Dark Crusade: Christian Zionism and US Foreign Policy (International Library of Political Studies)

273 Pages·2009·2.87 MB·English

by  Clifford A. Kiracofe

Clifford A Kiracofe, Jr, teaches political science at Washington and Lee
University and history at the Virginia Military Institute. He was formerly a
Senior Professional Staff Member of the US Senate on Foreign Relations and
has extensive inside experience of American federal government. His previ-
ous books (in collaboration with Pierre de Villemarest) are a history of Soviet
military intelligence (1988), and a history of the STASI (1991), both written
in French.
Clifford A Kiracofe provides a highly readable and welcome analysis of the
important subject of Christian Zionism as he traces the origins, development
and ideology of this controversial movement. His nuanced discussion of the
complex relationship between Christian Zionism and nineteenth and early
twentieth century British imperial policy in the Middle East is both well pre-
sented and insightful. A detailed and provocative examination of the impact
made by Christian Zionism on US foreign policy, Dark Crusade makes es-
sential reading for all those with a serious interest in the prospects for peace
in the Middle East and in Western policies in general toward the region.
Edmund Ghareeb, Professor of Middle East History and Politics,
American University, Washington, DC
INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF POLITICAL STUDIES
Series ISBN 978-1-84885-226-6
See www.ibtauris.com/ILPS for a full list of titles
19.Choosing the Tory Leader: Conservative Party 29.An Irish Statesman and Revolutionary:
Leadership Elections from Heath to Cameron The Nationalist and Internationalist Politics
Timothy Heppell of Sean MacBride
978 1 84511 486 2 Elizabeth Keane
20.The British Labour Party and the Wider World: 978 1 84511 125 0
Domestic Politics, Internationalism and Foreign 30.Flood Planning: The Politics of Water Security
Policy Jeroen Warner
Paul Corthorn and Jonathan Davis (eds) 978 1 84511 817 4
978 1 84511 401 5 31.Dark Crusade:
21.Harold Wilson and Europe: Christian Zionism and US Foreign Policy
Pursuing Britain’s Membership of Clifford A. Kiracofe, Jr
the European Community 978 1 84511 754 2
Melissa Pine 32.Philosophy, Politics and Religion in British
978 1 84511 470 1 Democracy: Maurice Cowling and Conservatism
22.The Greek Idea: The Formation of Robert Crowcroft, S. J. D. Green and Richard
National and Transnational Identities Whiting (eds)
Maria Koundoura 978 1 84511 976 8
978 1 84511 487 9 33.British Conservatism:
23.Conservative Suffragists: The Philosophy and Politics of Inequality
The Women’s Vote and the Tory Party Peter Dorey
Mitzi Auchterlonie 978 1 84511 352 0
978 1 84511 485 5 34.Global Russia:
24.The Contested Countryside: Eurasianism, Putin and the New Right
Rural Politics and Land Controversy Dmitry V. Shlapentokh
in Modern Britain 978 1 84885 036 1
Jeremy Burchardt and Philip Conford (eds) 35.The Path to Devolution and Change: A Political
978 1 84511 715 3 History of Scotland Under Margaret Thatcher
25.Liberals in Schism: David Stewart
A History of the National Liberal Party 978 1 84511 938 6
David Dutton 36.Democracy, Citizenship and Youth: Towards
978 1 84511 667 5 Social and Political Participation in Brazil
26.Communist Women in Scotland: Itamar Silva and Anna Luiza Salles Souto (eds)
Red Clydeside from the Russian Revolution 978 1 84885 048 4
to the End of the Soviet Union 37.Choosing Slovakia:
Neil C. Rafeek Slavic Hungary, the Czechoslovak
978 1 84511 624 8 Language and Accidental Nationalism
27.Richard Crossman and the Welfare State: Alexander Maxwell
Pioneer of Welfare Provision and Labour Politics in 978 1 84885 074 3
Post-War Britain 38.Khatami and Gorbachev: Politics of Change in
Stephen Thornton the Islamic Republic of Iran and the USSR
978 1 84511 848 8 Zhand Shakibi
28.Reunifying Cyprus: 978 1 84885 139 9
The Annan Plan and Beyond 39.Critical Turns in Critical Theory:
Andrekos Varnava and Hubert Faustmann New Directions in Social and Political Thought
(eds) Séamus Ó Tuama (ed.)
