Do you remember Romney talking about the other 47. Looking back we’d have to say he was quite prescient. Who’d ever believe he was talking about 47 U.S. Senators who seemed to have abandoned the leadership of an American president in preference to that of a foreign ruler.
You all know the background. The Israeli leader Netanyahu comes here to embarrass our president. The result is 47 people in the Senate going to bat for him by writing a letter seeking to undermine our president. He, by the way, is trying to keep us out of war. The 47 for some reason want one.
Fortunately for all those who are confused by what’s going on, a person described as “a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a trustee at Freedom House, a board member of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), a signatory on Project for the New American Century (PNAC) letter-writing campaigns, . . . [who is] unabashed in his one-sided support of Israel.” has made it quite clear.
You have to remember the PNAC. Its members wrote a letter to President Clinton seventeen years ago in January 1998 (when Netanyahu was the prime minister of Israel as he is now) decrying American policy toward Iraq and noting: “if Saddam does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction, as he is almost certain to do if we continue along the present course, the safety of American troops in the region, of our friends and allies like Israel . . . will all be put at hazard. . . . The only acceptable strategy is one that eliminates the possibility that Iraq will be able to use or threaten to use weapons of mass destruction. . . . this means a willingness to undertake military action. . . . ” Netanyahu’s fingerprints were all over the letter.
Clinton didn’t fall for the con. We had to wait until George W. Bush got elected president. He did get conned. In fact, some of the signers of that letter were part of his administration: Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Richard Perle among others. They made the plans for Iraq’s invasion which took place twelve years ago almost to today’s date. As you know, the place is still a mess and the U.S. troops are back fighting there.
This PNAC person whose background I set out is Joshua Muravchik who is cut from the same cloth as all those other PNAC people. He was given the lead editorial opinion in Saturday’s Washington Post. His column was headlined: “War with Iran is Probably our Best Option.”
He writes: “The Iranian regime . . . is bound to continue its quest for nuclear weapons by refusing any “good deal” or by cheating. . . . [Iran] is akin to communist, fascist and Nazi regimes that set out to transform the world. . . . Otherwise, only military actions . . . have halted nuclear programs. Sanctions have never stopped a nuclear drive anywhere. . . . our only option is war . . . we can strike as often as necessary. [If Iran retaliates] we would respond by targeting other military and infrastructure facilities.”
Muravchik envisions a perpetual attack on Iran. He expresses no concern for the many Iranian and Americans who will die in that war.
The United States warred on Iraq in part to protect Israel as the PNAC letter stated. Apparently 47 Senators learned nothing from that folly. They seem unable to see that the same people who thrust us into that disaster are back at it again.
We’ve got to thank Joshua Muravchik for laying out what the speech of Netanyahu was all about. He wants us to war on Iran. If Obama won’t give it to him, he knows the next Republican president, like Bush, will do his bidding.
The senator who composed the letter, Tom Cotton, has been in the senate for two full months. How did he get there? Where did he get such clout to have 46 other senators sign on to his letter. Here’s one big reason: “He received $700,000 for his senate campaign from the Emergency Committee for Israel. That’s correct — $700,000! Such an exorbitant amount of money ensures that Cotton is one of the most pro-Israel senators in Congress. During the 2014 Israeli invasion of Gaza, when over 500 Palestinian were killed, Cotton called the Israeli defense force “the most moral, humanitarian fighting force in the world.” ” (Others have said he received almost million dollars; and over 2,000 Palestinians were killed including almost 500 children)
As I’ve noted before, the friends of Israel, people like Muravchik, Tom Cotton, and Sheldon Adelson are buying the United States armed forces to fight a war that Israel wants. Money for American blood. We’ve come a long way since 1776.
Remember our Revolutionary War and how the British hired bout 30,000 Hessian troops to fight against our American colonialists. An article notes: “Hiring a foreign army was not unusual in the eighteenth century.” Back then the German state of Hesse-Cassel was paid by the British for use of its troops.
Israelis has taken the 18th Century practice into the 21st Century and changed it a bit. It made an even better deal for themselves than the Brits. It hopes not only to get our troops to fight its perceived enemy; it also expects us to continue to pay it a few billion dollars every year to have our young warriors die for it.
Ronald Reagan did not bring down the Soviet Union. He just happened to be president when the Communist system collapsed under the weight of its own corruption. The Soviet experiment had been failing for years. Reagan fans should be proud of Reagan’s real accomplishments; crushing unions, supporting bloody dictators, turning the US into a class ridden society, etc. Admire the great man for the vicious right-wing crackpot he truly was.
Khalid:
I’m sure they are proud of those also.
Alas, what Cotton did is all too common. Ted Kennedy conspired with the Kremlin to halt the Reagan defense policy that brought down the USSR. Politics has never stopped at the water’s edge. Remember Wilson’s “He kept us out of war” and FDR’s lying, “I have said it over and over again, I will not send your sons to a foreign war.” I am named after a 19 year old boy who died so that lying basat*rd’s pal, Uncle Joe Stalin, could enslave Eastern Europe..
