Michael Collins Piper - The High Priests of War
Michael Collins Piper - The High Priests of War
Michael Collins Piper - The High Priests of War
Heres what some big names have said about Michael Collins Pipers underground best-seller, Final JudgmentThe Missing Link in the JFK Assassination Conspiracy:
As one who has read over 200 books on the JFK assassination, and engaged in research both as an individual and as part of various teams, I can say without fear of contradiction that Pipers book is now the definitive work on the JFK assassination. Final Judgment is the most thorough, most honest, most penetrating, most factual, and most analytically complete and systematic of all that I have read so far. Michael Collins Piper has struck gold. JFK assassination research has a new standard bearer. It will never be the same again. Final Judgment is a masterpiece. HERBERT L. CALHOUN, PH.D. (Dr. Calhoun retired as deputy division chief of the Policy, Plans and Analysis Office of the State Departments Bureau of Political-Military Affairs and formerly served as a senior foreign affairs specialist for the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.) I think youve pinned the tail on the donkey. In my estimation, Final Judgment ranks as the most important book of the 20th century. WILLIAM J. GILL (The former executive director of the Allegheny Foundation and author of such books as Trade Wars Against America, The Ordeal of Otto Otepka, and Why Reagan Won, Gill was a journalist with UPI and the Pittsburgh Press and also wrote for Life, Fortune, The Saturday Evening Post, Readers Digest and National Geographic.) Heres what Colonel Donn de Grand Pr has written in his own book, Barbarians Inside the Gates, citing Final Judgment, which Grand Pr describes as brilliant. . . Several high-level military officers believed that the killing of JFK was in fact a coup detat carried out by elements of the CIA working with the Israeli Mossad. Kennedy was attempting to halt the development of nuclear weapons by the Israelis, while simultaneously planning to disband the CIA and disengage our military troops from the Indo-China area. (Read Final Judgment by Michael Collins Piper for more details.) COL. DONN DE GRAND PR (In 1967 Grand Pr was named Director for Ground Weapons Systems in the Pentagons Office of International Logistics Negotiations, responsible for negotiating sales contracts with heads of foreign nations for military weapons systems. On Sept. 30, 1979, The Washington Post Magazine wrote of Grand Pr: If you had been a Middle Eastern ruler in the 1970s in search of American weapons systems, you would have called Donn de Grand Pr, Pentagon arms peddler.)
FINAL JUDGMENTthe one book that, if read by enough people, will turn American politics upside down . . .
The
High
Priests
of
War
The Secret History of How Americas Neo-Conservative Trotskyites Came to Power and Orchestrated the War Against Iraq as the First Step in Their Drive for Global Empire
Special thanks to John Tiffany for an excellent copy editing job, as always. Looking for the best copy editor in the world? Its John. Hell drive you crazy with his questions and his nit-picking, but he gets the job done. (John can be contacted at xuou@yahoo.com) Any errors in this book are mine alone. It simply means I ignored Johns sage advice. Also thanks to Lamis Andoni for permission to quote from her excellent exposition regarding the nefarious record of Bernard Lewis. Special acknowledgment is due Bill and Kathleen Christison and Anis Shivani whose hard-hitting commentary on counterpunch.org added a great deal to my efforts. The work of John Sugg at atlanta.creativeloafing.com is a must for anyone interested in the intrigues of the powers-that-be. And the importance of the work of Andrew Bacevich, particularly his book, American Empire, cannot be overstated. Thanks to those and many others who have dared to tackle the most masterful intriguers ever to assume such immense power in America. MCP
BAD PLACES . . .
The list of possible Bad Places does not begin with haunted houses and end with haunted hotels; there have been horror stories written about haunted railroad stations, automobiles, meadows, office buildings. The list is endless, and probably all of it goes back to the caveman who had to move out of his hole in the rock because he heard what sounded like voices back there in the shadows. Whether they were actual voices or the voices of the wind is a question we still ask ourselves on dark nights. HORROR MASTER STEPHEN KING
The High Priests of War is a non-fiction book that resembles a Gothic horror novel, a classic tale of a haunted house and the evil spirits that dwell within, the story of a wealthy young kingscion of a famous familyensconced in a stately palace and endowed with great powers, yet surrounded, even possessed, by malevolent demonic forces manipulating him from back there in the shadows. But the high priests of war exist in real life. The damage these neo-conservative war-mongers are doing to America and the world is immense.
If these neo-conservatives continue in their reign of ruin, we should not be surprised to see the White House end up looking once again as it did after being gutted by British torches in 1814: whether the consequence of a popular rebellion by angry patriotic Americans or the result of an attack by foreign forces determined to stop dead the intrigues of the high priests of war.
One thing is certain: The time has come. Something has to be done . . .
DEDICATION
W. A. CARTO
PREFACE
power-mad imperial forces that are bent on using American resources and military might to enforce a global police state under the control of a select few: the international elite and their bought-and-paid-for politicians, unprincipled bureaucrats, and the media shills who glorify and attempt to popularize the agenda of the would-be rulers of a Global Plantation that its proponents have stylized as the New World Order. Although The Spotlight was quite on the mark when it dared to suggest, upon the fall of the Soviet empire, that communism is dead, there were those relentless hold-outs who refused to face it. Oh no, cried the John Birchers, communism isnt really dead. Its just a ruse. The reds are going underground, just waiting for the opportunity to strike. The Birchers and their like-minded throwbacks still believe that Josef Stalin is hiding in a Kremlin closet, ready to jump out and say boo. Yet, ironically, only now are the Birchers coming to recognize that the neoconservativeswhom they promoted for years in the pages of their journals such as Review of the News and The New Americanare hardly conventional conservative patriots in any sense of the term. The same crowd that rattled its sabers against the communist threat has now begun to substitute the Islamic threat as the new danger to be vanquished. This comes as no surprise. For years, during the Cold War, American conservatives (especially the Birchers) freely (and falsely) declared repeatedly that the Palestine Liberation Organization was part of a Soviet-backed terror network, the facts notwithstanding. And if truth be told, it is no accident that these myths about the PLO received their widest propagation in the writings of a pro-Israel neo-conservative ideologue, Claire Sterling, whose now-infamous study, The Terror Network, became the virtual bible of the Israeli lobby in its campaign to discredit the Palestinian nationalist cause. Now, in the name of fighting terrorism, the conservative anti-communist stalwarts have lent their support to the establishment of a police state here at home as a way of safeguarding liberty. In this regard, note that more than 50 years agoin the early days of the Cold Warthat ex-CIA man William F. Buckley, Jr., the soon-to-be self-appointed leader of the American conservative movement, laid it on the line. Writing in Commonweal on January 25, 1952 Buckley said
PREFACE
that he was willing to support Big Government for the duration [of the Cold War] becausehe proclaimedonly a totalitarian bureaucracy within our shores could assure total victory over the communist menace. The anti-communist Cold War is now over, but the anti-Islamic (socalled anti-terrorist) Hot War is now under way. And here on American shores we have a new Department of Homeland Security aiming to run roughshod on American liberties all in the guise of protecting those liberties. Why should we be surprised? The communist threat never lay within the Communist Party USA which, as American Free Press pointed out, was controlled at the highest levels by Morris Childs, an asset of J. Edgar Hoovers FBI: a Russianborn Zionist, Childs soured on Soviet-style communism when he detected the echoes of traditional Russian nationalism under Stalin. No, the Communist Party USA, was never a threat, although Hoovera longtime ally of the Zionist Anti-Defamation Leaguewas manipulating the tiny party for the covert agenda of his behind-the-scenes advisors. Nor did the communist threat lie even within the furthest liberal reaches of the Democratic Party. It was not the New Deal or the Fair Deal or Camelot or the Great Societyor Clintonismthat brought a unique updated American-style brand of Bolshevism of the Trotskyite bent to America. Instead, it was the compassionate conservatism of the man seriously being hailed as the New Ronald Reagan: George W. Bush. It is no coincidence thatjust days into the war against Iraqthe official American organ of the TrotskyitesPartisan Reviewclosed its doors. In truth, the little intellectual journal now had no more reason to exist, for its aim of securing power had been accomplished through the proverbial back door. This book presents a brief but detailed overview of the intrigues of the neo-conservatives. Much more could be written, but it would perhaps belabor the point. Nonetheless, it seems appropriate to conclude, at this juncture, by saying quite simply: Its Time to Declare War on the High Priests of War . . .
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
the international oil companies, which are, in turn, fully prepared to share the aim of dominating the oil-producing states of the Arab world in partnership with the state of Israel; THAT the war against Iraq was deliberately orchestrated by a small but powerful network of hard-line right wing Zionist elementsthe self-styled neo-conservativesat the highest levels of the Bush administration, skillfully aided and abetted by like-minded persons in public policy organizations, think tanks, publications and other institutions, all of which are closely interconnected and, in turn, linked to hard-line Likudnik forces in Israel; THAT the war against Iraq and the additional moves by the United States against the Arab world that are slated to follow can be traced to Zionist political intrigue inside the upper levels of the U.S. intelligence community, reaching as far back as the early 1970s, and that many of the same players involved in that activity are now guiding Bush administration policy today; THAT the war against Iraq is an adjunct to the previously-declared war against terrorism which was, in itself, part of a long-evolving and carefully coordinated propaganda campaign founded on the theory that terrorism is somehow an Arab trait. This report will examine all of these aspects, citing a wide variety of sources, and will focus largely on given facts that have received wide circulation in the mainstream English-language press in the United States. The facts will speak for themselves. At any time this report delves into speculation or opinion, such views will be duly noted or otherwise clearly apparent. MCP
Despite the very public frenzy in the United States that followed these remarks by liberal Congressman Jim Moran, even the influential New York-based Jewish newspaper, Forward, was forced to admit in its Feb. 28, 2003 issue that the role of the pro-Israel lobby and its adherents who held high-level policy-making positions in the administration of President George W. Bush were increasingly becoming a topic of public discussion. Congressman Moran had simply summarized the issue in a few short but controversial remarks. Forward cited liberal American Jewish columnist Michael Kinsley who wrote on Oct. 24, 2002 that Israels central role in the American debate over possible war with Iraq was the proverbial elephant in the room. Of that elephant, Kinsley added: Everybody sees it, no one mentions it. Forward stated it flatly: Kinsley was referring to a debate, once only whispered in back rooms but lately splashed in bold characters across the mainstream media, over Jewish and Israeli influence in shap-
ing American foreign policy.2 The Jewish newspaper noted that now, even mainstream American publications, ranging from The Washington Post to The Economist and even broadcast outlets such as CNN and MSNBC were featuring frank and open discussion of the topic. According to Forwards assessment:
Many of these articles project an image of President Bush and Prime Minister Sharon working in tandem to promote war against Iraq. Several of them described an administration packed with conservatives motivated primarily, if not solely, by a dedication to defending Israel. A few respected voices have even touched openly on the role of American Jewish organizations in the equation, suggesting a significant shift to the right on Middle East issues and an intense loyalty to Sharon. Still others raise the notion of Jewish and Israeli influence only to attack it as anti-Semitism.3
Yet, as if in confirmation of the basic thrust behind Congressman Morans comments, even Ari Shavit, writing on April 9, 2003 in Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper, declared simply: The war in Iraq was conceived by 25 neo-conservative intellectuals, most of them Jewish, who are pushing President Bush to change the course of history.4 In fact, as we will demonstrate, the historical record indicates beyond questionthat the then-impending war on Iraq was indeed largely the product of a long-standingand carefully calculated and orchestratedplan. That this plan aimed to establish an American global hegemony based upon the geopolitical aims of a small, but influential, group of policy makers inside the administration of President George W. Busha group tied intimately, for nearly a quarter of a century, to the grand design of a Greater Israel, a longtime dream of the Zionist pioneers who founded the state of Israel and whose modern-day hawkish right wing followers are increasingly influential in all areas of Israeli society, particularly in the government realm. This select group of Americansnow increasingly well known describe themselves as the neo-conservatives. They constitute a virtual War Party in America. They are unabashedly admiring and supportive of the hard-line Likud bloc in Israel led by Ariel Sharon. These neo-conservatives have directed policy decisions inside the Bush administration that have essentially placed the United States of America (under President
George W. Bush) in firm alliance with the Sharon regime in Israel. The study we are about to undertake will provide a comprehensive overview of the history and development of the neo-conservative network, naming names and linking their policies to the elements in Israel with which they are allied. But it is important to recognize that, in many respects, the policies that the neo-conservative War Party has been advancing are, from a historical standpoint, much at variance with the traditional American outlook. The policies of the War Party represent only a minisculealbeit forceful and influentialfaction in America. Philip Golub, a journalist and lecturer at the University of Paris VIII, has written of the neo-conservative strategy:
The neo-conservative right has been attempting, with varying success, to establish itself as the dominant ideological force in the United States for more than 25 years, especially in the definition of foreign policy. Long thwarted by democratic process and public resistance to the national security state, it is now on the brink of success, thanks to George Bushs disputed electoral victory in 2000, and to 11 September 2001, which transformed an accidental president into an American Caesar. President Bush has become the neo-conservative vehicle for a policy that is based on unilateralism, permanent mobilisation and preventive war. War and militarisation would have been impossible without 11 September, which tipped the institutional balance in favour of the new right. Apart from such opportunist motives as seizing the strategic chance to redraw the map of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, this choice reflects much more far-reaching imperial ambitions . . . This authoritarian project became feasible in the unipolar world after 1991, when the US got a monopoly on the use of force in interstate relations. But it was conceived in the 1970s, when the extremist coalition now in control was first formed. The aim is to unite the nation and secure US strategic supremacy worldwide. The instruments are war and permanent mobilization, both requiring the constant identification of new enemies and the establishment of a strong national security state, which is independent of society.5
American author Michael Lind points out that the imperial dream outlined by the neo-conservative clique was opposed by the mainstream U.S. foreign policy elite and by a majority of the American people, who
according to polls opposed U.S. military action in Iraq and elsewhere without the support of allies and international institutions like the United Nations. The foreign policy of the radical right was enthusiastically supported by only two groups in the United Statesneo-conservative policymakers and intellectuals at the elite level, and Southern Protestant voters within the mass voting public.6 Despite widespread oppositionboth in the United States and across the globeon March 17, 2003, American President George W. Bush formally announced that a war upon Iraq was imminent. After many long months of acrimonious debate, the American president declared that the United Statesallied with Britain and a handful of countrieswould effectively go it alone, without the support of the world community. Some critics would call to attention the fact that March 17 was the eve of Purim, the traditional Jewish holiday celebrating the victory by the ancient Jewish people over their hated enemy, Haman. However, not all Jewsin America or elsewherelined up with the neo-conservative clique, even though, in fact, most of the pivotal neo-conservative leaders are indeed Jewish.
Professor Gottfrieds comments thus introduce us to two key names that shall appear again and again in these pages: Richard Perle and William Kristol. They are perhaps the two most influential of the War Party neo-conservativesby virtue of combined position, outreach and financial clout. They are the central players who have been responsible, in overwhelming part, for shaping the policies of the Bush administration that have led to the current conflict in the Middle East involving the deployment of American military forces against Iraq and the undeniably disastrous occupation which has followed. Although we shall learn much more about Perle and Kristol, a brief introduction to the two neo-conservative figures is appropriate. Often called the Prince of Darkness, Richard Perle (who is Jewish) has been active in pro-Israel causes in official Washington since the mid1970s when he was then an aide to powerful (now deceased) Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D-Washington), a leading congressional supporter of Israel. During that period, Perle was investigated on charges of espionage for Israel. Later Perle became a lobbyist for Israeli arms interests and eventually was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to a key post in the Department of Defense. After leaving the Reagan administration, Perle remained active in Washington, DC, enmeshed in a wide variety of institutions and organizations, almost exclusively devoting his energies to advancing Israels cause, and particularly that of the Likud Party of Ariel Sharon. Of recent date, Perle has maintained a special affiliation with the neo-conservative think tank known as the American Enterprise Institute. However, when George W. Bush assumed the presidency, he named Perle to head the Defense Policy Board, a little-known but influential advisory board. It was from this post that Perleutilizing his multiple contacts with longtime associates named to high posts inside the Bush administration itselfbegan making an active drive to advance the war against Iraq. Although Perle resigned as chairman of the Defense Policy Board just days after the firing of the opening guns against Iraqfollowing allegations that he had conflicts of interest, stemming from his private financial business dealings that intersected with official government policies upon which he had an impact and from which he stood to personal-
ly benefithe remained a member of the board, and certainly its most influential, until his formal resignation in March of 2004. Considering all that we now know about Perle, it may be no coincidence that as far back as 1986 it was reported that once, while on a visit to Britain, Perle was introduced during a debate with then-Labor Party leader Denis Healey as the person in charge of World War III.9 Some Perle critics later suggested that the gentleman who made the remarks may have been empowered with psychic abilities, considering the critical role Perle has indeed played in sparking the American war against Iraq. William Kristol (also Jewish) is equally influential, although in a different realm. As the son of an equally influential father, Irving Kristol once described as the godfather of the neo-conservative movement the younger Kristol parlayed his fathers connections into a post as chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle who served under the first President Bush. But that was only Kristols first step in his rise to vast power. After the Bush-Quayle defeat by Bill Clinton in 1992, the younger Kristol, through his own aggressive effortsnot to mention increasingly favorable promotion of Kristolby the major media, emerged as perhaps the best known voice of the neo-conservative philosophy. He became actively involved in setting up a well-funded and far-reaching public relations and information network, linked to numerous foundations and think tanks with which his father had already been associated. In addition to accepting an appointment as editor of Rupert Murdochs weekly national neo-conservative magazine, The Weekly Standard, Kristol also founded his own organization, Project for the New American Century. As we shall see, Kristols own operations and activities meshed preciselyactually, interlockedwith those of Richard Perle. And as the push for war against Iraq became increasingly more bellicose after George W. Bush became presidentand then, even more so after the 911 terrorist attacks, which the neo-conservatives repeatedly sought to link to Iraqi leader Saddam HusseinPerle and Kristol worked ever more closely, merging their own networks of influence to the point that the neoconservative philosophy became the guiding force behind the entire Bush foreign policy making apparatus. William Kristolalong with another close colleague, Robert
Kaganhas been the foremost publicist for the neo-conservative imperial strategy. Their book, released in the year 2000, Present Dangers: Crisis and Opportunity in American Foreign and Defense Policy, was a comprehensive statement of the neo-conservative point of view, featuring essays by Perleof courseand an assembly of other neo-conservative stars associated with Kristol and Perle. In a review of the book, former British diplomat Jonathan Clark commented that: If the books recommendations were implemented all at once, the U.S. would risk unilaterally fighting at least a five-front war, while simultaneously urging Israel to abandon the peace process in favour of a new no-holds-barred confrontation with the Palestinians.10 Ironically, as Michael Lind, a foremost critic of the neo-conservatives, has pointed out: This turned out to be a prediction of the policies that the administration of George W. Bush would adopt in the following two years.11 Lind notes: The radical Zionist right to which [Perle and Kristol] belong is small in number but it has become a significant force in Republican policymaking circles.12 Lind adds that the chief concern of many of those in this neo-conservative network is the power and reputation of Israel.13 He points out that they have waged vicious public relations campaigns against anyone who stands in their wayeven including prominent and influential American military leaders who have questioned the neo-conservative policies.