978 1 84511 657 6 978 1 84511 559 3
INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF POLITICAL STUDIES
Series ISBN 978-1-84885-226-6
See www.ibtauris.com/ILPS for a full list of titles
19.Choosing the Tory Leader: Conservative Party 29.An Irish Statesman and Revolutionary:
Leadership Elections from Heath to Cameron The Nationalist and Internationalist Politics
Timothy Heppell of Sean MacBride
978 1 84511 486 2 Elizabeth Keane
20.The British Labour Party and the Wider World: 978 1 84511 125 0
Domestic Politics, Internationalism and Foreign 30.Flood Planning: The Politics of Water Security
Policy Jeroen Warner
Paul Corthorn and Jonathan Davis (eds) 978 1 84511 817 4 DARK CRUSADE
978 1 84511 401 5 31.Dark Crusade:
21.Harold Wilson and Europe: Christian Zionism and US Foreign Policy
Pursuing Britain’s Membership of Clifford A. Kiracofe, Jr
Christian Zionism and US Foreign Policy
the European Community 978 1 84511 754 2
Melissa Pine 32.Philosophy, Politics and Religion in British
978 1 84511 470 1 Democracy: Maurice Cowling and Conservatism
22.The Greek Idea: The Formation of Robert Crowcroft, S. J. D. Green and Richard
National and Transnational Identities Whiting (eds)
Maria Koundoura 978 1 84511 976 8
978 1 84511 487 9 33.British Conservatism:
23.Conservative Suffragists: The Philosophy and Politics of Inequality
The Women’s Vote and the Tory Party Peter Dorey
Mitzi Auchterlonie 978 1 84511 352 0
978 1 84511 485 5 34.Global Russia:
24.The Contested Countryside: Eurasianism, Putin and the New Right
Rural Politics and Land Controversy Dmitry V. Shlapentokh
in Modern Britain 978 1 84885 036 1
Jeremy Burchardt and Philip Conford (eds) 35.The Path to Devolution and Change: A Political
978 1 84511 715 3 History of Scotland Under Margaret Thatcher
25.Liberals in Schism: David Stewart
A History of the National Liberal Party 978 1 84511 938 6 Clifford A. Kiracofe, Jr
David Dutton 36.Democracy, Citizenship and Youth: Towards
978 1 84511 667 5 Social and Political Participation in Brazil
26.Communist Women in Scotland: Itamar Silva and Anna Luiza Salles Souto (eds)
Red Clydeside from the Russian Revolution 978 1 84885 048 4
to the End of the Soviet Union 37.Choosing Slovakia:
Neil C. Rafeek Slavic Hungary, the Czechoslovak
978 1 84511 624 8 Language and Accidental Nationalism
27.Richard Crossman and the Welfare State: Alexander Maxwell
Pioneer of Welfare Provision and Labour Politics in 978 1 84885 074 3
Post-War Britain 38.Khatami and Gorbachev: Politics of Change in
Stephen Thornton the Islamic Republic of Iran and the USSR
978 1 84511 848 8 Zhand Shakibi
28.Reunifying Cyprus: 978 1 84885 139 9
The Annan Plan and Beyond 39.Critical Turns in Critical Theory:
Andrekos Varnava and Hubert Faustmann New Directions in Social and Political Thought
(eds) Séamus Ó Tuama (ed.)
978 1 84511 657 6 978 1 84511 559 3
Published in 2009 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
www.ibtauris.com
Distributed in the United States and Canada
Exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
Copyright © 2009 Clifford A. Kiracofe, Jr
The right of Clifford A. Kiracofe, Jr, to be identified as the author of this work
has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any
part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
the publisher.
International Library of Political Studies, 31
ISBN: 978 1 84511 754 2 (HB)
978 1 84511 755 9 (PB)
A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available
Typeset in Warnock Pro by Sara Millington, Editorial and Design Services
Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham
To the memory of my great-grandfather
Reverend John Wesley Kiracofe (1841–1914)
of Virginia
Circuit rider, pastor, educator
…a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of
evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imagi-
nary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and
infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a partici-
pation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or
justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges
denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the conces-
sions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and
by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from
whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or
deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to
betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, some-
times even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense
of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal
for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or
infatuation…
George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796
These believers are convinced that they have a personal responsibility to
hasten this coming of the ‘rapture’ in order to fulfill biblical prophecy. Their
agenda calls for a war in the Middle East against Islam (Iraq?) and the taking
of the entire Holy Land by Jews (occupation of the West Bank?), with the
total expulsion of all Christians and other gentiles.
