Notes of a "Zionist Poodle"

August 14, 2006
     The great weakness of the peace movement is its utter inability to think strategically. The deep wish for peace, for an absence of hostilities, eclipses the fact that hostilities abide. Thus, Israel becomes the new villain in the story for carrying the West's water in the struggle against the abiding hostility of Jihad.

     The peace movement does not believe in Jihad. By Jihad, I mean a trans-national ideologically-driven campaign to murder "infidel" non-Muslims and to extend Islam's domain geographically as far as possible. An important feature of the campaign is the elimination of Israel, an irritating piece of Western "infidel" grit lodged in Islam's throat.

     Ideologically, Jihad despises Israel because Hebrew culture represents the basis of notions central to western civilization -- that there should be rules regarding decent human conduct beyond whatever raw power itself may assert; that we are responsible for our conduct; and that someone above is watching our conduct and weighing our responsibility.

     Jihad is not interested in decent conduct per se. That's why many Jihadists endorse conduct like the indiscriminate murder of non-muslims per se, videotaped beheadings of non-combatants by the cruelest methods imaginable, the suicide / homicide bombings of discos and cafes where no military assets are present, and the downing of civilian airplanes with bombs. These things are merely expressions of raw power, which is the antithesis of civilized conduct.

     The leaders of Lebanon are not interested in responsibility for the conduct of their policies and the things that happen within their territory. They permit a rogue Jihadist army to operate freely on Lebanese soil, to amass rockets and other ordnance, to fire them at Israel at the behest of the Jihadist's sponsor, Iran, and to use Lebanese civilians as shields and sandbags to defend those military assets -- and then they complain about the consequences when those military assets are attacked.

     The peace movement doesn't take Jihad at its word. Jihad is not interested in peace. It is a war movement.

     The United States had to take Jihad seriously when Jihad hijacked airplanes and knocked down two skyscrapers and one side of the Pentagon. (And, by the way, I regard theories that Vice-president Dick Cheney "masterminded" the 9/11 attacks to be paranoid nonsense beneath discussion.) The US has engaged Jihad, but rather obliquely. Our "war" in Iraq stopped being a war in 2003. It has been a clumsy and unsuccessful policing job since then against two Islamic sects fighting over the oil production assets of a collapsed artificially-constructed 20th century state that was once known as "Iraq."

     The original strategic impetus of the Iraq war was to kick an Islamic state's ass as a reply to the 9/11 attack. Since the 9/11attack was not carried out by a sovereign nation, the US reply had to be made to a target that represented the next best thing, and by default Sadaam Hussein was selected because he and his state had caused a lot of trouble in the recent past. Strategically it was deemed that removing him from power would have additional benefits for stability in the region. It was a tragic miscalculation. Life is sometimes tragic and nations make tragic errors. The US effort since the initial invasion was intended to prevent that state from collapsing but turned out to have only stimulated and accelerated the process. The Shia and the Sunni antagonists were not really interested in the one thing that the US had to offer: institutions styled on Western infrastructures for justice and law. The two antagonists were only interested in the assertion of raw power.

     One thing the peace movement never considers: what if there had been no US reply to the injury and insult of 9/11? What if we had just sucked it up? I can't prove this, but I believe that such behavior would have only emboldened Jihad to seek more targets of opportunity, and probably enticed Mr. Hussein into the kind mischief and grab for leadership of trans-national Jihad that Mr. Ahmadinejad is now showing. Critics will hasten to point out that Hussein was a secular dictator. I would hasten to remind them that in his final years in power he had taken to such stunts of religiosity as building mega-mosques, and transcribing the Koran using his own blood for ink.

     (The 9/11 Dick Cheney fantasy is interesting insofar as it provides the nuttier elements of the peace movement with a justification for not replying to the attacks -- we did it to ourselves.)

     What is the meta-strategic objective for the US in the Middle East? It is to preserve the orderly flow of oil resources. Is that a good thing? I happen to be a critic of the way America uses its oil resources, that is in the operation and further elaboration of a living arrangement based on extreme car dependency. I am not convinced that a "cold turkey" sudden cut-off of our oil supplies would be a good thing for our society. However, I have a fatalistic view that sooner or later we will face the loss of these energy resources and that we had better prepare ourselves for the event.

