Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly wants to attack Iran before the U.S. elections. If true, it is a demonstration of the predictability of U.S. politics. Netanyahu knows that both Romney and Obama are seeking the support of Jewish voters and would be less likely to denounce such a unilateral attack before November. Indeed, they might even help fund the war with additional U.S. loans and military support. What is equally bizarre is the scene of top Israeli officials going to the ranking Rabbi in Israel to get his approval for the attacks. We are accustomed to seeing such influence by religious figures in Iran, but officials have been shuttling back and forth to get the nod from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
The attack on Iran could unleash a regional conflict and cause widespread destruction. Israel clearly expects that the U.S. will be forced to support it with the likely supply of billions of dollars of loans and replenishment of weapons. Even if Obama had the courage to denounce the attack, Congress would make certain that eventually Israel would be given the financial and military support that it needed.
The very public courting of Yosef to approve the attack included a briefing from National Security Council head Ya’akov Amidror, Interior Minister and Shas political leader Eli Yishai. Israel has long struggled under a political system that gives small religious parties virtual control of the Knesset and does not have the separation of church (or temple) and state that we have in this country. The result is that orthodox parties have radically inflated levels of power in the country and citizens live under laws which openly advance religious practices.
Yosef has criticized secular courts and leaders, including the Israeli Supreme Court which has struggled with the mix of religion and law in the country:
These call themselves the Supreme Court? They’re worthless. They should be put in a bottom court. They, for them [God] created all of the torments in the world. Everything that [the people of] Israel suffer from, is just for these evil people. Empty and reckless… What do they know? One of our children of 7–8 years knows better than they how to learn Torah. These are the people who have been put in the Supreme Court. Who chose them, who made them judges, but the Justice Minister, persecuter and enemy he liked them and he recommended that the President would appoint them as judges. What, were there elections? Who says that the nation wants such judges, such evil [ones]… They have no religion and no law. All of them have sex with Niddot. All of them desecrate the Sabbath. These will be our judges? Slaves rule over us.
The most interesting aspect of these stories however is the alleged timing of the attacks to the U.S. election. The American people could now find themselves clipped for billions more to support yet another war without any meaningful debate. Indeed we may end up an active participant if Iran attacks U.S. assets in response to the Israeli attack. It is the crushing predicability of it all that is so disturbing. The American public has long been opposed to the two current wars, but it has made little difference. There remains a disconnect in the political system as members pursue the course of least risk to themselves and their own reelection. That concern is only magnified by the lingering image left by these reports that we could end up in a new full-fledged war based on the inclinations of an ultra-Orthodox Rabbi in Israel. Hopefully he does not have a veto on the war but this is clearly a decision being made far from our shores.
Part of the concern is that President Obama and his predecessors have gradually gutted the constitutional requirement of congressional approval for wars as reflected in the Libyan War (for full disclosure, I represented the members opposing that war in court). If we were to enter such a conflict against Iran either indirectly or directly, the President has claimed the right to do so unilaterally and many members would privately support the action.
In the meantime, our leaders are reportedly accepting free trips to Israel paid by an affiliate of AIPAC, the powerful Israeli lobby, to skinny dip in the Sea of Galilee
It could be a perfectly symbolic moment as our leader frolic with abandon in the Sea of Galilee as the country is moved closer to a third war.
What do you think?
Source: Haaretz
You’ll get no argument from me on that, Mike.
Mike,
It’s not Jews lobbying that concerns me (any more than lobbying in general does considering its descent into largely “legalized” graft, but I digress). You know I’m a “friend of the tribe”. However, what bothers me specifically about AIPCA is that they have twice been bust harboring spies. Actually discovered and called to the carpet on it. To me that should be an automatic out for an PAC organization no matter who is behind them. PACs don’t have the diplomatic cover embassies (necessarily and rightfully) do and to use them to shelter spies should be a PAC death sentence. It would even be different if the spies in question simply worked for a foreign owned corporation, but a PAC is a special kind of animal. The corruption in the system from money is so damaging to our system already, I think to allow the compounding of that damage by not punishing their use as cover for espionage is bad tactics and a counterproductive strategy.
