The Alan Dershowitz and Melanie Phillips Show: Jewish Fury Incarnate
Ruvy, close, but no cigar. Why did Bush II and Powell part ways? It was over mideast policy, and the way Powell basically became a mouthpiece for the Foggy Bottom apparatus. Then Rice took over, and after about a month of better expectations, she got gobbled up by the blob, too. The agency is like that. They’ve never been run from the top; they’ve always been run from the bottom.
What’s going on now is probably closer, as you say, to running policy from the top down to the liking of the organization than we’ve seen in a generation. But the relationship between Obama and Clinton is still…er…fishy. It’s not like Hillary Clinton to be so quiet and obedient. Something’s coming down the pike; I’m just not sure what. Stay tuned; this almost assuredly will get more interesting.
I also think you’re not being completely fair to some other presidents; for example, Nixon was a documented antisemite (on the tapes), but he was a lot better to Israel than Carter, who was so sanctimoniously ecumenical.
And for what it’s worth, I think a lot of people, in Israel, North America, and Europe, get the relationship with the Saudis wrong. Their influence isn’t because they grant the privilege of buying their oil. In fact, the vast majority of their oil is shipped to Europe and Asia. The real influence of the Saudis is that 1) they were among the most staunch and loyal allies in the cold war, and 2) they have become quite good at spreading money around into high-leverage places.
The reason why the entire Foggy Bottom apparatus from the janitor on up is so loyal to them is a combination of those things. They played their cards very smartly. Of course, a background of cultural antisemitism probably made it a little easier than it otherwise might have been, but a lot of these FB careerists are still in cold war mode. They still are thinking about their friends in Riyadh against the Soviet-backed Baathists.
By the time the old cold warriors die off, the organization will be populated with multiculturalist Arabists. The reason for Arabism will change. The outward reality won’t.
