04-26-2006, 12:36 AM
<b>Why's the Jewish lobby thwarting the nuke deal</b>?<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Israel is trying to weaken Iran as much as it can economically before a war of words becomes a war of weapons. Isolating Iran on the issue of the gas pipeline to India is part of the wider strategy. The United States can dictate policy to a client-State like Pakistan, but handling India is tougher. <b>(Although rumours were swirling around Delhi at the time of the last Cabinet shuffle that Mani Shankar Aiyer had been kicked out of the petroleum ministry because the Americans thought he was going overboard in pressing for the gas pipeline from Iran.)</b>
American politicians may not understand all the finer nuances of international relations but they understand their own voters quite as well as Mulayam Singh Yadav understands his. The Jews account for more votes -- and are far better organised -- than Indians in the United States. Elections are due in just over seven months. If the Jewish lobby wants to put pressure on India to be a little less friendly with Iran, then American Representatives and Senators will oblige. But the Jewish lobby will happily reverse itself if India and Israel come closer together, since there is no underlying fear of India.
The mood in Washington seemed to be that the American Senate might still, on balance, give its nod to the nuclear pact with India. But nobody was willing to say how long the process might take. Letting foreign policy play second fiddle to domestic politics may not be the best way to conduct diplomacy. But the compulsions of vote-seeking should be familiar to all of us in India. After all, how many politicians ventured to criticise Mulayam Singh Yadav when he made a play for Muslim votes over the Iran issue?
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American politicians may not understand all the finer nuances of international relations but they understand their own voters quite as well as Mulayam Singh Yadav understands his. The Jews account for more votes -- and are far better organised -- than Indians in the United States. Elections are due in just over seven months. If the Jewish lobby wants to put pressure on India to be a little less friendly with Iran, then American Representatives and Senators will oblige. But the Jewish lobby will happily reverse itself if India and Israel come closer together, since there is no underlying fear of India.
The mood in Washington seemed to be that the American Senate might still, on balance, give its nod to the nuclear pact with India. But nobody was willing to say how long the process might take. Letting foreign policy play second fiddle to domestic politics may not be the best way to conduct diplomacy. But the compulsions of vote-seeking should be familiar to all of us in India. After all, how many politicians ventured to criticise Mulayam Singh Yadav when he made a play for Muslim votes over the Iran issue?
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--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->