Rollback America , Parsing Petraeus

[Jefferson23]

April 13, 2010

By NADIA HIJAB


Nadia Hijab is a senior fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies.


The ripples from General David H. Petraeus' testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee continue to spread. Mingled with excitement (or apprehension) about the administration's tough words in response to recent Israeli expansionist plans, it may signal an end to America's unconditional support for Israel.

However, less attention has been paid to the second half of this much-quoted sentence from the Petraeus testimony: "The enduring hostilities between Israel and some of its neighbors present distinct challenges to our ability to advance our interests in the AOR" (Area of Responsibility).

Yet this also raises valid questions: What are America's interests in the AOR -- where 20 countries are home to half a billion people? Is it a good thing to advance them? For answers, it is instructive to study the full 56-page testimony.

This is how Petraeus describes the AOR: " contains vital transportation and trade routes.... ... encompasses the world's most energy-rich region." He notes that the Arabian Gulf and Central Asia account for at least 64 and 46 percent, respectively, of the world's known petroleum and natural gas reserves, and 34 percent of crude oil production.

Thus, the United States "has substantial strategic interests in, and related to, the region." Specifically, the security of U.S. citizens and their homeland; regional stability; international access to strategic resources, critical infrastructure, and markets; and the promotion of human rights, the rule of law, responsible and effective governance, and broad-based economic growth and opportunity. The rest of the testimony describes how the U.S. armed forces in Central Command use the taxpayer money allocated by Congress to advance these interests.

in full: http://www.counterpunch.org/hijab04132010.html