     Something else is happening. The US's strategic objective of preserving oil flows is being pre-empted by the objective of defending the West against an increasingly restive and aggressive Jihad. Sooner or later Jihad will turn to its "oil weapon" to throw a wrench in the machinery of the West's defense -- but in the meantime, the greed for oil revenues trumps that action. Anyway, Jihad perceives the West's growing weakness without sacrificing its oil income. The addicts are killing themselves.

     Finally, it is apparent to Jihad that they face a horizon on the availability of their oil drug (and weapon). Peak oil is well understood by the Islamic oil producers. (Among the most articulate peak oil voices on the international scene is Samsam Bakhtiari, former head of the Iranian National Oil Company.) For the oil-producing Islamic nations, the dwindling of oil supplies, now imminent, has enormous implications. Chief among these is the very existence of large populations predicated on a single resource. Their fear of this future has stimulated millions of young men in these doomed societies to join Jihad, an apocalyptic cult seeking the resolution of last things.

     The West, too, has its share of apocalyptarians. While the Republican party in power has flirted with them for political gain, I do not believe that anyone really holding the reins of power, including George W. Bush, really subscribes to these ideas. At worst, George W. Bush subscribes to the idea that Americans should continue to live in an easy-motoring utopia. But the reality of peak oil must even impress him.

     So, as the oil predicament becomes untenable for both the suppliers and the addicts, we increasingly face this worldwide campaign of religious wrath. Though it is almost never expressed in the West, out of excessive politeness, Jihad can probably be described as a campaign of sheer vengeance against those who consumed Islam's energy resources and thus its future. The Muslim people got a raw deal. Their kings, princes, and despots enjoyed wealth beyond imagination, while the masses simply bred themselves into an ecological crisis. They possessed a geographical region, large at it is, that is mostly good for nothing except growing dates and sesame seeds. Their fantasies of vengeance are grandiose. The West has to contend with them, has to defend itself against them. Israel is on the front lines of that defense. The prospects for the other Western nations facing this implacable enemy are grim and frightful. We want there to be no fighting. We want everyone to be kind to everybody else. We want peace. They want war.

Comments

[Semanticleo]

"The original strategic impetus of the Iraq war was to kick an Islamic state's ass as a reply to the 9/11 attack"

Holy Moly.

You have gone utterly barmy.

I thought the last post on this subject could be written off to
a week of copyeditors slashing your prose. But this.....

I have but one question;

Who had the most to gain from
the astonishing FUBAR, Iraq?

[netkat]

We don't hold the high moral ground here, JHK!

You rightly point out the nasty things jihadists are doing, but the US has been there and back on all of those activities, save possibly the cruel beheadings, but apparently our torture toolkit is pretty extensive.

Look: you rightly point out that the US is an oil addict. We've done lots of nasty things in pursuit of our "connection" not the least of which is to use Israel as an excuse to park our military hardware in the region, and I think it's understandable why arabs feel as though they're back's to the wall.

True, jihadist methods aren't all warm and fuzzy, but neither are ours.

rather than trying to fashion an excuse for israel's behavior, why not keep the conversation where it NEEDS to be: on our insatiable thirst for oil and what we're willing to do to get it?

nk

[asoka]

JHK says: "We want peace. They want war."

Oh, I get it now. We are the good guys and they are the bad guys. It is all simple now. All we need to do is kill all the bad guys? Does anyone believe that is good strategy? Possible? Moral?

Also kind of ugly the hijacking of the word "jihad"... without distinguishing between its two meanings. But then it would not be so easy to state: "They want war."

[Mike]

Strong post by JHK, methinks. While plenty here will disagree with him on principal, I think this is a well-thought out, balanced post. To wit:

* "Our 'war' in Iraq stopped being a war in 2003. It has been a clumsy and unsuccessful policing job since then against two Islamic sects fighting over the oil production assets of a collapsed artificially-constructed 20th century state that was once known as 'Iraq.'"

* "Since the 9/11 attack was not carried out by a sovereign nation, the US reply had to be made to a target that represented the next best thing, and by default Sadaam Hussein was selected because he and his state had caused a lot of trouble in the recent past. Strategically it was deemed that removing him from power would have additional benefits for stability in the region. It was a tragic miscalculation. Life is sometimes tragic and nations make tragic errors."

