THE BEST KIND OF AMERICAN

Damning history of American bumbling in the Middle East.

At the center of Lebanese-born journalist Ghattas’ wide-ranging narrative is Malcolm Kerr, an expert on the Arab world and president of the American University of Beirut. Kerr, a widely published commentator, observed that the dispossession of the Palestinians was the “central Arab grievance,” adding, “Because it casts into question the whole basis on which Israel came into being, the Israelis have never been able to face it.” Kerr, father of Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, was assassinated not long after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the victim of an alliance of militants that might have been averted by smarter policy decisions on the part of the U.S. Instead, the U.S., under President Reagan, essentially stood aside when Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, resulting in a chain of tragedies that included the slaughter of civilian refugees sheltering in camps and the bombing of both the U.S. embassy and a barracks that resulted in the deaths of 241 American service members, “the worst single-day loss of life for the Marines since the Iwo Jima battle of World War II.” By Ghattas’ account, the Marines shouldn’t have been there in the first place, but Reagan was posturing as a tough guy even as Secretary of State George Schultz was quietly looking for a way to withdraw them “without making the president look bad.” Misstep followed misstep as the U.S. gave largely unconditional support to Israel while constantly alienating Iran by, for instance, not including it in a peace conference convened by George H.W. Bush in 1991. The errors continue to this day, Ghattas asserts, by not reining Israel in on the matter of Gaza, even as “Trump’s bombastic real estate approach to the region will further escalate [tensions].”

Of great importance to anyone seeking a clear view of a bewildering geopolitical arena.