American political consultants who had previously advised Israeli politicians had been hired by the Israel Projectdescribed as a group funded by American Jewish organizations and individual donorsto draft a memo to American Jewish leaders and Israeli leaders as to the best means by which to address the raging controversy over Iraq. The memo advised them: If your goal is regime change, you must be much more careful with your language because of the potential backlash. You do not want Americans to believe that the war on Iraq is being waged to protect Israel rather than to protect America.14 However, as Michael Lind reflected in his new biography of President Bush, the influence of Israel and the neoconservatives is undeniable:
Under George W. Bush, the American executive branch and the government of Israel were fused in a degree without precedent in American history. . . . Bizarre as it seems, thanks to the influence of the Israeli model on neo-conservatives in the Bush administration, the United States, the leading power in the world, began acting as though it were an insecure and besieged international pariah state, like Israel under the leadership of the Likud Party.15
Writing in Time on Feb. 17, 2003, one of the most prominent of the American neo-conservatives in the media, columnist Charles Krauthammer, announced that the proposed war against Iraq is not just to disarm Saddam. It is to reform a whole part of the world . . . What the U.S. needs in the Arab world is not an exit strategy but an entry strategy. Iraq is the beckoning door . . . Krauthammer frankly named the targets of the neo-conservative war policy: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and beyond.16 In truth, published evidence indicates that the government of Israel did indeed desire a U.S. assault upon Iraqas a first step toward additional action against other perceived enemies of the state of Israel. On February 18, 2003, the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reported that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was calling for the United States to move on Iran, Libya and Syria after what was presumed to be the successful destruction of Iraq by the United Statesa view no different than that expressed by the aforementioned Krauthammer. Sharon said: These are irresponsible states, which must be disarmed of weapons of mass destruction, and a successful American move in Iraq
as a model will make that easier to achieve. The Israeli prime minister told a visiting delegation of American congressmen that the American action [against Iraq] is of vital importance.17 The Israeli newspaper also reported that in meetings with Sharon and other Israeli officials, U.S. Undersecretary of State John Boltonone of the key neo-conservatives inside the Bush administration who had been promoting war against Iraqhad said, in the Israeli newspapers words, that Bolton felt that after Iraq had been dealt with it would be necessary thereafter to deal with threats from Syria, Iran and North Korea.18 In addition, on Feb. 27, 2003, The New York Times freely reported that Israel not only advocated a U.S. war on Iraq but that Israel also believed that, ultimately, the war should be expanded to other nations perceived to be threats to Israel. The Times stated:
Many in Israel are so certain of the rightness of a war on Iraq that officials are already thinking past that conflict to urge a continued, assertive American role in the Middle East. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations last week that after Iraq, the United States should generate political, economic, diplomatic pressure on Iran. We have great interest in shaping the Middle East the day after a war, he said. Israel regards Iran and Syria as greater threats and is hoping that once Saddam Hussein is dispensed with, the dominoes will start to tumble.19
And while there were American Jews, acting independently of the established Jewish community leadership organizations, who opposed the war against Iraq, there is no question that elite American Jewish organizations closely tied to Israeli intelligence and the government of Israel were firmly behind the drive for war. Those organizations were acting as Jewish organizations, purporting to represent all Jewish Americans when in fact they did not. After the war erupted, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of Bnai Brithdescribed by critics as a propaganda arm of Israels clandestine services, the Mossadissued a statement. It declared: We express our support for the United States Government in its effort to stop Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the danger he poses to the stability and safety of the region. The need to stop Saddam Hussein is clear.20
However, while the Israeli leadership and their neo-conservative allies were calling for war, there were many Americans of all races, creeds and colors who were standing up and declaring their opposition. In the months of debate leading up to the American attack on Iraq, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) emerged as perhaps the most outspoken and articulate congressional critic of the proposed war. He sounded out multiple arguments against the war, ruling it totally unfounded and counter to all traditional American policy:
Unilateral military action by the United States against Iraq is unjustified, unwarranted, and illegal. . . . Unilateral action on the part of the United States, or in partnership with Great Britain, would for the first time set our nation on the bloodstained path of aggressive war, a sacrilege upon the memory of those who fought to defend this country. Americas moral authority would be undermined throughout the world. It would destabilize the entire Persian Gulf and Middle East region . . . Policies of aggression are not worthy of any nation with a democratic tradition, let alone a nation of people who love liberty and whose sons and daughters sacrifice to maintain that democracy. The question is not whether or not America has the military power to destroy Saddam Hussein and Iraq. The question is whether we destroy something essential in this nation by asserting that America has the right to do so anytime it pleases. America cannot and should not be the worlds policeman. America cannot and should not try to pick the leaders of other nations. Nor should America and the American people be pressed into the service of international oil interests and arms dealers . . . If the United States proceeds with a first strike policy, then we will have taken upon our nation a historic burden of committing a violation of international law, and we would then forfeit any moral high ground we could hope to hold.21
Quite remarkably, even after the war actually began, Kucinich refused to be silent, refusing to be bullied into supporting the war under the guise of supporting the troopsa popular catchphrase that has historically been used to convince Americans to support an unpopular war after American troops have been formally committed to action. Undaunted by accusations of being unpatriotic, etc, Kucinich said:
I support the troops. But, this war is illegal and wrong. I do not support this mission. I will not vote to fund this Administrations war in Iraq. This war is killing our troops. This war is killing innocent Iraqi civilians. This war must end now. It was unjust when it started two weeks ago, and is still unjust today. The U.S. should get out now and try to save the lives of American troops and Iraqi citizens. Ending the war now and resuming weapons inspections could salvage world opinion of the United States. The greatest threat to the United States at this time is terrorism, which this war will breed.22
Kucinich was not the only American public official to take a daring public stand against the warbut he was certainly one of the most forthright and outspoken. Just as American troops began their assault on the Arab republic, the longest serving member of the U.S. Senateand the former leader of the Senate DemocratsSen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia delivered a blistering address on the Senate floor, declaring the war to be totally at odds with traditional American policy. He said, in part:
Today I weep for my country. I have watched the events of recent months with a heavy, heavy heart. No more is the image of America one of strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper. We proclaim a new doctrine of preemption which is understood by few and feared by many. We say that the United States has the right to turn its firepower on any corner of the globe which might be suspect in the war on terrorism. We assert that right without the sanction of any international body. As a result, the world has become a much more dangerous place. We flaunt our superpower status with arrogance. When did we become a nation which ignores and berates our friends? When did we decide to risk undermining international order by adopting a radical and doctrinaire approach to using our awesome military might? How can we abandon diplomatic efforts when the turmoil in the world cries out for diplomacy?23
Clearly, although the neo-conservatives hardly reflected the thinking of many Americans of many political persuasions, they did indeed reflect a particular brand of philosophy and one indubitably bound up with the hard-line imperial agenda of Israels Likud. And with that in mind, it is appropriate to begin examining the nature of the neo-conservative network that rules the roost in official Washington under the administration of George W. Bush.
On December 13, 2002, Counterpunch magazine, published by maverick Irish-born American-based journalist Alexander Cockburn, featured an article raising the questions of the Bush administrations dual loyalties and provided a fascinating overview of the neo-conservative network that ultimately led America to war. The authors were Bill and Kathleen Christison, a husband-and-wife team of former veteran U.S. Central Intelligence Agency analysts. They cited the Israeli sympathies of top neo-conservative policy makers inside the Bush administration, pointing out thatindeedthese neo-conservatives were closely aligned with the ideology of the Likud bloc in Israel. Their summary of the cast of characters among the neo-conservatives is precise and worth noting:
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz leads the pack. He was a protg of Richard Perle, who heads the prominent Pentagon advisory body, the Defense Policy Board. Many of todays neo-conservatives, including Perle, are the intellectual progeny of the late Senator Henry Scoop Jackson, a strong defense hawk and one of Israels most strident congressional supporters in the 1970s. Wolfowitz in turn is the mentor of Lewis Scooter Libby, now Vice President Cheneys chief of staff who was first a student of Wolfowitz and later a subordinate during the 1980s in both the State and the Defense Departments. Another Perle protg is Douglas Feith, who is currently undersecretary of defense for policy, the departments number-three man, and has worked closely with Perle both as a lobbyist for Turkey and in co-authoring strategy papers for right-wing Israeli governments. Assistant Secretaries Peter Rodman and Dov Zakheim, old hands from the Reagan administration when the neo-cons first flourished, fill out the subcabinet ranks at Defense. At lower levels, the Israel and the Syria/Lebanon desk officers at Defense are imports from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank spun off from the pro-Israel lobby organization, AIPAC. Neo-conservatives have not made many inroads at the State Department, except for John Bolton, an American Enterprise Institute hawk and Israeli proponent who is said to have been forced on a reluctant Colin Powell as undersecretary for arms control. Boltons special assistant is David Wurmser, who wrote and/or co-authored with Perle and Feith at least two strategy papers for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in 1996. Wurmsers wife, Meyrav Wurmser, is a co-founder of the media-watch web-
site MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute), which is run by retired Israeli military and intelligence officers and specializes in translating and widely circulating Arab media and statements by Arab leaders. A recent investigation by The Guardian of London found that MEMRIs translations are skewed by being highly selective. Although it inevitably translates and circulates the most extreme of Arab statements, it ignores moderate Arab commentary and extremist Hebrew statements. In the vice presidents office, Cheney has established his own personal national security staff, run by aides known to be very pro-Israel. The deputy director of the staff, John Hannah, is a former fellow of the Israeli-oriented Washington Institute. On the National Security Council staff, the newly appointed director of Middle East affairs is Elliott Abrams, who came to prominence after pleading guilty to withholding information from Congress during the Iran-contra scandal (and was pardoned by President Bush the elder) and who has long been a vocal proponent of right-wing Israeli positions. Putting him in a key policymaking position on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is like entrusting the henhouse to a fox. Probably the most important organization, in terms of its influence on Bush administration policy formulation, is the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA). Formed after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war specifically to bring Israels security concerns to the attention of U.S. policymakers and concentrating also on broad defense issues, the extremely hawkish, right-wing JINSA has always had a high-powered board able to place its members inside conservative U.S. administrations. Cheney, Bolton, and Feith were members until they entered the Bush administration. Several lower level JINSA functionaries are now working in the Defense Department. Wolfowitz himself has been circumspect in public, writing primarily about broader strategic issues rather than about Israel specifically or even the Middle East, but it is clear that at bottom Israel is a major interest and may be the principal reason for his near obsession with the effort, of which he is the primary spearhead, to dump Saddam Hussein, remake the Iraqi government in an American image, and then further redraw the Middle East map by accomplishing the same goals in Syria, Iran, and perhaps other countries. But his interest in Israel always crops up. Even profiles that downplay his attachment to Israel nonetheless always mention the influence the Holocaust, in which several of his family perished, has had on his thinking. One source inside the administration has described him frankly as over-the-top crazy when it comes to Israel. Although this probably accurately describes most of the rest of the neo-con coterie, and Wolfowitz is guilty at least by association, he is actually more complex and nuanced than this.24
14
The Christisons pointed out that a New York Times Magazine profile of Wolfowitz by the Times Bill Keller cites critics who say that Israel exercises a powerful gravitational pull on the man25 and notes that as a teenager Wolfowitz lived in Israel during his mathematician fathers sabbatical semester there. In addition, his sister is married to an Israeli. Keller even somewhat reluctantly acknowledges the accuracy of one characterization of Wolfowitz as Israel-centric. However, the Christisons note, Keller goes through considerable contortions to shun what he calls the offensive suggestion of dual loyalty and in the process makes one wonder if he is protesting too much.26 So the facts about the neo-conservative clique governing Bush administration policies are very clear. However, much of the mainstream media in America initially hesitated to emphasize the remarkable linkage and longtime associations of this clique of like-minded political power brokers. The independent media in Americasuch as the Washington-based American Free Press, among the foremostthat did dare to mention the prominent role of the neo-cons were often attacked as conspiracy theorists and even as anti-Semites, among many similar terms often used to confuse the issue and thereby redirect attention away from the intrigues of Israel and its American lobby.
sion by President Bush to wage war against Iraq and the role of the neoconservatives in that process. Just three days later, on March 24, 2003, the New York Times published a similar overview, declaring that the doctrine of preemptive war advocated by the neo-conservatives had its roots in the early 1990s. (However, as we shall see, the overall neo-conservative agenda goes back much further than that.) The Times article cited an un-named administration official as saying of the Iraq war: This is just the beginning.28
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in the late 1950s and especially in the 1960s, their political philosophy began, it is said, to evolve. Yet, there are those who would say that the ex-Trotskyites are anything but ex at all; that, instead, they remain tried and true Trotskyites who have adapted their traditional philosophy to modern concerns, events, and political realities. Michael Lind, author of a new biography of President George W. Bush, has noted the origins of this tightly-knit core then surrounding Kristol and in years to come and explains their shift in viewpoint:
Neo-conservatives were not traditional conservative Republicans. Most had been liberal or leftist Democrats; some had originally been Marxists. Many were Jewish and had broken with the Democratic left because of leftist hostility to Israels occupation of Arab land after 1967 and the hostility of many Black Power militants to both Jewish-Americans and Israel. Ronald Reagan was the first Republican president that many neo-conservatives had voted for. While the foreign policy of the traditional Republican establishment reflected the fear of international disorder of the business elite, neo-conservative strategy reflected the crusading ideological fervor of former Wilsonian liberals [referring to former American President Woodrow Wilson who was a proponent of American interventionism abroad] and former Marxist revolutionaries, combined, in the case of many Jewish neo-conservatives, with an emotional ethnic commitment to the well-being of Israel.32
A similar, although less friendly, assessment of the neo-conservatives was put forth in 1986 by famed American novelist Gore Vidal. Responding to allegations that he (Vidal) was anti-Semitic because of his criticism of the unusual degree to which American Jewish neo-conservatives were attached to Israelmore so than to AmericaVidal called the neo-conservatives empire lovers and charged that there was one reason why these ex-Trotskyites were now so enamored of American military power:
In order to get [United States] Treasury money for Israel (last year $3 billion), pro-Israel lobbyists must see to it that Americas the Russians are coming squads are in place so that they can continue to frighten the American people into spending enormous sums for defense, which also means the support of Israel in its never-ending wars against just about everyone. To make sure that nearly a third of the Federal budget goes to the Pentagon and Israel, it is necessary for the pro-Israel lobbyists to make common cause with our lunatic right.34
At the time, however, Vidal had no idea how powerful the neo-conservatives would ultimately become. But, Vidal remains an outspoken critic of U.S. and Israeli imperialism, and is one of the most highly regarded English-language novelists in the world today. Whatever their recognition among intellectual circles, the neoconservative elements were virtual strangers (and still remain so) to the broad audience of American citizens. In fact, probably the first time the term neo-conservative was introduced to a wide-ranging national American audience was in the Nov. 7, 1977 issue of Newsweek, published by the same company that publishes The Washington Post newspaper. By 1979, the first full-length book study of the neo-conservatives was issued by author Peter Steinfels. Entitled The Neo-Conservatives: The Men Who Are Changing Americas Politics, this book described neoconservatism as a distinct and powerful political outlook [that had] recently emerged in the United States.35 The author hailed Irving Kristol, father of William Kristol, as the standard bearer of neo-conservatism36 and focused largely on Kristol and fellow intellectuals who were shaping the neo-conservative point of view. The book painted neo-conservatism as a newly-developing philosophy and largely focused on its domestic political outlook. Remarkably,
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very little of the book was even devoted to the neo-conservative foreign policy agenda, despite the fact that the neo-conservatives were, from the beginning, heavily focused on foreign policy. However, Steinfels did note that the neo-conservatives were, quite naturally, as ex-Trotskyites, hostile to the Soviet Union of Josef Stalin and his legacy. However, the author did note the fact that there were many rumors swirling around Kristol, specifically the allegation that as far back as the 1950s, Kristol had been receiving subsidies from the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Noting the Trotskyite origins of the neo-conservatives, Sidney Blumenthal assessed the nature of the neo-conservative migration intosome might say invasion ofthe Republican Party, saying: The neo-conservatives are the Trotskyites of Reaganism, and Kristol is a Trotskyite transmuted into a man of the right.40 All of this having been noted for the record, the fact is that today, William Kristolson of neo-conservative godfather Irving Kristolis carrying on the familys legacy, one that reaches back to the internecine philosophical struggles of the Bolshevik era and the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union that followed. The younger Kristol is, beyond any question, in his own right, one of the most powerful opinion-makers on the face of the planet today.
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In effect, many of the very persons writing the official speeches and public statements for not only the president and the vice president, but also other key foreign policy makers, owed their patronage to Kristol. However, the Post noted, Kristols influence, went beyond that. Others inside the Bush administration also owed their loyalty to Kristol:
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is a Kristol acolyte from the Quayle days while drug control policy chief John Walters worked under Kristol at the Education Department. Jay Lefkowitz, the new director of Bushs Domestic Policy Council, was Kristols lawyer. Other Kristol pals include National Security Council Director Elliott Abrams, Cheney Chief of Staff I. Lewis Scooter Libby, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Undersecretary of State John Bolton and Leon Kass, the head of Bushs bioethics panel. The tentacles reach into [Bushs personal inner circle]: Al Hubbard, a close Bush friend, was Kristols deputy on the Quayle staff.42
What makes all of this so particularly remarkable is that Kristol himself backed Bushs Republican primary opponent, Arizona Sen. John McCain, a feverish supporter of Israel, in the 2000 presidential campaign. As such, it might be said, Kristolinitially, perhaps, somewhat of an outsider in Bush circlesvery much became an insiderand one with incredible and un-rivaled influence.
