: "The Project for an Israeli Century," published in the early1980s

[Project for a New American Century (PNAC), meet the Project for an Israeli 
Century!! Even the author below makes the connections between the two 
groups interests and desires, as well as documents many items in print by 
this "Israeli Century" perspective.]

[





Behind The Scenes
Of The Iraq War
Behind The Scenes Of The Iraq War
by Harun Yahua
Pravda.ru
4-17-3

The plan for the Iraq war, which has erupted in the face of opposition
from the entire world, was drawn up at least decades ago, by Israeli
strategists.



In its attempt to realize its strategy of destabilizing or dividing the
Middle Eastern Arab states, Israel has Egypt, Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia
on its list of subsequent targets.

As these lines are being written, the United States of America has begun
striking at Iraq. Despite the fact that most countries of the world, and
even the majority of the USA's allies, opposed it, the US administration
was determined for the strike to go ahead. When we look behind the scenes
of this insistence, it seems that Israel and its powerful lobby in the US,
have the greatest share in the make-up.

In fact, Israel's policy aimed at the fragmentation of Iraq has lengthy
historical roots-

The Age-Old Israeli Plan to Divide Iraq

An ambitious report entitled "A Strategy for Israel in the 1980s," which
appeared in the World Zionist Organization's periodical Kivunim in
February 1982 disclosed a strategy aimed at making the whole of the Middle
East a kind of "living space" for Israel. The report, drawn up by Oded
Yinon, an Israeli journalist and formerly attached to the Foreign Ministry
of Israel, set out the scenario of the "division of Iraq" in these terms:

Iraq, rich in oil on the one hand and internally torn on the other, is
guaranteed as a candidate for Israel's targets. Its dissolution is even
more important for us than that of Syria- Iraq is, once again, no
different in essence from its neighbors, although its majority is Shi'ite
and the ruling minority Sunni. Sixty-five percent of the population has no
say in politics, in which an elite of 20 percent holds the power. In
addition there is a large Kurdish minority in the north, and if it weren't
for the strength of the ruling regime, the army and the oil revenues,
Iraq's future state would be no different than that of Lebanon in the
past- In Iraq, a division into provinces along ethnic/religious lines as
in Syria during Ottoman times is possible. So, three (or more) states will
exist around the three major cities: Basra, Baghdad and Mosul, and Shi'ite
areas in the south will separate from the Sunni and Kurdish north. 1)

This was not the only announcement of the Israeli plan to atomize Middle
East, including Iraq. As Israel Shahak, the notable Israeli scholar known
for his dedication to a peaceful solution in the Middle East, explained
that Yinon was just echoing the views of Israeli hawks:

The idea that all the Arab states should be broken down, by Israel, into
small units, occurs again and again in Israeli strategic thinking. For
example, Ze'ev Schiff, the military correspondent of Ha'aretz (and
probably the most knowledgeable in Israel, on this topic) writes about the
"best" that can happen for Israeli interests in Iraq: "The dissolution of
Iraq into a Shi'ite state, a Sunni state and the separation of the Kurdish
part" (Ha'aretz 6/2/1982). Actually, this aspect of the plan is very old.
2)

Thus, the plan was a serious one and this has been confirmed by the
age-old Israeli support to non-Arab or non-Muslim minorities in the Muslim
Arab states. The rebellious Kurds of northern Iraq was one of these
strategic allies of Israel. During their revolt against the Baghdad
regime, 1961-75, they have been financially and militarily supported by
Israel. Israelis would love to see them carve up the northern part of
Iraq, no matter how bloody and devastating such a civil war would be.
However, the revolt failed in 1975, after loosing the support of its major
patron, the Shah.

Fifteen years later, a new opportunity arose for Israel, an opportunity
from the ambitions of the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein.

Israel's Role in the Gulf War

Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, after his bloody war against Iran in the
80's, invaded Kuwait in a sudden attack on August 1, 1990, giving rise to
an international crisis. Israel headed the list of those forces that
encouraged that crisis. Israel was the fiercest supporter of the attitude
adopted by the United States in the wake of the invasion of Kuwait. The
Israelis even regarded the United States as moderate, and wanted a harsher
policy. To such an extent in fact that the President of Israel Chaim
Herzog recommended that the American use nuclear weapons. On the other
hand, the Israeli lobby in the United States was working to bring about a
wide-ranging attack on Iraq.

