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Dual loyalty

Saturday, February 9th, 2008

Viagra pharmacy, A commentator with a brilliant nickname, "Agog," was disturbed by the previous thread's discussion of candidates' positions on Israel. Agog asked: "Is that how you judge the merits of the respective candidates: who is best for Israel, Minnesota MN Minn. . αγοράζουν online viagra, Shouldn’t the criterion be who is best for the US. The two countries’ interests are not one and the same."

The premise that Israel is the most important priority for American Jewish voters has been endlessly recycled in this campaign season, köpa viagra. Købe viagra online, It was stongly implied in pre-Super Tuesday primary coverage that focused obessively on the positions of Obama/Clinton/McCain on Israel. It was assumed by the ignorant creeps who came up with the smear campaign against Rob Malley; they seemed to believe that if a whiff of even-handedness could be detected in Obama's advisor, it would automatically swing Jewish votes away from the candidate, viagra pharmacy.

All of this chatter feeds the suspicions of people like Agog, Hawaii HI , Cheapest viagra online, who choose to believe that when American Jews discuss politicians' views on Israel, it is evidence that we don't care enough about our own country, buy viagra online without prescription. Viagra without prescription, But while Israel's fate is certainly a concern for most American Jews, an American Jewish Committee poll in November, discount viagra, Buy viagra without prescription, 2007 revealed that it an obsession for a tiny minority of Jewish voters:

When asked to pick their most important campaign issue from a list of options, 23% of those surveyed named the economy and jobs, ordering viagra overnight delivery, Oregon OR Ore. , followed by health care (19%), the war in Iraq (16%), osta alennus viagra, Order viagra pills, terrorism and national security (14%), support for Israel (6%), ordering viagra no rx, Buy viagra from canada, immigration (6%) and the energy crisis (6%).

It is impossible to discern how many of the respondents who ranked the economy or health care as their highest priorities also looked closely at candidates' stances on Israel. I suspect the percentage is high, købe viagra. Ordering viagra online without prescription, Hillary might have had increased appeal to Jewish voters in, for example, Texas TX Tex. , Cheap viagra no rx, New York, because of the perception that she was "good on Israel." But that doesn't mean Israel's plight or future was anything close to the most important reason why they voted for her, District of Columbia DC D.C. . Viagra pharmacy, For me, the most important priorities when I entered the voting booth were fixing our unconscionable health care system, preventing the economy from collapsing, getting us out of Iraq and making college education more affordable for my daughter, who is in high school. Indiana IN Ind. , But of course I also factored in the candidates' stances on Israel and the Middle East, as well as their ability to restore America's shattered international credibility, kjøpe viagra, Ordering viagra, when making my choice.

The truth about Jewish voters' priorities won't matter to the conspiracy theorists who search for ways to prove that we are a bunch of disloyal fifth columnists intent upon subverting the Republic, Wisconsin WI Wis. . Logic and facts don't do anything to dissuade them and it is no use trying. But their close cousins, who believe there is something incompatible about American citizenship and concern for Israel's survival and safety, are often more lucid. They include the likes of Philip Weiss, who insists American Jews' commitment to Israel means they are less loyal to America than they should be, and that we need a public conversation about this "problem."

They should look at the AJC poll results and try to understand something that should not be hard to understand: Israel is one of the things Americans Jews care about and worry about, but when it is time to exercise our civic responsibilities, what happens here at home is what matters most to us.

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Friday, October 26th, 2007

Buy viagra online, Mearsheimer and Walt write that AIPAC is a "de facto agent of the Israeli government." In various parts of their book, they provide examples of the "Israel lobby's" ability to promote Israel's agenda in the halls of power. Kjøpe viagra online, But they do not seem to grasp a far more interesting, subtle point about AIPAC: it answers to AIPAC and supports AIPAC's agenda, Ohio OH , Cheap viagra pills, which does not always align with Israel's. An article in this week's Forward, cheap viagra from canada, For viagra online, Contradictory Signals From Israel and its Supporters on Saudi Arms Deal gives the latest example of conflicting legislative priorities:

As the Bush administration’s $20 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia heads for congressional debate, lawmakers are receiving contradictory signals from Israel and its supporters in the United States, Missouri MO Mo. . Viagra prices, Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, Louisiana LA , Buy viagra no rx, told Congress last week that Israel does not oppose the deal and will not take a stand against it. At the same time, Illinois IL Ill. , Cheapest viagra prices, a letter backed by the pro-Israel lobby began circulating in the House of Representatives, demanding that the administration impose strict condition on how the Saudis will be allowed to use special bomb-guidance systems that are part of the sales deal, Kentucky KY Ky. .

