The writer said that the wrong decisions of American presidents led to repercussions that could have been avoided (Reuters)

The American Counter Punch website said that the United States’ experience in the Middle East is a classic scene of political and military miscalculations that lead to repeated strategic failure.

The most recent example of this is President Joe Biden's full political support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which makes Washington complicit in the genocide campaign against the people of Gaza.

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Writer Melvin Goodman said that the presence of American military force in the Middle East, which aims to achieve a strategic advantage, has generally led to adverse results and a state of chaos in the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf, and has opened many doors for Russia and China to intervene in the region.

Goodman explained that the modern beginning of American miscalculations in the Middle East occurred nearly 70 years ago, when Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (under President Dwight Eisenhower) offered to support the construction of the High Dam in Egypt and then suddenly backed down.

Goodman: Biden's involvement in fully supporting Netanyahu has serious consequences (Reuters)

High Dam

When Dulles succumbed to right-wing pressure to stop financial support for the dam, the late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal Company.

The original offer to Egypt caused political anxiety in Israel, leading to a significant increase in French military support for the Israeli army, and ultimately to a secret British-French-Israeli plot to invade the Sinai and secure the Suez Canal.

The withdrawal of American aid also opened the door to increased Soviet influence in Cairo, and the nationalization of the canal led to the tripartite invasion of Egypt by London, Paris, and Tel Aviv.

He added that President Eisenhower's criticism of the tripartite invasion was treated positively by Egypt, but his announcement a year later was a criticism of Nasser and of strong Soviet-Egyptian relations.

According to the author, the Eisenhower Doctrine led to an economic boycott of Egypt that served as a model for subsequent (mostly unsuccessful) sanctions against Third World countries such as Cuba and Libya, opening additional opportunities for Soviet diplomatic influence.

Former US President Bush Jr. invaded Iraq in 2003 based on false information (Reuters)

Gulf War

The writer continued that the wars fought by Presidents George Bush Sr. and his son had enormous unexpected consequences, and are still causing political and military problems for the United States in various parts of the region.

He also said that the Gulf War in 1991 could have been avoided, and that Mikhail Gorbachev had received - before the collapse of the Soviet Union, of which he was the last president - the approval of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to withdraw his forces from Kuwait, but it was too late for the Bush administration, which insisted on using force.

The war led to serious difficulties for US President Bill Clinton in the Middle East throughout his two-term presidency.

The writer added that it is interesting that Bush Sr. and his National Security Advisor, General Brent Scowcroft, made serious efforts to dissuade Bush Jr. from his fateful decision to overthrow Saddam in 2003, which rivaled the war in Vietnam as two of the worst miscalculations in any American decision to go to war.

According to Goodman, Bush Sr. believed that the use of military force could lead to the tearing apart of the Iraqi state and endanger the long-term balance of power in the Arabian Gulf, which is what actually happened. The United States had no real case for waging war against Baghdad, so it made up a false argument about the existence of nuclear weapons.

The late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (social networking sites)

He drowned in the mud

CIA Director George Tenet helped the president advance this case by submitting false intelligence reports to the White House.

Goodman continued, saying that Scowcroft had confirmed in an article that the invasion would lead to a civil war in Iraq that would require an American military presence there for a long period, which is what happened, and then the American invasion opened the door completely to Iran.

He pointed out that President Biden had made an error in judgment more than any American president in believing that the huge amounts of military and economic aid to Israel would lead to Washington’s influence on the Israeli decision-making process, as well as to Israel’s moderation in its policies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

He added that there is no reason for Biden to be surprised by any opposition from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would harm the interests of the United States. For example, Netanyahu often timed the announcement of new settlements in the West Bank during official visits to the United States, including two visits by Biden.

Goodman concluded by saying that Biden may build his re-election campaign on his support for Ukraine, but this attempt may fail due to collusion with Netanyahu and the Israeli army.

Source: American press