One of Kristols critics noted the massive promotion that Kristol received in the American media, commenting as early as 1996 that Kristol was, by quite some distance, the most widely quoted private citizen in the media [and, as a consequence] the most important strategist in the Republican Party.43 What this means, essentially, is that when the major American media wanted to promote a particular idea or viewpoint, newspaper reporters and broadcast journalists turned to Kristol for his neo-conservative point of viewoften to the exclusion of better-known, more respected, and more knowledgeable individuals. Some say that this is no coincidence, considering what is perceived to be a strong pro-Israel bias on the part of the major media. With William Kristol acting as an articulate and forceful media functionary, the neo-conservative forces inside the Bush administration have had a powerful ally who, in turn, has extremely lucrative resourcesand international connections of influencesupporting him. As such, in the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, when the Bush administration geared up to respond to the assault on America, Kristol and his neo-conservative forces began rallying to broaden the U.S. response against the prime suspect, Islamic fundamentalist leader Osama bin Laden, into an all-out assault on the Arab and Muslim worlds. Initially, Secretary of State Colin Powell seemed to be the one wellknown figure in the Bush administration who stood in the way of an American imperial policy hinging on a war against Iraq. Joined by the militarys Joint Chiefs of Staff in urging a cautious approach to the crisis, Powell was being confronted inside the Bush administration by a tightly-knit group of hard-driving warmongers trying to run roughshod over the administrations stated policy and determined to subvert it for their own ends. While Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz was the Israeli lobbys key point man inside the Bush administration pushing for an allout assault on key Arab states such as Iraq and Syrianot to mention the Islamic Republic of Iranhis efforts were being ably promoted by the efforts of William Kristol and his neo-conservative political and propaganda network.
In its Sept. 24, 2001 issue, the Washington-based American Free Press gave a capsule summary of Kristols background, noting that he is a member of the secretive Bilderberg group, funded jointly by the Rockefeller and Rothschild financial empires. Kristol is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, which is perhaps the elite American policy making groupthe American affiliate of the Rothschild-funded London-based Royal Institute of International Affairs. An investigation by the American Free Press uncovered further details about the Kristol familys wide-ranging contacts. With former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger serving on their board of directors, the Kristols operate a company known as National Affairs, Inc., which issues two publications, The National Interest and The Public Interest. Much of their companys funding comes from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, with which the younger Kristol was previously associated. In fact, this foundationas well see furtheris known for its generous funding of anti-Arab and anti-Islamic propaganda causes. While, as noted, Irving Kristol has long been a key player inside the influential neo-conservative American Enterprise Institute, his son William Kristol maintained at least two other primary public relations outlets of his own: 1) Empower America, co-founded by Kristol with two former Congressmen, Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.) and Vin Weber (R-Minn.), and former Education Secretary William Bennettthree non-Jews, incidentallyall known for their enthusiastic and loudly and often stated devotion to the pro-Israel cause; and 2) Kristols more recent venture, the newly-formed Project for the New American Century, an unabashedly internationalist pressure group calling for the exercise of American military might abroad, particularly in pursuit of measures designed to advance the interests of Israel. Just one week after the 9-11 terrorist attack on the United Statesin conjunction with neo-conservative Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitzs campaign inside the Bush administration to broaden the war against terrorism to include efforts to crush Arab and Islamic states that are perceived by Israel to be its enemiesWilliam Kristol issued a call to
arms signed by a host of foreign policy luminaries, echoing Wolfowitz. These luminaries, in turn, used their connections through the academic, media and policy-making establishments to pressure the Bush administration for the action Wolfowitz demanded.
But Perles influence reached far beyond the halls of Congress. Not only was he a key inside player on behalf of the Israeli lobby on Capitol Hill, but during the mid-1970s he also played a critical part in the selection of a formal bodyofficially known as Team Bthat functioned as a purportedly independent advisory council on intelligence estimates relating to Soviet aims and capabilities. In fact, the members of Team B were bound by their determination to make every aspect of U.S. foreign policy geared toward policies that would prove beneficial to Israel. To understand what is happening in our world today as a consequence of the rule of the neo-conservatives in official Washington, it is critical to understand the geopolitical events surrounding the history of the group known as Team B. Although Team B was debated and discussed at the highest levels, it was not until the late Andrew St. George, an eminent international correspondent, formerly associated with Life magazine, began writing about its history in the pages of a maverick national weekly newspaper The Spotlight, that the story of Team B reached a widespread audience. Team B emerged in the mid-1970s at which time hawkish factions in the Israeli government were lobbying hard in Washington for more arms aid and cash infusions through the U.S. foreign aid program. Loyal supporters of Israel such as Sen. Jackson argued that Israel needed more military might to protect the Middle East against Soviet aggressionan argument that delighted hard-line anti-communists in both political parties. Israel was playing the Soviet card to the utmost. The Israelis were arguing vehemently against dtente for they feared that cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union could result in joint actions by the two super-powers that could prove inimical to Israeli interests. As such, it was in 1974 that University of Chicago Professor Albert Wohlstetter accused the CIA of systematically underestimating Soviet missile deployment. Wohlstettera widely known architect of U.S. nuclear strategyalso happened to be Richard Perles longtime intellectual mentor.45 In fact, the relationship was even closer: growing up in Los
Angeles, Perle was a high school friend of Wohlstetters daughter. Based largely on Wohlstetters opening gun, Perle and other proIsrael activists on Capitol Hill and in official Washington began attacking the CIA and demanding additional inquiry into the CIAs analysis of Soviet strength. Perle used the offices of Sen. Jacksonwho was angling for the Democratic Partys presidential nomination in 1976, primarily financed by American Jewish backersas the headquarters for the attack on the CIA. However, U.S. intelligence analysts were scoffing at Israels alarmist cries. Led by senior analysts in the Office of National Estimates, they reassured the White House that, at least for the moment, the Soviets had neither the intent nor the capability to attack a major target of vital U.S. interest, such as the oil-rich Gulf states. Nonetheless, Israels Washington allies maneuvered in an effort to counter-balance the findings of the Office of National Estimates. Under political pressure from Senator Jackson and other supporters of Israel, President Gerald Ford agreed in mid-1976 (while George Bush was serving as CIA director) to institute a so-called audit of intelligence data provided by the CIAs own National Intelligence Officers (soon to be called the A-Team] by a committee of independent expertsknown as the B-Team. However, the newly-established and ostensibly independent groupB-Teamheaded by Harvard professor Richard Pipes, a Russian-born devotee of the Zionist cause, became an outpost of Israeli influence. (Years later Pipes son, Daniel Pipes, would emerge as one of the neoconservative networks leading anti-Arab and anti-Muslim propagandists, operating a well-funded think tank, the Middle East Instituteoperating closely with Perle. In the summer of 2003, President George W. Bush named the younger Pipes to the federally-sponsored U.S. Peace Institute, despite the widespread objections of many persons who viewed Pipes to be a bigoted hate-monger with a single-minded political agenda.) In any case, Richard Perle was largely responsible for the selection of the Team B membership. Paul Wolfowitz was among those selected for Team B because of Perles recommendation. Likewise with veteran diplomat Paul Nitze, among other prominent members of the team selected.
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Anne Hessing Cahn, a later student of the Team B affair, has written that There was an almost incestuous closeness among most of the B Team members,46 quoting Perle as saying, that The Jewish neo-conservative connection sprang from that period of worries about detente and Israel.47 Robert Bowie, former CIA deputy director for national intelligence, described the efforts of Team B as a fight for the soul of the Republican party, for getting control of foreign policy within one branch of the party.48 In the meantime, John Paisley, recently retired from the CIA, was appointed by CIA Director Bush to act as the CIAs liaison between the CIAs own in-house Team A and the Israeli-influenced Team B. Meade Rowington, a former U.S. counterintelligence analyst quoted by Andrew St. George in The Spotlight on Feb. 5, 1996 noted: It soon became clear to Paisley that these cosmopolitan intellectuals were simply trying to discredit the CIAs recommendations and replace them with the alarmist view of Soviet intentions favored by Israeli estimators.49 By early 1978 the B-Team had finished its review of the CIAs procedures and programs and issued a lengthy report that was harshly critical of almost every finding U.S. intelligence had made in previous years about Soviet military power and its intended uses. The Israeli-influenced B-Team report said that the Soviets were secretly developing a so-called first-strike capability, because Soviet strategic doctrine assumed that such a sneak attack would make them the winners of a nuclear exchange with the United States. The B-Team dismissed the estimates of analysts who held that Moscow was unlikely to start a nuclear conflict unless attacked. In the end, of course, the B-Team findings prevailed and the direct consequence was that there was a virtual revival of the arms race and a massive new infusion of U.S. military and other aid to Israel during the 1980s. Drawing on what critics charged (and which proved to be) fraudulent estimates provided by Israeli intelligencethe foundation of the BTeams report was the warning that the Soviet Union was fast running out of its petroleum supplies. As a consequence, the B-Team forecast that beginning in 1980 Soviet oil production would suffer critical shortfalls, forcing Moscow to import as much as 4.5 million barrels a day for its essential needs. Starved for
oilthe Israeli disinformation claimedthe Soviets would invade Iran or another oil-rich Gulf state even if it meant a nuclear confrontation with the United States. Although the teams final report was secret, with access reserved for a handful of government leaders, John Paisley reportedly got his hands on a copy of the report in the summer of 1978 and set to work writing a detailed critique that would destroy this Israeli disinformation. But Paisley was murdered before he could ever complete his task. According to Richard Clement, who headed the Interagency Committee on Counter-Terrorism during the Reagan administration: The Israelis had no compunction about terminating key American intelligence officials who threatened to blow the whistle on them. Those of us familiar with the case of Paisley know that he was killed by the Mossad. But no one, not even in Congress, wants to stand up and say so publicly.50 Solid evidence compiled over the years by a variety of independent critical researchers in and out of governmentmany of them Jewish, by the wayindicates that the Zionist intriguers on Team B did indeed exaggerate Soviet imperial designs and military strategy as Paisley and other unbiased analysts contended.
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of the new Committee, along with former Treasury Secretary Charls Walker who was then serving as a lobbyist for defense contracting firms that helped supply financing for the committee. The committees general counsel was Max Kampelman, a high-powered Washington figure known as a key player in the Israeli lobby. Ginsberg candidly described the nature of the organization:
The Committee on the Present Danger, in effect, was an alliance between cold warriors . . . who believed in the need to contain the Soviet Union . . . the defense industry . . . which had an obvious pecuniary interest in heightened levels of defense spending, and pro-Israel forces who had come to see high levels of defense spending and an interventionist U.S. foreign policy as essential to Israels survival and who hoped to make support for Israel an element of Americas effort to contain the Soviet Union. Each of these allies had a stake in asserting that Soviet expansion represented a clear and present danger to the United States. For cold warriors, this was political gospel as well as a route through which they hoped to return to power in the bureaucracy. For the defense industry, this was the key to high profits. For the Israel lobby, opposition to the USSR was a rubric through which to justify the expansion of American military and economic assistance to Israel.52 Ginsberg pointed out that during the 1980 election campaign, the members of the committee became active in Ronald Reagans presidential election effort and thus, the committee became the vehicle through which the alliance of cold warriors, defense contractors, and pro-Israel groups became part of the Reagan coalition and gained access to the government.53
Ultimately, as noted by American historian, Richard Gid Powers, Reagan brought no less than sixty members of the Committee into his administration, including its founders, Paul Nitze and Eugene Rostow, who were placed in the most critical arms control positions.54 The New York Times went so far as to assert that the Committees influence amounted to a virtual takeover of the nations national security apparatus.55 At the time the Reagan administration assumed office, many of the same personalities involved in the activities of the Committee on the Present Danger established yet another blue ribbon committee with motivations parallel to the operations of the Committee on the Present Danger. Known as the Committee for a Free World, this new entity, founded
by Midge Decter, wife of yet another ex-Trotskyite-turned-neo-conservative, Norman Podhoretz, included among its members such individuals as Elliott Abrams, Gertrude Himmelfarb (wife of Irving Kristol and mother of William Kristol) and Michael Ledeen, all of whom, today, are part of the Perle-Kristol network. Notably, one of those who helped raise funds for this committee was Donald Rumsfeld, who is now prosecuting the U.S. war against Iraq as Defense Secretary in the George W. Bush administration.56 The bottom line of all of this, as Team B critic Anne Hessing Cahn put it, is that When Ronald Reagan got elected, Team B became, in essence, the A Team.57 And the impact of Team Bs false estimates is still affecting America into the beginning of the 21st century, not only in terms of foreign policy, but in domestic policy as well. Ms. Cahn notes:
For more than a third of a century, perceptions about U.S. national security were colored by the view that the Soviet Union was on the road to military superiority over the United States. Neither Team B nor the multibillion dollar intelligence agencies could see that the Soviet Union was dissolving from within. For more than a third of a century, assertions of Soviet superiority created calls for the United States to rearm. In the 1980s, the call was heeded so thoroughly that the United States embarked on a trillion-dollar defense buildup. As a result, the country neglected its schools, cities, roads and bridges, and health care system. From the worlds greatest creditor nation, the United States became the worlds greatest debtor, in order to pay for arms to counter the threat of a nation that was collapsing.58
Certainly, there is no question that the institution of Team B and its resulting impact on US policy laid the groundwork for the future drive for power that brought the neo-conservatives (who had been groomed by Richard Perle through the Team B process) into outright control of policy in the George W. Bush administration beginning in 2001. And in those heady years of the Reagan eraand the rise of the Team B groupwhat turned out to be a pivotal event that would have immense future ramifications was the appointment of none other than Richard Perle as assistant secretary of defense for international security policy and Perles subsequent recruitment as his own deputy his close friend and former Capitol Hill crony, Stephen J. Bryen. And therein lies a story in and of itself . . .
Although Perle and Bryen achieved immense power as high-level political appointees in the Reagan administration, their rise was nearly derailed by a scandal that erupted just two years prior to Reagans election to the presidency. A complete understanding of this scandal is critical to understanding precisely how closely wed to the government of Israel that the Perle network truly is. Let us begin by noting that in the era of the Team B intrigue (the mid1970s) Perle left Senator Jacksons staff and began engaging in the private arms business, setting up many lucrative deals between the Pentagon and Soltam, one of Israels premier weapons firms. Meanwhile, Perles Capitol Hill associate, Stephen J. Bryen, was under observation by the FBI beginning as early as 1977 when he was suspected of using his post as a Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer to obtain classified Pentagon information, particularly related to Arab military matters, that the Defense Intelligence Agency suspected Bryen was turning over to the Israelis. Then, on March 9, 1978, Bryen was overheard in a private conversation over breakfast with four Israeli intelligence officials at the coffee shop of the Madison Hotel in Washington. It was clear, based on the content of his conversation, that he was providing the Israeli officials with high-level military information. What was so amazing, however, was that Bryen (an American and a U.S. government employee) was heard continually referring to the U.S. government as they and to use the pronoun we when referring to hisand the Israeli governmentsposition. Little did Bryen know that an American of Arabic descent, who had been active in Arab-American affairs and lobbying on the Middle East issue, would recognize him (Bryen) and actually understand the sensitive nature of the conversation that Bryen was conducting with the Israeli officials. The Arab-American businessman, one Michael Saba, reported the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In due course, a full-scale FBI inquiry into Bryen evolved to the point that the Justice Department (which oversees the FBI) assembled a 632-page file on Bryens activities. The U.S. Attorney handling the investigation, Joel Lisker (an American of
the Jewish faith) recommended that Bryen be indicted on felony charges of having not only been an unregistered foreign agent for Israel but also of having committed espionage on behalf of Israel. The scandal finally broke (to a limited degree) in the American media, with the liberal journal, The Nation, making the allegation that Bryen had routinely taken orders from Zvi Rafiah, a counselor at the Israeli Embassy. In fact, it was ultimately learned, Rafiah was not just an embassy counselor. He was the U.S. station chief for the clandestine services division of Israels intelligence agency, the Mossad. Despite all this, Bryen was not indicted. Instead, Bryen was told to quietly depart from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff, which he did. Appropriately, Bryen promptly set up shop in Washington, D.C. as a publicist and lobbyist for Israel as the director of a group known as the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA).59 Ultimately, as we have seen, when Republican Ronald Reagan was elected president with firm support from the neo-conservative Jewish network, Perle and Bryen moved back into the upper ranks of the U.S. government policy making establishmentdespite the scandal. Perle was named Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy and quickly moved to bring in Bryen as his deputy for international economic trade and security policy. However, Perle became quite controversial for his own involvement with Israeli defense interests. On April 17, 1983 The New York Times published a major story pointing out that there were ethics questions surrounding Perles work for Zoltam, the major Israeli defense firm. Precisely at the time Perle entered the Defense Department he had accepted a $50,000 fee from Shlomo Zabludowitz, the founder of Zoltam, for work that he had done on behalf of the firm. Then, nearly a year later, while serving in the Defense Department, he urged the Secretary of the U.S. Army to consider doing business with Zabludowitz. Questions were raised as to whether this was a violation of U.S. laws governing the ethics of public officials, but Perle essentially escaped censure. Ironically, similar ethics questions were raised about Perles private business dealings in the days leading up toand immediately afterthe launch of the U.S. war against Iraq in March of 2003some 20 years later. However, neither in 2003 (nor as previously) were serious questions
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raised about the more inflammatory accusations involving possible espionage by Perle and his friend and colleague Bryen on behalf of Israel. In any event, Perle and Bryen became influential during the Reagan administration. In 1984, Business Week magazine noted of Perle: To ensure that his views prevail, Perle has built up a powerful backstage network of allies in Washington.60 By 1986 The Washington Post was quoting a senior U.S. State Department official as saying that Perle was the most powerful man in the Pentagon61even more powerful than his actual superior, then-Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. This, however, did not prevent independent newspapers such as the aforementioned Spotlight, whose investigative journalist Andrew St. George pioneered coverage of the Bryen affair, from attempting to bring the matter to widespread public attention, assisted by the Arab-American businessman, Michael Saba, who had first seen and overheard Bryens leak of classified information to the Israeli agents. Nor did it prevent Saba and Arab-American organizations from continuing to lobby for a full-force inquiry into both the Bryen affair itself and the shadowy circumstances that led to the shelving of the Justice Departments intended prosecution of Bryen. Although Saba published a detailed book outlining the activities of Perle and Bryen, entitled The Armageddon Network, the Reagan administration (under pressure from the Israeli lobby) refused to come clean and investigate the Bryen affair In fact, the stench surrounding the matter became so putrid that even a mainstream newspaper such as The Boston Globe was moved to assert editorially on Aug. 28, 1986: Stopping espionage, maintaining a balance in relationships with Israel and its Arab neighbors, and avoiding even a hint of Israeli interference in formulation of US policy are all crucial to American interests in the Middle East. The Bryen case, which raised doubts on all counts, needs to be cleaned up. 62 In recent years, virtually the only major publication to even recall the Bryen affair is the Washington, DC-based American Free Press.
