Just when it became patently obvious that the tail was in complete control of the dog (i.e., Israel in control of US Middle East policy), the dog has decided to try to reassert control over its nether appendage.

Since the days of Reagan, the Jewish lobby in Washington (and every nook and cranny in the US) has wielded more and more power, until with AIPAC, PNAC (Project for a new American century), 911 and Iraq, it took complete control of US foreign policy, getting Washington to wage open war against Israel's greatest enemy: Islam.

US vs USSR/Islam

The ghost of Reagan is haunting us for another reason. His war against the Soviet Union as 'Evil Empire' was successful beyond his wildest dreams, resulting in its collapse. This shining hour (in fact a tragedy, but leave that aside for now) has been the inspiration of hawks ever since, and is the template for the neocon war against Islam and the 'Axis of Evil' today. The idea is a massive arms build-up, active subversion, invasion where possible -- all this will bring about the collapse of the current enemy, in this case Islam.

The USSR and Islam represent(ed) the same anti-imperialist challenge to US (now USreali) imperialism which it was/is not able to co-opt, as it was in the case of the 'Christian' 'West.' So it was/is necessary to destroy these obstacles. Reagan's strategy worked in the case of the USSR, which was not so resistant to US imperialism as its ideology made it out to be. It was in decline, and was vulnerable to the seductive materialism of the West. It only needed a naive leader and a push and a shove to fall into the US embrace.

Fast forward to Reagan's reincarnation. Israel now in complete control in Washington. The idea behind Washington's 1998 blueprint for the future -- PNAC -- was much the same as Reagan's: topple the remaining (Muslim) states resisting USrael. Finish the job that Reagan started (and Bush senior refused to complete). The idea was that the latest invasion of Iraq would go like clockwork, creating another US puppet Muslim state friendly to Israel, put paid to the Palestinian resistance, and allow USrael to wage further wars against other 'Evil Axis' enemies of Israel, namely Iran and Syria.

Dog turns tail (or rather 'Tail turns dog')

But things didn't pan out so well. Iraq proved a harder nut to crack than the USSR, and the Palestinians elected a vigorous anti-Israel government, Hamas, that USrael long has labelled a terrorist organization. Meanwhile, Iran elected a fiery anti-Zionist leader and has helped keep the political playing field in Iraq -- both government and resistance -- solidly anti-Zionist.

The inexperienced Olmert, thinking he could do in Lebanon what the US was unable to do in Iraq, ended up repeating the exact same mistakes as the US in Iraq, not to mention in Israel's own previous invasions of Lebanon. And as a result that pesky Hezbollah has managed to do what no one else has been able to do: put the fear of God back into the 'Chosen People.' This is indeed the turning point for the USreali vision, but not the one foreseen by PNAC. The failure of Israel to tame Hezbollah, coming on the heels of the failure of the US to tame Iraq, signals the death knell of PNAC and the neocons. But it turns out the Washington ear is deaf to this sweet music.

A normal US administration would have noticed the egg on Israel's face, heard the call, and helpfully sponsored a 'stiff' UN resolution ordering Israel out after a week of devastation, which of course would allow another week for Israel to delay, reluctantly pull out, and assuage the world community, which, in turn, would be left to clean up the mess without so much as a howdy-do from Israel.

But this is no ordinary US administration. It actually believes the Christian-Zionist apocalyptic nonsense about WWIII and the end of the world, and far from seeing the bits of egg as a call for help, has decided to egg Israel on, so to speak, letting it continue to wreak havoc, carpet bomb civilians, painting itself into a corner, as the US prepares to launch wars according to the now dog-eared PNAC schedule: Syria and Iran.

A nice irony -- still flush with its success against the USSR and inspired by loony Christian Zionists, the US regains control of Middle East policy by out-Izzying Israel, by serving up a clumsy parody of Likud. What Izzy wanted deep-down (and desperately needs) was a face-saving slap on the wrist. By being given carte blanche to continue its blitzkreig and being respectfully consulted on the UN resolution, it's just digging itself deeper and deeper into its blood-soaked swamp.

We can now witness a true miracle: Israel as the wise elder statesman (its inner petulant child still intact, of course) in this dance of death, with the US appearing to take control of the strings (the screams in Lebanon are really just Condi's 'birth pangs') in order to complete the PNAC scenario come hell or high water. Whether or not this really proves the dog has retaken control of its tail, I'll leave up to you. Whatever. This multiplying of the USraeli quagmires still represents a truly breath-taking moment in history, though, unfortunately, we may literally end up never taking another breath.