A Clean Sweep for AIPAC

"Israel will find it difficult to attack Iran alone without a "green light" from America, even if it is only implied and if America ostensibly turns a blind eye. But once the moment of truth arrives,it is doubtful Obama would give the order to take down the Israeli planes heading to Iran - or for that matter to declare an end of aid to Israel or to sever relations. Obviously, the U.S. will want to remain somewhat distanced from any operation that is launched, so as not to be vulnerable to the anticipated Iranian response. But its strong commitment to Israeli security will not allow America to forcibly prevent a military operation designed to prevent a second Holocaust. That is the message Netanyahu will try to implant in the minds of the members of Congress."  Ha'aretz

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So that's it folks.  The American Sovereignty that Rush, O'Reilly and Hannity go on about really does not exist.  AIPAC (the non-lobby that some have thought the agent of the Jewish Agency and Israel in Washington) evidently has enough clout with Congress and Obama that Ha'aretz believes it is doubtful that the United States would honor its undertaking to defend Iraqi airspace.  Ha'aretz is apparently also assured that nothing Israel chooses to do would cause America's grants of aid to Israel to come to an end or even a pause. 

Well, why would the Israelis not think that?  The Department of Justice has asked that espionage charges be dropped against two former AIPAC employees.  AIPAC is now publicly and officially rejoicing in this outcome for its former employees.  Bravo!  Well done!  Loyalty to former employees is admirable.  A further confidence building development is the ease with which Representative Harman mastered the brouhaha over her intercepted conversation with a "suspected Israeli agent."  The American Main Stream Media (MSM) could not have been more helpful in dealing with that momentary embarasment.  And why not?  How absurd that anyone could think that Israel spies on the United States government and that she would seek to influence a court case involving men accused of spying on her behalf.  How absurd!

Bibi is undoubtedly looking forward to his trip to Washington.  He will have a chance for a friendly talk with the president and with his many friends in Congress.  pl

 

Comments

[zed]

This makes me ill. Why do I wear a uniform to protect us from external threats when our piece of s**t justice department (led by the politicians) can't defend the inside? I want to puke.

[jr786]

Isn't it more a case of Obama giving the order to not shoot down Israeli planes that violate Iraqi airspace, since the order to do so is already standing? Seems to me Obama's complicity would have to be a bit more pro-active than passive.

What does the SOFA say about this? Or the US agreement with the UN on protecting Iraq's airspace?

[euclidcreek]

Larry Franklin must belong to the wrong tribe. I would be interesting to hear his comments.

[J]

Colonel,

Don't forget our 'self-avowed Zionist' VPrez Biden, who it seems will be a 'headliner' at the annual AIPAC Treason Conference.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0509/Biden_to_appear_at_AIPAC.html

No matter how many bottles of perfume that AIPAC washes themselves in, they still 'stink' of TREASON.

[Buzz Meeks]

Ah, let's see how long it takes someone to cry "holocaust"about your post. Get ready set your watches to Mr. Korn's rapid response.

Just another sad, sordid week in the disappearing American republic. Treason has just become another word for Israeli business as usual in Washington.

Buzz Meeks

[Kurt Deininger]

So what's new?

Kutte

[J]

Colonel,

Another thing, those DOJ 'prosecutors' who chose to drop the charges against the AIPAC espionage weenies, I view those prosecutors as little more than ball-less bastards who have no business representing U.S. 'justice'. IMO they have betrayed justice, the rule of law, and our nation.

[Keith]

Respectfully, it sounds to me like you are jumping to conclusions in seeing proof from an Op/Ed writer's musings about what America would be "doubtful" to do.

All this says to me is that the militarist-right factions in Israel are just as cocky and overbearing as ever. In addition to the tentative language, a quick scan of Mr. Benn's other articles would lead me to believe that he doesn't have any particularly special insider status.

[josephdietrich]

In what fantasy world, exactly, could the U.S. "remain somewhat distanced from any operation that is launched, so as not to be vulnerable to the anticipated Iranian response"?

[euclidcreek]

Not a surprise, considering. Might as well go ahead with lithium in the water system. Way past the white flag.

[arbogast]

Personally, I never separate what is happening economically in the United States from the United States' support for Israel.

The thing about war is that it costs money. A nation continually at war (Israel, the United States) needs a lot of money.

