A few days ago I read, with incredulity, an account by David Kimche, of the USA involvement in Lebanon in 1983.
As Kimche describes it "the American administration behaved in Lebanon like an orchestra whose members were playing different symphonies and with a conductor who had no idea of what was happening" .
My initial reaction was one of disbelief. Surely he must be exaggerating.
Today ( 10/24/2008) in the International Herald Tribune, Robert McFarlane, who led the American team, basically confirms Kimche's account.
"Faced with the persistent refusal of his secretary of defense to countenance a more active role for the marines, the president withdrew them, sending the terrorists a powerful signal of paralysis within our government and missing an early opportunity to counter the Islamist terrorist threat in its infancy.
David Kimche's book is "The Last Option" . He led the Israeli team in the negotiations, meeting often with McFarlane. The quote above is on p171.
To date two sections of Kimche's book have been read; Part 1, " Israel & Egypt" and Part 2 "Israel & Lebanon".
What stands out in a story are the countless miscalculations and errors in judgment made by successive US Administrations. None of the other players - whether Israeli, Arab, Russian or European - escape blame in this account. But nothing like the USA.
Only Nixon, with Kissinger at his side comes across as having a grasp of the issues. Ford, Carter, Reagan all fail the test of having any kind of real understanding.
For instance, quoting Kimche, " .. the two presidents (Sadat & Carter) were not really on the same wavelength" . He quotes Brzezinski as thinking of Sadat as " a man who could not distinguish fact from fiction ".
Then Kimche says of Sadat ",,.. he must have wondered as he listened to Carter's exposition, whether Carter and his assistants were even aware of the fundamentals of the Arab conflict with Israel". (p66- italics mine)
There are many examples given in the book of errors in judgment and outright deceit on the part of successive USA governments ( see future posts).
The issue here is not that American governments acted for American interests. That, after all, is their mandate on behalf of the USA.
What scares is the almost total lack of understanding, in US governments, of the Arab mind and of the intra-Arab conflict.
Every child in Israel knows that Arab loyalty is to the tribe, not to an artificially created state.
Iraq, Jordan, Saudi, Syria, Lebanon - even Palestine - are all political fictions created out of the remains of the Ottoman Empire after 1918. They were useful tools for the victors, to reward the Arab tribes for their services in WWl while ensuring British and French influence over the Middle East
There are other issues involved in the conflict but without understanding this tribal loyalty and the dynastic nature of Arab politics , one cannot hope to resolve the conflicts.
When one reads a book like this with it's tales of indecision and irresolution, one can only wonder about why any country should place it's trust in American guarantees.
This is of concern to everyone, not just the Middle-East.
We are living through two major wars, Iraq and Afghanistan plus the fear of a nuclear Iran. I believe there are vital American interests in all. However the American people have never had clear explanation of the real issues.
Now as I read Kimche's book I wonder how much of the same mind-set is at work in Washington (and among so many of our opinion leaders and talking-heads).
Unfortunately it is too close to home be able to pass over lightly. We can only hope that the next administration will have a better grasp on the issues.
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