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Ex-US General: We Pay A Price For Backing Israel

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  • Ex-US General: We Pay A Price For Backing Israel

    EX-US GENERAL: WE PAY A PRICE FOR BACKING ISRAEL

    Slamming settlements, James Mattis, former commander of CentCom,
    tells crowd in Aspen that moderate Arabs are forced to hide support
    for America

    By Lazar Berman

    July 26, 2013 "Information Clearing House - "Times Of Israel" -
    Retired US Marine Corps General James Mattis recently said that
    America pays a price for its perceived bias in support of Israel.

    "I paid a military security price every day as the commander of CentCom
    because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel,
    and that moderates all the moderate Arabs who want to be with us,
    because they can't come out publicly in support of people who don't
    show respect for the Arab Palestinians," he said Saturday at the
    Aspen Security Forum in Colorado in response to a question about the
    peace process

    Mattis took over Central Command, whose area of responsibility includes
    the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, from David Petraeus
    in 2010.

    He called the current situation in Israel "unsustainable" and blamed
    the settlements for harming prospects for peace. The chances for an
    accord between Israel and the Palestinians, said Mattis, "are starting
    to ebb because the settlements and where they're at are going to make
    it impossible to maintain the two state solution."

    Mattis then described a hypothetical in which 500 Jewish settlers
    live among 10,000 Arabs, and the implications of where Israel draws
    the border. He called it a choice between giving up the idea of a
    Jewish state or becoming an apartheid state.

    He then returned to the idea of the cost of lack of progress in peace
    talks, arguing that it "shortstops a lot of support for us because all
    politics are local... And I would just tell you that they can't come
    out in support of us if we don't see some progress where Secretary
    [of State John] Kerry is wisely focused like a laser beam right now."

    Mattis was effusive throughout the conversation in his praise for Kerry
    and his current effort to kick-start the long-dormant peace process.

    Mattis also touched on Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and his decades of service
    in the Marine Corps. He estimated that Iran is about a year off from
    a nuclear weapon and expressed pessimism regarding the potential
    efficacy of a military strike, but said he was certain Israel would
    not hesitate to attack if it felt Iran had crossed its red lines.

    Mattis's predecessor reportedly expressed similar sentiments in 2010.

    Petraeus reportedly dispatched a team of senior officers under his
    command to brief Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
    Staff, on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The 45-minute powerpoint
    presentation shown to Mullen argued that Israeli intransigence was
    harming US interests in the region and harming American credibility
    among Arab leaders.

    In a prepared statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee in
    March 2010, Petraeus said that the "conflict foments anti-American
    sentiment, due to a perception of US favoritism for Israel. Arab
    anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth
    of US partnerships with governments and peoples in the AOR [area of
    responsibility] and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the
    Arab world. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda and other militant groups exploit that
    anger to mobilize support. The conflict also gives Iran influence in
    the Arab world through its clients, Lebanese Hezbollah and Hamas."

    Petraeus walked the statements back soon after.

    © 2013 The Times of Israel, All rights reserved

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