“I think to allow the compounding of that damage by not punishing their use as cover for espionage is bad tactics and a counterproductive strategy.”
Gene,
The Wall Street Bankers and the Bush/Cheney crime family are still walking around compounding their damage. It has all become a travesty, that would be comic, were not so many innocents harmed.
*********************************************
OMFG! Jim, you win the internets. See Al Gore to pick up your prize.
Mike,
I’ll accept those stipulations without reservation with the following modification: since the rise of the Likhud, it could be argued that the puppet/puppeteer role has somewhat but certainly not completely reversed. Israel seems far more willing to (and shown far greater tolerance in by both our domestic pols and the intelligence community) attempting to manipulate our political system both directly (via PAC activity) and by subterfuge (the two AIPAC harbored spies come to mind) than they would have been pre-Likhud.
Gene,
I’m of two minds regarding AIPAC.which I don’t and never have supported. The first is that they have gone too far to the Right in their support of Israel by becoming cheerleaders for Likud. As you know and can see from even my comment above I think that Likud has taken Israel in the wrong direction. I do believe that the NeoCon view has held too much sway with AIPAC and I think that is directly related to the support by wealthy Jewish Republicans like Ron Perelman.
On the other hand while I oppose the AIPAC agenda as being actually wrong for Israel, I don’t oppose their existence, or the fact that they have tried to wield political power, however wrongly they’ve done it. Should it be any surprise that Jews can act to lobby for that which they believe in? The Saudi’s have done the same thing with Congress and Presidents. They are a major stockholder in CNN. For that matter don’t you think there was extensive foreign influence in getting NAFTA and CAFTA passed and both those treaties had a negative effect upon American workers and small businesses. The game is rotten through and through. Though I love being a Jew, I’m under no illusion that Jews can at times be just as bad as any other ethnicity and religion.
Or as another old Jew has sung (after a 10 second commercial):
Jim,
Your statement begs the question (a logical fallacy) that this is a fundamentalist Christian country and that our foreign policy should be driven by zealously misapplied parables interpreted by semi-literate rednecks so stupid they think the Bible is not only an accurate historical text but to be read literally (which is against almost 1900 years of Christian practice in teaching the book as a set of parables and not the literal “word of God” – which it isn’t but rather is a book written by men, largely of second hand or worse information written many years after the death of the historical Jesus of Nazareth (assuming he was an actual person, an assertion for which there is no historical or archaeological proof) and it is riddled with contradictions and outright fabrications). Fundamentalist literalist interpretation of the Bible is a fairly new development in the history of the Christian faith. It is, like most forms of fundamentalism in any religion, a distortion of teachings that men use to control other men through fear, intimidation and ignorance and it is often a death cult practice. It is the refuge of the ignorant, fearful and stupid and/or the mentally ill. Just like fundamentalist Islam or fundamentalist Judaism.
The United States despite the wingnut propaganda to the contrary is not a Christian country, fundamentalist or otherwise, but rather a specifically secular nation as spelled out by the 1st Amendment and confirmed by the ancillary writings of our Founding Fathers.
On a legal and international diplomacy level? We don’t owe Israel a damn thing. They are not the 51st state. They aren’t even a protectorate. They are a sovereign nation and as such they have to be both responsible and held accountable for their own bad actions. That our government chooses to let them time and again be bad actors to others in the international community and then run hide behind our militaristic skirts like spoiled and misbehaving children is the result of piss poor policy decision made by pols looking for vote, but it is not rooted in any legal or ethical duty owed Israel. In fact, it is a great disservice to Israel to have let them do this for so long and against our best interests as a nation.
