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Thursday, June 12th, 2008
Buy viagra pills, I have read even more drivel than usual about AIPAC in the blogosphere these days, and thought I would explain a few things to those who have never attended an AIPAC Policy Conference.
First of all, AIPAC does not appear to be trying to prod the U.S. to bomb Iran. Rabatt kaufen viagra, If it is, I have not seen any credible evidence, just a lot of inferential yammering by those whose stock-in-trade is to promote the notion that the so-called “Lobby” is a bunch of bellicose fifth columnists.
Here, for example, buy viagra online without prescription, is Justin Raimondo, an articulate libertarian whose Antiwar.com is an increasingly popular source for all things anti-Israel and anti-AIPAC: "Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's visit to the U.S. is part of a concerted effort, by the Israeli government and its American lobbyists, to convince U.S, buy viagra pills. lawmakers – and, αγοράσετε viagra έκπτωση, most of all, President George W. Bush – that the time to attack Iran is now."
At last week's Policy Conference, attendees got a distinctly different impression. Sure, Florida FL Fla. , there was obligatory tough talk about the perils of a nuclearized Iran. Sure, anyone who asserted or hinted that the military option should remain on the table could count on applause in the small seminars and the large plenary sessions. Buy viagra pills, Of course the notion of unconditional dialogue with Iran was an object of scorn. Michigan MI Mich. , And, yes, the action agenda pushed for tightened sanctions against Iran. AIPAC called for its grassroots troops to descend on Congress and urge passage of the Iran Counterproliferation Act in the Senate, and to promote a slightly tougher, New Jersey NJ N.J. , non-binding resolution from Reps. Gary Ackerman and Mike Pence. But, Cheapest viagra, as described by Ron Kampeas of JTA, one of the smartest reporters in Washington:
The language of the [Ackerman-Pence] resolution is sensitive to the political realities of a presidential campaign that has made the possibility of war against Iran a partisan issue: It explicitly counts out military action -- a point hammered home in the AIPAC talking points."The resolution specifically states that nothing in the resolution shall be construed to be an authorization for military action," the sheet says, buy viagra pills. "In fact, the sanctions called for in H. Con, ordering viagra no rx. Res. 362 are the best way to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear capability by avoiding military action."
Additionally, the action part of the resolution opens by declaring "that preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability, Maine ME Me. , through all appropriate economic, political, and diplomatic means is vital to the national security interests of the United States and must be dealt with urgently."
Notably absent from AIPAC's talking points is any mention of military force -- a prospect that spooks Democrats and would discomfit an organization that prides itself on its bipartisanship. [emphasiis added by DF]
Kampeas is spot on. Buy viagra pills, I suspect a large part of the membership would have been upset by overt war-mongering. I know this is a rather inconvenient truth. Painting the AIPACers with a broad brush as a dangerous, buy viagra, evil band of Likud supporters and war-hungry "neocons” makes it much easier for those who oppose the group to mobilize, and to write angry op-eds and blog posts filled with reckless generalizations that ignore complex, institutional truths. Comprar viagra baratos, Mea culpa: I've written a few of those myself.
Dismissing AIPAC as nothing but a support group or cheering section for Dick Cheney and Richard Perle feeds the hunger of those on the far left and far right for a bogeyman, an organization that can serve, along with Israel itself, as a kind of totemic hate object, buy viagra online, a repository of all that is wrong. I am trying to write a book about the conventional Israel lobby and my task would be much easier if AIPAC could be summed up so glibly, buy viagra pills. But I’m afraid it can’t.
The inconvenient truth is that many of its members and board members are centrist Democrats; they are politically moderate, Cheap viagra online without prescription, at least by American standards. They want the U.S. to keep Israel strong by giving it a qualitative military edge because they believe Israel's neighbors still want to destroy it. Buy viagra pills, They are deeply worried about Iran and the dangers they believe it poses to Israel and to the U.S., especially to American troops in Iraq, But they are not irresponsibly trigger happy. Even Philip Weiss, a hero of the cabal-watchers, viagra generic, was initially a bit perplexed when, in the first policy conference he attended, he found himself rubbing shoulders with attendees and listening to speakers who were moderate, Kaufen viagra, temperate and as desirious of peace as he is (although they don't care as much about Palestinian suffering or Palestinian rights as he does).
