The following letter went out this morning to newspapers, large and small, nationwide.
To the Editor:
Zbigniew Brzezinski, the former national security advisor under President Jimmy Carter, has declared that the United States should shoot down Israeli fighter jets if they fly through "coalition airspace" on their way to a preventive airstrike against any Iranian facilities suspected of making nuclear weapons.
Brzezinski is wrong ... as usual.
First of all, he neglected the long-standing United States policy to support Israel's right to existence and self-determination. Second, he neglected the fact that the United States has liberated the sovereign nation of Iraq from a despotic ruler; therefore, the USA does not "own" the airspace above Iraq -- even if we do have tactical control thereof -- and thus we are not the proper decision-makers regarding their airspace. Thirdly, his comments echo previous questionable comments that Brzezinski has made about the Jewish lobby in America. Fourth, the strategy of appeasing Islamists does not work -- neither for the United States, nor for our allies. Fifth, if his "advice" is heeded, then the United States would damage relations with not only our best ally in the Middle East, but also our best source of intelligence about that confusing and tumultuous region.
But, there is an even greater reason to sideline Brzezinski.
Three weeks after the storming of the American Embassy in November of 1979, and the capture of hostages there in Tehran, news reports surfaced that President Carter had turned down a request by CIA "agents in place" -- people that were familiar with both the embassy layout and the city of Tehran -- to conduct a clandestine rescue operation before the terrorists could become better organized. Carter consulted with his national security advisor, Brzezinski, and overrode the opinion of a team of trained and experienced intelligence operatives. As a result of Carter following Brzezinski's advice, American hostages languished in captivity for at least one year longer than they would have if the CIA agents had conducted the rescue. And, as we now know, Carter's micro-managing of the military's Operation Eagle Claw created a situation in which that months-later rescue attempted literally blew up in flames in the Iranian desert.
The problem is that Brzezinski is still considered a viable advisor -- on Iran, of all things -- within the Democratic Party, which should instead muzzle him immediately. Worst case scenario: Obama listens to him, as Carter did.
Tom Kovach
national director of outreach communication
America's Independent Party
(the third-largest political party in the United States) |