Have I read the Old Testament? Oh but yes, I have. I’ve also read the New Testament, the Gnostic gospels and many other non-doctrinal non-denominational gospels in addition to the Quaran and the Tanakh (to round out the Abrahamic religions), a fair amount of Vedic literature, many Buddhist sutras and overviews and scholarly studies of many other religions ranging from Jainism to Voudun to the rather ridiculous Scientology. I’ve not only read the Old Testament, I understand it in the proper historical and theological contexts. Which is more than you can say about either the Bible or the Constitution apparently. If you had an inkling of an understanding, you’d realize that the Old Testament isn’t even “your” book traditionally.
I’ve also read the Constitution, a great deal of the writings of our Founders, a lot of history in general and many many books on legal theory and legal history.
So if you want to protect Israel based on your reading of the Old Testament? I invite you to become an Israeli citizen and join the IDF or the Mossad. Knock yourself out.
I also invite you to keep your religion out of our secular government and its policy decisions. Not just because it is my personal preference. But because it is the law.
Religiously driven “thinking” (as opposed to realistic evidence based rational decision making) has caused this country quite enough trouble already.
“In fact, it is a great disservice to Israel to have let them do this for so long and against our best interests as a nation.”
Gene,
As you know I agree, but I think it must be emphasized that Israel is the puppet in this scheme. The “loving embrace” of US foreign policy has merely been a ruse to keep them in line. Israel’s original sense of independence, which served them well through the 70’s, was depleted by the rise to power of
Menachem Begin. His conception of Israel was the descendant of Jabotinsky’s beliefs, which were those of a small, radical faction of Israel’s founders.
The propaganda foundations of Likud’s rise to power were the classic, fear driven memes put upon a beleaguered populace, surrounded by enemies. When Ronnie’s mentors took power in the 1980’s, they pushed Begin to move his country from a socialist to a capitalist model, while at the same time Schulz and Weinberger (minions of Big Oil and the Saudi’s) manipulated the entire Middle East situation at the bidding of the Saudi’s and OPEC.
Iran did NOT attack any country in the past 600 years, if not more.
Iran was attacked by Iraq which was aided by the US, ask Rumsfeld why, for I do not know why. 2 Million Iranian were killed in this war. US made gas was used by Saadam khusein on the Iranian, so it was reported.
US attacked Iraq, for no good reason, this I and the Iranian knows.
Iran has a duty and every right to take steps to defend itself against any enemy, near or far. Witnessing how does the US comport itself dealing with N. Korea, who has the bomb, it is not difficult to understand that the choice of the Iranian Gov. fell on the A Bomb.
Besides, the International Atomic Agency determined that Iran did not violate the terms of the Non Proliferation Agreement Iran is a signatory to.
May be that we, The US, legalized, unbeknownst to me, “preventive strikes.” This only strengthen Iran’s resolve to defend itself, as N. Korea is doing quite successfully.
Israel is only piggybackin’ on the US, hoping to cement its land-stealing practices, and to expand on them.
Listen to J Street!
Iran cannot deliver war heads!
Israeli army treatment of Palestinian civilians – including children – as related by Israeli soldiers
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-breaks-silence-over-army-abuses-8081393.html
“… the “belief, which was advanced to us by a military prosecutor, that every Palestinian child is a ‘potential terrorist'”.
— a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.
Sample:
“We took over a school and had to arrest anyone in the village who was between the ages of 17 and 50. When these detainees asked to go to the bathroom, and the soldiers took them there, they beat them to a pulp and cursed them for no reason, and there was nothing that would legitimise hitting them. An Arab was taken to the bathroom to piss, and a soldier slapped him, took him down to the ground while he was shackled and blindfolded. The guy wasn’t rude and did nothing to provoke any hatred or nerves. Just like that, because he is an Arab. He was about 15, hadn’t done a thing.
“We’d often provoke riots there. We’d be on patrol, walking in the village, bored, so we’d trash shops, find a detonator, beat someone to a pulp, you know how it is. Search, mess it all up. Say we’d want a riot? We’d go up to the windows of a mosque, smash the panes, throw in a stun grenade, make a big boom, then we’d get a riot.