What do we want the next four years to be like? Do we want to spend the next four years under the jackboot of the neocons, even though we beat them in the last three presidential elections, starting with the 2008 Democratic primary?
by Robert Naiman
President Obama told AIPAC that there had been a lot of “loose talk” about war with Iran, but that diplomacy was still the best course of action for both the U.S. and Israel. “Now is not the time for bluster,” Obama said. “Now is the time to let our increased pressure sink in.” he said. He also said: “I think that the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don’t bluff. I also don’t, as a matter of sound policy, go around advertising exactly what our intentions are. But I think both the Iranian and the Israeli governments recognize that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say.”
President Obama told AIPAC that there had been a lot of “loose talk” about war with Iran, but that diplomacy was still the best course of action for both the U.S. and Israel. “Now is not the time for bluster,” Obama said. “Now is the time to let our increased pressure sink in.” he said. He also said: “I think that the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don’t bluff. I also don’t, as a matter of sound policy, go around advertising exactly what our intentions are. But I think both the Iranian and the Israeli governments recognize that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say.”
Since many of our Christian brothers and sisters are offline for the Christmas holiday, I thought this would be a good time for the pro-Obama Jews to caucus.
If we don’t want to spend the next four years under the jackboot of the neocons, then we have to stop the neocons from blocking the nomination of diplomacy advocate, war skeptic and decorated Vietnam combat veteran Chuck Hagel to be the next Secretary of Defense.
I’m not saying that we’re necessarily going to win this. But at least we can have a real fight. This is like the Warsaw Uprising: the odds against us may be daunting, but we’ll never have a better venue to make our stand. If we have to go down on some hill for a democratic Israel, the two-state solution and real Iran diplomacy, we won’t find a better hill to go down on than this one. We have allies right now that we may not have in the future.
Look who’s on our side right now. Former military officials. Former diplomats, including five U.S. Ambassadors to Israel. J Street. Americans for Peace Now. Former Israeli consul general in New York Alon Pinkas. Israeli-born Nebraska Rabbi Aryeh Azriel. Former U.S. Senator and decorated Vietnam combat veteran Max Cleland. Jon Soltz, head of VoteVets. Paul Rieckoff, head of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Jan Scruggs, president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Robert Bergdahl, father of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only American POW in Taliban custody. Peter Beinart, author of The Crisis of Zionism. Foreign policy expert Steve Clemons.
More than fifteen thousand people have signed this petition at MoveOn, this petition at VoteVets, or this petition at the White House website.
With all these allies on our side, if we can’t beat the neocons on the Hagel nomination, how are we going to beat the neocons on supporting real U.S. diplomatic engagement with Iran? With all these allies on our side, if we can’t beat the neocons on the Hagel nomination, how are we going to beat the neocons on stopping Bibi from ringing East Jerusalem with settlements to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state?
As Rabbi Hillel said: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?”
Here’s what you can do right now.
First: sign this petition at MoveOn, this petition at VoteVets, and this petition at the White House website. That will take you three minutes.
Second: call Washington on Wednesday — or as soon as you can — demanding that diplomacy advocate, war skeptic, and decorated Vietnam combat veteran Chuck Hagel be the next Secretary of Defense.
You think if fifteen thousand people call Washington, demanding that Chuck Hagel be the next Secretary of Defense, Washington’s not going to notice?
You can call the White House here: (202) 456-1111. Here’s your script: “President Obama, we have your back. I support your choice of Senator Chuck Hagel to serve as the next Secretary of Defense. I will urge my Senators to support his confirmation.” You can report your call to the White House to MoveOn here.
You can find the phone numbers for your two U.S. Senators here. Here’s your script: “I support President Obama’s choice of Chuck Hagel to serve as our next Secretary of Defense. I urge you to speak out on Senator Hagel’s behalf and to support his confirmation as our next Secretary of Defense.” You can report your phone calls to your Senators to MoveOn here.
A miracle can happen here. Let’s not let this go down without a real fight.
Follow Robert Naiman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/naiman
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In the US there is no way for any one to hold a high office in any administration without pledging loyalty to Israel and its power house in Washington AIPAC. Perhaps it is best that candidates for high office in the US first appear before the Knesset and once approved then Congress can give their rubber stamp approval.
Exactly Sami!
How dare they boldly float an anti-US Policy, "Emergency Committee for Israel" in the face of an American patriot ?
As Dr. Sabrosky writes…and I quote:
"The only real (and barely disguised by other rhetoric) concern the neo-cons and their allies have about Hagel is that he thinks of himself as an American who would put the interests of the US ahead of Israeli interests: where they coincided he would likely support interest, when they didn't he wouldn't, and if he thought they had engineered a "false flag" operation somewhere against the US, he would likely make them very, very unhappy, almost certainly in tandem with Kerry. Good, say I, long overdue and sure to be welcomed by Americans not in thrall to AIPAC and Israel."
thanks for mentioning Dr. Sabrosky's comment, Debbie.
In Fall 2007 I was at a Walt-Mearsheimer talk about their then-recently released book, "The Israel Lobby." The audience was 'salted' with Israel firsters — one group from a local synagogue, another composed of the director of the region's AIPAC and his supporting delegation. The AIPAC group sat directly in front of the speakers, between the video camera & and the speakers.
Walt & Mearsheimer concluded their comments with the prescription that the US "treat Israel just like any other country in the world."
You would have thought they called for loading Jews on cattle cars & putting them in camps. During the Q&A session, one after another after another, the synagogue members & AIPAC delegation monopolized the microphone and complained bitterly about how damaging to the Jewish people such a policy would be. One woman pointed to an event in the 12th century to demonstrate how important it is that the US people continue to unconditionally support Israel.
A few conclusions from that experience:
1. If "treating Israel like everybody else" is "persecution" equivalent to Auschwitz, maybe the Auschwitz narrative is fraudulent.
2. I started to research Jewish history. So far I've learned that throughout their history, from the time of Esther to the time of Bibi, the murderous Esther's champion, Jews have demanded and relied on special protection and special favors bestowed on them by the highest authority in whichever state they dwelt, from Egypt to Bablyon and Persia to Jerusalem under Persia and then under Rome, to Andalusia, to Jews in Medici's Italy, to Jews in Poland protected by Bradislaw, in exchange for Jewish financing of Bradislaw's profligacy & Jews functioning as tax farmers; to Jews in England, France and Germany, and now in the USA.
Jews have always demanded special protection. A corollary is:
3. Jews have never, in their entire history, managed to establish and run a state or equitable government on their own steam.
The Zionists never appreciated any honest Statesman who works for Justice and Peace
NAS