This whole situation encouraged the idea in the United States that the
attack against Iraq under consideration was actually planned in Israel's
interests. Pat Buchanan summarized this idea in the words "There are only
two groups that are beating the drums for war in the Middle East - the
Israeli Defense Ministry and its amen corner in the United States."

Israelis had also initiated a serious propaganda campaign on the issue.
Since this campaign was largely waged in secret, Mossad also entered the
equation. Rogue Mossad agent Victor Ostrovsky provides important
information on this subject. According to Ostrovsky, Israel had wanted to
wage war with the United States against Saddam long before the Gulf
crisis. So much so in fact, that Israel began to implement the plan
immediately after the Iran-Iraq war. Ostrovsky reports that Mossad's
Psychological Warfare department (LAP - LohAma Psychologist) set about an
effective pro-war campaign using misinformation techniques. 3)

A Mossad Agent Describes the Gulf War

Ostrovsky describes how Mossad used agents or sympathizers in various
parts of the world in this campaign. Among the tools employed in the
campaign were the horrible massacres done by missiles launched against
civilian targets in Iran during the Iran-Iraq war. As Ostrovsky makes
clear, Mossad's later use of these missiles as a propaganda tool was quite
peculiar, since those missiles had actually been directed towards their
targets by Mossad, with the help of information from US satellites. Having
supported Saddam throughout his war with Iran, Israel was now disclosing
his crimes. Ostrovsky writes:
The Mossad leaders know that if they could make Saddam appear bad enough
and a threat to the Gulf oil supply, of which he'd been the protector up
to that point, then the United States and its allies would not let him get
away with anything, but would take measures that would all but eliminate
his army and his weapons potential, especially if they were led to believe
that this might just be their last chance before he went nuclear. 4)

The Israelis were so determined on this matter, and with regard to the
United States, that on August 4, 1990, Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy
issued a diplomatically worded threat to William Brown, the American
ambassador to Israel, stating that Israel "expects the U.S. will fulfill
all of the goals it set for itself at the beginning of the gulf crisis,"
in other words that it attack Iraq. According to Levy, if the United
States failed to do so, Israel would act unilaterally. 5)

It would be of enormous benefit to Israel to have the United States engage
in the war and for Israel to remain entirely uninvolved: and that is
indeed what happened.

Israel Forces the USA to War

However, the Israelis were actively involved in the United States' war
plans. Some US staff officers involved in planning Operation Desert Storm
received fine tactical advice from the Israelis that "the best way of
wounding Saddam was to strike at his family."

The Mossad-inspired propaganda campaign reported by Ostrovsky set up the
necessary public backing for the Gulf War. It was again Mossad local
assistants who lit the touchpaper for the war. The Hill and Knowlton
lobbying firm, run by Tom Lantos of the Israeli lobby, prepared a dramatic
scenario to convince members of Congress on the subject of war against
Saddam. Turan Yavuz, a noted Turkish journalist, describes the incident:

October 9, 1990. The Hill and Knowlton lobbying firm organizes a sitting
in Congress on the subject of "Iraq's Barbarities." A number of "eye
witnesses" brought to the session by the lobbying firm maintain that Iraqi
troops killed new-born babies in the hospital wards. One "eye witness"
describes the savagery in enormous detail, saying that Iraqi soldiers
killed 300 new-born babies in one hospital alone. This information deeply
disturbs the members of Congress. This works to President Bush's
advantage. However, it later emerges that the eye witness brought by Hill
and Knowlton to Congress is in fact the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador
to Washington. Nevertheless, the daughter's account is sufficient for
members of Congress to give Saddam the nickname "Hitler". 6)

This leads to just one conclusion: that Israel played an important role in
the United States' to wage its first war on Iraq. The second one is not
much different.

The Pretext of "War Against Terrorism"

Contrary to popular belief, the plan to attack Iraq and overthrow Saddam
Hussein's regime by force was prepared and placed on Washington's agenda
long before the genesis of the "war against terrorism," which emerged in
the wake of September 11. The first indication of this plan emerged in
1997. A group of pro-Israeli hawkish strategists in Washington D.C. began
to put forward the scenario of the invasion of Iraq by manipulating the
"neo-con" think-tank, called PNAC (Project for The New American Century).
The most notable names in the PNAC were those of Donald Rumsfeld and Dick
Cheney, who as defense secretary and vice-president would be the most
influential figures in the George W. Bush administration.

