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Lobbies are the great reality of all politics - and every side has them - all pushing hard to influence and twist the actions of government (US or otherwise) toward their goals. Is the pro-Israeli lobby successful here? - Certainly! Do they dictate the policy of the US government - perhaps not so much as they believe.
The reality of the Middle East is oil - and in a logical world, the policy of the US government would be to insure a continuous and reliable supply. So, just support all of the existing governments and look the other way when it comes down to their abuses or treatment of their populations. Dump Israel too - because the majority in that region can't tolerate the idea of Jews in the neighborhood. And then sit back and collect the good will from the region (as well as the business) Right! - sounds a lot like Oil for Food to me..
Well, it is not a logical world that we live in. We don't euthanize older people and babies with disabilities because it would be economically favorable to do it either. And in the end, that is what it boils down to in the Middle East. Because most people understand that the conflict is about two groups of people fighting over the same area of land - where one side has the expressed aim of killing ever other member of the other side as an equal goal. And I think in the end, most people who "support" the Israeli lobby boil it down to this level. And I think this is why on a fundamental level that the Israeli lobby is so successful in making the US act against its "interests".
I think that Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer have every right to open the discussion on the impact of the Israeli lobby in the USA. And many of the policies that they cite - do cause us grief in the region. But at the same time, I think that if they want to work to diminish the "power" of the Israeli lobby - they have to be brutally honest on the effects of an alternative policy - which I see as the main fault of their paper. After all, Logic sometimes does not work when the players themselves are illogical.