...While the chief Israeli defense official was telling members of Congress that he sees no problem with the deal, Israel’s supporters in the House of Representatives began gathering signatures on a letter to the president, asking him to put restrictions and limitations on the Saudi arms deal, buy viagra online. Order viagra online cheap, The letter, which is being endorsed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, South Carolina SC S.C. , Comprar viagra, focuses on the potential threat posed by the Joint Direct Attack Munitions, which is part of the deal, viagra no prescription. Viagra pedido en línea, (emphasis added)

AIPAC, in other words, Minnesota MN Minn. , Oklahoma OK Okla. , is opposing an Israeli policy. This has happened many times in the past, comprar en línea viagra. Order viagra online legally, In Yossi Beilin's book, "My Brother's Keeper, cheapest viagra prices, Tennessee TN Tenn. , " he describes AIPAC officials as acting like "frightened deer" when they were asked to support aid to the Palestinian authority in the 1990s. Buy viagra online, Several, more recent bills for Palestinian aid put much more stringent conditions on the financial assistance than the Sharon and Olmert governments wanted. In 1995, osta alennus viagra, Comprare viagra sconto, AIPAC worked closely with Bob Dole to push the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which embarassed Rabin at a time of delicate negotiations on the implementation of the Oslo accords.

AIPAC does do what Israel wants, much of the time. But it is hardly an "agent" of a foreign government. It's more like a staunch coalition ally which sometimes goes its own way. It supports an IDEA of Israel, a set of premises about Israel, and when the Israeli government disagrees, AIPAC will do what AIPAC wants to do, buy viagra online.

Some of that divergence has to do with the organization's hawkish tilt. But it is also due to something deeper, something about the culture of Washington and the kinds of people who want to --and need to--spend their professional lives nudging the American government to do one thing or another.

An ex-staff member of AIPAC has told me that some of his former colleagues don't really care very much about Israel, they never vacation there, they are consummate political players who could just as easily ply their trade on behalf of the textile industry or big Pharma. It's the win that counts, not the cause. I think that is unfair and exaggerated, but it does help to support a related claim that Washington insiders sometimes make: AIPAC is interested in getting political victories as a means of sustaining its own power and perpetuating itself. That is priority #1, not Israel.

Larry Cohler-Esses, a veteran reporter for Jewish weeklies, once said, "The early Zionists learned that they could help Israel by winning the Washington game. In the 1970s and '80s, the AIPAC people learned that they could win the Washington game by helping Israel."

That should be food for thought for the dual-loyalty theorists...

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Friday, October 12th, 2007

Philip Weiss reacted to my HuffPo piece (see previous post) on the neocons with a little essay entitled Generic viagra, Fleshler Exonerates the Neocons of Dual Loyalties. Why He's Wrong.

Take a look at it, ordering viagra no rx. Køb discount viagra, Take a look at the comments. There are a number of people, Minnesota MN Minn. , Cheap viagra, including Richard Witty, who disagree with Phil and make some cogent points, Alabama AL Ala. . Buy viagra, But the fact that Phil's post and the entire, subsequent thread are focused ONLY on whether or not Feith --or American Jews as a whole-- are dually loyal proves the point I was trying to make, Nebraska NE Nebr. . This, and the war-for-Israel theory, are now the issues that suck up energy in much of the blogosphere, generic viagra. Michigan MI Mich. , Even my buddy MJ Rosenberg weighs in with a comment, criticizing me for somehow taking the trouble to be on the same side of the fence as the neocons, Texas TX Tex. , Order viagra online, which he knows very well is the last thing I would ever do.

A very dangerous ideology --a set of ideas about democracy, order viagra no prescription, Washington WA Wash. , tyranny, military power, buy viagra online, Jotta viagra verkossa, the glories of free enterprise and the horrors of the "welfare state"-- is no longer of concern to anyone in certain segments of the American left. Phil Weiss doesn't even deal with it, kjøpe viagra online. Kansas KS Kans. , Instead, he dismisses my discussion of the preemptive war fetish as a collection of "pat answers" that are used to "exonerate" neocon officials, comprar viagra. Generic viagra, And so, Paul Wolfowitz' elaborate theories of preemptive warfare to protect American interests, which he began to develop when he was a young naval staffer in the Carter Administration, are never mentioned (oh, that's right, he's a Jew and he's been honored by Jewish groups, so therefore the rest of his VERY complicated intellectual history must be ignored). For viagra online, And the obsession of Norman Podhoretz and Irving Kristol with the Red Menace (an obsession so pronounced that the worst day of their lives occured when the Berlin Wall was torn down, leaving them, köpa viagra online, Viagra online stores, for awhile at least, with no mortal enemy to rant about) is never mentioned, purchase viagra online. Viagra no prescription, And the whole Star Wars fantasy, which Richard Perle threw his energies into in the 1980s, ordering viagra from canada, District of Columbia DC D.C. , which the neocons and Cheney wanted to revive in the early days of the GW Bush Administration, and which the Administration is now trotting out again, viagra prices, is never mentioned.

And what they did to the socialist experiment in Nicaragua is never mentioned. And the way some of them publicly REJOICED when Allende was overthrown by the CIA, is never mentioned.

All that matters, apparently, is blaming officials who thought American and Israeli interests were identical, and tossing out accusations --again, with no proof- that their sentiments about Israel are what motivated them to get us into the mess we are in. That wonderful phrase, "anti-Semitism is the socialism of fools," is not precisely applicable here. Phil Weiss is no anti-Semite and he is no fool, and I believe the same thing can be said about at least some of the people who regularly comment on his blog. But the spirit of that phrase, the notion of political energies being misdirected and utterly wasted, resonates with me tonight.

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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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