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Israel Network. The article described what the Journal called a tight little circle [that] illustrated an enduring network of Cold War conservatives and pro-Israel interests in Washington. Although the Cold War was over, the Journal noted, their political and governmental ties are a source of influence for pro-Israeli forces.64 The article related the activities of the group known as the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (or JINSA), which Perles associate, Stephen Bryen, founded just prior to serving under Perle in the Reagan administration. (During Bryens government hiatus, JINSA was run by Bryens wife Shoshana). Describing JINSAs influence, the Journal said:
With little fanfare, JINSA itself has carved out a niche by both cultivating closer U.S.-Israeli military ties and urging U.S. Jews to vote for a strong defense at home. Building support in the Pentagon is a high priority. Under a program called Send a General to Israel, hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxdeductible contributions bankroll an annual tour of Israel by retired U.S. generals and admirals. They exchange views with Israeli officials and tour strategic areas like the Golan Heights.65
Not by coincidence JINSA today (as noted earlier) is one of the prime movers in the neo-conservative circles governing policy in the Bush administration. Not only Vice President Dick Cheney, but Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith were associatedas we have seen with JINSA prior to assuming office. And this brings our discussion of the early years of the neo-conservative movement full circle, up to the events that occurred between Sept. 11, 2001 and the opening guns of the war against Iraq. With his longtime friend Paul Wolfowitz working inside the Bush administration, promoting all-out war against Israels perceived enemies, Perle joined William Kristol in assembling what amounts to a secondgeneration version of Team B that is nothing less than a War Party. In the wake of the 9-11 attacks, Perle and Kristol hammered out a letter to the president echoing Wolfowitz call for all-out war against Iraq, Iran and Syria, not to mention the Palestinian Hezbollah. To supplement their effort, they called upon a bevy of neo-conservative operatives along with a handful of liberalsto join them in signing the letter.
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deputy editor of The Weekly Standard, of which William Kristol is editor and publisher. Thomas Donnelly. The deputy director of William Kristols Project for the New American Century, and a former executive editor of The National Interest, a neo-conservative journal founded by Kristols father, Irving Kristol, Donnelly is a veteran military correspondent who was trained at the Johns Hopkins Universitys SAIS, where (as noted previously) Paul Wolfowitz served as dean prior to returning to the Defense Department. Hillel Fradkin. An outspoken Zionist who is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and an adjunct professor of government at Georgetown University, Fradkin is the Washington director of the Israeli-based Shalem Center which describes itself as a research institute for Jewish and Israeli social thought. Fradkin has also served as a vice president of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, a conservative foundation which has provided millions of dollars in funding to myriad pro-Israel (and anti-Arab and anti-Islamic) groups and projects. Of course, it is no coincidence that, in earlier years, William Kristol had been associated with this foundation and continues to be a major player in directing its affairs. Frank Gaffney. A major player in the Perle-Kristol sphere, Gaffney is the hawkish director of the Center for Security Policya Washington think tank known for what has been described as support for extreme right-wing Israeli causes, and which includes Richard Perle on its board of advisors. Gaffney himself worked alongside Perle on the staff of Sen. Henry M. Jackson when Perle was active in establishing Team B and operating as an asset in place for Israel. Gaffneys board of directors also includes former American-Israel Public Affairs Committee director Morris Amitay, as well as former Navy Secretary John Lehman [see below]. Gaffneys CSP receives funding from the Irving I. Moskowitz Foundation which has supported real estate takeovers in Israel associated with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and from the aforementioned Kristol-influenced Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. Gaffney specializes in training pro-Israel interns for insertion into public policy-making posts in government and providing pro-Israel-oriented propaganda for distribution in Republican and conservative circles. Gaffney is a wide-
ly-quoted columnist who writes for the neo-conservative Washington Times newspaper. Reuel Marc Gerecht. A former Middle Eastern specialist in the CIAs directorate of operations (black ops) division, Gerechts writing is featured in Kristol-associated publications such as The Weekly Standard. He is protg of Richard Perle. Michael Joyce. Little known to the general public, Joyce, yet another protege of Irving Kristol, is a former school teacher who has risen to power through his involvement with a number of well-heeled foundations known for sponsoring pro-Israel causes, including the Olin Foundation funded by chemical and munitions interestswhich has sponsored antiIslamic propaganda by writer Steven Emerson (a widely-cited authority on Islamic terrorism and the (again, aforementioned) Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, of which he (Joyce) was the longtime director. The Bradley Foundation has been a major font of funding for National Affairs, Inc., the Kristol family-associated enterprise that publishes The National Interest and The Public Interest magazines. Donald Kagan. A widely-published historian with an interest in the history of warfare and an advocatelike William Kristolof flexing American military power worldwide, Kagan is a professor of classics and history at Yale University. Robert Kagan. The son of Donald Kagan, mentioned above, he is director of William Kristols Project for the New American Century, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and also a contributing editor of Kristols Weekly Standard and writes a regular monthly column for the Washington Post where he consistently touts a staunch pro-Israel line and advocates U.S. meddling abroad. (Robert Kagans brother, Frederick Kagan, has also emerged as a leading figure in the neo-conservative power network as well.) Charles Krauthammer. A well-known television talking head and nationally-syndicated newspaper columnist, Krauthammer, who was trained as a psychiatrist, seems obsessed with devoting all of his waking hours writing and talking about the need for the United States to devote its energies to the preservation of Israel and the destruction of Israels enemies. His venom for critics of Israel is perhaps unmatched. John Lehman. A former National Security Council (NSC) advisor to
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then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Lehman went on to serve as Navy Secretary during the Reagan administration and as deputy director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency where he was closely associated with the intimate pro-Israel circles surrounding Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle. British journalist Claudia Wright notes that before he became Navy Secretary Lehman was well-known in Israeli military circles, sat on the board of a Philadelphia think tank run by American supporters of Israel, and operated a highly profitable defense consulting company with business ties to the Israeli arms industry. Along with Perle, and other Kristol family cronies previously mentioned, Lehman is a member of the board of advisors of the Center for Security Policy [See Frank Gaffney, above]. Martin Peretz. The stridently pro-Israel publisher of the liberal New Republic, Peretz declared in the Sept. 24 edition of his magazine that, in the wake of the terrorist attacks on 9-11 that we are all Israelis now. Very much an ally of the neo-conservatives, Peretz has long been recognized as a key figure in a network of top-level publishers and media figures allied with one goal in mind: promoting the cause of Israel. Norman Podhoretz. A Council on Foreign Relations member and a key figure in the influential New York chapter of the American Jewish Committee and its liberal-turned-conservative Commentary magazine, Podhoretz is another ex-Trotskyite who emerged as one of the leaders of the pro-Israel neo-conservative crowd in association with Irving Kristol. His son, John Podhoretz, was a colleague of William Kristol as deputy editor of the Rupert Murdoch-financed Weekly Standard. Stephen J. Solarz. A former longtime member of the House of Representatives where he was a major legislative legman for the interests of Israel, Solarz is now a high-powered international consultant. While in Congress, Solarz played a major role (in league with Paul Wolfowitz, then serving in the Reagan administration) in the overthrow of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos when the Asian leader attempted to assert his nations sovereignty. Vin Weber. A former member of the House of Representatives where he was an energetic (non-Jewish) supporter of Israel, Weber was a cofounder of William Kristols Empower America and in the 2000 presidential campaign was a top advisor to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). While
in the House, Weber helped sabotage an effort to force a congressional investigation of Israels terroristic 1967 attack on the U.S.S. Liberty which resulted in the murder of 34 American sailors and the maiming of 172 others. Weber is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Marshall Wittmann. Although he is Jewish, Wittman was the director of legislative affairs for the pro-Israel Christian Coalition. Wittmanns advocacy of National Greatness Conservatismthat is U.S. meddling overseas and the flexing of U.S. military might on Israels behalfhas been promoted in the pages of William Kristols Weekly Standard. While this is a representative overview of many of the people in the Perle-Kristol network, it is by no means complete. But it does illustrate the amazing power and influence that Kristol and his associatesThe High Priests of Warhave assembled. Kristols magazine, The Weekly Standard, is the officially recognized media voice for this combine, to the point that although its actual circulation is quite small Kristols magazine is generally recognized by most other major media as certainly one of the most influential publications in Americabar none.
KRISTOLS WAR?
It was not so extraordinary then, that, on March 17, 2003the day before the United States launched the war against Iraq, Kristol was able to brag in a signed editorial in The Weekly Standard that obviously, we are gratified that the Iraq strategy we have long advocated . . . has become the policy of the U.S. government.66 Just one day later, on March 18, as the war began, The Washington Post reminded its readers how influential Kristol was, noting that the Posts columnist, Richard Cohen, had once declared the looming conflict to be Kristols War. The Post wrote of Kristol that with U.S. forces on the verge of bombing Baghdad, this would seem to be Kristols moment.67 For the beleaguered people of Iraq and for the American and British soldiers who died in pursuit of the neo-conservative war aimsand for the American taxpayers, who must pay the billsit was not their moment, however much Kristol and company may have rejoiced.
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People who label the United States imperialist usually mean it as an insult. But in recent years a handful of conservative defense intellectuals have begun to argue that the United States is indeed acting in an imperialist fashionand that it should embrace the role.68
The Post said that this is idea of enforcing a new Pax Americana was part of a vigorous, expansionistic Reaganite foreign policy that makes the United States, in the Posts words, an empire of democracy or liberty. Under this new form of imperialism, the United States is not conquering land or establishing colonies in the style of the old British and Roman empires, but instead has a dominating global presence military, economically and culturally.69 The Post noted, as an example, that one of the foremost advocates of this new imperialism was Thomas Donnelly, deputy executive director of the Project for the New American Century, the Washington think tank founded by William Kristol.
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ed with the Richard Perle-connected lobby for Israel known as the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), founded by Perles longtime friend Stephen Bryen who had been investigated for espionage on behalf of Israel. (That JINSA link is ubiquitous. It wont go away!) It was not until the advent of the second Bush administrationunder George W. Bushthat the neo-conservatives finally won the day and their drive for an imperial policy, centered on the proposed assault on Iraq, finally achieved success. In fact, by the time that the American war against Iraq finally erupted in March of 2003, the quiet debate over imperialism described by the Washington Post was no longer quiet. Leading the side of the debate favoring American imperialism was William Kristol, along with allies inside the Bush administration such as Paul Wolfowitz, now the number two man in the Defense Department, his deputy, Douglas Feith, and others, all of whom were actively supported by Richard Perle, by this point ensconced as chairman of the Bush administrations Defense Policy Board. So it was that once the long-promoted war against Iraq was already under way the concept of American Empire was very much the subject of public discussion in the American elite media and in many intellectual journals. As Jeet Heer pointed out in The Boston Globe on March 23, 2003, just days after the first American assault on Iraq:
Since the Sept. 11 attacks . . . many foreign policy pundits, mostly from the Republican right but also including some liberal internationalists, have revisited the idea of empire. America is the most magnanimous imperial power ever, declared Dinesh DSouza in The Christian Science Monitor in 2002. Afghanistan and other troubled lands today cry out for the sort of enlightened foreign administration once provided by self-confident Englishmen in jodhpurs and pith helmets, argued Max Boot in a 2001 article for The Weekly Standard titled The Case for American Empire. In The Wall Street Journal, historian Paul Johnson asserted that the answer to terrorism is colonialism. Columnist Mark Steyn, writing in The Chicago Sun-Times, has contended that imperialism is the answer. People are now coming out of the closet on the word empire, noted Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer. The fact is no country has been as dominant culturally, economically, technologically and militarily in the history of world since the Roman Empire.71
In fact, of all of the above-mentioned writersDSouza, Boot, Johnson, Steyn and Krauthammerare among the energetic clique of media analysts promoting the neo-conservative worldview.
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Although coming from a traditional conservativeas opposed to the neo-conservative viewpointBacevich does not stand alone in
these concerns. In fact, even liberal American writers have expressed similar fears of the new drive for an American empire. Writing in the progressive journal, Mother Jones, author Todd Gitlin echoed much of what Bacevich expressed. Gitlin referred likewise to the new Bush administration policy document and declared:
The document is meant not so much to be read as to be brandished. This is internationalism imperial-styleas in Rome, when Rome ruled. Its scope is breath-taking. There were large parts of the world that Rome couldnt reach, but the Bush doctrine recognizes no limits. It will know when threats are emerging, partly formed, and it will not have to say how it knows, or be convincing about what it knows. The doctrine affirms all of the comforts and recognizes none of the dangers of empire. It ignores the costs of unbounded deployment and war. It acknowledges no danger that reckless swashbuckling helps recruit terrorists. It forgets that all empires fallthey cost too much, incite too many enemies, they inspire contrary empires. The new imperialists think they are different. All empires do.73
Gitlin concluded (correctly) that the American government is hellbent on empire and has said so in black and white.74
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mate aim of the Bush policy, if carried to its utmost, would be the subjugation of the Arab Middle East as we know it today. In his essay, Podhoretz asserted, in a somewhat mystical fashion, that following the Sept. 11 terrorist tragedy that rocked America, a kind of revelation, blazing with a very different fire of its own, lit up the recesses of Bushs mind and heart and soul. Which is to say, added Podhoretz, that having previously been unsure as to why he should have been chosen to become President of the United States, George W. Bush now knew that the God to whom, as a born-again Christian, he had earlier committed himself had put him in the Oval Office for a purpose. He had put him there to lead a war against the evil of terrorism.75 Thus, Podhoretz seemed to suggest that Bush was driven toward his course of imperialism and war against the Arab world by his Christian fundamentalist point of view. (And Podhoretz is probably right!) Podhoretz then commented that Bushs first major address on Sept. 20, following the terrorist attacks, may well have been the greatest presidential speech of our age, adding pointedly that Bush was actually abandoning even his own fathers point of view. It was here, said Podhoretz, that Bushs conversion from a conventional realist in the mold of his father to a democratic idealist of the Reaganite stamp was announced to the world.76 Declaring his support for the new Bush agenda, Podhoretz hailed the ultimate consequences of this policy as Podhoretz and his fellow neo-conservatives see it:
The regimes that richly deserve to be overthrown and replaced are not confined to the three singled-out members of the axis of evil [that is, Iraq, Iran and North Korea]. At a minimum, the axis should extend to Syria and Lebanon and Libya, as well as friends of America like the Saudi royal family and Egypts Hosni Mubarak, along with the Palestinian Authority, whether headed by Arafat or one of his henchmen. There is no denying that the alternative to these regimes could easily turn out to be worse, even (or especially) if it comes into power through democratic elections. After all, by every measure we possess, very large numbers of people in the Muslim world sympathize with Osama bin Laden and would vote for radical Islamic candidates of his stripe if they were given the chance.
To dismiss this possibility would be the height of naivet. Nevertheless, there is a policy that can head it off, provided that the United States has the will to fight World War IVthe war against militant Islamto a successful conclusion, and provided, too, that we then have the stomach to impose a new political culture on the defeated parties. This is what we did directly and unapologetically in Germany and Japan after winning World War II . . . There was a song that became popular in America during World War II: We did it before, and we can do it again. What I am trying to say to the skeptics and the defeatists of today is that yes indeed we did it before; and yes indeed we can do it again.77
That these are aggressive and war-like words and presumptions is obvious. But the fact is that these words represent a point of view that has reached supreme influence at the highest levels of the administration that governs the most powerful nation on the face of the planet.
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There was just one big problem with the reports in the American media. The truth was that the career military men inside the Pentagon didnt think an invasion of Iraq was feasible or necessary. They saw it as a potential disaster for the United States that could ultimately align the United States (standing alone with Israel) against the entire Arab and Muslim world. In fact, precisely because of the militarys opposition to the war against Iraq, the neo-conservative pro-Israel network at the highest levels of the Bush administration began laying the insidious groundwork to oust American military leaders who opposed U.S. involvement in a war against Iraq. That little-noticed fact was buried in a lengthy report published in The Washington Post on August 1, 2002. According to Post writer Thomas E. Ricks:
At a July 10 meeting of the Defense Policy Board, a Pentagon advisory group, one of the subjects discussed was how to overcome the military reluctance to plan innovatively for an attack on Iraq. What was discussed was the problem with the services, said one defense expert who participated in the meeting. His conclusion: You have to have a few heads roll, especially in the Army.78
It is no coincidence that the Defense Policy Board (DPB) would be the point of origin of a plan to make heads roll inside the military. Although ostensibly independent, the DPB was dominated at the time (and basically remains so) by Richard Perle whoalthough he never served in the U.S. militarymade a fortune in armaments profiteering on behalf of Israels military-industrial complex and has spent years promoting U.S. military engagements to defend the interests of Israel. Regarding the ongoing conflict between the civilian pro-Israel neoconservatives and the military leadership, the Post stated flatly on July 28, 2002 that:
Despite President Bushs repeated bellicose statements about Iraq, many senior U.S. military officials contend that President Saddam Hussein poses no immediate threat and that the United States should continue its policy of containment rather than invade Iraq to force a change of leadership in Baghdad. The militarys support of containment, and its concern about the possible negative consequences of attacking Iraq, are shared by senior officials at the State Department and the CIA, according to people familiar with interagency discussions.79
However, the Post pointed out: High level civilians in the White House and Pentagon vehemently disagree. Those un-named high-level civilians were the neo-conservative warhawks such as Perle and his longtime associate and closest ally inside the Bush administration, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and his lieutenant, Douglas Feith. The Washington Post also reported that while active duty members of the military have not publicly questioned the direction of Bushs Iraq policy [in] private some are very doubtful about it. The Post added:
Retired officers and experts who stay in touch with the top brass, and are free to say what those on active duty cannot, are more outspoken in supporting the containment policy and questioning the administrations apparent determination to abandon it.80
Secretary of State Colin Powellwho served two tours of combat duty in Vietnamwas, in fact, initially aligned with the military brass in opposition to the Iraq war. Quite notably, General Tommy Frankswho ultimately led the American war against Iraqalso opposed the war. Even the June 2002 issue of The Washington Monthlyan eminently mainstream liberal journalfeatured a cover story about the get Iraq group and acknowledged frankly who they are: most of those in question, the magazine admitted, are Jewish, passionately pro-Israel, and proLikud.81 The magazine noted that the neo-conservative hawks are united by a shared idea: that America should be unafraid to use its military power early and often to advance its interests and values.82 However, as Washington Monthly affirmed, this sabre-rattling philosophy is an idea that infuriates most members of the national security establishment at the Pentagon, State, and the CIA, who believe that Americas military force should be used rarely and only as a last resort, preferably in concert with allies.83 Yet, this war-driven and aggressive minority of sabre-rattlers has risen to supreme heights of power within official Washington and they are now making their influence felt. In fact, as the drive for war intensified, the pro-Israel palace guard led by Paul Wolfowitz and surrounding Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was trying to re-make the Pentagon, moving against Americas top military officials who objected to fighting unnecessary imperial wars
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around the globe that have nothing to do with defending America. Although many grassroots Americans believed that the Bush administration and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were strongly supported by Americas military leadership, the truth was quite the opposite. While Bush came into office with quite enthusiastic support from American military families, the truth is that the active duty military leaders in the Pentagon were very much dissatisfied with Rumsfeld and his neo-conservative associates such as Wolfowitz. An eye-opening profile of Rumsfeld, published in The Washington Post on Oct. 16, 2002 laid bare at least some of the little-known details surrounding the efforts by Rumsfeld and his pro-Israel palace guard to grab control of the Pentagon. Describing the Pentagon as thick with tension, the Post stated flat out that:
Many senior officers on the Joint Staff and in all branches of the military describe Rumsfeld as frequently abusive and indecisive, trusting only a tiny circle of close advisers, seemingly eager to slap down officers with decades of distinguished service. The unhappiness is so pervasive that all three service secretaries [Army, Navy and Air Force] are said to be deeply frustrated by a lack of autonomy and contemplating leaving by the end of the year. All three find their actions constrained by Rumsfeld and what is referred to as his small palace guard, according to Pentagon insiders.84
While the Post named no names, the identity of the palace guard is no mystery. One defense consultant told the Post that The depth of disaffection is really quite striking, adding that, in his view, Rumsfeld is courting a rebellion. The Post asserted that Rumsfeld and his associates had the militarys governing Joint Chiefs of Staff and its 1,200-member staff in the cross hairs.85 Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz were trying to limit the ability of Americas top military leaders from reaching out to Congress, government agencies and the media, by stripping the Joint Staff of its legislative liaison, legal counsel and public affairs offices, which, in the past, according to the Post, have given the military leadership a degree of autonomy by providing it direct pipelines to Congress, to other parts of the government and to the media.86
In fact, what Rumsfelds neo-conservative clique was trying to do was to isolate the American military leadership from the American public, knowing that if more of the public knew that the military opposed war against Iraq, the publiclikewisewould most likely share that view, conventionally trusting in the militarys judgment. In the end, as we now know, the neo-conservatives prevailed and the militarys warnings were shut out and sidelined, much to the militarys disgust. Events in Iraq have since confirmed the militarys fears.
