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Middle East: Sham Peace Accord

By VVAW

Once again the American people are being treated to the ballyhoo of "lasting peace in the Middle East." Once again, Kissinger is being pictured as the indispensible superman who has brought about a just conclusion to the Sinai situation. But no amount of trumpeting can change the hard facts: the agreement calls for the continuation of Israeli troops on Egyptian territory, the US is providing Israel with increased arms used for war, not peace; and the US is planning to become more involved than ever by stationing American "technical advisors" in a so-called "neutral zone" between Egyptian and Israeli forces. Finally, there is no mention at all of the rights of the Palestinian people who have been waging struggle since 1948 to regain their lost homeland.

The arms package itself is one of the most modern arsenals ever given in one lump to another country (at least the US attempt to prop up the puppet Thieu in South Vietnam). It calls for the supplying of approximately $2.5 billion in military hardware in the first year alone. Included in this are the super modern F-16 and F-15 fighters, Lance and Hawk missiles, and the medium range missile, the Pershing. This missile gives the Israeli's the capability of hitting every major Arab population center or the Aswan Dam, as well as deliver a nuclear warhead. Of course, Israeli leaders are willing to promise never to arm the Pershings with nuclear devices--one more diplomatic promise to be broken whenever convenient. Despite all Kissinger's talk of peace, neither he nor the government can hide the facts that these weapons are used for war, not anything else.

At the same time as the Israeli's are armed to the teeth, the agreement calls for the stationing of American "civilian" technical advisors in a buffer zone to insure the peace. Well, our memories are not so short, nor have we suffered a sudden case of amnesia about how US troops first got stationed in Indochina after the 1954 Geneva "peace" agreements. These "advisors" are only a further step in the ever-deepening involvement in the Middle East.

The increased arming of Israel and the stationing of Americans in the Sinai not only adds to the possibility of direct conflict by the US with one or another of the Arab nations, but also with the other superpower, the USSR. Despite all the talk about detente, the oil of the Middle East is just too valuable a prize for either group of thieves to surrender without a fight.

As veterans, we know what it is to fight in a rich man's war, to see our friends die for someone else's profits, and watch vets who were injured get put in butcher shops called VA hospitals instead of getting decent care. And it is precisely because we've seen first-hand who benefits from rich man's wars that we're saying, "Hell No! We won't fight your wars." We have a fight alright, but that right is right here.