|
I looked forward to reading this book immensely, and I was not disappointed. Also I recommend reading: "THE HOAX OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY" by Arthur R. Butz.
Mearsheimer, John J. The book looks at the tremendous amount of moral and financial support that the United States gives to Israel and this support simply cannot be explained. What the authors claim is that Israel is more of a liability than an asset. Walt."The Israel Lobby and U.S. The authors state that 40% of Americans understand that one of the main causes of anti-Americanism is Israel and the book recommends that Israel should be treated no differently than any other country, that the United States should bring about a quick end to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, campaign finance reform is necessary and that there should be encouragement of open debate. Foreign Policy", Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2008.ControversialAmos LassenConfronting recent developments in Lebanon and Iran, Mearsheimer and Walt describe the support that the United States gives to Israel and they argue that there is no way to fully explain this on moral or strategic grounds. and Stephen M. The book uses logic, facts, common sense and research to reach its conclusions.
They maintain that the Israel lobby has a great deal of influence on the way America acts in the sphere of Middle East politics and the policies that come out of it are not in the best interests of the United States nor Israel. It also greatly affects our relationship with our allies.Both authors are outstanding political scientists and this book has been both cheered and laughed at. The power of the Israel lobby has caused the United States to make crucial mistakes including the war in Iraq that has proven to be a disaster. There is a lot to digest here and some of it is quite hard to swallow.
These candidates receive in depth briefings to help them completely understand the complexities of Israel's predicament and that of the Middle East as a whole. This political combination managed to steer George Bush, sideline Condoleeza Rice, and bully Colin Powell into the Iraq war. The whole process is supported by Jewish Think Tank activists such as Daniel Pipes, Michael Rubin, and Joshua Muravchik at the American Enterprise Institute, and prominent journalists such as William Kristol, Michael Ladeen and Norman Podhoretz who are now agitating for America to declare war on Iran (and subsequently Syria and Saudi Arabia although they are not so open about this). government had to borrow it to give to them), and to the Israeli refusal to account for how it was spent, both necessary conditions for other aid recipients. I was given a list of vital topics and quizzed (read grilled) for my specific opinion on each. fairly early in the campaign, for "discussions".
It was an experience I will never forget. It wasn't enough that I was pro-Israel. Steven Rosen, the former AIPAC official, illustrates AIPAC's power for the New Yorker's Jeffrey Goldberg by putting a napkin in front of him and saying, "In twenty-four hours, we could have the signatures of seventy senators on this napkin." As Mearsheimer and Walt make clear, this is no idle boast, and they go on to say, "As will become clear, when issues relating to Israel come to the fore, Congress almost always votes to endorse the lobby's positions, usually in overwhelming numbers".They note AIPAC President Howard Friedman telling the organization's members in August 2006, "AIPAC meets with every candidate running for Congress. It was initially impossible to publish this book in America but it did eventually see the light of day after an article in the London Review of Books and an unprcedented 275.000 downloads of the working paper on Harvard's Kennedy School of Government website. I called, they gave, from Florida to Alaska."AIPAC also keeps track of congressional voting records and direct funds to opponents of congressmen who don't follow their line.Apart from Congress, Mearsheimer and Walt show successful Jewish activists in key government positions (particularly from the 1970's onwards), such as Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Elliott Abrahams, David Wurmser and Lewis "Scooter" Libby in the Clinton and Bush administrations. The authors show the enormous frustration of the CIA as their intelligence was distorted to support the lie of Iraqi WMD and start an unprovoked war that was not in the interests of the United States.A feeble Congress votes record aid budgets to Israel (currently four billion dollars a year), with loans being converted to grants, and quick acquiescences to Israeli demands that aid be paid up front (which the U.S. The authors see the possibility of congressmen being elected on a "Anti Israel" platform but they rightly point out that this could easily slide into anti-semitism and it is clear that the majority of American Jews aren't Likudniks and opposed the war in Iraq.
Shortly after that encounter at AIPAC, I was sent a list of American supporters of Israel. We ask each candidate to author a "position paper" on their views of the U.S.-Israel relationship - so it is clear where they stand on the subject."One congressional candidate (Harry Lonsdale) who went through this vetting process recounts that, "I found myself invited to AIPAC in Washington, D.C. In their conclusion, Mearsheimer and Walt ask what can be done about the outlandish failure of the American government to act in the interests of America. Actually I was told what my opinion must be, and exactly what words I was to use to express those opinions in public. that I was free to call for campaign contributions. They doubt that the Israel Lobby will relinquish its power in the press, campaign finance or government, so they suggest pressure for more open discourse, which seems to be happening. They don't like the AIPAC / Wolfowitz group but they lose out to the extremists, so its not clear where all this goes apart from generating some rumbling at the other end of the spectrum (for example, Robert Griffin's, "The Fame of a Dead Man's Deeds" ).
This book is great and highly recommended, it is amazing how much I learned about our foreign policy and how a lobby group can twist our foreign policy.
Not only the US turn a bling eye toward Israel constantly human laws violations, worse, furhter more, defend them with Veto in the UN Security Council. And get rid of the lobbiest he had as advicers. I hope Obama read it. The Lobby relied on american leadership ignorance. With certain intellectual honesty the book reveals how the Israel lobby writes US foreign policy to the Middle East. The book also shows how the US grossly misguided policies regarding the Palestinians and Israel's widely condemned practices have exacted a heavy price in the US position in the region. This book is a great service to America. It brings out to the public eye facts that are ignored and avoided by the American media.
|