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That the war against Iraq, and the overall policy guiding it, is founded in the philosophy of the hard-right Likud elements in Israel and their neo-conservative allies in America at the levers of power in the Bush administration is now becoming an open topic of discussion. At the same time, the neo-conservative warmongers began driving a wedge between the United States and its European allies.
In an article entitled Anti-Europeanism in America, author Timothy Garton Ash assembled a growing list of neo-conservative writers who have aimed their guns at Europe. Leading the list was Richard Perle who claimed that Europe has lost its moral compass. In case anyone might fail to understand the reason why the neo-conservatives have this newfound antipathy toward Europe, Ashs article explained the bottom line: that The Middle East is both a source and a catalyst of what threatens to become a downward spiral of burgeoning European anti-Americanism and nascent American anti-Europeanism, each reinforcing the other.89 In other words, quite simply: Israel and its powerful American lobby are at the centerreally, the causeof the conflict, although Ash doesnt quite put it that way. Ash wrote:
Anti-Semitism in Europe and its alleged connection to European criticism of the Sharon government, has been the subject of the most acid anti-European commentaries from conservative American columnists and politicians. Some of these critics are themselves not just strongly pro-Israel but also natural Likudites, one liberal Jewish commentator explained . . . In a recent article Stanley Hoffman writes that they seem to believe in an identity of interests between the Jewish state and the United States.90
Almost as if on cue, one of Richard Perles and William Kristols collaborators in the new anti-Europeanist drive, Robert Kagan, vocally joined the harsh chorus to promote anti-Europeanism to the reading audience of The Washington Post, the influential daily published in the nations capital. Kagans Jan. 31, 2003 opinion column was a veritable textbook of the neo-conservative Hate Europe crusade. Kagan wrote:
In London . . . one finds Britains finest minds propounding, in sophisticated language and melodious Oxford accents, the conspiracy theories . . . concerning the neo-conservative (read: Jewish) hijacking of American foreign policy . . . In Paris, all the talk is of oil and imperialism (and Jews). In Madrid, its oil, imperialism, past American support for Franco (and Jews). At a conference I recently attended in Barcelona, an esteemed Spanish intellectual asked why, if the United States wants to topple vicious dictatorships that manufacture weapons of mass destruction, it is not also invading Israel. Yes, I know, there are Americans who ask such questions, too . . . But heres
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So it was that Americas traditional European allies had now allied against the United States and the neo-conservative policy dictators who were spearheading a drive for a new imperialism. It was a formula that many American critics of the neo-conservatives believed would ultimately spell disaster, for not only America but the world.
The Bush administrations alignment with Sharon delights many of its strongest supporters, especially evangelical Christians, and a large part of organized American Jewry, according to leaders in both groups, who argue that Palestinian terrorism pushed Bush to his new stance. The Likudniks are really in charge now, said a senior government official, using a Yiddish term for supporters of Sharons political party. Some Middle East hands who disagree with these supporters of Israel refer to them as a cabal, in the words of one former official. Members of the group do not hide their friendships and connections, or their loyalty to strong positions in support of Israel and Likud. Richard Perle, chairman of the Pentagons Defense Policy Board, led a study group that proposed to Binyamin Netanyahu, a Likud prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999, that he abandon the Oslo peace accords negotiated in 1993 and reject the basis for them the idea of trading land for peace. Israel should insist on Arab recognition of its claim to the biblical land of Israel, the 1996 report suggested, and should focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. Besides Perle, the study group included David Wurmser, now a special assistant to Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton, and Douglas J. Feith, now undersecretary of defense for policy. Feith has written prolifically on Israeli-Arab issues for years, arguing that Israel has as legitimate a claim to the West Bank territories seized after the Six Day War as it has to the land that was part of the U.N.-mandated Israel created in 1948. An internal debate split the administration and invited the lobbying of think tanks, Jewish organizations, evangelical Christians and others who take a fierce interest in the Middle East . . . Over the past dozen years or more, supporters of Sharons Likud Party have moved into leadership roles in most of the American Jewish organizations that provide financial and political support for Israel.92
Writing shortly thereafter in The Washington Timesthe neo-conservative oriented daily rival to the more liberal Washington Postwellknown journalist Arnaud deBorchgrave echoed Kaiser and elaborated on the topic of the new alliance between the Bush and Sharon regimes. In an article entitled A Bush-Sharon Doctrine, deBorchgrave wrote, in part:
The strategic objectives of the U.S. and Israel in the Middle East have gradually merged into a now cohesive Bush-Sharon Doctrine. But this gets lost in the deafening cacophony of talking heads playing armchair generals in the coming war to change regimes in Baghdad.
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And what is notable is that Israels strategic roadmap referred to by deBorchgrave (and also referenced by Kaiser) was not just the product of an Israeli institution alone. The authors, as pointed out by Kaiser, were Americansnamely Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, John R. Bolton, and David Wurmser, all key neo-conservative policy makers guiding the Bush administration.
OPINION IN ISRAEL . . .
While all of this may have been a revelation to readers of The Washington Post and The Washington Timeswhich generally vary only by degree in pandering to the policy demands of the Israeli lobby in Washington, it was no surprise to the people of Israel. Just two (of many) representatives reports in the Israeli press that noted comments by Israeli leaders demonstrates that the motivations of the neo-conservative policy makers were indeed part of a grand design very much in sync with Israels fanatic Likud bloc:
. . . In the [occupied] territories, the Arab world, and in Israel, Bushs support for Sharon is being credited to the pro-Israel lobby, meaning Jewish money and the Christian right. Israeli writer Akiva Eldar, Haaretz, April 26, 2002 Sharon is finding it hard to show any achievements during his 20 months in power . . . an American attack on Iraq is seen as the lever which can extricate Israel from its economic, security and social quagmire . . . . Israeli correspondent Aluf Benn, Haaretz, November 18, 2002
Despite all this, the one independent American newspaper that has consistently dared to criticize the neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby for Israel and to focus on their activitiesAmerican Free Press was perhaps less circumspect than the big name elite publications such as The Washington Post and The Washington Times in summarizing the new alliance of the Bush administration with the Sharon regime.
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entire Middle East. The international Anglo-American oil companies dream of shedding their partners in the oil rich Arab dynasties that control the oil fields. The oil barons want the oil all to themselves. At the same time, Zionist fanaticsboth Christian and Jewishdream of dismantling the Arab states and expanding Israels borders to a Greater Israel reaching From the Nile to the Euphrates. With such a convergence of interestsbased on a deadly mixture of ideology, profits and geopolitical powerZionism and Big Oil had found common ground. As such, they were now moving to establish a Middle East hegemon over the oil riches of the Arab world. The campaign against Iraq was simply the opening gun. The fact that the other Arab states of the Middle East had firmly declared their opposition to the proposed U.S. assault on Iraq set these states up as other enemies to be dispatched. The age-old Zionist aspiration for a Greater Israel is now no more than a cover for the oil conglomerates to seize absolute control of Arab oil, once and for all. The first step was eliminating Saddam Hussein. Iraq is just the first domino slated to fall. The other Arab states are next in line. Knocking out the ruling Arab regimes will satisfy the demands of Israels hard-liners, but also set the stage for the oil conglomerates to control Middle East oil. It is no accident that the administration of George W. Bush should be the engine to achieve this goal. The scion of a family long a part of the intrigues of the Anglo-American oil elite, Bushlike his fatherhas been both allied with Israel and, when the circumstances required, standing in opposition to the Zionist state. American Free Press pointed out that in the book Friends In Deed: Inside the U.S.-Israel Alliance, Israeli-based writers Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman wrote frankly of Israels hostility to the senior Bush during his one-term in officea point of which few Americans are aware, even including many stalwart Republican admirers of the Bush family. As such, the Israelis have little trust for the family Bush. However, a Bush is in the White House in control of Americas military arsenal. Israel recognizes American military power is the only thing that can assure Israels survival in a world increasingly hostile to Israels aims. Thus,
Bush and his allies in Big Oil find an alliance with Israel a necessity. Zionist influence in American affairsparticularly in the realm of media controlhas reached a zenith. In addition, the pro-Israel Christian Rightdominated by the likes of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Tim LaHaye, etcis extremely influential in Republican Party ranks, positioning Bushs GOP base firmly in Israels camp. At the same time, ironically, Israels position has never been so precarious. Howeverfortuitously, for Israelthe events of Sept. 11 brought the uneasy alliance between political Zionism and the plutocratic Big Oil forces full circle. As former CIA analyst George Friedmana supporter of Israelput it early on Sept. 11 on his widely cited website, www.stratfor.com, just hours after the tragic attacks: The big winner today, intended or not, is the state of Israel. Junior Bush has driven American military forces into the heart of the Arab world, to establish a geopolitical consortium in which U.S. military might can be used to tame the Arabs and grab control of their oil. In so doing Bush has the full propaganda might of the Zionist-dominated media behind him. Open Secrets by the late Israeli scholar and critic of Zionism, Israel Shahak, frankly exposes Israels foreign policy as a menace to world peace. Shahak contends it is a myth that there is any real difference between the supposedly conflicting policies of Israels opposing Likud and Labor blocs, both of which advocate expansion aiming toward consolidating Eretz Israelan imperial state in control of practically the entire Middle East. Israel, he asserts, is a militarist state: its policies are dictated by fundamentalist religious fanatics who now dominate Israels military and intelligence elite. If American forces destroy Saddam and occupy Iraq, American Free Press predicted, Israel would be a key partner in the consortium, by virtue of Israels influence in Washington and over the media. Occupation of Iraqeven installation of a puppet regimewould be effective expansion of Israels borders, fulfilling a considerable portion of the dream of Greater Israel. But at what cost to the American people?
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While his rhetoric is stilted and ponderous, what Ledeen is promoting is the idea that it is not U.S. support for Israel that engenders Arab hatred for the United States. Instead, he claims, it is the very existence of the United Statesthe American way of lifethat inflames Arab passions. (What utter lies! What nonsense!) Yet, these words are the propaganda line of the Israeli lobby which hopes to distract the attention of the American people away from the causes of Arab hostility to the United States stemming from unswerving U.S. support for Israel. Ledeen goes on to suggest that anyone who stands in opposition to all-out war against the Arab world needs to be
In fact, aside from other political considerations, President George W. Bush had good personal reason to do the bidding of the hard-line hawks in promoting their imperial schemes on behalf of Israel. In the Feb. 1992 edition of The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, former Rep. Paul Findley (R-Ill.) revealed that in 1991 former Israeli intelligence officer Victor Ostrovsky had blown the whistle on a plot by a right-wing faction within Israels Mossad to kill then-President George H. W. Bush who was perceived as a threat to Israel. After Ostrovsky provided the details to another former member of Congress, Pete McCloskey (R-Calif.), McCloskey conveyed a warning to the U.S. Secret Service. In his 1994 book, The Other Side of Deception, Ostrovsky revealed the specifics of what he had learned of the plot: the Mossad planned to assassinate Bush during an international conference in Madrid. The Mossad had captured three Palestinian extremists and leaked word to the Spanish police that the terrorists were on their way to Madrid. The plan was to kill Bush, release the assassins in the midst of the confusionand kill the Palestinians on the spot. The crime would be blamed on the Palestiniansanother Mossad false flag. So it is that the George W. Bush administration is now fostering and nurturing the ancient dream of a Greater Israel. But to achieve that aim, the neo-conservative Zionist elements that achieved power in the Bush administration began laying the groundwork many years before. An initial step in that scheme was the enunciation of a theory known as rogue states rollback.
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Israel but was later given instant U.S. citizenship by special proclamation of President Clinton just hours after Clinton was sworn into office on Jan. 20, 1993one of Clintons first official acts. (Later this former Israeli propagandist was appointed to serve as U.S. ambassador to Israel, his obvious conflict of interest notwithstanding.) Within a year, the thrust of Indyks plan for war against Iraq and Iran was formally promoted by the powerful New York-based Council on Foreign Relations. It was also publicly announced, at the same time, as an official policy of the Clinton administration (although it had been in the making for over a year). An Associated Press report, published in the Feb. 28, 1994 issue of The Washington Post, announced that W. Anthony Lake, President Clintons National Security Advisor, had laid out a plan for dual containment of Iraq and Iran, both of which Lake labeled outlaw and backlash states. Lakes comments as reported were from an article by Lake just published in the March/April 1994 issue of Foreign Affairs, the quarterly journal of the Rockefeller-financed Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), an American affiliate of the London-based Royal Institute for International Affairs, a policy group funded by the European Rothschild family, longtime supporters of Israel. On Oct, 30, 1993, The Washington Post frankly described the CFR as the nearest thing we have to a ruling establishment in the United States, saying that they are the people who, for more than half a century, have managed our international affairs and our military-industrial complex,96 noting that 24 top members of the Clinton administration along with Clintonwere CFR members. There was a minor difference in the policy as set forth by Lake: Iraq was first targeted for destruction. Iran would come later. Lake said the Clinton administration supported Iraqi exiles who wanted to overthrow Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Lake said that although Iran was what he called the foremost sponsor of terrorism and assassination worldwide, the Clinton administration saw the possibility of better relations with Iran.
In early 1995 the then-newly-elected Republican House Speaker, Newt Gingrich, long a vocal advocate for Israel, gave a little-noticed speech in Washington before a gathering of military and intelligence officers calling for a Middle East policy that was, in his words, designed to force the replacement of the current regime in Iran . . . the only long-range solution that makes any sense. That the then-de facto leader of the opposition Republican Party endorsed this policy was no real surprise since, at that time, Gingrichs wife was being paid $2,500 a month by the Israel Export Development Company, an outfit which lured American companies out of the United States into a high-tech business park in Israel. Mrs. Gingrich was introduced to her employers when she was on a tour in Israel sponsored by the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a registered lobby for Israel. A former AIPAC official, Arne Christensen, had served as a top policy advisor to Gingrich. Prior to his service for the Israeli lobby, Christensen had been on the staff of ex-Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.), a close Gingrich associateand yet another member of the Council on Foreign Relationswho is, as noted previously, also one of the principals in William Kristols think tank known as Empower America. Weber later emerged as a top advisor to Sen. John McCain during his presidential campaign. And McCain is, yet again, also a CFR member. This perhaps helps explain how things came full circle and McCain promoted the line that the U.S. should take provocative measures against rogue states. But the Israeli connection is what counts most . . .
through the aegis of his daily, The New York Post. McCain himself has declared his allegiance to Israel, above and beyond U.S. interests. In a March 14, 1999 speech in New York to the National Council of Young Israel, McCain said:
We choose, as a nation, to intervene militarily abroad in defense of the moral values that are at the center of our national conscientiousness even when vital national interests are not necessarily at stake. I raise this point because it lies at the heart of this nations approach to Israel. The survival of Israel is one of this countrys most important moral commitments.
In short, McCain would be willing to commit the United States to a war in defense of Israel, even if U.S. vital interests are not necessarily at stake. His endorsement of assaults upon the rogue Islamic states is part and parcel of this policy, which hardly places America first. McCain has said that he is driven by Wilsonian principles,the internationalist philosophy that U.S. military might should be used to enforce world standards, as dictated by the United States itself. In fact, the record shows that McCain has long been part of an elite group promoting U.S. military action in defense of Israel. According to the Aug. 2, 1996 issue of the London-based Jewish Chronicle, McCain was a member of a little-known operation calling itself the Commission on Americas National Interest that issued a report rating Israel as a blue chip interest for the United States worth spending serious treasure and serious blood on,a conclusion many Americans might question. The report ranked Israels survival on a par with preventing nuclear, biological and nuclear attacks on the U.S. as a vital American interest. The Chronicle summarized the report, quoting the group, with the headline: Americans should go to war to defend Israel. Contrast this view with the results of a Sept. 1998 poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press (reported in the Dec. 28, 1998 issue of The Washington Post) which found at the time that only 45 percent of the American public would support American intervention if Arab forces invaded Israel, compared with 74 percent of so-called opinion elites who would favor U.S. ground troops being committed to such a conflict. But popular opinion in America apparently does not count. The war against rogue states and preparations for possible U.S.
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military action to defend Israel was continually being hard-pressed in the highest circles. It was clearly at the top of the elites agenda.
