Is This Last Gasp for the Israel Lobby and the Neocons?

Is This Last Gasp for the Israel Lobby and the Neocons?

www.alternet.org

Is the Israel lobby in Washington an all-powerful force? Or is it, perhaps, running scared?

Judging by the outcome of the Charles W. ("Chas") Freeman affair this week, it might seem as if the Israeli lobby is fearsome indeed. Seen more broadly, however, the controversy over Freeman could be the Israel lobby's Waterloo.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Apparently the outspoken Freeman had, however, crossed one of Washington's red lines by virtue of his strong criticism of the U.S.-Israeli relationship.

Steve Rosen, a former official of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), began to attack Freeman mercilessly on his blog but it turns out Steve Rosen has already been indicted by the Department of Justice in an espionage scandal over the transfer of classified information to outside parties involving a colleague at AIPAC, a former official in Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon, and an official at the Israeli embassy.

"On March 10th, Freeman bowed out, but not with a whimper. In a letter to friends and colleagues, he launched a defiant, departing counterstrike that may, in fact, have helped to change the very nature of Washington politics. "The tactics of the Israel lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth," wrote Freeman. "The aim of this lobby is control of the policy process through the exercise of a veto over the appointment of people who dispute the wisdom of its views."

An excellent article revealing the power of the AIPAC lobby in the US and the apparent unwillingness of any executive or representative to stand up to their intimidation.

www.alternet.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Leo Strauss


All right. People are finally waking up to the scum caked and hideous A.D.L. and the rest of the Israeli lobby. These people have the right to play here like every other lobby, but they are not above suspicion, and the smear tactics that they employ need to be called out. I have heard that France and England have also called these guys out. This seems to be happening in many of the western nations of the world, and it is a step in the right direction. I am all for Israel's right to exist, (If you can call living under the shadow of constant violence an existence...) but these guys need to be exposed and held accountable for their actions.

I still can't shake the feeling that Israel and the US are still the closest of friends and all this is designed to make it look like a rift has come between them.
A sort of sting operation where the US gives the impression that it does not want to help Israel but still supports them under the table with more funding and weapons than ever before.

Most people in the US have no idea where these places are in the ME and wouldn't have a clue that Israel would have to fly over or out of Iraq in oder to hit Iran, this would be done with the blessing of the US goverment under the table, while in the open they condem it.
Because the US knows if Israel attacks the power plants, Iran attacks the US war ships closing the straight of Hormuz and then the US can claim to be the victim and Obama can make his difficult descision to defend themselves against Iran with the blessing of the US population.


[edit on 16-3-2009 by munkey66]

You know nothing is going to change when the president's advisor is a zionist and son of an Israeli terrorist. It's as blatant as when people such as Paul Wolfowitz were pushing for the war in Iraq.

Yeah Israel has totally lost their power in Washington... NOT. Rahm Emmanuel as chief of staff, hardcore pro-Israel.

The AIPAC lobby is still strong, much too strong. Israel should be left alone. If they can't defend themselves, it's their problem.

At the same time, people living in Israel are being used by the anglo-saxon empire as cannon fodder and advanced outpost in the middle-east.

Israel had reasons to exists in 1949, now? Not so much, it creates much more problems than it solves. Disband it or create 2 states and treat palestinians with respect, the present situation cannot continue or it will lead soon enough to the destruction of either the arabs countries or Israel itself, more likely both will be in a world of pains with millions deads on each side.

I dont think this changes anything. This is probably just a show to make it sound like our government thinks of our own interests instead of Israels first. Im not buying anything till I see Washington say no just one time to Israel on something...just once will satisfy me.

This appears to me to be another masterful piece of opinion engineering in action; and frankly I am impressed at the lobby (and nation) that can pull it off!

No, these interests are deeply embedded into the framework now. And none of them seems to represent any significant departure from what has been infesting out government for decades and decades.

I heard many justifications for this, and yet, I can't seem to comprehend why it is tolerated at the heart of the federal government. It's as if it were unimaginable to try to run the Federal government without these people and their 'dual allegiances' present. Makes no sense to me. But hell, I'm only an American; my opinion obviously doesn't matter.