Randall:
Good points. A lot of us are related to those who gave their lives (my uncle and godfather) so that FDR cold give control over a 100 million people to Joe Stalin. Sometimes our leaders are too anxious to promote themselves over the average guy. I hear that in Arkansas they are preparing for Cotton to run for president in 2020 by passing a law that will let him run for the presidency and the senate. I’d think we had enough politicians from Arkansas for a while.
The Iranians are shrewd negotiators. They are very adept at covering their hand. The Western Media would make one believe the talks are only about the development of nuclear weapons, and, the easing of economic sanctions. There are other games afoot.
Iran wants a free hand in Syria, and, in their restive province of Ahwaz. Khamenei’s grand vision calls for a Shia Crescent stretching from Beruit to Tehran. Iran would like to colonize Syria with a standing Imami Shia militia, including a supporting population of over two hundred thousand composed of excess populations from the land starved Shia areas of south Lebanon, and, lower Iraq. These “new” Syrians would buttress the Assad regime, as Lebanese Hizbollah has done. Teheran wants to seed Syria’s mountainous western border country with militia settlements, particularly, the strategically vital Qualamun range that overlooks Baalbak.
Ahwaz is the southernmost Iranian province on the border with Iraq. It is predominately Arabic speaking. The province, just across the Shatt al-Arab from Iraq, has some of Iran’s richest energy resources. Much of the worst carnage of the Iraq/Iran War occurred in the border marshes of western Ahwaz. The Arab tribes of Ahwaz have been resisting the Mullahs since Khomeini came to power. Iran has employed major military/intelligence assets to repress Arab culture, and, separatist/nationalist sentiments in the province. The Mullahs string up Ahwazi poets, and, intellectuals, regularly. Its an ethnic, but, not, a sectarian struggle, both the Arab Ahwazis, and the Iranians are Imami Shia. What the Ahwazi Arabs of Iran want, is the right to express their identity in Farsi speaking Iran, and, have some share in the wealth pumped from their ground. The government in Tehran would like to apply serious ethnic cleansing to the problem, but, is somewhat deterred by the effect such a draconian measure would have on world opinion.
If the US, and, the rest of the West, dropped the sanctions, and, looked the other way, while the IRGC/Quds, and, its local allies, did their worst in Syria, and, Ahwaz, the Khamenei government might well drop its quest for the bomb. Nuclear weapons are only a bargaining chip to them.
Matt , I am on Netanyahu’s Team to the extent I support any underdog threatened baldly and in unequivocal language … with extinction. I understand Khalid’s expansive view of Iran as a responsible member geo-politically at ” The Big Table.” Theirs is an old and esteemed culture. Israel is not the only Middle East player worthy of note. And yet … Why the incendiary rhetoric about the annihilation of Israel? It perplexes me. Sun Tzu would frown upon such an unabashed declaration of motives and intentions. Is Khalid correct in his seasoned assessment? Is Iran’s bark much worse than their bite? … Dunno !!!!!!!! … Does Israel want to find out ???
Context … Context … Context !!! 🙂
I do not understand the obsession many of our politicians have with Israel and the fact our foreign policy in the Middle East is beholden to Israel’s wishes (or should I say Netanyahue’s). Yes they are our greatest ally in the Middle East (at least ideologically). Japan is our greatest ally in Asia, do you see Japanese dignitaries coming to address Congress, despite the President’s wishes, about the growing threat Chinese aggression poses to Japanese sovereignty or existence? If Japan started a call for war against China do you think any sitting Congressman/woman would seriously entertain their suggestion? It is a strange and bizarre fetish that our politicians have with this little area of the world.
Dave:
Agree, it is strange and bizarre. Perhaps had we not backed up every whim of Netanyahu and people like him peace would have come to that area years ago. It’s strange to see this nation of 7 million with such a hold over the representatives of the 317 million Americans. I guess it shows the power of money and lobby.
Agreed, its more of an example of the overall problem rather than the problem itself. I have read that independent agencies have studied the various pieces of legislation that has been passed by Congress over the years, (an extensive amount of time and legislation), and compared it to the overall wishes, wants, and needs of the general public. The study found that of all the different bills/laws that were passed, almost 0% of them reflected the wishes of the American constituency. I wish I had the link to the article available. Makes you wonder why you even bother to vote at all.
The existential threat to Israel is posed by Hizballah, and, Hamas, not, nuclear weapons, which, are more of a potent political symbol, than, a real military threat. Iran wants a seat at the big table, and, developing nuclear weapons is a prerequisite to achieving that status. They will get the weapons, sooner, or, later. The “bomb” has been around since 1945, but, hasn’t been used since. Khamanei wants to liberate, not, obliterate, Palestine.
Khalid:
The bomb is part of the reason for our planned attack on Iran; the other is our inability to understand that Israel and the Sunni Arab threats want us to damage Iran so that they can be the big powers in that area. Did you ever hear of the Persian Gulf? Guess what our Navy calls it. The Arabian Gulf. Sadly many thousands of Iranians are scheduled to die after Obama leaves office.
