as long as it exists, it’s a powerful emotionalnbuffer between Islam and what thenMoslem ideologies might like to do to thenWest, and the United States in particular.nAs long as we have leverage—Israel—nthe Arabs must ask favors of us insteadnof musing about what they can inflictnupon us. The truth is that as long as Israelnrefuses to submit to Arab demands andnis capable of repelling any attemptednannihilation, a gallon of gas will notncost more than $1.30 or so; once thenSaudis get their way with the Palestiniannquestion, we may be in for a surprise sonfar as that price is concerned.nThe naive viciousness with which thenAmerican liberal left attacks Israel isnrepulsive but understandable: Israel’snrational resistance to the subversion ofnWestern sociomoral ideals provokes thenprimitive ire of Mother Jones, VillagenVoice and Trotskyites alike. Why middle-of-the-roadnliberalism in Americanhas turned against Israel is more enigmatic,nsinister and, perhaps, even morenreprehensible. One does not know whynTimeLife, Inc., with all its immensenpropagandistic and financial resources,nassails Israel with a ferocity that dragsntheir reporting and commenting downnto the level of nazi or communist argumentation.nTime’s routine explanationnis that its primary concern is America’snnational welfare.* This kind of zealousnselflessness reminds us that we known*On the other hand. National Review cannotnbe accused of dishonesty, only of giddynsquishiness. The organ of Blackford Oakesnis somehow unable to apply that man’s finelyntuned knowledge of women’s passions andnresponses to politics. After the Reagan-nBegin meeting, in which it was apparentnthat they had struck some kind of deal aboutnthe AWAC’s, NR still accused the Israelisnof manipulation. It just does not occur tonNR’s subtle analysts that a lot of Republicannand conservative senators still cannotngrasp why we refused to share the AWAC’snintricacies with Englishmen (who had annindustrial revolution) or with the Germansn(who developed the quantum theory of physics)nbut are eager to share it with the Saudis,nwho—their intellectual capacities asidelikena lot of people who intensely dislike us.nO O ^ ^ H ^ ^ H H MnChronicles of Culturennothing about Time-Life’s possible investmentsnin Saudi Arabia or Kuwait,nand even less about how ardently andnsincerely its corporate chieftains believenthat what’s good for Time-Life,nInc. is good for America. All I know isnwhat I read in print, and I read Time’snrecent essay, “What To Do About Israel.”nIn it a certain Strobe Talbott performsnthe most remarkable hatchet jobnto date: not a single Israeli viewpoint isnpresented while the most fantastic andnvicious arguments of Israel’s foes arenlovingly and reverently illuminated.nThe general tone is that of an appealnfor an anti-Israeli pogrom. One distinctlynfeels that Mr. Talbott need not worrynabout his future: any totalitarian propagandanoffice in Amman, Riyadh, Baghdad,nTripoli or Damascus will be morenthan willing to take care of him fromnnow on; indeed, any fascist or communistncenter of opinion would be proudnto have him as a chief polemicist. Onenof Mr. Talbott’s finely crafted thoughtsnevoked a particular feeling of melancholy—hendescribes Israel as “a hospitablenif sometimes overheated environmentnfor the thriving of Western values.”nWhich Western values.” Thosenconceived in front of the burning bushnand Gethsemane or those fabricated innthe liberal corporate chambers.’ Mr.nTalbott somehow seems to say that thatnstrip of land—where Moses and Jesusntaught, where the Western notions ofnmoral law, one Deity, human consciencenand sense of personal responsibility werenformulated—is not exactly a cradle ofnWestern spiritual strength but merely anrecipient of it, like a Coca Cola importer.nIn the MailnHe seems to suggest that the real andnonly source of every wisdom, good andnhonor that may be found in those valuesnis in the building on the corner of SixthnAvenue and 51st Street which housesnTime-Life, Inc. At this juncture’ of history,nthe supreme American interest isnto restore its image as a trustworthy allynwhich is able to sustain an ideologicallynmotivated commitment regardless ofnshifting economic-political priorities.nThat image is today in a shambles. Itnwas nearly shattered during the 60’s andn70’s when American foreign policy wasnmade by mobs in the streets and manipulatednby primitive sentiments, leftist cunningnand unpunishable traitors. T he anti-nIsraeli policy predicated by the corporate-liberalnsense of history and nationalngrandeur— if it is actually adopted by ourngovernment—could transmute our internationalnimage from an ineffectualnone to a pitiful one.nAddendumnThe assassination of President Sadatnand the odd indifference shown by thenEgyptian people to the death of an allegedlynbeloved leader tell more aboutntoday’s world of Islam than does thenshallow reporting of the news magazinesnor the opinionated editorials basednon these reports. It’s now more obviousnthan ever that pan-Arabic and pan-nMoslem fanaticism rules the collectivensubconsciousness of ca 250,000,000npeople from Malaysia to Morocco.nThose emotions are essentially anti-nChristian, anti-Western and anti-Americannin nature. They will erupt at thenmost unexpected occasions and manifestn”Low Intensity Conflict and the Integrity of the Soviet Bloc”; Centre for ConflictnStudies, University of Ne^v Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswck, Canada.nA report on a workshop conducted in March 1981.n”Conflict Quarterly” (Summer 1981); Centre for Conflict Studies, University ofnBrunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. A collection of essays consideringnvarious international conflicts.nTarget America by James L. Tyson; Regnery/Gateway; South Bend, Indiana. Anninquiry into the nature and extent of communist influence on the American media.nnnXn