Tag Archives: Israel Lobby

Gay Republican Group Takes To The NY Times To Oppose Hagel

open quoteAdding to the general confusion about exactly what they stand for, the Log Cabin Republicans took out a full-page ad in Thursday’s New York Times, urging President Obama to reconsider his possible selection of Republican Chuck Hagel for the position of Secretary of Defense.

The gay Republican group, which by association and voting behavior accepts the GOP’s default position that (openly) gay people are second-class citizens not deserving of the same civil rights as “normal” human beings, is apparently miffed that Hagel — in time-honored Republican tradition — made a homophobic remark in 1998 about James C. Hormel, President Bill Clinton’s choice for ambassador to Luxembourg, calling him “openly aggressively gay.”

Hagel has since apologized for what he termed the “insensitive” comment, adding that it does “not reflect my views or the totality of my public record, and I apologize to Ambassador Hormel and any LGBT Americans who may question my commitment to their civil rights. I am fully supportive of ‘open service’ and committed to LGBT military families.”

His apology was accepted by the Human Rights Campaign, who referred to him as an “ally.”

But the selectively indignant group doesn’t stop there… it ups the ante by throwing in some foreign policy concerns — “Chuck Hagel: Wrong on gay rights, wrong on Iran, wrong on Israel,” reads the ad. “Tell President Obama that Chuck Hagel is wrong for Defense Secretary. Help us create a stronger and more inclusive Republican Party.”

Conservatives believe Hagel has not pledged sufficient allegiance to Israel, pointing to his assertion that there is a powerful “Jewish lobby” that intimidates legislators. (While few would contend that AIPAC is not a powerful lobby, the preferred term — says the suddenly-all-for-political-correctness crowd — is “pro-Israel” lobby.) “I’m a United States senator.” he reasoned. “I’m not an Israeli senator.” [emphasis added]close quote (Read more)

Men with honor have no place in politics.

U.S. to spend up to $100 million in order to build the Israelis an Air Force complex near Tel Aviv

open quoteThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is receiving bids to build a five-story complex for the Israeli Air Force, or IAF, near Tel Aviv.

The facility, mysteriously dubbed “site 911,” will be built under the auspices of the Foreign Military Sales program and is expected to cost the U.S. between $25 million and $100 million, according to a solicitation for bids posted on a U.S. government website.

. . . .

The architectural plans, drawn up by prominent Israeli firm Ada Karmi-Melamede Architects, pays close attention to the aesthetics of the design as well as the functional parameters outlined in the solicitation. For example, three picnic tables are planned for the exterior.close quote (Read more)

Palestine wins non-member statehood status after UN Vote

Prelude:

U.S. Scrambles to Avert Palestinian Vote at U.N.

U.S. Campaigns to Avoid Vote on Palestinian Statehood, Report Says

The Vote:

open quoteThe United Nations General Assembly has voted in favour of upgrading the Palestinians status to that of a non-member observer state.

The vote was taken at a meeting of the body in New York, with 138 countries voting in favour of the upgrade. Nine countries voted against it, and 41 others abstained.close quote (Read more)

Reaction:

open quoteShortly after the vote, the United States Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said this resolution was “unfortunate and counterproductive.”

“Progress toward a lasting peace cannot be made by pressing a green button,” Rice said.

She also made clear that the resolution “does not establish a Palestinian state.”close quote (Read more)

AP believes it found evidence of Iran’s work on nuclear weapons

open quoteUncritical, fear-mongering media propaganda is far too common to take note of each time it appears, but sometimes, what is produced is so ludicrous that its illustrative value should not be ignored. Such is the case with a highly trumpeted Associated Press “exclusive” from Tuesday which claims in its red headline to have discovered evidence of “Iran Working on Bomb”.

What is this newly discovered, scary evidence? It is a “graph” which AP says was “leaked” to it by “officials from a country critical of Iran’s atomic program to bolster their arguments that Iran’s nuclear program must be halted before it produces a weapon” (how mysterious: the globe is gripped with befuddlement as it tries to guess which country that might be). Here’s how AP presents the graph in all its incriminating, frightening glory:

This, says AP, shows that “Iranian scientists have run computer simulations for a nuclear weapon that would produce more than triple the explosive force of the World War II bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.” Moreover, “an intelligence summary provided with the drawing” – provided, that is, by the mysterious “country critical of Iran’s atomic program” – “linked [the graph] to other alleged nuclear weapons work – significant because it would indicate that Iran is working not on isolated experiments, but rather on a single program aimed at mastering all aspects of nuclear arms development.”

Where to begin? First, note that AP granted anonymity here not merely to an individual but to an entire country. What’s the proffered justification for doing so? The officials wanted it, so AP gave it: “officials provided the diagram only on condition that they and their country not be named.” That’s very accommodating of AP.
Binyamin Netanyahu UN with bomb Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu with a diagram illustrating Iran’s nuclear programme.

Second, this graph – which is only slightly less hilariously primitive than the one Benjamin Netanyahu infamously touted with a straight face at the UN – has Farsi written under it to imbue it with that menacing Iranian-ish feel, but also helpfully uses English to ensure that US audiences can easily drink up its scariness. As The Atlantic’s Robert Wright noted: “How considerate of the Iranians to label their secret nefarious nuke graph in English!”. It’s certainly possible that Iranian scientists use English as a universal language of science, but the convenient mixing of Farsi and English should at least trigger some skepticism.