* "Though it is almost never expressed in the West, out of excessive politeness, Jihad can probably be described as a campaign of sheer vengeance against those who consumed Islam's energy resources and thus its future. The Muslim people got a raw deal. Their kings, princes, and despots enjoyed wealth beyond imagination, while the masses simply bred themselves into an ecological crisis."

* * *

On the lighter side, here are my thoughts about Iran's Funky Prez and his long-overdue decision to wade into the Blogosphere. I guess he figured since everyone talked about him anyhow . . .

http://mikesneighborhood.blogspot.com/2006/08/i-havent-decided-yet-whether-to.html

. . . or, if you'd rather read about delicious vegetables (even those "vegetables" that are actually fruit), take a stroll though Urban America's Favorite Backyard Garden . . .

http://mikesneighborhood.blogspot.com/2006/08/weed-grows-in-queens.html

. . . or, if you want to figure out how to take trans-oceanic flights without either getting blown into small julienned pieces OR get delayed for days on end, check this out . . .

http://mikesneighborhood.blogspot.com/2006/08/maybe-we-should-just-ban-passengers-on.html

* * *
Finally, as a public service gesture to the many people that seem to hate my unsolicited links, let me help you compose a nasty comment. Choose one item from the following three lists:

1. Mike/Asshole/Fucktard
2. Whoring/ Spamming/ Shilling
3. Stupid/Shitty/Idiotic/

After choosing, plug the choices into the following template, and you'll have flamed me in seconds flat!:

Dear ______: Stop _______ on Kunstler's comment board with links to your ______ blog.

Or forgo the letter, and just read the posts. Either way . . . Enjoy!

[mtlouie]

Bye ya'all. It's been fun. Too weird for me now. Good luck to everyone.

[uncle remus]

Oh JHK, you have REALLY stepped in it this time...

[vorpal]

Since Asia's consumption is growing, why are they not concerned with terrorists? I don't see S. Korea or Japan or China freaking out over Jihadists.

My guess it is because they respect the Islamic notion of Holy Land and make arrangements with the Arabs on that premise.

The US is in a bind. Israel is in a bind. Everybody wants oil, the Muslims have it and the Israelis do not. We want to friends with Israel, but we _need_ the oil.

Addicts are usually willing to betray their friends for a fix. How long will the US be faithful to our friends in Israel?

[Conor]

"The original strategic impetus of the Iraq war was to kick an Islamic state's ass as a reply to the 9/11 attack"

I don't think I accept this justification for invading Iraq. We had already kicked Afghanistan's ass as revenge for 9/11. The Iraqi invasion was all together more sinister.

I agree with your analysis that the peace movement here in the US has a hard time accepting the strategic realities on the ground in the ME. The only way to really achive peace in the region is to pull out all of our interests in the region and turn all control over to the locals. But of course, our entire way of way of life depends on maitaining and protecting our interests in the ME. Quite a paradox harkening back to your previous post with the comment about peace activists will find it hard to drive to their meetings. It is important to note though that our current president and his team have proven over and over again that they does not have the skill or the savy to navigate these confusing and dangerous waters... we are stuck with the man for 2 more years, what else can we do but demand that we pull out of the messes he's created.

[Scorpio]

Finding other energy sources and the means of transporting them in useable form is of paramount importance. It will upset the jihadis, no doubt -- but the ability to smack them down will be magnified when we lose our dependence on the resources they sit on.

When Bush seized on hydrogen as The Answer, it was in service, nod doubt, to his oil buddies who are looking for another resource they can control in place of the one that is strangling us.

It's not The Answer, which will be far more complex.

[Bill]

Self-respecting poodles will take umbrage at the comparison.

[kd]

Pathetic posting, Jim.

"We want peace."

A few minutes research reveals that the United States has bombed 22 countries since WWII.

US military & CIA intervention has exteneded to 46 countries since WWII.

War is big business & has been for some time.

[Alfred]

Once again, the Israeli's are the victims!
I suggest that you take a look at Seymour M. Hersh's piece in the New Yorker
Do you really think it is smart to start a war against Iran now?
Both Lebanon and Iran have (perhaps I should write had) the most pro-western populations in the Middle East.
Note how Libya has been forgotten. Obviously, letting Western Oil companies in again did the trick.