Jimmy Carter, ‘Our endangered values’, 2005
…you can imagine a world in which these extremists and radicals get control
of energy resources. And then you can imagine them saying, we’re going to
pull a bunch of oil off the market to run your price of oil up, unless you do the
following. And the following would be along the lines, well … give up your
alliance with Israel…
George W. Bush, remarks 4 November 2006
Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Abbreviations x
Preface xii
Introduction 1
Part I Christian Zionism and Nineteenth-Century Imperialism
1 The Eastern Question and Imperialism 8
2 The Early American Republic and the Muslim World 27
3 Christian Zionism: Construction of an Ideology 45
4 Christian Zionism on American Shores 62
Part II Christian Zionism and American Foreign Policy, 1917–48
5 Fundamentalism, the First World War, and Palestine 72
6 Christian Zionism from the First World War to the
Second World War 87
7 Zionism from the Second World War to 1948 104
Part III Christian Zionism and American Foreign Policy,
From the Cold War to Bush
8 The Christian Right in the Fifties and Sixties 120
9 The Christian Right in the Seventies and Eighties 136
10 George W. Bush and the Dark Crusade 155
11 Christian Zionism and the Next War 174
Notes 183
Select Bibliography 225
Index 247
Acknowledgments
lex Wright, my editor at I.B.Tauris, suggested I write this book. Given
Amy academic research interests, and my experience on the senior
professional staff of the Senate of the United States, it was natural for
me to accept the invitation from I.B.Tauris to write on the ideology of Chris-
tian Zionism. I am grateful to him for his suggestion and also for his patience
over the past three years. Sara Millington was meticulous in the copy edit
and made a splendid job of the typesetting and design.
A number of colleagues have been kind enough to offer comment and
support. In particular, I would like to thank Professor Eugen Weber at the
University of California at Los Angles (UCLA) for his encouragement, cour-
tesy, and hospitality when I visited the university on several occasions to
consult important archival materials relating to European fascism located in
the Charles E. Young Research Library. This earlier project, which is ongo-
ing, deepened my interest in, and concern about, extremist ideologies and
their impact on the modern world.
Vladimir Reisky de Dubnic, my late friend and professor at the Univer-
sity of Virginia in the Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and
Foreign Affairs, first sparked my interest in political ideologies through sev-
eral courses he offered on ‘Ideological Influences in International Relations’,
which I took in the early 1970s. At that time, during the Cold War, we fo-
cused in particular on Marxism-Leninism in its Soviet Russian and Chinese
forms.
The late Pierre Faillant de Villemarest (1922–2008), French journalist
and decorated hero of the Second World War French Resistance, was a
steady friend and mentor for some three decades and inspired my work
and my own spirit of resistance. We collaborated on several books and
Acknowledgments ix
various research projects concerning the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and
Fascism.
The late Ambassador Adam Watson (1914–2007), former British Assis-
tant Under-Secretary of State, who taught at the University of Virginia, in-
spired my thinking on international relations and international society.
My brother, Dr James Bartholomay Kiracofe, gave discerning critique
and steady encouragement.
My cousin, Dr Jean Dunbar, generously gave me an essential hand through
her judicious copy edit of the manuscript.
During our travels together to North Africa and the Gulf, my friend Dr
Edmund Ghareeb has deepened my understanding of the Arab world.
Jeffrey Steinberg and Norton Mezvinsky offered encouragement and in-
sights over not a few glasses of red wine in various favorite haunts in Wash-
ington, DC. My friend Marvine Howe, veteran New York Times foreign cor-
respondent and bureau chief in Morocco and Turkey, was encouraging from
the beginning of the project.
My late parents, Clifford Attick Kiracofe (1907–87) and Elizabeth Augus-
ta James Kiracofe (1916–2001), emphasized civic engagement and religious
toleration in our home. They inspired me to take my path of public service
and education.