By Debbie Menon
PalestineChronicle.com

One of the basic principles of war is that one must have a plan. One of the even more basic principles is that in order to win the war, one must know the enemy’s plan!

This is impossible, unless one has first identified the enemy and has taken whatever measures are necessary to know him as well as he can possibly be known. This leads to an old, probably Chinese, injunction; "To succeed, keep your friends close; but your enemies even closer!"

If you are going to fight for the Palestinian, the Middle East, the Arabic, the Islamic, the Pakistani, the Lebanese, the Iraqi, the Iranian cause, or any of the many causes of "the people" in the Middle east, or even understand the conflicts in the region, it is imperative that you not only know all about the enemy, and his plans, but first that you recognise and acknowledge exactly who the enemy actually is!

I am not sure this has been done, for I see little mention of him in the media which seems to be flowing out of the region. Many foot-soldiers and related but insignificant elements, more “the effects” of the conflicts than the causes, have been and are continuing to be cited as the "threat" or "the enemy", such as petty local ambitions, local warlords, squabbles over petty fiefdoms, drugs trade, power grabs, etc, and, of course, the Big Bugaboo of American and Western hegemony and Imperialism which, however true, does not describe the heart of the matter, nor identify the heart of the enemy — which should be the real target.

No one seems to want to address this major issue, which for years has been behind the Balkanisation of so many countries in the region, and the establishment, installation, stabilisation and solidification of one great foreign and aggravating element, Zionist Israel!

To know the enemy is half the victory. No victory or defence can be devised or pursued without knowing whom one is fighting. Since the "enemy" in this case is right there on the home grounds of the people he is invading and attacking, it should be obvious who he is.

Apparently, a great many people, journalists, statesmen, information bearers and distributors of "information" either do not know this, are cowed down by the intimidation of, or are agents of these same "enemies".

I ask, of the people who live in the region, the Press who write about it, and Muslims particularly, what would the Prophet have done? What are you doing?

Read a rare and refreshingly clear voice of startling and exceptionally clear vision on this “unmentionable topic,” by an American. He, and what he has to say on the matter, may be a good platform from which to search for the truth of the enemy, and get an ID on him.

Scott Ritter is not only a clear-sighted and perceptive visionary, he is a brave man who writes exceptionally well. Worth reading!

“Israel at present can have no friends, because Israel does not know how to be a friend. Driven by xenophobic paranoia and historical grievances, Israel is embarked on a path that can only lead to death and destruction. This is a path the US should not tread. I have always taken the position that Israel is a friend of the United States, and that friends should always stand up for one another, even in difficult times. I have also noted that, to quote a phrase well known in America, friends don’t let friends drive drunk, and that for some time now Israel has been drunk on arrogance and power. As a friend, I have believed the best course of action for the United States to take would be that which helped remove the keys from the ignition of the policy vehicle Israel is steering toward the edge of the abyss. Now it seems our old friend is holding a pistol to our head, demanding that we stop interfering with the vehicle’s operation and preventing us from getting out of the car. This is not the action of a friend, and it can no longer be tolerated,” writes Ritter.

Whether it is not already too late to do much about it, we shall see.

But, first, and above all, someone is going to have to conduct a spinal implant in the US administration and the Congress!

America’s inability to resolve the question of Palestine is one of the gravest tragedies of our times. This is primarily because the US administration and the US Congress have succumbed to the demands of the Zionists and the Zionist regime. This is a lethal ailment that afflicts the US. The American politicians have fallen captive to the Zionist network.

Surely fair-minded Americans the likes of Scott Ritter prefer US-inspired policies to those perpetrated by the Zionists. Regretably little is being done to cure this fatal disease. So long as this situation persists, we will see tyranny and injustice in the region. The US government being the primary negotiator for peace and security between Zionists and Palestinians should bear the responsibility for the Zionist regime’s massacre of Palestinian women and children in their homes and territories. Peace and security will be realised only through the establishment of true justice. How can sustainable peace and security be reached by provoking and humiliating others?
The Annapolis Peace Conference was a patent and obvious farce, deliberate and practical. It has accomplished absolutely nothing more than a $7.4 billion windfall in Mahmood Abbas’s lap.

The world community must force Israel to back off and world public opinion and people of conscience must demand that it does so, if the magnanimity of their financial assistance to Palestinians is to bear any fruit. The inability of the world community and the United Nations to challenge Israel only frustrates hopes for a stable and peaceful world. Instead, once again we witness the re-emergence of a system that produces nothing but tension and insecurity in the region. Gaza remains under siege once again, Palestinians in Gaza remain deprived of basic amenities, provoked and angered, the West Bank is also terrorised, settlements continue being built, Palestinian land keeps being taken, more innocent lives in the territories are being lost, suffering remains unbearable, and hope for the beleaguered people are dashed. Israel does all this without offending anybody!

The Palestinian message on the ground is clear, but no one’s listening. They won’t accept surrender for peace. They want nothing less than freedom and justice in their own unoccupied land. Israel won’t leave them in peace, so the struggle continues. The US is not being part of the solution, and appears as a great part of the problem.

I believe the only conclusions to the problem is for Americans to stop supporting Israel diplomatically, militarily and financially. Israel is no friend.

-Debbie Menon is an independent writer based in Dubai.  Write to her at d_p_kmenon@yahoo.com.au