My friend and fellow Ameinu board member Judy Gelman, described the AIPACers in an email to the organization's leadership:
Who goes to AIPAC. This year's conference had over 7500 participants, about 1200 of who were students, cheapest viagra online. The attendees also included many large congregational groups. I don't know how many rabbis brought congregants but 4 rabbis were acknowledged as having brought more than 100 congregants with them, buy viagra pills. Two of these congregants were large Conservative shuls from LA, one of which (Valley Beth Shalom) had over 200 participants (the other was Sinai Temple). Acheter en ligne viagra, Stephen Wise Synagogue from NY (also Conservative) was one of the others. So the participants at the Policy Conference are not a group of wild-eyed reactionaries. Kippot are rare and tzitzit almost completely absent. Buy viagra pills, It is pretty much the people you would be sitting next to at Holy Holidays at a Conservative shul. Like most Jews, these are largely Democrats--not the most liberal Democrats, Iowa IA , but still Democrats and mostly from NY, CA, Chicago, North Carolina NC N.C. , Philly, Southern Florida, but also from the smaller Jewish communities like Tulsa, Salt Lake City and Orlando. From these smaller communities, viagra cheap, it is not uncommon for AIPAC activists to overlap heavily with the Federation and local congregational leadership. AIPAC gives these people (mostly people of considerable wealth) a way to connect to Israel politically, and also to connect with their local politicians on behalf of Israel. Order viagra online cheap, What AIPAC "sells" them is a way to be informed about Israel and a way to be involved for Israel.
She's right, buy viagra pills. Most of them are not "neocons." They are just very worried about Israel. They come to these conferences expecting guidance and instruction about how they --and America-- can help to keep it safe. It's not much more complicated than that. What's more, order viagra from canada, although they were urged to suppress partisan poltical instincts, many of them cheered for Obama not only because they were glad he expressed support for Israel; they also cheered for him because they were Democrats and, like the rest of us, Om viagra online, want an end to the Republican reign of error. Buy viagra pills, Of course, there are also vocal, irrepressible militarists in that organization. In a speech to the plenary on Monday night, Executive Director Howard Kohr gave, I think, some clues about the pressures on him from that wing of AIPAC, købe viagra online. After rattling off the many dangers posed by Iran and the need to sanction it, he said:
Buy viagra pills, He could have gone much further. He could have revved up the crowd to show the attentive world that these American Jews were serious about doing whatever was necessary to take out Iran's nuclear capability. Instead, he urged the AIPACers to trod what was, at least in their Manichean version of reality, a middle path.Now, I have spoken to you and I know you feel a real sense of frustration. Viagra online kaufen, Of impatience. You have asked me, from New York and Los Angeles, what more can we do. You wonder, is there still time for our efforts to work, buy viagra pills.
My friends, I understand your concern.
But I want to make the case to you today that the path of political and economic sanctions is still the best immediate option. There is still time..to persuade Iran through sanctions that its leader cannot vow to wipe Israel off the map. It cannot promise to visit destruction on Israel, and escape the consequences of its actions…My friends, we cannot lose our determination to stay on this path –together we must make it clear that Iran must change its behavior.
I still think they are wrong, these AIPACers, about a good many things. They are wrong to ratchet up tensions with Iran and favor all sticks and no carrots. They have been wrong about Draconian restrictions on aid to the Palestinian Authority and will continue to be wrong in their opposition to evenhanded American diplomacy in the Middle East, buy viagra pills. I still think an alternative political bloc, a lobby for the rest of us that encourages a new American course in the Middle East, is necessary. The stony, uncomfortable silence that greeted Sec. of State Rice when she dared to refer to the "daily humiliations" suffered by Palestinians is reason enough to develop that alternative.
But if we want to change the current, conventional Israel lobby, we need to understand how it actually works and who is in it, not create straw men and straw women.
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Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 Please check out my new screed in Huffington Post Purchase viagra online, , in which I find myself objecting to one (just one, I promise) of the accusations that are commonly hurled at Doug Feith and his fellow preemptive war fetishists. I spent a long time trying to figure out how to say what needed to be said, which is one reason why I haven't posted here in awhile. Comments would be welcome either here or at HuffPo, Indiana IN Ind. , where I assume 95% of the commentators will be furious at me.
