Avoiding the unavoidable

The first debate between presidential hopefuls Obama and McCain was supposed to focus on US foreign policy and national security. Which it did. But it was significant for what was avoided and what remained unsaid. Namely, the plight of the Palestinians. In fact, there was not a single mention of the word 'Palestine' or 'Palestinians' during the entire 90-minute debate.

There is a global consensus among dispassionate observers that the core issue which has roiled relations and raised tensions between the United States and much of the Muslim world is the Palestine problem.

The just-released paperback version of the landmark book, The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, co-authored by Professor John J Mearsheimer from the University of Chicago and Professor Stephen M Walt from Harvard University, argues that blind American support for Israel, shaped by the pro-Israeli lobby, stifles honest and open debate of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Certainly, on the evidence of the first presidential debate, the point of this book is proven. Zbigniew Brzezinski, who served as national security advisor to President Jimmy Carter, maintains that the shock of 9/11 shook American confidence and, because it was watched live on television, it has left in its aftermath a culture of fear which has been subsequently propagated and exploited.