Although Bush has placed many neo-conservatives in powerful foreign policy making positions, we would be remiss in failing to mention his appointment of former Missouri Senator John Ashcroftthe member of a small but vocal fanatically pro-Israel Christian sect known as the pentacostalsas U.S. Attorney General. In that post Ashcroft is in charge of the entire American federal justice system and oversees the Federal Bureau of Investigation (the FBI), the federal law enforcement apparatus. Although Americas liberal special interest groups loudly protested Ashcrofts appointment, the fact is that while blacks, feminists, abortion advocates, homosexuals and others were cowering in fear at the prospect of John Ashcroft as attorney general, one particularly influential interest groupthe pro-Israel lobbyhad already given its okay to Ashcroft. The first public sign of Israels love for Ashcroft came when it was widely reported in the major media that Abe Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)a powerful unit of the Israeli lobbyhad announced that he expected Ashcroft to be a just man. Ashcroft supporters loudly touted Foxmans effective endorsement. Meanwhile, those insiders who read The New Republic (TNR), a journal known as an influential and strident voice for the Israeli lobby, got the hint about Ashcrofts acceptability from a key source. Ashcrofts longtime policy director, Tevi Troyan Orthodox Jew who once publicly referred to non-Jews as goyim (a racist term)wrote an article (published in TNR issue on Jan. 29, 2001) promoting Ashcroft. Troynow the Bush administration liaison to the Jewish communitysaid Ashcroft was more than tolerant; hes downright philo-Semitic. Troy revealed:
Ashcroft was born to a gentile family in a predominantly Jewish Chicago neighborhood. His mother served as a Shabbos goy [i.e. a non-Jew who works for Jews on the Jewish sabbath] turning ovens on and off as needed. Ashcrofts father even took a mezuzah [a Jewish religious symbol] with the family when they moved from Chicago to Springfield, Missouri, where he kept it affixed to his doorpost until his death, in 1995. Ashcroft, Id wager, knows more about Judaism than half the Jewish members of the Senate.99
In the meantime, while liberal Jewish Democratic New York Sen. Charles Schumer was soothing his liberal constituents by publicly
opposing Ashcroft, Schumer (like other insiders) knew full well that Ashcroft had been his (Schumers) partner in introducing congressional measures in previous years designed to advance the interests of Israel. Among other things, Ashcroft and Schumer together: Co-sponsored a dangerous police-state style so-called anti-terrorist measurestrongly promoted by the ADL and the Israeli lobbythat grass-roots patriots across America rallied against and largely managed to bloc from total passage. This, of course, was well before the 9-11 attacks. Led efforts in Congress to force the transfer of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; and Co-sponsored a measure to mandate U.S. opposition to any independent declaration of a Palestinian state. For his vocal campaign against the Palestinians, the Institute for Public Affairs for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America hailed Ashcroft as having long been on record as a staunch supporter of the State of Israel and its safety and security.
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that Judea and Samaria should be part of Israel, Falwell declared. Moreover, I believe that the Golan heights should be annexed as an integral part of the state of Israel, he said.101
Author Michael Lind suggests that Falwell may indeed be the Likud Partys most important lobbyist in the United States.102 In addition, as Jewish-American authors Ken Silverstein and Michael Scherer noted, Begin loved Falwell so much that he also presented Falwell with a Learjet for his efforts on behalf of Israel.103
The Christian evangelicals are particularly hard-hearted against Arabs and Muslims. They believe that Arabs and Muslims can be traced back to Ishmael, the unfavored son of Abraham, who was promised by God vast land and resources but who would never be satisfied with what he had. No matter how much good fortune Arabs receive . . . they will never know spiritual peace,105 in the view of these Christian extremists. (And it should be noted that this is not the standard view of the typical American Christian, as we shall see.) Pointing out that one of the hawks within the Bush administration
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who has worked closely with the Christian right is Douglas Feiththe deputy to Deputy Defense Secretary Paul WolfowitzSilverstein and Scherer cite Feiths former associate at the Center for Security Policy, Frank Gaffney, who asserts: You are seeing American government policy being profoundly influenced by beliefs that are shared by the pushers outside [the Christian evangelicals] and the people on the inside [the Jewish neo-conservatives].106 Noting the enthusiastic reception by Israels Likud of the fundamentalists, Michael Lind comments that The fervent support of Israel by Protestant fundamentalists . . . has been manipulated for a quarter of a century by right-wing Israeli politicians and their neo-conservative allies.107 Ironically, however, even liberal American Jewish groups that do support Israel, but which publicly advocate a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians, see the danger in this unholy alliance between the Christian evangelicals and the Jewish neo-conservatives. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, head of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, is quoted as saying that this alliance of evangelicals and neo-conservatives sees any concession as a threat to Israel, and in this way they strengthen the hardliners in Israel and the United States.108
that God allowed terrorists to attack the United States on Sept. 11, 2001 to punish America for being too tough on Israel. In a speech condemning his fellow Republican, President Bush, who then was perceived to be pressing too hard on Israel, Inhofe stated in no uncertain terms:
One of the reasons I believe the spiritual door was opened for an attack against the United States of America is that the policy of our government has been to ask the Israelis, and demand it with pressure, not to retaliate in a significant way against the terrorist strikes that have been launched against them.110
Although American broadcast media had previously attacked speakers from the Muslim world who had suggested, in one fashion or another, that the Sept. 11 attack on the United States was the will of Allah, there was hardly a mention anywhere of Inhofes inflammatory remarks. Inhofe was not the only American Christian fundamentalist to make such a comment. On Oct. 11, 2002, evangelist Joyce Meyer told the Christian Coalition at its national conference that the American people deserved the 9-11 attack for failing to stand firmly with God on the side of Israel. If we dont obey God, Gods protection is lifted,111 she announced. Yet, the major media has ignored such pro-Israel insanity. Inhofe has also sought to explain that the native Palestinians have never had a historical right to Palestine and that when they were there, they contributed little to the region. For example, in another Senate speech Inhofe quoted the 18th century French philosopher Voltaire as describing the Palestine of his day as being a hopeless dreary place. However, what Inhofe, in his bias in favor of the Jewish occupiers of Palestine seems to have ignored is what Voltaire is also reported to have said on another occasion: While the Arabs are distinguished by courage, hospitality and humanity, the Jews are cowardly and lecherous, greedy and miserly. The Oklahoma senator suggested that Palestine was a desolate area that no one wanted. Where was this great Palestinian nation? asked Inhofe. It did not exist. It was not there. Palestinians were not there. While any normal individual with even the most minimal knowledge of the history of Palestine knows that Inhofes claims are the product of a fevered imagination, the sorry fact is that many millions of Americans share those provocative and hateful views.
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accompanied by the title, in large letters, Meet the Prophet. A secondary photograph featured a smiling, casually dressed LaHaye being nuzzled by his attractive wife and collaborator, Beverly, describing them as a power couple who share an evangelical zeal. In a side-bar to the LaHaye article, Time enthusiastically provided color photographs of: LaHayes Left Behind comic-style graphic novels Lahayes Left Behind board game, The covers of six of LaHayes 22 childrens books, LaHayes Left Behind CDs (which Time advertises to its readers are audio versions with some music; and A still photo from the movie sequel to LaHayes original Left Behind film extravaganza. Just so nobody missed the premiere, Time advised its readers that LaHayes new film would be due in November. Few could be so lucky to get this kind of media attention! And clearly all of the aforementioned was valuable publicity that LaHaye would have otherwise had to spend millions to achieve. But there was more. In the main article in the series, Times editors spread color photographswith capsule descriptionsof ten of LaHayes Left Behind series of full-length novels across two pages, including yet a second picture of LaHayes newest novel, The Remnant, which had already been promoted and pictured in the first paragraph of the very same article. Under each picture and capsule description of each novel, Time generously cited the Biblical scripture on which each novel is purportedly based and, in large, bold type, bleated Copies Sold 7,000,000 (or whatever the relevant figure) under the illustration of each of the books. Another article asked what was probably the pertinent question about LaHayes dispensationalist viewpoint (as far as the Bronfman family is concerned): Is it good for the Jews? The answer, it seems, is yes. Although Time noted that some Jewish theologians are upset by the fact that LaHaye and the dispensationalists see the end times as the period when Jews must accept Jesus Christ as the messiah, Time left the critical final judgment to a leading voice of the pro-Israel lobby. According to Time: Yet when a people feels isolated and under attacks, it will take all the friends it can get, retorts Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. Time then quoted
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Foxman directly: I dont think its our business to get at the heart and soul and metaphysics of people as to why they come to support Israel. Some do it for a national-interest point of view, some because of moral issues, some because of theological issues. We dont set standards or conditions for support. So the Christian Right is Israels right arm.
ing neo-conservative editorial policy of The Washington Times. Moons assault on the Vatican came as no surprise to those who were aware that in its June 1, 2002 issue, Civilta Cattolicaan influential journal sanctioned by the Vaticanhad fired a shot at the American media for its obsessive coverage of the Catholic Church sex scandals. Civilta Cattolica flatly asserted thatat least in part because the Catholic Church refused to support the media-promoted war against Saddam in 1991 that the controllers of the American media had nursed a grudge against the church. Given thatas the record indicatesthe medias sudden and intense interest in the churchs problems did, in fact, explode after Sept. 11, it is interesting to note that Civilta Cattolica also cited the aftermath of 9-11 in its dissection of the medias attacks on the church. In fact, Civilta Cattolica suggested that the Catholic Churchs appeals against vendettas against the Arab and Muslim world in the wake of 911 also offended the media, which has been heavily promoting an antiArab and anti-Muslim agenda, often quoting so-called experts on terrorism and on the Middle East who aremore often than notadvocates of Israeli policy and often directly affiliated with Israeli intelligence. Now, The Washington Times came forward almost as if to confirm the weight of the Vatican-endorsed newspapers charge.
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The Times asserted that It is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Liebermans longstanding approach to foreign policy issues is much like the one taken by the late Sen. Henry Scoop Jackson of Washington during the Cold War.114 The comparison is probably no coincidence considering the fact that the real brains behind Jacksons hawkish (and vehemently pro-Israel) stance was none other than Richard Perle, now the chief ideologue among the neo-conservative war hawks who orchestrated the war against Iraq. During Jacksons heyday, Perle was Jacksons chief behind-the-scenes advisor, steering the otherwise liberal Jackson into a confrontational stance against the then-Soviet Union, primarily because of the fact that the Kremlinat that timewas being accused of being anti-Zionist. The Times endorsement of Lieberman recalls the effusive praise that Rev. Jerry Falwellanother fanatic supporter of Israel and leading Republicangave Lieberman during the 2000 campaign when Lieberman was Al Gores vice presidential running mate. Although a bizarre figure, the Times publisherMoonhas long been entangled with hard-line neo-conservative elements of the American lobby for Israel. As a consequence, that Moons newspaper should promote Liebermans call for war (and his candidacy) at the same time it was attacking the Vatican for opposing the war is thus no surprise.
to task the Israeli lobby, its neo-conservative operatives and the Christian Right figures with whom the neo-conservatives are allied. Recently Crowley penned an Open Letter to Jerry Falwell, published in the national weekly newspaper, American Free Press, which harshly condemned Falwell and his fellow-travelers in the Christian Right for their support for Israeli aggression against the Palestinian Muslims and the Palestinian Christians. A devout Christian in the traditional fundamentalist mode, Crowley has often faced the wrath of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of Bnai Brith for his outspoken voice, but he remains undaunted. Yet another Washington, DC area Christian activist, E. Stanley Rittenhouse, has likewise energetically posed a challenge to Falwell and the pro-Zionist elements. On one occasion Rittenhouse organized a picket line outside Falwells church, hoping to convince Falwells followers of the dangers blind alliance to Zionism and Israeli imperialism pose both to America and to Christian tradition. A fascinating book by Rittenhouse, For Fear of the Jews, is a wellwritten exposition on the topic that pulls no punches. One of the nations best known Christian critics of the evangelical alliance with Zionism is Oregon-based Rev. Theodore Winston Ted Pike whowith his wife Alynnhas produced several remarkable videos, including The Other Israel, Why the Mid-East Bleeds, and Zionism & Christianity: Unholy Alliance, each of which addresses various aspects of the Middle East crisis and are highly recommended. In addition, there is a growing body of other Christianswho are operating largely independent of the organized churcheswho also reject dispensationalism and who openly criticize the leading evangelists such as Falwell, Pat Robertson, Tim LaHaye and others. These are the socalled Preterists who contend (based on solid historical fact) that modern-day dispensationalism is hardly traditional Christian teaching at all and is largely based on a theory popularized in the early 20th century by one Cyrus Scofield. The Preterists charge that Scofields dispensationalism was actively promoted and funded by the Rothschild family of Europe for the very purpose of advancing the Zionist cause and for fostering a push for an imperial global order quite similar indeed to the policies being pursued by the neo-conservative elements in the Bush
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administration in alliance with the Christian Right. Among the more prominent of the Preterists are such figures as Don K. Preston and John Anderson who have been producing a wide array of literature and videos challenging the dispensationalist teachings and propaganda. Another is Syrian-born Christian scholar Robert Boody, now a proud citizen of America, who has been a forthright critic not only of the dispensationalists but also of the stridently pro-Israel and anti-Arab tendencies of the American government. The outreach of the Preterists to many American Christians is succeeding to the point that the leaders of the dispensationalist movement such as Tim LaHayeare energetically working to combat this increasingly influential message. So it is that while the Christian Right and its Likudnik allies among the neo-conservatives are now in a position of power, there is a growing rebellion among the ranks of good American Christians who do not believe in war and destruction aimed against the Arab and Muslim world on behalf of Zionist imperialism under whatever guise it may mask itself.
cial interests (both foreign and domestic) have worked together with government agencies in the United States and internationally to influence the way that the world looks upon the phenomenon of modern-day terrorism. Although the authors do not focus exclusively on the role of Israel and its American lobby in the terrorism industry, it is very clear from their carefully documented findings that Israel does indeed constitute a major player and has, from the very beginning.
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Studies includes such well known experts on terrorism often quoted in the media as Michael Ledeen, Walter Laquer and Edward Luttwak who have had very close relationships with Israel and Mossad. The Institute for Studies in International Terrorism at the State University of New York, has extensive international ties to military police and intelligence operations as well as the U.S., European, and Israeli right [which] reflect [founder Yonah] Alexanders own connections.
Agents of the state, and those of private groups as well, may not only implicate terrorists from within terrorist organizations, they may urge them to commit terrorist acts to justify prosecution. They themselves may carry out terrorist actsattributed to othersfor propaganda purposes. We believe that these actions are of great and underestimated importance. It is not difficult for agents of intelligence organizations to set off a bomb or even to kill individuals, or to encourage or hire others to do these things; then to make a phone call claiming responsibility on behalf of a Red network or Palestinian organization. This is an easy way of creating a desired moral environment, and there is substantial evidence that states have frequently engaged in such practices. The Israeli government carried out a number of terrorist bombings of U.S. facilities in Cairo in 1955-56, hoping that these would be attributed to Egyptians and damage relations between Egypt and the United States. In the United States, the FBI has long engaged in agent provocateur actions, urging violence on penetrated dissident organizations and carrying out direct acts of violence, then attributed to the individuals and organizations under attack.
There is much more to the business of terrorism than meets the eye, as Herman and OSullivan have pointed out. For this reason, Americans especially need to be wary of media reports about terrorism and to carefully consider precisely who is behind such reports.
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Ironically, Shivani points out that despite his reputation as a wideranging scholar, Lewis premise is based on quite a limited foundation in the first place:
In his new book, Lewis opens his account of what went wrong with the beginning of Ottoman military setbacks in the sixteenth and later centuries. Lewiss interpretation of Islam is heavily Ottomancentric, hardly dealing with the substance of South Asian, Southeast Asian, Central Asian, Persian or North
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Noting Lewiss profound propensity for dismissing all of the accomplishments and remarkable history of the Arab and Muslim worlds, Shivani concludes:
This is the template according to which Americans are being prepared for a final onslaught against those foolish enough to think that there could be an alternative to the American model. All previous Muslim attempts to modernize have only increased the power of the state to tyrannize; the conclusion is that we should take away their power and leave them pauperized.119
Despite Lewis obvious biasor perhaps because of itLewis has been a key behind-the-scenes player in impacting Bush administration policies that led up to the assault on Iraq. On April 5, 2003 The New York Times described Lewiss inflammatory book, What Went Wrong, as having been a major influence on Bush administration thinking, particularly that of Vice President Dick Cheney.