-----------------------------------------
Jewish Neocons Are Dead Wrong, Viagra cheap, Not Disloyal
There are few Americans whose ideas offend me more than Douglas Feith, the former undersecretary of defense who played a major role in planning and promoting the invasion of Iraq. I joined demonstrations to try to stop that invasion and am appalled that the preemptive war fetishists now have their sites set on Iran. But I believe Feith, Cheney aide David Wurmser and other Jewish war planners have gotten a raw deal from those who accuse them of putting Israel's interests ahead of America's, purchase viagra online.
The dual loyalty accusation has become conventional wisdom in the anti-Israel neighborhoods of the blogosphere and has been given academic respectability by John Mearsheimer and Steven Walt, generic viagra. In their new book, as in their original essay, Connecticut CT Conn. , the two profs report that in 2002, "Ha'aretz columnist Akiva Eldar warned that Feith and [Richard] Perle 'are walking a fine line between their loyalty to American governments...and Israeli interests.'" They note that Iraq war chronicler George Packer believed that "`For Feith and Wurmser, the security of Israel was probably the prime mover'" when they planned the war.
Elsewhere, Idaho ID , Juan Cole once opined, "Having a Likudnik as the number three man in the Pentagon is a nightmare for American national security, Acheter viagra bon marché, since Feith could never be trusted to put U.S. interests over those of Ariel Sharon."
Those are very serious allegations, tantamount to accusing government officials of outright treason. Purchase viagra online, Whoever makes them should have incontrovertible evidence. What the accusers have is circumstantial and flimsy, order viagra online cheap. M&W note Feith's connections with "hardline" Israeli groups, his op-eds supporting Israeli settlers and the infamous paper, Generic viagra, "A Clean Break," which war-for-Israel theorists claim is their smoking gun.
Feith, Perle and Wurmser are said to have co-authored "A Clean Break" for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in 1997 [Feith claims Wurmser is the sole author], Rabatt kaufen viagra. It calls for Netanyahu to reject the Oslo process, get tough with Syria by launching surgical strikes in Lebanon, Ordering viagra online cheap, and support the Hashemites of Jordan in their power struggle with Syria by, among other things, helping them remove Saddam Hussein from power.
That grab-bag of Machiavellian fantasies certainly captures the spirit of adventurous preemption that characterized the Iraq war, purchase viagra online. So what does that prove, Ohio OH . Neocons favored the unapologetic use of military force and the dismantling of foreign governments in Nicaragua, Grenada, Om viagra online, and the Balkans, not just the Middle East. It's not surprising that some of them recommended the same approach to Netanyahu. That they eventually recommended it to G.W, cheapest viagra in the world. Purchase viagra online, Bush does not necessarily reveal anything about their loyalties or motivations. All it reveals is an obnoxious, wrong-headed worldview. Mississippi MS Miss. , If Venezuela had a lot more oil and Hugo Chavez were more provocative or tyrannical, they would want to depose him, too.
Recent, buy viagra from canada, impassioned chatter about dual loyalty and Mearsheimer and Walt's war-for-Israel theory has drowned out a far more important conversation about this ideology of preemptive militarism and interventionism. It gained powerful adherents right after 9/11, Acheter viagra discount, when Rumsfeld and Cheney decided to go after Saddam, in part because they wanted to send the message that the U.S. would not be content with attacking Afghanistan, purchase viagra online. They wanted terrorists and their paymasters to realize that the U.S. would strike its "enemies" anywhere and anytime it damned well pleased, Utah UT . That had nothing whatsoever to do with Israel; it had everything to do with American machismo.
Still, Order viagra online, reasonable people can and do disagree about the extent to which Israel or its American supporters also factored into the Bush administration's decision to wage war. Purchase viagra online, But it is unreasonable to accuse Feith and his pals of divided loyalties without tangible proof.
Last year, I contacted Feith to get his take on the accusations against him for a magazine article. "I confess to being a conservative, bestill viagra online," he said. "I have a conservative view of how to protect and preserve democracies. North Dakota ND , That affects my views of U.S. interests, British interests, Japan's interests and Israel's interests, purchase viagra online. There are problems inherent in the practice of democratic countries negotiating with anti-democratic entities. The parties to the negotiations differ from each other regarding goals, tactics and constraints, order viagra c.o.d.. This applies to all democratic countries, including Israel."