BHO is too bright to have a war with Iran. He blundered in Libya and doesn’t want a repeat. The U. S. has over ten thousand troops in Afghanistan and three thousand in Iraq both bordering Iran. All would be at risk if we attacked. Could we limit the war in duration and scope? Maybe not. Isolating Iran, imposing sanctions and war would only accelerate their obtaining nuclear weapons. The American people may be war weary regarding the Middle East. Let’s try diplomacy. The oil sheiks and Israel fear Iran’s geo political influence in the region. Their main interest is in containing the Persians power and reach. But with 100 million Shia in the Gulf region and about half that number Sunni, the Shia should be the most influential. The demographics don’t favor our friends in Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Should America use force to uphold their position? Now that the American economy is no longer economically dependent on Gulf oil what is the rationale for the U.S. presence? American blood should never be shed for purely commercial interests. You are right. We shouldn’t be the Hessians of the 21st century. 2. During the financial meltdown an observer was asked how the Congress could bail out these corrupt financial institutions that created the crisis. She said we’ve got a ” bought Congress”. Wall St. had purchased them. It appears they are still for sale. 3. The war propaganda is worth noting. On Fox you can hear Krauthammer and Guilliani claim that Iran had killed thousands of American soldiers in the Iraq war. The Israeli ambassador said they killed hundreds. Mike Morrel, former number two at CIA said the Iranians killed dozens and dozens of our soldiers during the Iraq war. These propagandists can’t even get their stories straight. Ron Paul frequently warned everyone not to buy the war propaganda. HAPPY ST. PATRICK”S DAY.
NC:
1. Obama is bright but he is also not in the pocket of those who want to destroy Iran. If you read the article by the guy who wants to bomb Iran you will see he has no concern for American troops or the length of the war. You are right it is the oil sheiks and Israel trying to get America to attack Iran. Have you noticed how little those nations have gotten involved in the fighting against ISIS. A lot of this comes down to a Shia/Sunni war which seems to escape much of the media.
2. Israel bought our Congress years ago. Explain to me why a country that is doing so well still needs a gift of our billions every year. Because it is our best ally in that area; or is it our best ally in the world. I’m at a loss to see how a country that has never fought aside another country on a battlefield is considered a great ally.
3. I know that has become the new pitch – the Americans who were killed in Iraq were killed not by Iraqis but by Iranians. You remember when the hoards of Iranian troops poured over the border fighting on behalf of Saddam. I know, that never happened. Here’s what did and why the Iranians are blamed for the American deaths in the Iraq war. Iraq with American help fought Iran. The war ended up in a stale mate. If Iran had won that war and defeated Iraq the Iraq war would not have been necessary Therefore its failure to defeat Iraq led to our invasion where our troops lost their lives; it is the same reasoning that is use to blame Ike for Vietnam.
Remember it’s time to take St. Patrick out of the St. Patrick day’s breakfast.
★ MEIN FEUHRER is of course a salty historical reference point in the body of the comments. It is not directed towards anyone but Herr Hitler himself ; a sardonic mockery of one of History’s most misguided megalomaniacs.
US sanction to disable Iran is desired, but not required by Israel. The Jewish Experience in WW2, YEP, That danged old Holocaust the lefty coffeehouse Iran fan boys and girls consider such a … provocation … to their lapidary analysis of the ” World Scene Today Man “” left the Jews without illusions or patience with apologists for an Apocalyptic State, Iran. It’s pretty simple : ignore Iran’s terror funding globally … their mediaeval Sharia Law that militates against all personal rights and decencies men and pointedly women in this regard, enjoy in our Western Civilization … Cherrypick some donors to flash up a hollow argument as numerous instances can be cited of big lib dem contributions …. Ignore that we left Iranian students stranded at the barricades for all our Obama flibbertigibbet ” Arab Spring ” demagogueing … Don’t. believe your lying eyes about ISIS or Charlie Hebdo or virulent acts of anti-semitism in France and throughout Europe …… In fact keep your head Ostrich like buried in the Radical Muslim Iranian Cleric’s theocratic sands. Watch out for ypu Ass though ; Iran’s eschatology is an Apocalyptic eschatology. Thus they enslave their people to get it as they wink at the World. They await the coming of ” The Third Mahdi. ” Apocalypse is the theological sine qua non for this ” Holy ” Event. Israel’s annihilation is not a rhetorical gambit by these religious fanatic crackpots. For that is who and what they are. Sleep through REALITY ; Perhaps you need your sleep. Netanyahu never sleeps !!! Israel will move unilaterally if they have to …. Mein Feuhrer !!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
John:
Good analysis. You should join Netanyahu’s team. Tell me when Iran last attacked anyone. And as far as Israel moving unilaterally you must be joking, they want us to do the job. Why do you think Netanyahu came to DC. So we go back to WWII and figure that we’ll do Israel a favor by killing tens of thousands of Iranians. Makes sense. Or have you figured out another way to deal with Iran other than bombing it.
Historical revisionism at its best !!!
Liz Cheney is a co founder of the Emergency Committee for Israel. has not made the wider press yet.
Jim:
Surprised that Jeb Bush has not named her to his foreign policy advisory team.