Third, even if one assumes that this graph is something other than a fraud, the very idea that computer simulations constitute “evidence” that Iran is working toward a nuclear weapon is self-evidently inane.close quote (Read more)

NYPD opens branch in Israel

?

open quoteNew York’s finest — in Israel?

The New York Police Department has opened a branch in Kfar Saba in order to strengthen ties with Israeli security forces, Maariv reported Thursday.

According to the report, the prestigious police force was looking to cooperate on a daily basis with the Israel Police, one of the main police forces worldwide with which NYPD has strong ties.close quote (Read more)

ROMNEY’S ‘NO STATE SOLUTION’

open quoten the surreptitiously recorded video, Mr. Romney can be heard asserting that “the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish,” because “the Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace” and remain “committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel.” He then cast doubt on the viability of a Palestinian state, given the region’s geography:

Some might say, ‘Well, just let the Palestinians have the West Bank, and have security, and set up a separate nation for the Palestinians. And then come a couple of thorny questions. I don’t have a map here to look at the geography, but the border between Israel and the West Bank is obviously right there, right next to Tel Aviv, which is the financial capital, the industrial capital of Israel, the center of Israel. It’s what? The border would be, maybe seven miles from Tel Aviv to what would be the West Bank. …

The other side of the West Bank, the other side of what would be this new Palestinian state would either be Syria at one point or Jordan. And of course the Iranians would want to do through the West Bank exactly what they did through Lebanon, what they did in Gaza, which is, the Iranians would want to bring missiles and armament into the West Bank and potentially threaten Israel. So Israel of course would have to say, ‘That can’t happen. We’ve got to keep the Iranians from bringing weaponry into the West Bank.’

Well, that means that — who? The Israelis are going to patrol the border between Jordan, Syria, and this new Palestinian nation? Well, the Palestinians would say, “No way! We’re an independent country. You can’t, you know, guard our border with other Arab nations.” And now how about the airport? How about flying into this Palestinian nation? Are we going to allow military aircraft to come in and weaponry to come in? And if not, who’s going to keep it from coming in? Well, the Israelis. Well, the Palestinians are going to say, ‘We’re not an independent nation if Israel is able to come in and tell us what can land in our airport.’

These are problems, and they’re very hard to solve, all right? And I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say, “There’s just no way.”

Rather than search of a solution, Mr. Romney said, “you hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that this is going to remain an unsolved problem.” Comparing the open-ended crisis to the co-existence of China and Taiwan, Mr. Romney added: “we have a potentially volatile situation, but we sort of live with it and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it.”close quote (Read more)

Netanyahu: Iran on brink of nuclear bomb in six-seven months

open quoteWASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday that Iran was just six to seven months away from the brink of being able to build a nuclear bomb, adding urgency to his demand that President Barack Obama set a “red line” for Tehran in what could deepen the worst U.S.-Israeli rift in decades.

Taking to the television airwaves to make his case directly to the American public, Netanyahu said that by mid-2013 Iran would be “90 percent of the way” toward enough enriched uranium for a weapon. He again urged the United States to spell out limits that Tehran must not cross if it is to avoid military action – something Obama has refused to do.close quote (Read more)

Netanyahu pushing hard for US-Iran war

open quotePrime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday continued his campaign to get the United States and the world to lay down a “red line” for Iran, amid initial signs that US President Barack Obama might now be willing to do so.

Netanyahu, during a meeting with a group of wounded US and Israeli veterans, said that the clearer the red line, the less likelihood there is of bloodshed.close quote (Read more)

Bernard-Henri Lévy v. Abdel al-Bari Atwan on Libya intervention

Warmonger from France.

open quoteApparently, a few months ago, at a convention organised by the notoriously right wing French Zionist Council of Jewish Organizations (CRIF), Bernard-Henri Levy announced “it is as a Jew“ that I “participated in the political adventure in Libya”, no kidding. “I would not have done it if I had not been Jewish,” added the immoral interventionist.close quote

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Romney: ‘No option should be excluded’ in stopping a nuclear Iran

open quoteJERUSALEM—Speaking against the backdrop of the historic Old City, Mitt Romney signaled he supports Israel’s right to “defend itself” against its enemies and said “any and all measures” should be considered in the world’s efforts to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

The Republican candidate said preventing a nuclear Iran should be America’s “highest national security priority.” And while he argued that diplomatic efforts should continue, Romney insisted that all options should be on the table in dealing with Iran, including a military strike.close quote (Read more)

Obama signs Israel military aid bill on eve of Romney visit

open quoteOn the eve of Mitt Romney’s visit to Israel, President Barack Obama signed into law a military aid bill for that staunch American ally at a much-publicized White House ceremony that highlighted the political advantages of incumbency.

“What this legislation does is bring together all the outstanding cooperation that we have seen, really, at an unprecedented level between our two countries that underscore our unshakable commitment to Israel security,” Obama said as he signed the measure at his desk in the Oval Office.

The president also announced he would speed another $70 million to Israel to advance the so-called “Iron Dome” short-range missile defense system, a response to sustained rocket fire from Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

“This is a program that has been critical in terms of providing security and safety for the Israeli families,” he said. “We are standing by our friends in Israel when it comes to these kinds of attacks.”

The signing ceremony, a relatively uncommon event in the Obama White House, fit a pattern this week of the administration trumpeting relations with Britain, Israel and Poland—the three countries on Romney’s trip overseas to polish his diplomatic credentials.

“I hope that, as I sign as this bill, once again everybody understands how committed all of us are—Republicans and Democrats—as Americans to our friends in making sure that Israel is safe and secure,” said Obama.close quote (Read more)