An article titled "Invading Iraq Not a New Idea for Bush Clique: 4 Years
Before 9/11 Plan Was Set" written by William Brunch and published in the
Philadelphia Daily News, sets out the following facts:

But in reality, Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney, and a small band of
conservative ideologues had begun making the case for an American invasion
of Iraq as early as 1997 - nearly four years before the Sept. 11 attacks
and three years before President Bush took office.

An obscure, ominous-sounding right-wing policy group called Project for
the New American Century, or PNAC - affiliated with Cheney, Rumsfeld,
Rumsfeld's top deputy Paul Wolfowitz and Bush's brother Jeb - even urged
then-President Clinton to invade Iraq back in January 1998. 7)

Is Oil the Real Objective?

Why were the PNAC members so determined to attack Iraq? The same article
continues:
While oil is a backdrop to PNAC's policy pronouncements on Iraq, it
doesn't seem to be the driving force. [Ian] Lustick, [a University of
Pennsylvania political science professor and Middle East expert,] while a
critic of the Bush policy, says oil is viewed by the war's proponents
primarily as a way to pay for the costly military operation.

"I'm from Texas, and every oil man that I know is against military action
in Iraq," said PNAC's Schmitt. "The oil market doesn't need disruption."

Lustick believes that a more powerful hidden motivator may be Israel. He
said Bush administration hawks believe that a show of force in Iraq would
somehow convince Palestinians to accept a peace plan on terms favorable to
Israel- 8)

This, therefore, is the principal motivation behind the plan to attack
Iraq: to serve Israel's Middle East strategy.

This fact has also been identified by other Middle East experts. Cengiz
?andar, a Turkish Middle East expert, for instance, describes the real
power behind the plan to attack Iraq thus:

... Who is directing the attack on Iraq? Vice-President Dick Cheney,
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice.
These are the "senior level" backers of the attack. Yet the rest of the
iceberg is even richer and more interesting. There are a number of
"lobbies."
Heading these lobbies are the Jewish Institute for Security Affairs team,
pro-Likud and Israeli-right and known for their close relations with US
arms manufacturers. These have close relations with the "arms lobby,"
Lockheed, Northrop, General Dynamics and Israeli military industries ...
JINSA's fundamental principle is this: America's and Israel's security are
inseparable. In other words, they are the same thing.

JINSA's objective is not solely the overthrow of the Saddam regime in
Iraq: it also supports the overthrow of the Saudi Arabian, Syrian,
Egyptian and Iranian regimes with a logic of "total war," and the
subsequent importation of "democracy." ... In other words, a number of
American Jews on the same wavelength as the most extreme factions in
Israel at the moment comprise the hawks in Washington. 9)

The Israeli Strategy for The Muslim Middle East

In short, there are those in Washington who are encouraging a war aimed
first at Iraq and then at Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran and Egypt. The most
distinguishing feature of these is that they are lined up alongside, and
even equivalent to, the "Israeli lobby."

No matter how much they speak of "American interests," these people are
actually supporting Israeli interests. A strategy of waging war against
the whole of the Middle East and turning all the peoples of the region
against it cannot be to the United States' advantage. The adoption of such
a strategy can only be possible if the United States is bound to Israel,
by means of the Israeli lobby, which is profoundly influential in this
country's foreign policy.

It is for these reasons that behind the strategy which began to be set in
motion after September 11 and is aimed at re-arranging the entire Islamic
world, lies Israel's strategy for dominating the Middle East. Ever since
its foundation, Israel has aimed at restructuring the Middle East, making
it manageable and secure to itself. The search for security is of course a
legitimate one, but the way that Israel chose to achieve this end is
wrong: From the beginning, Israel decided to establish security behind an
"iron wall" that would separate itself from the Arabs, and most important
of all, protect the lands that Israel occupied through methods of
invasion, colonization and depopulation. This strategy of reaping the wind
had its consequence as a century of constant clash between Israelis and
Arabs. Had Israel chosen a peaceful path to secure its existence, by
building good relations with its Arab neighbors and refraining from
aggression, Jews and Muslims could peacefully co-exist in the Middle East,
as they have done before for centuries.