Bush administrations chief neo-conservative imperialist ideologue, Paul Wolfowitz said admiringly of Lewis via satellite during a tribute to Lewis held in Israel:
Bernard Lewis has brilliantly placed the relationships and the issues of the Middle East into their larger context, with truly objective, originaland always independentthought. Bernard has taught [us] how to understand the complex and important history of the Middle East and use it to guide us where we will go next to build a better world for generations.121
Lamis Andoni, a veteran journalist who has covered the Middle East for some 20 years for a wide variety of publications, has provided a particularly valuable overview of Lewiss career as an advocate for the new imperialism. Ms. Andoni noted that Lewis has not only provided historical justification for Washingtons war on terror, but has also emerged as chief ideologue for the re-colonization of the Arab world through an American invasion of Iraq.122 Ms. Andoni encapsulates Lewiss dubious contribution to international friendship and cooperation:
Lewiss work, especially his book What Went Wrong: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response, has been a major source in what is practically a manifesto for advocates of US military intervention towards establishing democracy in the Middle East. By declaring that the peoples of the Middle East, meaning Arabs and Iranians, have failed to catch up with modernity and have fallen into a downward spiral of hatred and rage, Lewis has at once exonerated American imperial policies and provided a moral imperative for President George W Bushs preemptive strikes and regime change doctrines. In fact, Lewis, according to published reports and his own statements, has been involved in lobbying, shaping and promoting the Bush Administrations most hawkish policies in support of Israel against the Palestinians, and for the aggressive use of American military force in the region. His influence is not merely a result of his academic stature and prolific writings on Islam, rather it is primarily a function of his membership in an alliance of neo-conservatives and hard-line Zionists who have come to assume key posts in the Bush administration. On February 19, [1998], representatives of the alliance, including Lewis, [future US Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld [and his future Deputy Defense Secretary, Paul] Wolfowitz and others, signed a letter urging President Bill Clinton to launch a military offensive, which would have included blanket bombings, to destroy the Iraqi regime. Lewis provides a scholarly cover for a lobby that has been openly advo-
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The average American who sees one such as Bernard Lewis promoted in the broadcast media has no idea that this kindly old gentleman who looks like somebodys grandfather is, in fact, one of the prime movers behind the most vicious type of racism and religious hatred imaginable, nor will the major media ever reveal that, at least not in America.
nected to CIA-financed activities as far back as the 1950s. So Taylors connections to the neo-conservative network and the New York elite are firm indeed. And considering the impact that Taylor has in certain American right wing circles that are seemingly independent of the neo-conservative elitesuch as a so-called Council of Conservative Citizens of which he is directorit is clear that Taylors voice is being heard and having an impact. At one juncture, Taylors Council of Conservative Citizens featured an item attacking Dirty Rotten Arabs and Muslims on its website. The record shows Taylor has a long history of attacking Arabs and Muslims. As far back as November 1993nearly a decade ago, long before the widespread anti-Muslim tendencies in America, stoked by the major broadcast media, particularly in the wake of the 9-11-2001 terrorist attacks, Taylors American Renaissance magazine featured an article entitled The Rise of Islam in America, which asserted that Islam lies at a dangerous intersection between race and immigration, and which declared:
Islam, in its various forms, lies at the intersection of Americas two most dogma-laden and self-destructive policies: immigration and race relations. It was the purest idiocy to have imported crowds of swarthy fanatics who are prepared to kill each otherand usover obscure conflicts in the Levant. Had no one noticed that Middle Easterners fight out their unsettled feuds not only in their own countries but in Europe as well? To have imported fanatics who worship the same god as the Black Muslims was idiocy on stilts.124
A Muslim-bashing hate festival sponsored by Taylor in the Washington, D.C. area over the Feb. 22, 2002 weekend set off alarm bells about Taylors covert agenda. American Free Press, based in Washington, D.C., reported as follows:
Had you walked into Jared Taylors recent American Renaissance conference, you might have thought you were at a pro-Israel rally: the anti-Muslim rhetoric was that pervasive. Taylors self-styled uptown approach echoes the ongoing Israeli propaganda theme that the Islamic religion is the root cause of the Sept. 11 tragedynot the pro-Israel U.S. Middle East policy. One who attended the meetingyoung Bill Whitedescribed Taylors meeting at his (Whites) overthrow.com website. While finding the event inter-
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Perhaps in keeping with his decidedly anti-Muslim stance, Taylor previously featured a hard-line pro-Zionist New York-based Rabbi, Meyer Schiller, as the keynote speaker at a previous conference. The Forward newspaper, a prominent American Jewish publication, has said that Schiller reports that his influence with Taylor has helped bring about positive feelings for the American Jewish cause on Taylors part, and thereby helped stimulate other Americans who follow Taylors teachings to think likewise. Althoughafter being widely criticized by many of his associates Taylor has since made some motions to suggest that U.S. policy toward Israel and the Arab world may have stimulated the 9-11 terrorist attacks, Taylor does not relent in his attacks on Muslim immigrants, effectively playing into the hands of the Zionist cause. Ironically, although Taylor has spent a great deal of energy in Muslim-bashing, his closest friend and long-time political fellow-traveler, one Mark Weber, has assiduously courted the Muslim world while posturing as an anti-Zionist, causing some persons to wonder just what the Taylor-Weber agenda really may be. Weber is best known today as one of a small group whoworking under the direction of a known long-time CIA operative Andrew E. Allenorchestrated the destruction of The Spotlight newspaper, in its time the one independent American newspaper that regularly and forcefully raised questions about the imbalanced U.S. policy toward Israel and the Arab and Muslim worlds. Taylor and his ilk are thus part and parcel of a malicious and wideranging effort to defame the Arab and Muslim peoples, and the truth is that their impact is being felt at a critical time when the Zionist lobby finds it vital to have its agents inside even the smallestbut still mildly influentialgroups in America.
Individuals such as these use their outreach (however minimal it may be) to bend Americans and others in the West in favor of Israel through attacks on Arabs and Muslims, and this proves critical to Israels imperial goals, in league with the neo-conservative manipulators now dominating American foreign policy.
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of transformation is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing eventlike a new Pearl Harbor. Given that the tragic events of September 11, 2001 provided precisely the new Pearl Harbor that sparked a massive build-up, accompanied by the war on terrorism that transformedthrough neo-conservative influenceinto an imperial war, first targeting Iraq and thence the rest of the Arab and Muslim world, there are many Americans and others who question whether the 9-11 attacks were either instigated and/or sponsored by the United States and/or the government of Israel, acting either together or alone. Such people are denounced as conspiracy theorists and/or as hatemongersfacts notwithstanding. (The special report from American Free Press [AFP]entitled Fifty Unanswered Questions About 9-11contains a wealth of information in this regard that has otherwise, quite notably, gone unmentioned in the mainstream media in America. The work of AFPs international correspondent, Christopher Bollyn, has been frequently cited as among the most forthright in challenging the official U.S. government scenario as to what happened on that tragic day.)
policies put forth by Richard Perles Team B experiment which was described earlier in these pages. In any case, heres what Bamford wrote:
According to documents obtained for Body of Secrets, Lemnitzer and the Joint Chiefs proposed secretly to stage an attack on the American naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cubaand then blame the violent action on Castro. Convinced that Cuba had launched an unprovoked attack on the United States, the unwitting American public would then support the Joint Chiefs bloody Caribbean war. After all, who would believe Castros denials over the word of the Pentagons top military commanders? The nations most senior military leadership was proposed to launch a war, which would no doubt kill many American servicemen, based solely on a fabric of lies. On January 19, just hours before [then-President Dwight] Eisenhower left office, Lemnitzer gave his approval to the proposal. As events progressed, the plan would become only the tip of a very large and secret iceberg.126
A self-described imaginative planner, Lemnitzer kept his initial plan in cold storage. However, after the new Kennedy administrations Bay of Pigs fiasco which left Fidel Castro stronger than ever before, Lemnitzer reinvigorated his scheme under the name Operation Northwoods. Bamford reports that:
The plan, which had the written approval of the chairman and every member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called for innocent people to be shot on American streets; for boats carrying refugees fleeing Cuba to be sunk on the high seas; for a wave of violent terrorism to be launched in Washington, D.C., Miami and elsewhere. People would be framed for bombings they did not commit; planes would be hijacked. Using phony evidence, all of it would be blamed on Castro, thus giving Lemnitzer and his cabal the excuse, as well as the public and international backing, they needed to launch their war.127
What makes this so additionally disturbing is that this was not some wild scheme by mad bombers inside the military. In Bamfords estimation, the idea may actually have originated with President Eisenhower in the last days of his administration.128 Bamford reports that Eisenhower was determined to invade Cuba and that if Castro did not provide an excuse prior to the inauguration of newly-elected President John F. Kennedy, Eisenhower suggested that the United States could think of manufacturing something that would be
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generally acceptable.129 What Eisenhower was suggesting, writes Bamford, was a bombing, an attack, an act of sabotage carried out secretly against the United States by the United States. Its purpose would be to justify the launching of a war. It was a dangerous suggestion by a desperate president.130 Lemnitzer, Eisenhowers protege, was eager to carry out the plan. Lemnitzer also had in mind the possibility of terrorism on American soil by Americans against Americansbut blamed on Castro. This terrorist conspiracy against his fellow Americans was also offered up by Lemnitzer and his advisors who suggested:
We could develop a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington. The terror campaign could be pointed at Cuban refugees seeking haven in the United States . . . . We could sink a boatload of Cubans en route to Florida (real or simulated) . . . . We could foster attempts on lives of Cuban refugees in the United States even to the extent of wounding in instances to be widely publicized.131
Bombings and, notably, even airplane hijackings, were all suggested. Whether Lemnitzers proposals ever actually reached President Kennedy is unknown, writes Bamford, but it is clear that the president was not enamored with the war-mongering general to whom he denied a second term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Yet, following in Lemnitzers tradition, like-minded intellectuals in the defense establishment continued to formulate plans passed on to the military leadership that were designed to provoke a war through a staged terrorist attack. In the end, however, no such plan ever seems to have gone beyond the planning stages, at least as far as Cuba was concerned. The question arises as to whetheron September 11, 2001another uch insidious scheme was carried through to its conclusion. Many Americans will continue to wonder if that is precisely what happened and evidence continues to emerge that suggests that was indeed the case.
Note that the speaker admits that the conflict resulting from the insertion of the Zionist state into Arab territory in Palestine was inevitable. There have been those who have said, for a generation, that this was the whole purpose of the provocative establishment of Israel in the first place. The speaker continued:
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In other words, the crisis in the Middle East began drawing in the rest of the nations of the worldsimilar, precisely, to what is now happening with the ongoing struggle today between the United States and traditional allies such as France and Germany, not to mention the opposition of Russia and China, over the issue of war with Iraqan outgrowth of the Israel-Palestine conflict itself. The scenario painted continues:
We all know that it is impossible for a pyramid to stand freely in such an upside-down manner. So far, it has been supported on its four corners by the rest of the world. Although it has precariously tipped now and then, it has managed to remain more or less upright. But the effort to keep it upright has imposed greater and greater tension on those who support it. Tension is resolved in two ways, our psychologists tell us. One way is through outburst. The other is through withdrawal. The fight-or-flee mechanism which is part of every human beings reaction system. Now, you tell me. Will it be resolved peacefully? Or will it take a world war to bring about a resolution? If my analogy is correct, there can be no question of the ultimate outcome.134
In other words, a world war must result as a consequence of the Israeli-Arab conflict. The scenario proceeds:
One way or the otherwhether one side or the other relaxes its support of the pyramid and withdraws, or whether one side or the other chooses to eradicate its tension through outburstthe pyramid will lose its balance and come tumbling down. Either way, the resolution of the situation will come out of the dust and rubble of the collapsed pyramid. The Israeli-Arab conflict, the very thing that started it all, will be forgotten.135
Again, note the suggestion that the Israeli-Arab conflict is indeed central to the world war described in this frightening outline. The scenario concluded:
East and West will be left to pick over the remains like buzzards dining on carrion. That is, if there still is an East and West.136
Note the closing words: if there still is an East and West. What nations will be allied as the East and which as the West? Are new alignments emergingtaking the place of the traditional Cold War era of USA vs. USSR? Is the Arab worldalong with the rest of mankindsimply a pawn in a much larger game in which the neo-conservatives are only tools themselves? The final outcome of the drive for a world empiredictated by American military might in the hands of a select few, a clique of hard-line neo-conservative war-hawks, the high priests of warremains to be seen. However, based on what we have witnessed thus far, much blood has been shed and will continue to flow. Americas disastrous venture in Iraq is just the beginningand just beginning. Since George W. Bush first declared victory in Iraq, things have only gotten worse. Americas short-lived triumph has been turning into a Vietnam-style debacleand the bodybags continue coming home. The neo-conservative myth about Saddams weapons of mass destruction has long ago been declared the lie that well-informed people knew it was. Many grass-roots Americans are now coming to realize that the pretext for the war against Iraq was nothing more than old-fashioned lies and propaganda, pure and simple. The truth is: the President of the United States lied to the American people and to the entire world. He was influenced in so doing by his neoconservative advisorsliars alland they have effectively set the stage for the deaths of more and more Americans and people worldwide. A world-wide conflagration could indeed be the final result. There is absolutely nothing American or patriotic about the ideological or religious or geo-political motivations of the neo-conservative High Priests of War, although today they claim to be the real patriots, the real leaders, the real fighters for American traditions. Nothing could be further from the truth. Americaand the worldwill be best served by a forthright and unswerving drive to exorcise these predators once and for all. The time has indeed come. Something has to be done.
A FINAL WORD . . .
Who will be ruling America . . . when America is ruling the New World Order?
An examination of the secret agenda behind the agenda of the High Priests of War. The United Nationsas we have known itcan effectively be considered a ghost of the past. The UN has been shelved, sidelined, consigned to the trash heapat least temporarilyby the one world dreamers who once saw the global body as the means of establishing a world hegemon. Todays imperialists now envision Uncle Sam as their officially-designated world policeman or, in their more academic terms the center of a new international system.137 The goal is a world that looks like America, and is therefore safe for all. However, despite the rhetoricwhich might please the ears of many grass-roots American patriots (or those who fancy themselves that)its not quite so simple. Theres more to this agenda than meets the eye. What might be described as The Grand Scheme for a New World Orderin the wake of Americas new imperial rolewas imparted in quite candid fashion in a major two-part policy paper in the Summer 2003 and Winter 2004 issues of The Journal of International Security Affairs, house organ of the definitively influential Jewish Institute for National Security Policy (JINSA), which has been referenced repeatedly in the pages of The High Priests of War. Once a previously little-known Washington think tank, JINSA is now often publicly acknowledged as perhaps the most specific guiding force behind Bush administration foreign policy today. So when something appears in a JINSA publication, theres a lot of weight behind it. The author, Alexander H. Joffe, a pro-Israel academic, has been a featured writer in the pages of this JINSA publication, and that he was given so much space to tout his theories certainly reflects the high regard in which his views are held. Joffes two-part series was entitled The Empire That Dared Not
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Speak Its Name. In his essay, Joffee frankly admitted that America is an empire and asserts that, yes, this is a very good thing. Joffe says that when the UN dared to take on Zionism, that marked the demise of the UN in the minds of the internationalists. Joffe writes: The end of the General Assembly as a credible body may plausibly be ascribed to the infamous Zionism is Racism resolution in 1975. The JINSA author contends that the world should be grateful that the UN has been discredited, reduced to farce and ultimately ground to a halt, referring, of course, to UN positions that the Zionists and their allies in the world empire movement find offensive. As a result of the UN being shelved as a world government vehicle, writes Joffe, We now have the opportunity, and obligation, to begin again. However, he warns that the emerging European Union (EU) is a threat to the dream of a global empire. The JINSA writer asserts that the EU is an alternative vision for the international community, one that, as he puts it, frankly is the authentic countervision to an American Empire. According to the Zionist writer, the biggest problem with Europe and the EU is that culture remains at the core of Europes problems. Nationalism was a doctrine born in Europe, as were its vicious mutant offspring: fascism and communism. (Note: A fervent advocate of Israeli super-nationalism, the writer, Joffe, doesnt seem to see the lack of logic in his attack on other peoples nationalismbut then, again, honesty has never been integral to the hardline Zionist point of view.) Joffe complains that although the new European Empire is multicultural in theory . . . in reality it is dominated politically and culturally by France and economically by Germany. Today, in the EU, he says, driven by a sense of postcolonial guilt and postwar ennui the door have been thrown open to all ideas. At the most sinister levels it has permitted and even legitimized a vast explosion of unhinged thought and action, namely anti-Americanism, anti-Semitism, and a wide variety of conspiracy theories. (The so-called conspiracy theories that so alarm this Zionist theoretician are those that dare to challenge the official views of what really happened on September 11, 2001. He is inflamed that millions of people in Europe and the Muslim worldnot to mention the United States
have raised questions about Israeli foreknowledge and/or involvement in those events.) In any case, what Joffe describes as the other kind of liberal internationalism is what the Zionist movement favors and Joffe defines it:
The American Empire has no real or theoretical competitors. The goal of the American Empire in the 21st century is not territorial control or the exploitation of resources but political and economic leadership which defends and advances American interests, and which promotes the development and well being of all nations. Given our history and our values, that future lies in leveraging the American Empire in such a way that it becomes the basis of a new democratic international system. Ultimately the only answer for a stable and prosperous planet will be a global system that is structurally and morally similar to the American unionsemiautonomous states with secular, liberal democratic systems; where states have both prescribed rights and agreed upon responsibilities in a larger secular, liberal democratic framework; one equipped with checks and balances and meaningful institutions; with governance based on rule of law and tolerant and pluralist values.
In the second-part of his extended essay, published in the Winter 2004 issue of JINSAs journal, Joffe pursued this line of thought further, expanding on his call for what he described as an empire that looks like America.138 Amazingly, Joffe frankly talks about the United States engaging in massive imperial conquests in the trouble-torn regions of Africapresumably after the United States has already made havoc in the Arab countries of the Middle East:
The conditions under which America and its allies would simply take over and restore African countries are far from clear. What are the thresholds for intervention? What are the procedures and outcomes? Who will fight and who will pay? The restoration of Africa would involve long-term commitments and immense costs, of the sort that could only be paid for by Africa itself. That is to say, it would probably require American economic control, to go along with political and cultural control. Colonialism is always pay as you go, and it is not pretty. The question is both whether Africa can pay the price (or afford not to) and whether America has the stomach.
Of course, Africa is not the only target of Joffe and his like-minded schemers (and that is precisely what they are, however, extreme that
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term may be perceived). In fact, Joffe talks of a wide-ranging global agendawell beyond the African continent. In the end, however, Joffe lets the cat out of the bag, about the real intentions of those who are using United States military power as the mechanism for a bigger agenda. New arrangements, he says, must come into being under American leadership to provide an alternative for states that are willing to accept rights and responsibilities. Joffe dreams of a United Nations that has been re-made under the imperial force of the United States. And ultimately, he predicts the possibility of a world government, writing:
Possibly, after a period of chaos and anger, which in any event would simply intensify existing states of being, the institution [the United Nations] might be bludgeoned into changing. [Note his use of the term bludgeoned.MCP] Rather than a club that admits all, the 21st century United Nations might someday, somehowbe remade into an exclusive, by invitation, members-only group, of free, democratic states, sharing similar values. Or in the end, replaced by one. That day, however, may be decades off.
Should there be any doubt that he is talking about world government, note Joffes concluding words:
The best way to preserve the American empire is to eventually give it up. Setting the stage for global governance can only be done with American leadership and American-led institutions of the sort schematically outlined here.
So it is. Despite all the high-sounding rhetoric about democracy, what it all comes down toin the words of this pro-Israel ideologueis the use of Americas military power to advance another (secret) agenda altogether. Even many of those grass-roots American flag-wavers (who may be genuine patriots) who relish the concept of an American empire may find Joffes concepts somewhat different from what they otherwise might perceive. But here, in the pages of a devotedly pro-Zionist journal, we learn precisely what the story behind the story actually happens to be. It has nothing to do, really, even with a strong America or, for that matter, even with America itself.