[montysano]

"Though it is almost never expressed in the West, out of excessive politeness, Jihad can probably be described as a campaign of sheer vengeance against those who consumed Islam's energy resources and thus its future. The Muslim people got a raw deal."

"Excessive politeness"?!? WTF! Have you watched Fox News lately? Listened to one of Dubya's speeches? I don't see anyone worrying too much about politeness. Instead, how about excessive desire to avoid reality, to avoid harvesting that which we have sown?

This is a classic Fox News/Sean Hannity "they hate us for our freedoms" screed, as if Osama was lying around the cave, happened upon a copy of the Bill of Rights on the Web, and went ballistic. The idea that scary Brown People want to come across the ocean to shut down our Wal-marts and inflict bad fashion on our wimmen. What utter balderdash. They hate us for what we do, not who we are.

[G]

Wow! Looks like the NEOCON Rightwing has finally found their Peak Oil point man, and his name is James Howard Kunstler.

Nice going Jim! Mighty fine to see it admitted that Isreal is acting as the puppet pawn in America's quest to secure it's Cheese Doodle lifestyle -- and you don't seem too perturbed that Israel might get wiped off the map in the process.

Listen up Israel! With friends like JHK, who needs enemies? He's willing to put a knife in your back too!

[mabus]

You're a f-r-e-a-k Kuntzler

[American]

This is really getting silly.

It's convenient to set any speculation about Cheney's role-in-or-knowledge-of 9/11 aside. Funny how he won't swear to tell the truth about the entire incident, however. And how he insists his little monkey be in the room with him when questions are asked.

The Iraq invasion wasn't well-intentioned "tragedy." Talk about an opinion beneath discussion. Many warned not to invade. Hans Blix, Scott Ritter, et al., knew and know much more about the Iraq threat than Cheney or any of the generals he didn't fire due their nauseating willingness to yes-man his ridiculous cakewalk theories.

To the extent that I represent "anti-war" thinking, I'll say JHK is full of it to say people like me refuse to think strategically. More like, we refuse to tolerate radicalized bullshit coming from our supposedly representative government.

Let's say we are in a desperate situation vis-a-vis oil. Let's say that without grabbing middle-eastern reserves by force, we're in for near-term starvation and chaos. THEN SAY SO. If we're going to nuke millions because it's simply them-or-us, THEN SAY SO. Maybe a few fuckers will park their SUVs then, you know?

If, on the other hand, you believe jihad has the critical mass to kill us all, or to destroy our way of life (which, by the way, Kunstler seems to characterize as not worth saving in the first place), then the only "strategic" answer might be to kill them all first. SO SAY SO. If you want to drop nukes, then tell us why, when, and where you're going to do your genocide. Don't play coy games about "dirty jobs" or "fix the fucking world" a la Kunstler and Bustin Justin. Have the balls to say what you think we should do.

One word you should roll around in your minds for a while: FAILURE. That's the word which best applies to neocon bombs-only fantasies for subduing proud populations. That's the word which best applies to Rumsfeldian video game warfare. That's the word which best applies, frankly, to our nation's results since PNAC took over our nation six years ago. America, the FAILING nation. Rumsfeld, the FAILED strategist.

Between 72-virgin fantasies, rapture fantasies, and shock-and-awe fantasies, we're caught in a real fucking mess. And it's disappointing that a quite bright guy like Kunstler doesn't see that.

[shia.warrior]

The great weakness of the war movement is its utter inability to think strategically.

I mean, you neokikes are 0-3 in the three wars you've fought since Bush arrived.

Glory to Hezbollah!

[vorpal]

Frankly, I think NATO and it's member nations should stop shipping any and all weapons to Israel (ideally to all countries, but that is a bit idealistic) and give the Israelis automatic permanent residency in any of the NATO countries if they decide to leave.

That would be the peaceful way to end the conflict. Take away the cause and means of conflict, and remediate those who suffer losses as a result.

[uncle remus]

Israel in the new Constantinople?

[shia.warrior]

vorpal:

I agree with everything except:

"give the Israelis automatic permanent residency in any of the NATO countries if they decide to leave."