However, the radical Zionist ideology still denies any chance to peace and
relentlessly tries to transform the whole Middle East to create a "living
space" for Israel. It has been using its influence in the United States
for that purpose in recent years, and to a large extent directs
Washington's Middle East policy. The post-September 11 climate gave Israel
the opportunity it had been seeking. Pro-Israeli ideologues who for years
had been propounding the falsehood that Islam itself - not some militant
radicals who use Islam as a shelter - posed a threat to the West and the
United States, and who encouraged the mistaken concept of a "clash of
civilizations," have been trying to incite the United States against the
Islamic world in the wake of September 11. As early as 1995, Israel Shahak
of the Jerusalem Hebrew University wrote former Israeli Prime Minister
Rabin's obsession with "the idea of an Israeli-led anti-Islamic crusade".
Nahum Barnea, a commentator from the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot,
stated that same year that Israel was making progress "[to] become the
Western vanguard in the war against the Islamic enemy." 10)

All that has happened in the years which have followed is that Israeli
hawks have made their intentions even clearer. The political climate in
the wake of September 11 prepared the ground for this intention to be made
a reality.

The Only Way to World Peace: An Islamic Union

The situation may be summarized as follows: Israel's aim is to reshape the
Middle East in line with its own strategic interests. In order to do this,
it needs a "world power." That power is the United States; and Israeli
hawks, thanks to their influence there, are trying to wage a militant
American strategy against the Islamic world. Although Israel is a small
state with a population of only 4.5 million, the plans drawn up by Israeli
strategists and their counterparts in the West are directing the world
affairs.

What needs to be done in the face of this?

1) "Counter lobby activities" need to be adopted in the face of the
Israeli lobby's influence in the United States in order to develop
dialogue between the United States and the Islamic world and to invite it
to seek peaceful solutions to Iraq and similar problems. A wide section of
the United States wishes to see their country adopt a fairer Middle East
policy. Many statesmen, strategists, journalists and intellectuals have
expressed this, and a "peace of civilizations" movement must be carried
forward in cooperation with them. The approach inviting the US
administration to peaceful solutions must be carried forward at
governmental and civil society organization level.

2) A reconciliation between Israel and the Muslim Middle East must be
sought. There are many "peaceniks", i.e. pro-peace Israelis, too. Many
Israeli statesmen, religious leader, opinion leaders and many Jews from
all around the world are urging the Israeli state to refrain from its
brutal occupation and accept a just peace to live along with their Arab
neighbors. Cooperation with them, especially on the inter-faith level,
should be initiated and encouraged. One thing should never be forgotten:
The rise of radicalism, enmity and violence is bad for all parties.

3) Alongside all this, a deeper rooted solution lies in a project which
can resolve all the problems between the Islamic world and the West and
deal with the fragmentation, suffering and poverty in the Islamic world
and totally alter it: An Islamic Union. Recent developments have shown
that the whole world, not just Islamic regions, stands in need of an
"Islamic Union." This Union should heal the radical elements in the
Islamic World, and establish good relations between Muslim countries and
the West, especially the United States.

This Union, can find a solution to the mother of all problems: The
Arab-Israeli conflict. With Israel retreating to its pre-67 borders and
Arabs recognizing its right to exist, there can be real peace in the
Middle East. And Jews and Muslims - both Children of Abraham and believers
in one true God - may peacefully co-exist in the Holy Land, as they have
done during the past centuries. Then, Israel would need no strategy to
destabilize or divide the Arab States. And it will not have to face the
results of occupation in forms of terrorism and constant fear of
annihilation. Then, both the Israeli and Iraqi (and Palestinian) children
may grow up in peace and security. That is a Middle East that any sane
person should work to see.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1- (ed.) Israel Shahak, The Zionist Plan for the Middle East; from Oded
Yinon's "A Strategy for Israel in the Nineteen Eighties" Published by the
Association of Arab-American University Graduates, Inc. Belmont,
Massachusetts, 1982 Special Document No. 1 (ISBN 0-937694-56-8); 2- (ed.)
Israel Shahak, The Zionist Plan for the Middle East;
3- Victor Ostrovsky, The Other Side of Deception, pp. 252-254.
4- Victor Ostrovsky, The Other Side of Deception, p. 254
5- Andrew and Leslie Cockburn, Dangerous Liaison, p. 356.
6- Turan Yavuz, ABD'nin K?rt Kart? (The US' Kurdish Card), p. 307
7- William Bunch, Philadelphia Daily News, Jan. 27, 2003
8- William Bunch, "Invading Iraq not a new idea for Bush clique"
Philadelphia Daily News, Jan. 27, 2003
9- Cengiz ?andar, "Iraq and the 'Friends of Turkey' American Hawks", Yeni
?afak, September 3, 2002.
10- Israel Shahak, "Downturn in Rabin's Popularity Has Several Causes",
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 1995.



http://english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/98/387/9770_moslem.html