George Scratchley Brown (17 August 1918 – 5 December 1978), Air Force general and the eighth chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, labeled Israel a "military burden."
There is deep suspicion within the American military of the Israeli state, and this is nothing new. As one of the few institutions without the presence of Jews, and that still operates somewhat on the principle of meritocracy, the military produces the most reasoned and professional assessments of Israel in the American state.
They know what Israel is and what it is not.
Israel is not the shield of the West or a mighty dagger in the dark lands of Islam. It is a cripple and a dependent militarily speaking. Its power comes from its global spy networks, and its financial and political intimidation of influential people.
It is not and never will be a military power. Not in a million years.
Jews have it in their minds that they're the center of the world, that God chose them to rule all the other nations, but geography, demography, and military reality all beg to differ.
God has always favoured military conquerors, and they are not that.
At a certain point, military reality will come to bear upon Israel. You can't wish it away. You can't label it anti-semitic and call it a day.
At a certain point, all the theocrats, Kabbalists, Talmudists, Christian Zionists, Freemasons, Twelver Shia, Jewish mystics, and occult weirdos in Washington and elsewhere need to be pushed out and replaced by sensible military men who first and foremost make judgements based on military realities, not apocalyptic theology, eschatological dreams, and political fantasies.
The Israeli project will eventually reach a dead end because of its radical nature and its inflexibility to adjust to military realities. Ditto for the American empire and the Islamic Republic.
These regimes are pariahs, not victors.
II.
George Scratchley Brown (17 August 1918 – 5 December 1978) was a United States Air Force general who served as the eighth chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In this capacity, he served as the senior military adviser to the president of the United States, the National Security Council and the secretary of defense. Through the commanders of the unified and specified commands, he was also responsible for executing the decisions of the National Command Authorities regarding worldwide readiness and employment of combat forces of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
. . .Brown had a reputation for speaking frankly and forthright, as indicated by some of his statements getting heavily criticized during his term as chairman. The event happened when Brown commented on two occasions—firstly to a Duke University audience in October 1974, and then to a French reporter in 1976—that Israel was becoming a burden to the Pentagon and that he believed the reason for continued military aid was due to Jews having control over America's banks, newspapers and elected officials. His exact words were:
It's so strong you wouldn't believe now. We have the Israelis coming to us for equipment. We say we can't possibly get the Congress to support that. They say, 'Don't worry about the Congress. We will take care of the Congress.' Now this is somebody from another country, but they can do it. They own, you know, the banks in this country, the newspapers. Just look at where the Jewish money is.
Brown's comments at Duke and subsequent reprimand by President Gerald Ford were reported on the front page of The Washington Post on 13 and 14 November 1974. There was speculation that Brown would be asked to resign, or at least not be nominated for a second two-year term; but he was re-nominated and went on to serve under the new president, Jimmy Carter.
In April 1976 during an interview with Ranan Lurie, a cartoonist for Newsweek, Brown was asked to comment on his opinion of the British Armed Forces, Brown replied, "They're no longer a world power. All they've got are generals, admirals and bands." Reaction in Britain was mixed. Some, like Lord Allenby condemned Brown's remarks, while others, like Lord Monckton acknowledged the truth of the remarks.
On August 1, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon appointed Brown to be chief of staff of the Air Force. As chief, General Brown worked to enhance the Air Force strategic bomber program and to replace the aging B–52s with B–1s, which could carry larger payloads and penetrate deeper into the USSR.
On July 1, 1974, President Nixon appointed General Brown chairman of the JCS, the first Air Force officer since Gen. Nathan Twining to hold the position. As chairman, Brown served three presidents during an era of limited budgets and constrained force structure. In 1974 he provoked an international controversy by asserting that Jews “own the banks and the newspapers in this country.” After making these remarks at a gathering at Duke University Law School, he was called to the White House by President Gerald R. Ford and rebuked. General Brown issued an apology. Acknowledging that Brown had made a mistake, Ford opted to keep Brown on as JCS chairman because of his excellent record as an officer.
Two years later General Brown got into trouble again by saying that Israel had become a military burden to the United States and by making deprecatory remarks about Britain and Iran. Of Britain he said, “It’s pathetic now; it just wants to make you cry. They’re no longer a world power. All they have got are generals, admirals, and bands. They do things in great style . . . on the protocol side. But it makes you sick to see their forces.” On Iran: “Gosh, the (military) program the shah has coming. . . . It just makes you wonder whether he doesn’t some day have visions of the Persian Empire.” Later General Brown said his remark about Israel referred to a partial depletion of U.S. military equipment stocks to resupply Israel after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. He also praised the British for their gallantry and professionalism and said he had no reason to believe that the shah of Iran planned to do anything other than lead his country properly.
As chairman, much of his time was consumed with Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty talks that focused on finding a formula by which the U.S. lead in missile reentry vehicles would offset Soviet superiority in missile throw-weight. Brown led the Joint Chiefs in urging U.S. air and naval deployments to South Vietnam following the U.S. pullout. But public and congressional opposition to any further involvement in Vietnam precluded approval of any military action. General Brown also participated in decision making over the U.S. response to two confrontations in the Far East that were widely perceived as tests of U.S. will in the aftermath of the communist takeover of South Vietnam. These were the Mayaguez incident in May 1975 and the shooting of two U.S. officers and wounding of another by North Korean guards in August 1976 in the demilitarized zone that divided the two Koreas. He also played a significant role in the success of the 1977 negotiations transferring the Panama Canal to Panama.
