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17 October 2010
By Kourosh Ziabari
Philip Giraldi is a former counter-terrorism
specialist and military intelligence officer of the
United States Central Intelligence Agency. Now, he
chairs the Council for the National Interest as the
Executive Director. CNI is a nonprofit organization
that advocates for the transformation of United
States' Middle East policy.
As a CIA officer, Giraldi served in different
countries including Turkey, Italy, Germany and Spain.
He is now a Francis Walsingham Fellow at The American
Conservative Defense Alliance. He has appeared on
several radio and TV programs including Good Morning
America, MSNBC, NPR, Fox News, BBC, Al-Jazeera and 60
Minutes.
Giraldi works with the American Conservative magazine
as a contributing editor and writes a regular column
for the Antiwar website. He is an outspoken critic of
the hawkish policies of the United States and has
publicly decried Washington's unconditional support
for the state of Israel.
Philip Giraldi joined me in an exclusive interview to
discuss the latest developments of the Middle East,
the prospect of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the
possibility of a peaceful compromise between Iran and
the United States and the impact of Israeli lobby on
the long-term policies of the White House.
Kourosh Ziabari: Why is the Israeli lobby so
powerful, influential and authoritative? Almost all of
the major media conglomerates in the United States own
to well-off Jews who are committed to maintaining the
interests of the state of Israel in the U.S. Some
experts say that Israel is the representative of the
United States in the Middle East region, but some
others suggest that it's Israel which determines the
future of political developments in the United States.
What's your take on that?
Philip Giraldi: The Israel Lobby is so powerful
because it deliberately set out to establish control
over key elements in the United States. It has
demonstrated a number of times that politicians who
are perceived as being unfriendly to Israel will face
serious problems in being reelected because the Lobby
mobilizes to provide money and media support to
opponents. This means that congress is afraid to
oppose anything that Israel and its Lobby wants. The
same holds true for the presidency. Every presidential
candidate must be seen as friendly to Israel or he
will be attacked in the media and denied millions of
dollars in political contributions, making it a safer
option to support Israel. Finally, pro-Israeli
interests control much of the media and, more
important, dominate the opinion and editorial pages,
making the only narrative that most Americans hear
about the Middle East highly favorable to Israel and
highly critical of all Israel's enemies. As a result,
Israel is able to control U.S. foreign policy as it
relates to the Middle East and also much of the Muslim
world.
KZ: The recent call by the Iranian President on
framing a fact-finding group to probe into the 9/11
attacks sparked intense controversy around the United
States. Is it because the United States considers 9/11
a red line which should not be crossed?
PG: Many Americans believe that 9/11 was never
properly investigated. Some believe that the U.S. and,
or Israeli governments were actually involved. The
Federal government does not want the case to be
reopened because a truly open investigation might
reveal things that it would like to keep hidden. I do
not know what exactly those things might be, but, at a
minimum, there was a high level of incompetence within
the government in the lead up to the attacks, both by
Democrats and Republicans.
KZ: The former Italian President had once said
that Mossad had played a role in the 9/11 attacks. Is
there any convincing evidence that Israel was behind
the 9/11 attacks? Can we rely on some implications
including the five dancing Israelis who were seen
cheering while the Twin Towers collapsed, or the
closure of Zim Shipping Company's headquarters at the
World Trade Center two week before the 9/11 attacks?
PG: Most intelligence officers believe that Israel,
which was conducting a massive and illegal spy
operation inside the U.S. aimed at Arabs living here,
knew at least parts of the 9/11 conspiracy. It did
not share that information and it is also clear that
leading Israeli politicians welcomed the attacks
because they made Washington a totally committed ally
in full agreement with the Israeli view of Islamic
terrorism. The Israel view, i.e. that anyone hostile
to Israel is a terrorist, has done great damage to the
United States because it has created enemies where no
enemies previously existed.
KZ: What's your take on the exercise of double
standards by the U.S. over Israel's nuclear issue?
PG: There is no justification for Washington's
hypocrisy over Israel's nuclear weapons program.
Israel should be held to the same standard as everyone
else, but the action of the Israeli Lobby means that
it will never be accountable for anything as long as
Washington is in a position to protect it.
KZ: As someone who has closely worked with one
of the most sensitive parts of the U.S. government, do
you like the continuation of belligerence and
hostility between Iran and the United States? Are
these two nations fated to be at odds forever? Can you
foresee promising horizons of reconciliation and
friendship?
PG: I do not believe that Washington and Tehran are
natural enemies. I believe that they have been turned
into enemies by the media and the activity of the
Israel Lobby. Unfortunately, that situation will not
change until Washington completely overturns its
policies in the Middle East, something that might not
happen in our lifetimes. Many young Iranians, the bulk
of the population, do not harbor any real hostility
towards the United States and if the policies were to
change I believe the two countries could again become
friendly.
KZ: Is it plausible to be a former CIA officer
at the same time as being an outspoken critic of the
U.S. administration? You've been quite forthright in
your criticism of the U.S. foreign policy, especially
with regards to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Haven't
been any pressure on you to soften your tone or
retreat from your stance?
PG: I have never been pressured to soften my criticism
of the US government's foreign and security policies.
There are many former intelligence officers who have
also been highly critical of developments since 9/11.
It is because intelligence officers quickly recognize
lies when they hear them and are not very tolerant of
a government that lies its way to war.
KZ: Iran marked the 20th anniversary of the
conclusion of 8-year war with Iraq last month.
Iranians well remember that it was the United States
and its European allies, who persuaded, equipped,
funded and aided Saddam Hussein in invading Iran. 20
years later, they came together to topple the very
Saddam they had supported in war with Iran. Saddam
killed more than 400,000 Iranians. My uncle was one of
them. Can you put yourself in the place of an Iranian
citizen who witnessed the war? What would be your
feeling then?
PG: For the United States, the support of Saddam
Hussein against Iran was a quid pro quo that goes back
to the holding of the U.S. Embassy hostages in Tehran
after the Islamic revolution. It was revenge pure and
simple in hopes that Iraq would prove victorious and
bring down the Iranian government. As an Iranian, you
have a right to be outraged by what happened but the
Embassy seizure was also outrageous. The U.S. response
was, as it often is, disproportional and I am ashamed
of my government's support of wars to fix political
disputes.
KZ: and for the final question, how do you
estimate the prospect of Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
PG: There is no hope for resolution of the
Israel-Palestine conflict as long as the United States
continues to permit the Israelis to expand and commit
crimes against humanity directed towards the
Palestinian people. Evil is evil no matter how you
try to dress it up and the Israeli policies are
manifestly evil. The Palestinians cannot ever accept
a peace settlement that requires being held in a large
outdoor prison camp by the Israelis supported by the
United States.
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