NEWSLETTER

September 17, 2013

Useful Idiots Of DC

AIPAC, AJC and other so-called American “pro-Israel” groups suspended their high-profile lobbying effort for a strike on Syria now that the U.S. and Russia have struck a deal to strip the Assad regime of its chemical weapons (see below).

These are among the useful idiots of DC. The same folks who were hesitant at first to sign on to the lobbying effort, but “dove in” after senior Obama administration officials solicited their help in persuading Congress to sign off on the military action.

So Obama called and AIPAC jumped, sending 250 of its members for personal meetings with Capitol Hill lawmakers, “a show of strength the lobby reserves for major initiatives.” 

Now why in the world would American Jewish groups jump into the fray and pull Israel in after them, when Israel has nothing to do with this? Why would they unnecessarily inject themselves (and Israel) into the middle of a major controversy, in which neither side is particularly good for Israel? Israel itself (rightfully) kept its mouth shut, yet “pro-Israel” groups did President Obama’s bidding and gave Israel-haters and anti-Semites much to write about.

Headlines like “Obama’s Syria War Is Really About Iran and Israel” or “American Jews Push Obama to War” quickly popped up all over the world, with conspiracy theories galore.

“Perhaps this is the core goal pursued by the rich American Jews when it comes to Syria? To instigate a US attack against Iran whose riches never leave them in peace?” wrote one publication. While Bloomberg.com focused on American-Jewish “billionaire” Sheldon Adelson and his “unlikely” alliance with Obama in the push for a military response.

Well, someone once said: “The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.” Indeed, and no one proves that better than these American-Jewish organizations. 

[P.S. Since everyone's been aflutter over yesterday’s UN finding that "clear and convincing evidence" of a chemical attack in Syria was found, perhaps they missed this little tidbit of news in yesterday’s Jerusalem Post:  “Syria Is Transferring Chemical Weapons To Hezbollah To Avoid International Inspection”] 

The Times of Israel  |  September 17, 2013

Pro-Israel Groups Suspend Lobby For Syria Strike

Jewish organizations maintain their support for Congressional authorization of military force despite the pending US-Russia deal

By Ron Kampeas

Kerry-Lavrov.jpg
US Secretary of State John Kerry, left, shakes hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Saturday (photo credit: AP/Keystone/Martial Trezzini)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Pro-Israel groups suspended their high-profile lobbying effort for a strike on Syria now that the United States and Russia have struck a deal to strip the Assad regime of its chemical weapons.

A spokesman for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which organized a Capitol Hill blitz last week aimed at persuading Congress to back a strike, confirmed Monday that lobbying has been suspended for now.

The American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, which also had been involved in the lobbying, said they would suspend lobbying, too.

“We sent many messages over the last week and a half; we are not formulating new letters to the Hill,” Jason Isaacson, the AJC’s director of international affairs, told JTA. “Our message is out there should it be required.”

Jewish groups had hesitated at first to sign on to the lobbying effort, fearful that their support would be construed as a pro-Israel initiative. But they dove in after President Obama called for a strike last month and senior administration officials solicited their help in persuading Congress to sign off on the military action. AIPAC sent 250 of its members for personal meetings with Capitol Hill lawmakers, a show of strength the lobby reserves for major initiatives.

Jewish groups maintained their support for a strike even after President Obama called last week for Congress to delay a vote wile he explored the Russian proposal, which calls for Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles to be eliminated by 2014. The AJC in a letter Sept. 12 to Congress members said the threat of credible military action must be maintained even as the United States looked at the Russian plan.

Leading pro-Israel figures echoed the view.

“Every day that goes by without congressional authorization, it undermines the vitality of the threat,” Abraham Foxman, the Anti-Defamation League’s national director, said in an interview Friday.

By Monday, however, the groups had changed their tune, suspended their lobbying and endorsed the putative deal brokered in Geneva over the weekend by US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

Under the terms of the agreement, Syria would be stripped of its chemical weapons by the middle of 2014. If it refuses to comply, the situation would be referred to the UN Security Council.

Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime has yet to formally give its assent to the deal, though government officials have indicated a willingness to approve it.

“While we remain cautious about President Assad’s true commitment to disarmament, we welcome this agreement as an ambitious but hopeful first step to eliminate chemical weapons in Syria,” the ADL said in a statement Monday.

Martin Raffel, the senior vice president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, which had advocated for a strike, said his group would now “take its lead from the administration.”

“We hope military force won’t be necessary,” Raffel said. “The point of the military force was not just to engage in the military operation, it was to try and prevent Assad from using chemical weapons. We’re cautiously optimistic this thing will all work out.”

The flurry of activity followed an attack on Aug. 21 in which a rebel stronghold near Damascus was hit with chemical weapons that are believed to have killed more than 1,400 people, including hundreds of children.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the attack was likely perpetrated by opposition forces, but the United States maintains it was almost certainly launched by Assad.

After sealing the deal with Lavrov in Geneva, Kerry flew to Israel, where he appeared at a joint news conference Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We have been closely following – and support – your ongoing efforts to rid Syria of its chemical weapons,” Netanyahu said. “The Syrian regime must be stripped of all its chemical weapons, and that would make our entire region a lot safer.”

Netanyahu cast Israel’s investment in the deal in the same terms that pro-Israel groups had framed their support last week for strike authorization: as a message to Iran.

“What the past few days have shown is something that I have been saying for quite some time – that if diplomacy has any chance to work, it must be coupled with a credible military threat,” Netanyahu said. “What is true of Syria is true of Iran and, by the way, vice versa.”

Original article here.


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