You don't want jews in your country. They always shit their nests. Why do you think they keep getting kicked out of everywhere they go?

[B. Thomas]

I am amazed that Mr. Kunstler can write an article of this length and - not even ONCE - mention the ongoing slaughter of the Palestinian people or the fact that the state of Israel was founded upon lies and genocide. In fact, Mr. Kunstler's recent columns demonstrate that even highly intelligent and well-meaning Americans often lose their ability to think critically when the Jewish state is the issue at hand. Does JHK actually believe that Israel is blameless here? I recommend a reading of Michael Scheuer's great book, "Imperial Hubris" as an immediate corrective against such ignorance. Bin Laden and his ilk declared war against the USA and its parasite, Israel, because of some very specific foreign policy decisions and the ongoing horror of Palestine. Furthermore, it seems clear to me that a major war - perhaps the most severe since WW II - is slowly but surely developing in the Middle East. Unlike many people, I don't think this is a bad thing. The situation can no longer be controlled by diplomacy. It should be clear to any reasonable person that the societal status quo now in place in this region - a nightmare of Sunni-led absolute monarchies and military dictatorships - cannot last forever, especially since the toppling of Saddam Hussein recalibrated the balance of power away from Sunni Islam and towards Shi'ite Islam for the first time in centuries. Rather like the "Polish Corridor" and "East Prussia" prior to 1939, Israel/Palestine is a geographic freak which should not be. The USA and its parasite - Israel - cannot stand against one billion angry Muslims who are willing to destroy themselves in order to hurt "The System." Incidentally, JHK is being at best, disingenuous when he talks about a jihad against "The West." The Western countries which have suffered serious attacks in recent years - Spain and the UK - supported the war in Iraq and were quite rightly punished for this foolish hubris. As Bin Laden himself said, "If we hate Western values, why aren't we attacking Sweden?" "The West" is not the issue here - rather, Islamic hatred is being correctly directed against the creators and perpetrators of corporate tyranny (which has already turned much of the USA into a 3rd World country) and the political architects of Islamic misery. The American people - riddled with fat and cancer, their minds clouded by medieval piety and nonstop "entertainment", lost in a doomed consumerist utopia - have neither the brains to understand what we are up against nor the will to alter their own doomed course before vast change is forced upon us. Our own greed and stupidity will be our undoing. While I often agree with JHK on many points, where Israel is concerned, he simply takes leave of his senses, like far too many American Jews. Guess what, JHK? Hitler is dead and the Holocaust isn't going to happen again. Israel and the USA are different countries, and the interests of one are NOT the interests of the other! Israel isn't "good for the Jews" any more.

[B. Thomas]

I am amazed that Mr. Kunstler can write an article of this length and - not even ONCE - mention the ongoing slaughter of the Palestinian people or the fact that the state of Israel was founded upon lies and genocide. In fact, Mr. Kunstler's recent columns demonstrate that even highly intelligent and well-meaning Americans often lose their ability to think critically when the Jewish state is the issue at hand. Does JHK actually believe that Israel is blameless here? I recommend a reading of Michael Scheuer's great book, "Imperial Hubris" as an immediate corrective against such ignorance. Bin Laden and his ilk declared war against the USA and its parasite, Israel, because of some very specific foreign policy decisions and the ongoing horror of Palestine. Furthermore, it seems clear to me that a major war - perhaps the most severe since WW II - is slowly but surely developing in the Middle East. Unlike many people, I don't think this is a bad thing. The situation can no longer be controlled by diplomacy. It should be clear to any reasonable person that the societal status quo now in place in this region - a nightmare of Sunni-led absolute monarchies and military dictatorships - cannot last forever, especially since the toppling of Saddam Hussein recalibrated the balance of power away from Sunni Islam and towards Shi'ite Islam for the first time in centuries. Rather like the "Polish Corridor" and "East Prussia" prior to 1939, Israel/Palestine is a geographic freak which should not be. The USA and its parasite - Israel - cannot stand against one billion angry Muslims who are willing to destroy themselves in order to hurt "The System." Incidentally, JHK is being at best, disingenuous when he talks about a jihad against "The West." The Western countries which have suffered serious attacks in recent years - Spain and the UK - supported the war in Iraq and were quite rightly punished for this foolish hubris. As Bin Laden himself said, "If we hate Western values, why aren't we attacking Sweden?" "The West" is not the issue here - rather, Islamic hatred is being correctly directed against the creators and perpetrators of corporate tyranny (which has already turned much of the USA into a 3rd World country) and the political architects of Islamic misery. The American people - riddled with fat and cancer, their minds clouded by medieval piety and nonstop "entertainment", lost in a doomed consumerist utopia - have neither the brains to understand what we are up against nor the will to alter their own doomed course before vast change is forced upon us. Our own greed and stupidity will be our undoing. While I often agree with JHK on many points, where Israel is concerned, he simply takes leave of his senses, like far too many American Jews. Guess what, JHK? Hitler is dead and the Holocaust isn't going to happen again. Israel and the USA are different countries, and the interests of one are NOT the interests of the other! Israel isn't "good for the Jews" any more.