He added, Acheter viagra, "The only justification for going to war with Saddam was that he was a danger to the United States and our vital interests. The President decided that the risk of Saddam's making biological or eventually nuclear weapons available to terrorists was unacceptable, especially after 9/11."
That was a tragically wrong conclusion. Purchase viagra online, Did Feith and his colleagues also believe the war would benefit Israel. Of course, φτηνές φαρμακείο viagra. Because of that belief, did some of them have an extra edge of enthusiasm for the war. Comprar viagra baratos, Probably. But how can anyone who doesn't reside in Feith's mind assert with smug certainty that Israel was his first, second, fifth or tenth priority when he helped make the case for war, Oregon OR Ore. .
One intriguing judge of what was on his mind is Karen Kwiatkowski, a retired Colonel who worked at the Pentagon's Near East and South Asia desk from 2001 to 2003, purchase viagra online. She has written ferocious criticisms of the Iraq war that mention her discomfort at the "pro-Israel, anti-Arab" attitudes of political appointees in the Defense Department and their connections with the Israeli military. But, in an email interview, she called the dual loyalty charge "simplistic, not fact-based."
"The...preemptive war push is part of neo-conservatism, but not particular to those neoconservatives, like Doug Feith...who also happen to be Jewish, " she wrote. "These folks...made their political bones as anti-communists. The so-called Islamists are seen by neoconservatives as the new communism...Neoconservatives wish to see an 'End of Evil' in a big, loud, decisive bang. Purchase viagra online, We see a kind of predisposition for violent confrontation that isn't as much based on loyalty to Israel, but on something much closer to home."
To be sure, in some American neocons, that predisposition was also shaped in part by connections with hard-line Israelis who had a deep mistrust of Arabs and an abiding faith in military solutions to complex problems. In the 1980s, the dedication to Iron Israel, when combined with fierce anti-Communism and a reflexive contempt for anything advocated by the left, created a noxious mixture of ideas. Right-wing Israelis encouraged certain habits of mind in Americans who eventually joined the Bush Administration, a proclivity for shooting first and worrying about the cameras or the UN later.
Now, some American neocons want to inflict this credo of preemptive violence on Iran before Bush leaves office. It is their credo that makes them dangerous, not misplaced loyalties or a lack of commitment to the U.S.
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Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007Ameinu's web site Buy viagra from canada, has some informative pieces on Syria that stand in stark contrast to the don't-trust-Assad-under-any-circumstances pablum that is available from most American Jewish groups.
What follows is a tidbit from Gershon Baskin, a very wise Israeli Jew who for decades has carried out "Track 2" dialogue on the toughest issues with Arab counterparts, order viagra cod, including Syrian politicians, αγοράζουν online viagra, diplomats and academics. He wrote this in mid-September, before Sec, Koop korting viagra. of State Rice extended an invitation to Syria to attend the peace conference in November, Cheap viagra no rx, a decision that reportedly made Dick Cheney furious. At the end of this excerpt is a quote from a Bush Administration official, almost certainly someone from the Cheney wing, billige viagra apotek. I wonder whose information and insights deserve to be taken more seriously, Baskin and Track 2 diplomats who've been dealing with Syria for years, or the very same people whose information and insights got us into Iraq?, buy viagra from canada. Hmmm.... Montana MT Mont. , I really can't decide, can you?:
From all indications that I have from talks with Syrian officials and from people who have met with the highest officials in Syria in the most recent past, Syria is quite anxious to be invited to the Washington meeting, cheap viagra without prescription. Senior Syrian officials and people close to the regime have told me and others that Syria is also ready to meet US demands as part and parcel of the peace deal with Israel and a promise of open and positive relations with the United States... Viagra online cheap, ...Even Israeli intelligence reports assert that Syria is prepared to pick up formal direct negotiations with Israel. Buy viagra from canada, Everyone involved knows the contours of the potential agreement - the return of the Golan Heights in exchange for full and genuine peace with Israel.Some Israelis and Americans who have been involved in Track II meetings that have been held with the agreement of senior officials in Damascus have noted more flexibility on Syria's positions concerning meeting Israel's security needs and on other strategic issues such as water.