And voilà! Larry Summers, Ben Bernanke, and Timothy Geithner, acting under the Leadership of President Obama, and through their agents on Wall Street, principally Goldman Sachs, have provided the illusion of all the money in the world to a restive populace, a restive populace that must not be allowed to examine the machinations of its leaders too closely.

So there you have it. We are left with the question, "How high will unemployment have to rise, before desperate housewives go to the barricades?"

[arbogast]

Forgive an additional comment.

For an insight into the behavior of the stock market, I recommend:

Supplemental Liquidity Providers

"Another 1929" is being prevented by having the taxpayer answer the speculators' margin calls. But, unfortunately, that will only put off the day of the crash.

[Clifford Kiracofe]

"Washington — Michael Oren, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pick to represent Israel in Washington, is a highly regarded writer and an articulate and telegenic speaker. But his public viewpoints on a number of key issues clash sharply with those of the Obama administration, to which he soon may be credentialed.

That, Washington insiders say, may not actually interfere much with his main function as Israel’s ambassador to Washington: marshaling Jewish and broader American support for the policies Israel favors. For that job, Oren’s background seems, in many respects, tailor-made."...

http://forward.com/articles/105263/

[Mark Stuart]

Once again please allow me to seek out from the experts in legal matters:

-Do We The American People have any legal recourse to keep the trial on track?
-Do We The American People have legal recourse to have AIPAC listed as an agent for a foreign government?

The uncovering of AIPAC suffocating destructive foreign influence on our country has already been well documented and analyzed in stidues like: The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy by University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer and Harvard University Kennedy School of Government professor Stephen Walt.

It is time we focus on productive, efficient legal options to counter AIPAC. And of all the literature on the subject out there, i can't find any professional intelligent suggestion!

Any idea?

[halfnhalf]

I do not understand why so much tax-payer money goes to Israel. Especially in a time of financial crisis in this country. According to the U.S. census, there are only 6,155,000 Jews in the U.S. out of a total population of 282,125,000. Which works out to about 2.2% of the entire population.

On the other hand, there are 25,391,250 or 9% of Americans unemployed right now. Wouldn't that foreign aid be better spent here at home?

[jlcg]

I suppose that these affairs are discussed among military men and that eventually a reaction will develop.

[MRW.]

It’s worse than that.

Larry Franklin stole US secrets and betrayed his nation in return for two AIPAC employees, Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, promising to go around his bosses at the Iran Desk at the Pentagon and get the White House to give Franklin a job on the National Security Council. Lobbyists can dictate to the White House who to hire?

Think about that: it would have happened if the FBI hadn’t caught them passing secrets on Iran.

In addition, Steve Rosen crowed in late February 2009 that he buried Ambassador Chas Freeman’s nomination. He led the charge against Chas Freeman’s appointment to the National Intelligence Council when 17 former ambassadors wrote a letter praising his nomination. An indicted defendant representing a foreign country in an espionage case trumps 17 of our ambassadors?

Larry Franklin gets the 12-year jail sentence. Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman go free. And free, in the interim, to destroy the appointment of a 30-year civil servant with an impeccable record.

Rosen destroyed Freeman because he wasn’t Israel-centric enough.

Along comes the Harman case, and she’s caught inadvertently prevailing upon a “suspected Israeli double agent” to get her the chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee in contradiction to the rules of Congress.

My question for my government: Since when do agents of a foreign government dictate to my President and my Congress? But more importantly, why?

Listen to Philip Weiss discuss this with Scott Horton:
http://dissentradio.com/radio/09_04_30_weiss.mp3

[Patrick Lang]

"Dear Col. Lang,

I was unable to post this, but wanted to offer a few points in response to your excellent post.

Let's hope that Bibi is miscounting "his many friends in Congress." Recent polls indicate support for Likud in the American Jewish community is very thin and growing thinner.

Also, M.J. Rosenberg at Israel Policy Forum has written this week of significant, growing resentment in Congress against AIPAC's chutzpah.

He also cited a story in Yedioth Achronoth a few weeks back reporting Obama had informed Netanyahu he would be out of town and unable to meet with him during the AIPAC conference in early May, forcing Bibi to cancel and reschedule for later in the month.

