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In the Middle East, the major concern was (and remains) the incomparable energy reserves of the region, primarily in the Arabian peninsula. These were to be incorporated within the US-dominated system. Noam Chomsky, Deterring Democracy p53
The United States did not then need Middle East oil for itself. Rather, the goal was to dominate the world system, ensuring that others would not strike an independent course. ibid.
The Nixon Doctrine had established Iran under the Shah and Israel as the ‘cops on the beat’ in the region. ibid.
Few issues in world affairs are so important as control of the world's energy system – or so threatening to world peace ... As long as it was possible, the ‘Soviet threat’ was brandished to justify US actions to ensure its dominance over Middle East oil. ibid.
1985-6, the US and its Israeli ally was responsible for the most serious acts of international terrorism in this region, not to speak of the leading role of the United States in international terrorism elsewhere in the world, and in earlier years. The worst single terrorist act in the region in 1985 was a car-bombing in Beirut that killed 80 people and wounded 250. ibid.
For many years, the US has stood virtually alone in blocking a diplomatic settlement in the Middle East ... Given US power, its opposition amounts to a veto. Accordingly, the peace process has been effectively deterred. ibid.
The prevailing judgement has been that enhancement of Israeli power contributes to US domination of the region. For such reasons, the US has always blocked attempts at diplomatic resolution. ibid.
The basic terms of the international consensus on the Arab-Israeli conflict were expressed in a resolution brought to the Security Council in January 1976, calling for a settlement on the pre-June 1967 borders. ibid.
Lying behind these gambits is the belief that US-backed Israeli violence has finally brought the Palestinians to heel. ibid.
US veto effectively terminated any UN role in the peace process. ibid.
The Israeli rejection clearly showed that the basic problem is not Palestinian rights per se, but rather the fact that recognizing them would end Israeli control over the territories. ibid.
The available evidence indicates that the US kept to the international consensus until February 1971, when it rejected the Jarring-Sadat initiative. US isolation increased in the mid-1970s as the consensus shifted to recognition of a Palestinian right of self-determination. Coincidentally, it was in February 1971 that George Bush became part of the executive apparatus as UN Ambassador. A compliant bureaucrat, Bush has adhered to US rejectionism throughout, and gives no indication of any departure today. ibid.
Control over Middle East energy provides leverage in world affairs and guarantees a substantial flow of capital to the economies of the United States and Britain. ibid.
By curious accident of history and geography, the world’s major energy resources are located pretty much in Shiite regions. They’re a minority in the Middle East, but they happen to be where the oil is, right around the northern part of the Gulf. Noam Chomsky
Since about 1970 the United States has stood virtually alone in the international arena in blocking diplomatic efforts to bring about a negotiated settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict through peaceful means. Noam Chomsky, lecture July 1995, ‘Protecting Corporate Power Against Democracy’, Youtube
Kissinger won out: we followed the policy of stalemate. Since that time the United States has been alone in the world outside of Israel in blocking every move towards a political settlement. It’s vetoed UN security council resolutions … year after year. Noam Chomsky, lecture BMFA 18th February 1993
A stupendous source of strategic power, and one of the greatest material prizes in world history ... probably the rich economic prize in the world in the field of foreign investment. US State Department
In the past, when the United States was confronting the Soviet Union and competing for influence with Moscow in the Middle East, the stake in whose allies controlled what oil reserves had a military and strategic dimension. But today, with the Soviet Union cooperating in the crisis, that argument has lost much of its urgency. Thomas Friedman, The New York Times diplomatic correspondent
Do you think the Americans are acting out of concern for others? Those pigs only want control of the Middle East oilfields! They couldn’t give a shit if 10,000 people died! The Baader Meinhof Complex 2005 [Der Baader Meinhof Komplex] starring Moritz Bleibtreu & Martina Gedeck & Johanna Wokalek & Nadja Uhl & Simon Licht & Alexandra Maria Lara & Susanne Bormann & Bruno Ganz et al, director Uli Edel
The Middle East. Home of the world’s greatest religions. And scene of one of the world’s bloodiest and more enduring conflicts. The roots of this conflict lie in one of the swiftest, most spectacular and most devastating wars of the twentieth century. Days that Shook the World s3e6: Battle for the Holy City, BBC 2005
June 6th 1967: Israel’s war against Egypt, Syria and Jordan is entering its second day. ibid.
Gamal Abdel Nasser, president of Egypt, has long been considered the leader of the Arab world ... The darling of the Muslim masses. ibid.
Theirs is not the only temple in Jerusalem. ibid.
The Middle East was a battlefield for most of the twentieth century. One of the hardest fought wars of all was in 1973 when Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel. Peter & Dan Snow, 20th Century Battlefields 6/8: Middle East, BBC 2013
The October war of 1973: Israel had won total control of the skies. ibid.
For the Arabs the Six Day War was an utter disaster. ibid.
One of the biggest tank battles in history. ibid.
We are doing everything we can to bring peace and stability to the Middle East. Tony Blair
The Middle East with two-thirds of the world’s oil ... is still where the prize ultimately lies. Dick Cheney
Reuters: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Warns of Perfect Storm in Middle East. Sky News caption 5th February 2011
A war was fought by a small nation surrounded by enemies. Secrets of War s8e2: Shadow of the Six-Day War, History 1999
After six days the war was over. On the seventh day the Israelis awoke to the realities of a new Middle East. ibid.
So I think we should stay focused on the real problem in the Middle East. It’s not Israel. It’s these dictatorships that are developing nuclear weapons with the specific goal of wiping Israel away. Benjamin Netanyahu
The Middle East is obviously an issue that has plagued the region for centuries. Barack Obama
Lebanon was at one time known as a nation that rose above sectarian hatred; Beirut was known as the Paris of the Middle East. All of that was blown apart by senseless religious wars, financed and exploited in part by those who sought power and wealth. If women had been in charge, would they have been more sensible? It’s a theory. Roger Ebert
A faction willing to take the risks of making war on the ossified status quo in the Middle East can be described as many things, but not as conservative. Christopher Hitchens
The little boats cannot make much difference to the welfare of Gaza either way, since the materials being shipped are in such negligible quantity. The chief significance of the enterprise is therefore symbolic. And the symbolism, when examined even cursorily, doesn’t seem too adorable. The intended beneficiary of the stunt is a ruling group with close ties to two of the most retrograde dictatorships in the Middle East, each of which has recently been up to its elbows in the blood of its own civilians. The same group also manages to maintain warm relations with, or at the very least to make cordial remarks about, both Hezbollah and al-Qaida. Meanwhile, a document that was once accurately described as a ‘warrant for genocide’ forms part of the declared political platform of the aforesaid group. There is something about this that fails to pass a smell test. Christopher Hitchens