Losing Dominion

The widely-condemned 2003 invasion of Iraq set a precedent for ignoring international law, said Chas Freeman, former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and past president of the Middle East Policy Council. That has opened the door for regional powers to follow suit, regardless of American preferences. Washington’s foremost regional ally, Israel, has frequently resorted to military strikes in Gaza over the past decade, and has long warned that it reserves the right to unilaterally decide whether to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“Gulf states and Egypt have seen many instances of Israel doing whatever it wants without us,” Freeman said. “They’re saying, ‘if Israel can use U.S. weapons to defy the U.S. and pursue its own foreign policy objectives, why can’t they?’ ”

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If nothing else, Freeman added, “what this says is that the U.S. can no longer take followership [by its regional allies] for granted.”

  alJazeera