Is Harman completely off the hook? Dropping the case against the AIPAC spies actually raises even more questions about her involvement. Perhaps this matter has been left open to further piss on Netanyahu's parade.

No question the article in Haaretz is scary as hell. But Haaretz has also reported the Israelis have already felt the wrath of Sec. Clinton behind closed doors, and there are signs that the full wrath is about to come down on Bibi's head, perhaps more publicly now, after his public snubbing of Obama on April 22nd on the subject of Iran. He may wish he'd stayed home. See Roger Cohen's NYT op ed of April 26.

We'll have to wait and see, of course. I'm betting - hoping - Netanyahu has seriously miscounted the cards. I hope I’m not just whistling in the dark.

Best wishes,"

Anon

[Serving Patriot]

COL,

And when the Iranian missiles rain into the American bases in Bahrain, Qatar and Iraq (not to mention Dimona), who will stand up to the furies and oppose the "righteous" call for a U.S. war with Iran?

My guess is that it will not be Congress. Nor the MSM. Will it be the military itself? Highly doubtful for the military is just a tool - one made for fighting and when not fighting other states, preparing to fight them.

Will it be the President himself? Time will tell. But when his COS is an (former?) IDF-reservist, my guess is that there is big money riding that he would not stop such a war.

Sad, but true. And perhaps the final blow that others (China, Russia) are anticipating (although probably not eager to see occur).

Yes, the dual nationals and Israeli-firsters have much to be proud about.

SP

[William R. Cumming]

Okay let's get a grip on some facts. First, there has always been some fundamental incapacity of DOJ on National Security issues. Why or wherefore not sure, but I was personally witness to them. Personally believe it stems from several things. First the AG is NOT repeat NOT a statutory member of the National Security Council and many NSC taskings and reviews have NO legal review. In fact perhaps the torture memos came out of DOJ trying to show that it was one of the boys in National Security arena. I have personally witnessed DOJ struggling with DOD and the Intel community and their "issues." FISA and the Classified Information Procedures Act both 1978 were intended to allow DOJ to prosecute at least some "spies." Congress also is just not expert on either Intel or National Security. Perhaps both of these defective "oversight" communities, both DOJ and Congress, stem from the pervasive and defective personnel security, document security and classification system. Really I thought Clinton might take on the National Security State and wondering now if OBAMA will seek some reforms. As to the AIPAC case I was hoping against hope for it going to completion just because I thought so much might be learned about AIPAC. Not to be now. But what is to be learned? Nothing unless AG HOLDER and the best brains he can muster send immediate and thoughtful curative legislation to Congress and Congress holds hearings and designs legislation to fill some huge gaps. The Espionage Act of 1918 reflects a non-existence world and is highly defective and I argue the inexperience of DOJ made for a defective indictment and charges in the first place in the AIPAC case. The current system of "leaking" conducted by all in Washington really makes no sense for a number of reasons but at bottom it goes to the defects in the world of "Secrecy" identified by former Senator Monyihan in his book by that name. We did learn some interesting things from the AIPAC case, but it may be eye of the beholder.
AS to interception of Israeli warplanes on any fruitless and wasteful and stupid mission attacking "underground" facilities in Iran by US forces in Iraq, the dirty little secret of the Iraqi deployment is that there is almost no air defense capability with US forces in Iraq. As always stand to be corrected by those with better info!
A real question is what assistance other Arab states might give to the "Persians" before or during or after the "Attack"?

[Rider]

from Haaretz:

"Lieberman: US will accept any Israeli policy decision"

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1080097.html

"The Obama Administration will put forth new peace initiatives only if Israel wants it to, said Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in his first comprehensive interview on foreign policy since taking office.

"Believe me, America accepts all our decisions," Lieberman told the Russian daily Moskovskiy Komosolets.

Lieberman granted his first major interview to Alexander Rosensaft, the Israel correspondent of one of the oldest Russian dailies, not to an Israeli newspaper. The role of Israel is to "bring the U.S. and Russia closer," he declared."

Of course, Lieberman is a scandalmonger so you have to divide whatever he says by four. But referring to the US as his bitch is not going to make Netanyahu's visit any easier on him.