According to people who speak regularly with Syrian officials, viagra without a prescription, Syria is not only willing, Order viagra online without prescription, but is in fact keen to be drawn away from their alliance with Iran. From the information that we have, Syria would be sincerely willing to take real steps to limit the power of Hizbullah and Hamas, Osta viagra. But all of that can only be possible as part of a deal with Israel and with the inclusion and involvement of the United States.
Syria would be ready to replace its Iranian alliance with a new alliance with the United States, as long as it also includes a renewal of the Israeli-Syrian track and progress toward an agreement on the return of the Golan, buy viagra from canada. New Jersey NJ N.J. , It is clear that if the US and Israel do not engage Syria, Damascus has the power to sabotage any Israeli-Palestinian progress, and is very likely to if its isolation is continued, købe viagra online. From its point of view, Where to buy cheap viagra, there is almost no reason why it shouldn't. The continued isolation of Syria by the US and Israel puts the entire potential success of the renewed Israeli-Palestinian track in question....
...I believe the Syrians would be responsive to quiet US diplomacy in the way of creating the mechanism for them to participate in November, ordering viagra online legally. Buy viagra from canada, I am sure that if the Syrians had an indication from the administration that a positive change in US-Syrian relations was on the way, they could also be quite helpful on the issue of the Israeli hostages in Lebanon and Gaza. There is so much more to be gained from Syrian engagement than from their isolation. Buy viagra overnight delivery, Regrettably, in a recent communication with a very senior policy-maker in the White House, I received the following response to the above ideas:
"I appreciate having your views, kopen goedkope viagra, but you are right: I am not persuaded. αγοράσετε viagra έκπτωση, This (Syria) is a vicious brutal regime allied to Iran strategically, not tactically, engaged in helping kill Americans in Iraq, Oklahoma OK Okla. , helping the worst Palestinian terrorist forces, Lowest price viagra, desperate to reassert its rule over Lebanon, and sponsoring not simply anti-Zionist but the most barbaric anti-Semitic views."
Similarly, contrast the quote from that Cheney acolyte with information imparted by David Lesch, Iowa IA , a Syria scholar who spoke at a recent Century Foundation lunch in NYC (an event I missed because I have to work for a living. Ordering viagra pills, Anyone have any ideas on how to solve that problem???). Lesch is well-connected to the Syrian intelligencia, buy viagra from canada. His talk was summarized by Gidon Remba, Ameinu's Executive Director:
Syrian President Bashar Assad has been telling visiting scholars and diplomats that Syria's alliance with Iran, comprar viagra de descuento, Hezbollah and Hamas is essentially tactical, Buy viagra cod, and largely expendable in exchange for the right incentives from the U.S. and Israel. Syria is a weak country, köpa viagra, economically distressed and running out of oil; it is always seeking leverage, bargaining chips, and in need of Western and Sunni Arab aid. It will trade away its strategic assets with the Islamists in exchange for dividends of greater value from the West. Buy viagra from canada, But it won't surrender its booty in advance of a negotiation, as the Bush Administration has demanded, before confirming that American and Israeli benefits will truly be forthcoming.Bashar told Lesch in May 2007: "Whoever works more for our [Syria's] interests, I will be their friend. It is about interests, not ideology, and if the United States works for my interests, I will be their friend." When one has few friends, Bashar intimated, one cannot be choosy, implying that "Damascus has had no choice but to draw closer to Iran." But if "given a legitimate option in another direction, it might loosen its ties to Teheran."
Bashar has also told Lesch that he would be a "hero" if he could bring about the return of the Golan to Syria through negotiations. If the U.S. continues down the path of isolation and confrontation with Syria, a largely Sunni state, we will push it even more into the arms of Shia Iran and Hezbollah. The U.S. and Israel must now work towards an American-backed Israeli-Syrian peace treaty and arms control pact enabling Syria to join the U.S.-allied coalition of Sunni Arab states and Israel against Shia extremists—before the next, far more devastating war.
For decades, I thought this country was run by the kinds of people who used to try to beat me up in junior high. Now, I have come to realize that this country is being run by the kinds of people I used to pity in junior high, because they were a bit slow, they could not quite keep up...
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