Right-wing hawks in US Congress pick fight with wrong general

By Clifford A. Kiracofe

The top military leader of the US armed forces recently came under attack by pro-Israel forces at a US Senate confirmation hearing. Senator John McCain, exploding in anger, said he would block General Martin E. Dempsey's continuation as chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and was furious that the general would not rubber stamp a war with Syria. The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff reports directly to the president who is the commander-in-chief of the US military. Under the US constitution, Congress has the authority to declare war, not the president. In recent years, however, Congress has passed this war making power to the White House in a move some critics say is unconstitutional. The spectacle of McCain's public attack on Dempsey is not helpful to the US' global image. Rather, it demonstrates the influence of the pro-Israel lobby in Congress and the aggressiveness and irresponsibility of many US politicians. McCain was apoplectic over the issue of war with Syria. He is the ranking Republican member of the US Senate Committee on Armed Forces. The chairman of the committee, Democrat Carl Levin, is also pro-Israel and also wants war against Syria but maintained a calm demeanor. At issue was US war planning for a Syria contingency. Congress until recently wanted to step up arming the Islamic terrorist forces arrayed against the government and people of Syria. However, the recent turn in the military situation on the ground as well as revelations about the opposition's connections to Al Qaeda changed some politicians' minds. Now there is skepticism in Congress about arming the terrorists any further, not to mention real doubts about undertaking a full-scale war. Pro-war politicians like McCain want so-called no-fly zones established inside Syria's borders. Military professionals know full well that to do this is an act of war. In order to establish such no-fly zones, numerous air strikes are required to suppress an extensive target set which includes Syrian anti-aircraft capabilities, tanks, and armored personnel carriers. McCain attempted to force Dempsey to reveal in public what he would recommend to the president. The general properly reminded the senator that such recommendations were confidential between himself and his commander-in-chief, the president. A particularly disturbing feature of McCain's tirade was his hostile reference to Russia. McCain said that US military activity against Syria would be a blow to Russia and to Hezbollah, the Shia resistance movement in Lebanon. Is US support for the anti-Syria terrorist forces in fact a behind-the-scenes proxy war against Russia? Dempsey, among the most highly regarded US military figures, has warned politicians against a "Thucydides Trap" involving escalating fears which would lead to military confrontation and war with China. He has also taken a number of steps to improve military-to-military relations with China and with Russia. Politicians under the influence of the militant pro-Israel neoconservative policy network and hawkish academics have a zero-sum, or win-lose, global perspective. They recklessly seek to maintain US global supremacy rather than to adjust to the changing international correlation of forces driving the emerging multipolar world. For McCain and like-minded senators and congressmen, perpetual war may seem the appropriate national strategy for the US. Greek historian Thucydides said it is arrogance and an unlimited will to power which brings inevitable destruction to states. He said prudence and moderation are the only standards for foreign policy and national strategy. We can only hope Congress will wake up and reject bellicose extremism and fly-by-night foreign policy.