[Bill Wade, NH, USA]

"The Lobby Wants War

With Iran

by Justin Raimondo, May 01, 2009

The Israel lobby has been running into a few problems lately, but it’s nothing they don’t think they can handle: a charge of treason, a strong suspicion of obstructing justice, and a gathering storm of criticism from a few dissident intellectuals and policy types. Nothing to get too exercised about. Having felled Charles "Chas" Freeman, smitten Gen. Zinni, and sidelined those in the Obama administration who question the nature and utility of America’s "special relationship" with Israel, the Lobby’s flagship organization, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), is primed to hold their national conference in Washington next week, with Jane "This Conversation Doesn’t Exist" Harman slated to address the gathering."

The rest of the article is here:

http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/04/30/the-lobby-wants-war/

In the last paragraph, Raimondo is saying that it will take war with Iran before the American public gets totally fed up with AIPAC, I wish I could share his "optimism".

We've had too many "enough is enough" moments yet our Congress does nothing but aid and abet the Lobby.

[Bobo]

The Israeli concen is real. Just the thought that a neighbor, a detested one, will/has an Atomic Bomb can create nightmares to all. Even we in the 50's had children cowering under their desks and neighbors digging furiosly and pouring cement so their families could have some sense of false comfort. Yes, a real concern.

But as a world we have all learned that mutal assured destruction works as a deterrant and the Iranians are not all crazy.

So what value does Israel's leaders see in stirring up the honets nest they are with these statements of "If you do not stop them then we will". Come on, who do they think they are kidding. An aerial assult on Iran's nuclear facilities has a 1 in 10 chance of working. This is the same country whose military did not do well in their recent skirmish of few years past.

My suggestion for them is to stop beating their chests and start some rapprochement. It is said to work.

As to the AIPAC problem just impagine if the British were doing this we would have their heads. Same goes for Israel.

[Charles I]

William R Cumming, a couple of years ago the talk was of a shield comprised of Arab states, Israel & the US against the emerging "Shia Crescent". Mubarak's Egypt is bought, a passive aggressive participant in the siege of Gaza, complicit with and bound by treaty to Israel notwithstanding the tunnels. Syria wants in whatever its machinations in Lebanon. Gulf Arabs, are they not meaningless militarily?

I find it inconceivable to imagine Egypt, Syria and Jordan attacking Israel for attacking Iran. Political reactions are of little account to an Israel long accustomed to practicing creeping colonialism under the aegis of indignant victimhood when mere chutzpah fails.

A strike on Iran is bonkers, aside from the make-em-think'-you're-nuts-keep-all-pots-boiling school. Hans Blix just noted that the likeliest result would be a nuclear armed Iran. I haven't the foggiest on what Iraqi overflight would provoke, but I don't think they'd be shot down. Maybe a couple on the way back. Whatever, surely to god this has been hashed out and the Israeli's explicitly told one way or another what to expect. If that hasn't been exhaustively addressed, well, SNAFU musr be SOP. Maybe the last gang green-lighted it, who knows. I find it inconceivable that Israeli planes would launch without SOME notice/co-ordination - even if only of indignant denial.

What assistance Lebanese Hezbullah could and would give, given their position, protagonists and sponsor could stand some trenchant inquiry. Its not like they could invade Israel to any great effect. But its where I foresee some of the most probability of direct military reaction. With no real knowledge, my impression is that they are not currently a mobile aggressive force, or in control of heavy units of the Lebanese Armed forces.

[Norman Cone]

A question to the General Assembly of Israel haters
and anti-Semites : Have you ever heard anything
about the Saudi-Lobby in America ? No ? That’s the
reason you are obsessed with AIPAC. Rosen and
Weissman were just innocent victims of a stupid
CIA operation. But how about the dozens of Saudis
and Bin Laden relatives, leaving the US just a
couple of hours after the 9/11 attack with the
blessing of the government ? At least some of you
should know better than whine about the close
relationship between the US and Israel and the
American aid for Israel. It isn’t a one-way
relationship and the US are profiting from it since
the days of the Cold War and until today.
Gentlemen : If you have lots of time to waste,
try to write something about Darfur, Islamistic
terror and stop your hate campaign against Jews
and Israel. I don’t know if anybody in Israel, in
AIPAC , in Congress or anywhere else reads your
quite silly conspiracy theories, but isn’t it just a
timewaster for you ? I hope
Colonel, that you have the guts to publish at least one opposing posting.