[B. Thomas]

I am amazed that Mr. Kunstler can write an article of this length and - not even ONCE - mention the ongoing slaughter of the Palestinian people or the fact that the state of Israel was founded upon lies and genocide. In fact, Mr. Kunstler's recent columns demonstrate that even highly intelligent and well-meaning Americans often lose their ability to think critically when the Jewish state is the issue at hand. Does JHK actually believe that Israel is blameless here? I recommend a reading of Michael Scheuer's great book, "Imperial Hubris" as an immediate corrective against such ignorance. Bin Laden and his ilk declared war against the USA and its parasite, Israel, because of some very specific foreign policy decisions and the ongoing horror of Palestine. Furthermore, it seems clear to me that a major war - perhaps the most severe since WW II - is slowly but surely developing in the Middle East. Unlike many people, I don't think this is a bad thing. The situation can no longer be controlled by diplomacy. It should be clear to any reasonable person that the societal status quo now in place in this region - a nightmare of Sunni-led absolute monarchies and military dictatorships - cannot last forever, especially since the toppling of Saddam Hussein recalibrated the balance of power away from Sunni Islam and towards Shi'ite Islam for the first time in centuries. Rather like the "Polish Corridor" and "East Prussia" prior to 1939, Israel/Palestine is a geographic freak which should not be. The USA and its parasite - Israel - cannot stand against one billion angry Muslims who are willing to destroy themselves in order to hurt "The System." Incidentally, JHK is being at best, disingenuous when he talks about a jihad against "The West." The Western countries which have suffered serious attacks in recent years - Spain and the UK - supported the war in Iraq and were quite rightly punished for this foolish hubris. As Bin Laden himself said, "If we hate Western values, why aren't we attacking Sweden?" "The West" is not the issue here - rather, Islamic hatred is being correctly directed against the creators and perpetrators of corporate tyranny (which has already turned much of the USA into a 3rd World country) and the political architects of Islamic misery. The American people - riddled with fat and cancer, their minds clouded by medieval piety and nonstop "entertainment", lost in a doomed consumerist utopia - have neither the brains to understand what we are up against nor the will to alter their own doomed course before vast change is forced upon us. Our own greed and stupidity will be our undoing. While I often agree with JHK on many points, where Israel is concerned, he simply takes leave of his senses, like far too many American Jews. Guess what, JHK? Hitler is dead and the Holocaust isn't going to happen again. Israel and the USA are different countries, and the interests of one are NOT the interests of the other! Israel isn't "good for the Jews" any more.

[ConservativeGreen]

Jim: WTF!?

On your website I recently read

The Twilight of Mechanized Lumpenleisure
http://www.kunstler.com/mags_lumpenleisure.html

It was entertaining for a couple of paragraphs, and then I realized that you really hate almost everyone and everything except a couple of ideas that float around in your head.

I wish you peace and the courage to look into your heart and to advocate sustainable living. How many more dead men, woman and children do we need?

[Reltsnuk]

This is a calculated frame up job. When the Spice stops flowing from the desert, JHK will already be pointing a finger towards the 'evildoers'.

The 'Framer' takes his place next to the 'Decider'.

Maybe a survival strategy? Does JHK think he'll be taken care of in our uncertain future going on the record with this kind of nonsense?

There must be an explanation beyond the fact that he actually believes what he has recently been writing.