Olmert tells AIPAC: Early Iraq exit would destabilize entire Mideast

The Israeli government have thrown their full weight behind George Bush's policy of "surge and accelerate" in Iraq with Olmert warning AIPAC that only the US could ensure stability in the Middle East and warning that an early withdrawal of US forces from Iraq could endanger Israel.

"Those who are concerned for Israel's security, for the security of the Gulf States and for the stability of the entire Middle East should recognize the need for American success in Iraq and responsible exit," Olmert said in remarks to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

"Any outcome that will not help America's strength and would, in the eyes of the people in the region, undercut America's ability to deal effectively with the threat posed by the Iranian regime will be very negative," Olmert said.

And in a speech that could have been written in a neo-con pamphlet, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni carried on the theme:

In a region where "impressions are important," said Livni, countries must be careful not to demonstrate weakness and surrender to extremists.

"If we appease the extremists - if they feel that we are backing down - they will sense victory and become more dangerous not only to the region, but to the world," she said. "This applies to the decisions made on Iran, it is true for Iraq, and it is true across the Middle East."

Livni said Iran was at the forefront of extremist threats to Israel, the greater Middle East and the world in general because of its nuclear ambitions.

"To address extremism is to address Iran," she said, urging tougher UN sanctions over its nuclear program. "It is a regime which denies the Holocaust while threatening the world with a new one."

"To those states who know the threat but still hesitate because of narrow economic or political interests, let me say this: History will remember."

So there we have it. Any of us who object to any action Bush proposes taking against Iran are little better than Holocaust appeasers. It is against this rabid background that decisions regarding war are to be made.

Of course, that champion of objectivity and rationale discourse, Dick Cheney, had already outlined his view of the effects of an early US withdrawal:

"A precipitous American withdrawal from Iraq would be a disaster for the United States and the entire Middle East," he said.

"A sudden withdrawal of our coalition would dissipate much of the effort that's gone into fighting the global war on terror and result in chaos and mounting danger," he said.

As Congress prepares to debate a Bush administration request for nearly $100 billion to fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for the rest of the year, Cheney predicted that rejection could lead to a major new surge in clashes between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

"Moderates would be crushed, Shiite extremists backed by Iran would be in an all-out war with Sunni extremists led by Al-Qaida and remnants of the old Saddam regime," he said.

The scenario, Cheney said, could then lead Sunni governments, such as Saudi Arabia, to support their compatriots in Iraq and counter Iran's influence, causing an escalation in sectarian violence and widening the conflict into a regional war.

If Sunni extremists prevailed, Al-Qaida and its allies could recreate the safe haven they lost in Afghanistan, except now with the oil wealth producing weapons of mass destruction and underwriting their terrorist designs, including their pledge to destroy Israel.

"If Iran's allies prevailed, the regime in Tehran's own designs for the Middle East would be advanced and the threat to our friends in the region would only be magnified," Cheney said.

Of course, no mention is made of the fact that they are the very people who produced Iran's new regional superpower status by invading Iraq in the first place.

But listening to the fear and hate mongering that that they are generating, one can't help think that this is not merely an argument for US forces to remain in Iraq as much as it is a justification for American action against Iran.

And, if you have any objection against such an incendiary move, what Livni might describe as your "narrow economic or political interests", then you really are no better than a Holocaust denier.

It is within this narrow framework that AIPAC would like us to view any possible future actions against Iran. God help us all.

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Tags: Olmert, Livni, Cheney, AIPAC, Israel, Iraq, Iran, withdrawal, surge and accelerate