March 21, 2006
In all the malarkey we’re hearing from the apologists for the
Israel Lobby about the Mearsheimer and Walt paper, it should not be
forgotten that the idea that the war was fought for Israel isn’t
somebody’s wild thesis submitted with no proof whatsoever. We can
prove it. Without the slightest doubt. David Wurmser,
Cheney’s chief Middle East advisor, and Douglas Feith, the guy in
charge of 'stovepiping’ the intelligence using the Office of Special
Plans in order to fool American officialdom with phony intelligence and
hide the real intelligence, were both involved in the 'Clean Break’ paper. That paper, written for Netanyahu, states: "Israel
can shape its strategic environment, in cooperation with Turkey and
Jordan, by weakening, containing, and even rolling back Syria. This
effort can focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq -
an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right - as a
means of foiling Syria’s regional ambitions."
I
guess you could think it is a complete coincidence that people involved
in advising an extreme right-wing Israeli leader by providing specific
policy advice, advice which Israel couldn’t possibly carry out itself,
end up in high positions in the American government, with the exact
steps in the advice suddenly becoming American foreign and
military policy, involving deceit and deception in the American
government engineered by one of the advisers. You could think it
is a coincidence. But then you’d be a fool. I note that
steps involving Lebanon and Syria – Syria is the real target – have
also become part of American public policy (contrary to what I’ve read
on the internet, Iran plays almost no role in the paper).
Coincidences everywhere! Justin Raimondo catches
Max Boot in a huge mistake. Boot argues that the Lobby must be
fiction as the chair occupied by Walt is endowed by Robert and
Renee Belfer, Jewish philanthropists who are also supporters of
Israel. Boot argues quite convincingly that if the Lobby were
really so powerful, it would never have allowed the paper to be
published. The New York Sun reports: "Harvard,
the observer said, had received 'several calls’ from 'pro-Israel
donors’ expressing concern about the Walt-Mearsheimer paper. One of the
angered contributors is said to be the donor who underwrote the chair
occupied by Dean Walt, Robert Belfer. Mr. Belfer, a 1958 graduate of
Harvard Law School, endowed a faculty chair as part of a $7.5 million
gift to the Kennedy School in 1997. In addition to bearing the title of
academic dean of the Kennedy School, Mr. Walt is also the Robert and
Renee Belfer Professor of International Politics. According
to the observer, 'Since the furor, Bob Belfer has called expressing his
deep concerns and asked that Stephen not use his professorship title in
publicity related to the article.’ Reached yesterday by phone in Florida, Mr. Belfer declined to comment on the situation."
The
'deep concerns’ of Bob Belfer prove, on Boot’s own logic, the power of
the Israel Lobby. In fact, Mearsheimer and Walt had a great deal
of trouble getting their ideas published in the United
States. The Lobby is so busy figuring how to fool
Americans into murdering Muslims, that they can’t watch everything,
and Mearsheimer and Walt managed to sneak one by.
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