The United States of America is simply a pawnalbeit a powerful onein the game, being ruthlessly shifted about in a scheme for world dominance by an elite few operating behind the scenes. And, in the end, this does tell us very much about who The High Priests of War really are and what their agenda is really all about. Theres no mystery at all. What remains to be determined is what the American peopleand all other real patriots in nations around the globeintend to do about it. The question is this: will the world finally decide it is time to declare war on The High Priests of War? MICHAEL COLLINS PIPER
Endnotes
1 Reported in multiple media sources including The New York Times on March 15, 2003. 2 Forward, Feb. 28, 2003. (Kinseys cited comments appeared online at Slate magazine at slate.com in an article dated Oct. 24, 2002.) 3 Ibid. 4 Haaretz, April 9, 2003. 5 Philip S. Golub. Inventing Demons. Counterpunch magazine online at counterpunchorg, April 5, 2003. English-language translation republished from LeMonde Diplomatique. 6 Michael Lind. Made in Texas: George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics. (New York: Basic Books, 2003), p. 138. 7 Stanley Heller writing on Feb. 20, 2003 at antiwar.com 8 Professor Paul Gottfried, March 20, 2003 at http://www.lewrockwell.com/gottfried/gottfried47.html. 9 The Sacramento Union, June 29, 1986. 10 Jonathan Clarke. The National Interest. Spring 2001. 11 Michael Lind. Made in Texas: George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics. (New York: Basic Books, 2003), p. 132. 12 Distorting US Foreign Policy: The Israel Lobby and American Power. Michael Lind. Prospect, April 2002. 13 Ibid. 14 Group Urges Pro-Israel Leaders Silence on Iraq. Washington Post, Nov. 27, 2002. 15 Michael Lind. Made in Texas: George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics. (New York: Basic Books, 2003), pp. 140-141. 16 Time, February 17, 2003. 17 Haaretz, February 18, 2003. 18 Ibid. 19 James Bennett writing in The New York Times, Feb. 27, 2003. 20 See ADL website at adl.org. Statement issued dated March 21, 2003. 21 The Bloodstained Path, Dennis Kucinich. The Progressive, November 2002. 22 Statement by Congressman Kucinich found at: http://www.kucinich.us/ 23 US Congressional Record. Senate proceedings. March 19, 2003. 24 Bill and Kathleen Christison, writing in Counterpunch magazine at counterpunch.org, Dec. 13, 2002. 25 Cited by Christison, Ibid. 26 Ibid. 27 Wall Street Journal, March 21, 2003. 28 New York Times, March 24, 2003. 29 Forward, March 21, 2003. 30 Ibid. 31 Ibid. 32 Michael Lind. Made in Texas: George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics. (New York: Basic Books, 2003), p. 138. 33 Benjamin Ginsberg. The Fatal Embrace: Jews and The State. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), 1993., pp. 204-205. 34 The Nation, March 22, 1986. 35 The Neo-Conservatives: The Men Who Are Changing Americas Politics. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979), p. 1.
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ENDNOTES
36 Ibid., p. 81. 37 Frances Stonor Saunders. The Cultural Cold War. (New York: The New Press, 1999). 38 Sidney Blumenthal. The Rise of the Counter-Establishment: From Conservative Ideology to
Political Power. (New York: Times Books, 1986), p. 148. 39 Ibid., p. 159. 40 Sidney Blumenthal, p. 154. 41 The Washington Post, March 19, 2002. 42 Ibid. 43 Eric Alterman. The Nation, Dec. 23, 1986. 44 Stephen D. Isaacs. Jews and American Politics. (New York: Doubleday & Company, 1975), p. 254. 45 Anne Hessing Cahn, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. April 1993. Online at thebulletin.org/issues/1993/a93/a93Teamb.html. 46 Anne Hessing Cahn. Killing Dtente: The Right Attacks the CIA (State College, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998), p. 151. 47 Ibid. p. 30. 48 Ibid., p. 187. 49 The Spotlight, Feb. 5, 1996. 50 Ibid. 51 John Ehrman. The Rise of Neo-Conservatism: Intellectuals and Foreign Affairs, (New Haven, Connecticut: University of Connecticut Press), 1995., p. 112. 52 Ginsberg, p. 205. 53 Ginsberg, p. 205. 54 Richard Gid Powers. Not Without Honor: The History of American Anti-Communism. (New York: Free Press), 1995, p. 393. 55 New York Times, Nov. 23, 1981. 56 John Ehrman, pp. 139-141. 57 Anne Hessing Cahn in Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. April 1993. Online at thebulletin.org/issues/1993/a93/a93Teamb.html. 58 Ibid. 59 The Bryen affair is documented in detail in The Armageddon Network, by Michael Saba. (Brattleboro, Vermont: Amana Books, 1977) 60 Business Week, May 21, 1984. 61 The Washington Post Magazine, April 13, 1986. 62 U.S. Secrets and the Israelis. Boston Globe editorial. August 28, 1986. 63 New York Times, May 3, 1986. 64 All quoted remarks from: Wall Street Journal, Jan. 22, 1992. 65 Ibid. 66 The Weekly Standard, March 17, 2003. 67 Bill Kristol, Keeping Iraq in the Cross Hairs, Washington Post. March 18, 2003. 68 Washington Post, Aug. 21, 2001. 69 All quotations: Ibid. 70 Michael Lind. Made in Texas: George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics. (New York: Basic Books, 2003), p. 131. 71 The Boston Globe, March 23, 2003. 72 Bushs Grand Strategy, Andrew J. Bacevich, American Conservative, Nov. 4, 2002. 73 Americas Age of Empire, Todd Gitlin. Mother Jones, Jan/Feb. 2003. 74 Gitlin, Ibid. 75 In Praise of the Bush Doctrine, Norman Podhoretz, Commentary, Sept. 2002. 76 Ibid.
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77 Ibid. 78 The Washington Post, August 1, 2002. 79 The Washington Post, July 28, 2002. 80 Ibid. 81 Washington Monthly, June 2002. 82 Ibid. 83 Ibid. 84 The Washington Post, Oct. 16, 2002 85 All quotes, Ibid. 86 Ibid. 87 Michael Lind. Made in Texas: George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics. (New York: Basic Books, 2003), pp. 133-134. 88 time.com, Feb. 5, 2003. 89 New York Review of Books, February 13, 2003 90.Ibid. 91 Washington Post, Jan. 13, 2003. 92 The Washington Post, Feb. 9, 2003. 93 Washington Times, Feb. 14, 2003. 94 Michael Ledeen. The War Against the Terror Masters. (New York: Truman Talley Books/St. Martins Press, 2002), pp. 212-213. 95 Ibid., p.236. 96 The Washington Post, Oct. 30, 1993. 97 The New Yorker, April 7, 2003. 98 Michael Lind. Made in Texas: George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics. (New York: Basic Books, 2003), p. 157. 99 The New Republic, Jan. 29, 2001. 100 Kathleen & Bill Christison in Counterpunch magazine at counterpunch.org, Dec. 13, 2002 101 Benjamin Ginsberg. The Fatal Embrace: Jews and The State. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), 1993, p. 211. 102 Lind, p. 149. 103 Born Again Zionists, Ken Silverstein and Michael Scherer, Mother Jones, Sept./Oct. 2002. 104 Ibid. 105 Silverstein & Scherer, Mother Jones. Ibid. 106 Ibid. 107 Lind, p. 148. 108 Ibid. 109 Ibid. 110 Congressional Record, Senate. March 4, 2002. 111 Cited in Michael Lind. Made in Texas: George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics. (New York: Basic Books, 2003), p. 153. 112 The Washington Times, Jan. 22, 2003. 113 The Washington Times, Aug. 13, 2001. 114 Ibid. 115 Until otherwise noted, all quotations which follow are excerpted from: Edward Herman and Gerry OSullivan. The Terrorism Industry: The Experts and Institutions That Shape Our View of Terror. (New York: Pantheon Books, 1989). 116 John F. Sugg, Fair EXTRA, January/February 1999 at www.fair.org/extra/9901/emerson.html 117 Anis Shivani, writing in Counterpunch magazine at counterpunch.org, Sept. 14-15, 2002. 118 Ibid.
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ENDNOTES
119 Ibid. 120 New York Times, April 5, 2003. 121 Cited by Lamis Andoni, writing in Bernard Lewis: In the Service of Empire published online at The Electronic Intifada, Dec. 16, 2002 (see electronicIntifada.net). 122 Ibid. 123 Ibid. 124 American Renaissance, Nov. 1993. 125 American Free Press, March 11, 2002. 126 James Bamford, Body of Secrets. (New York: Doubleday, 2001), p. 71. 127 Ibid., p. 82. 128 Ibid. 129 Ibid., p. 83. 130 Ibid. 131 Ibid., pp. 84-85. 132 Thomas Kiernan. The Arabs. (Boston: Little Brown & Company, 1975), p. 425. 133 Ibid. 134 Ibid., p. 426. 135 Ibid. 136 Ibid. 137 Until otherwise noted, the cited quotations which follow are taken from the Summer 2003 Journal of International Security Affairs, published by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs in Washington, D.C. See their website at JINSA.org. 138 Until otherwise noted, the cited quotations which follow are taken from the Winter 2004 Journal of International Security Affairs, published by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs in Washington, D.C. See their website at JINSA.org.
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This map illustrates what the hard-line American neo-conservatives and their allies in Israel perceive to be the ultimate boundaries of what is known as Greater Israel. Although the neo-conservatives deny this is their goal, the truth is that numerous Zionist leaders, over the years, have frankly outlined the dream of Greater Israel. Note that the borders of Greater Israel incorporate quite a bit of territory that the non-Jewish people of the world recognize as belonging to other countries. In fact, most people (even many well-informed intellectuals) have no idea this concept of Greater Israel is integral to the neo-conservative point of view and that the American war against Iraq was a first step in the drive toward the goal of achieving Greater Israel. The policies of the neo-conservative clique that controls the administration of American President George W. Bush (bottom left) are aligned ideologically and geopolitically with Israels hard-line Likud expansionists allied with Israels Ariel The Butcher Sharon (top right).
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The resources of media baron Rupert Murdoch (left) are a primary force behind the proIsrael neo-conservative propaganda network. His publications such as The New York Post and The Weekly Standard are major voices for Israels interests. Murdochs critics contend he is essentially a highly-paid front man for billionaire patrons of Israel as Edgar Bronfman, Sr. (center), longtime chief of the World Jewish Congress, and Lord Jacob Rothschild (right) of the legendary European banking empire. Murdochs propaganda is supplemented by other pro-Israel publishers such as Mortimer Zuckerman (bottom left) who has been chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and who owns U.S. News & World Report, The Atlantic, and The New York Daily News, Martin Peretz (bottom center) publisher of the influential New Republic, and Korean cult leader Sun Myung Moon (bottom right), a creation of the CIA-controlled Korean intelligence agency. Moons Washington Times newspapervirtually a Republican house organis the must read neo-conservative daily in the nations capital.
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William Kristol (left) and his father, Irving Kristol (right) are the leading publicists for the Israeli lobbys neo-conservative network. The younger Kristola ubiquitous talking head in the media, which gives him endless publicityacts as publisher/editor of Rupert Murdochs Weekly Standard and operates two major organizations, Empower America and the Project for the New American Century. The elder Kristolwho began as a devoted American follower of Soviet gangster Leon Trotsky (bottom left) and who was later associated with two CIA-funded cultural organizationsis the driving force behind two influential journals, The National Interest and The Public Interest and has been the veritable godfather of the neo-conservative movement, even promoting a war against terrorism long before the 9-11 terrorist attacks. The Kristols are closely connected to the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation which funds many neo-conservative front groups. A longtime Kristol collaborator, going back more than 50 years, is fellow ex-Trotskyite Norman Podhoretz (bottom right), whose considerable clout came through his years as editor of Commentary, the influential neo-conservative journal of the American Jewish Committee. Podhoretzs son, John, initially joined William Kristol at The Weekly Standard but is now ensconced at Murdochs New York Post penning pro-Israel screeds.
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As far back as the early 1970s, Richard Perle (left) and Frank Gaffney (center) were key operatives for the Israeli lobby on Capitol Hill, working out of the office of then-Senator Henry M. Scoop Jackson, a fanatically pro-Israel Democrat from Washington (right) whose presidential ambitions were largely financed by supporters of Israel. While on Jacksons staff, Perle was investigated by the FBI on charges of espionage on behalf of Israel, although the investigation was quashed. Today Perle and Gaffney are key figures in the neo-conservative pro-Israel propaganda network. Other longtime close associates of Perle include former Reagan administration National Security Council staffer Michael Ledeen (bottom left), who actually called for the creative destruction of the Arab world, Elliott Abrams (bottom center), the son in law of Norman Podhoretz (ex-Trotskyite associate of neo-conservative godfather Irving Kristol) and former Navy Secretary John Lehman (bottom right), who once joined Perle in a venture promoting the interests of an Israeli weapons manufacturer. Abrams is now the Middle East specialist on the George W. Bush administrations National Security Council. Lehman is a member of the commission ostensibly investigating the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
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During the closing days of the Gerald Ford administration (1974-1976), Richard Perle was a key figure in official Washington organizing and promoting the Team B of pro-Israel hard-liners working to advance Israels cause in the U.S. military and intelligence community. One longtime CIA official who strenuously objected toand worked behind the scenes to combatTeam Bs pro-Israel propagandizing, John Paisley (left) was murdered, almost certainly by Israels Mossad. Notable among the hawks Perle recruited to Team B was Paul Wolfowitz (center), who, todayas Deputy Defense Secretaryis the most influential maker of foreign policy in the Dubya Bush administration. Wolfowitz and his deputy, Douglas Feith (right), another veteran advocate for Israel, are the real powers behind Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (bottom left). A Wolfowitz protg, I. Lewis Scooter Libby (bottom center), runs the office of Vice President Dick Cheney (bottom right). Prior to the vice presidency, Cheney demonstrated his devotion to Israel by serving on the board of the Perle-connected Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs.
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Shown sharing a toast (above) are businessman Michael Saba (left) and the veteran journalist to whom this book is dedicated, Andrew St. George (right). The two worked closely together for years seeking to publicize the Israeli espionage scandal involving Richard Perles longtime associate Stephen J. Bryen (far right). Saba wrote a book about the Bryen affair, The Road to Armageddon, while his friend St. George wrote extensively about the scandal in the pages of The Spotlight, one of the few publications to dare to delve into the matter. Saba, an Arab-American civil rights activist, happenedby pure chanceto be in a Washington, D.C. coffee shop at the very time Bryen (then a high-ranking congressional staffer) was passing classified U.S. defense secrets to Israeli operatives. Saba overheard the intrigue, and recognizing Bryen, reported what happened to the FBI. Although a JewishAmerican federal prosecutor wanted to indict Bryen for espionage, pressure from Bryens highly-placed allies resulted in the indictment being quashed. Bryen was later rewarded with a top post in the Reagan administration Defense Department as deputy to Richard Perle and later founded the influential Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs which is today seen as the guiding force behind the Bush administrations foreign policy. No account of the lunacy and fanaticism rampant within neo-conservative circles would be complete without reference to one of Israels most devoted advocates in Washington, Attorney General John Ashcroft (right), shown before the classic statueThe Spirit of Justiceat the Department of Justice. This photo was taken before Ashcroft spent $8,000 in taxpayers money to cover up the bosom of this fabulous work of classic art because it offended his sensibilities. Ashcroft is said to be frightened of calico cats (inset) because, for religious reasons, he considers them tools of the devil. Evidence of peculiar activity by known Israeli intelligence operatives on American soil before and on the day of the 9-11 attackshas been dismissed by Ashcroft as an urban legend. It is not.
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A senior player in Richard Perles power network is aging Team B veteran Paul Nitze (left), who, in the early 1960s, was involved in the recently exposed Operation Northwoods scheme by another pro-Israel stalwart, General Lyman Lemnitzer (center), to stage terrorist attacks on American soil to be falsely blamed on Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. A younger Perle protege is Daniel Pipes (right), the son of Perles Team B recruit Richard Pipes. Virulently anti-Arab and anti-Muslim, Pipes has always received vast and friendly media publicity. George W. Bush rewarded Pipes for his hate-mongering with an appointment to the U.S. Institute of Peace which, considering Pipes presence, is clearly misnamed.
Christopher Bollyn (above) was one of the first journalists to reveal that key neo-conservatives had actually proclaimed a new Pearl Harbor could provide a pretext for the U.S to launch a drive for a global imperium. This indeed became the case when Dubya Bush launched war against Iraq, having deceived many Americans, through outright lies, that Iraq had played a part in the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Actually, as far back as 1975, infamous intriguer Henry Kissinger (left) was suggesting a Middle East war could provide the foundation for establishing a realigned world of the type of which the neo-conservatives dream.
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Three characters who promote Israels agenda within the so-called Christian Right all owe their careers to the patronage of neo-conservative kingpins William and Irving Kristol. William Bennett (left)named Ronald Reagans Education Secretary with Irving Kristols supportgave young Kristol his first high-level government job. Since then Bennett has become a highly-paid author and lecturer and is a co-chair of Kristols Empower America operation. Former Ambassador Alan Keyes (center), young Kristols college roommate, made lots of money seeking various offices, paying himself big salaries out of his campaign funds. Gary Bauer (right)who shares a vacation condominium with Kristoldeclares support for Israel central to Christian family values. Critics contend the no-chance candidacies of Keyes and Bauer in the 2000 GOP presidential primaries were instigated by William Kristol who hoped their efforts would draw votes away from Pat Buchanana critic of Israelwho was popular among Christian voters because of his opposition to abortion. Significantly more influential on the Christian Right are televangelists (bottom, left to right) Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Tim LaHaye. The trio has reaped immense profits in broadcasting and publishing deals made possible only because they have been approved by powerful pro-Israel families and interests who have an immense, undeniable influence in the media.
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When those who control the media agenda want a scholarly face to promote attacks on the Arab and Muslim worlds, they turn to Bernard Lewis (left), a British native of the Jewish faith, who is dubbed an authority on the Islamic world, but whose own ethnic antecedents are never mentioned. Lewiswho drapes his bigotry in elegant proseis the father of a top figure in AIPAC, the lobby for Israel. When the media wants sensational stories of Arab conspiracies, they hype the theories of so-called terrorism expert Steven Emerson (center) who is not an expert, but simply a well-paid hack writer funded by multiple pro-Israel sources. A particularly shrill neo-conservative hate-peddler, Charles Krauthammer (right)a psychiatristturned-pundit who has called for an all-out U.S. war against the Muslim worldsurpasses even neo-conservative stalwart George Will in his obsessive interest in endless jabbering about how wonderful Israel is and how awful anyone who criticizes Israel is. Two close friends, former GOP members of Congress, Newt Gingrich (left) and Vin Weber (right) are reliable voices for the neo-conservative agenda. Gingrichs wife even received a stipend from an Israeli firm while Newt was in Congress. When nailed in the House check-kiting scandal and forced out of office, Webers courtship of Israel paid off: William Kristol drafted Weber to cochair his Empower America unit. Weber and Gingrich have also been recruited to the Council on Foreign Relations, American cousin to the Rothschild-funded Royal Institute for International Affairs in London.
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Senators John McCain (R-Ariz)leftand Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.)centerwere among the most strident congressional advocates of war against Iraq. Another pro-Israel fanatic, Sen. James Inhofe (right), an Oklahoma Republican, actually claimed on the Senate floor that God opened a spiritual door that allowed the 9-11 attack on the United States because the United States had not been sufficiently supportive of Israel. In contrast, Rep. Jim Moran, a liberal Democrat from Virginia (bottom left), was subjected to national media abuse for suggesting the American Jewish community had enough clout to stop the push for war against Iraq. The media reportedonly once and in passingthat Morans remarks were in response to a friendly question from one of Morans Jewish constituents who agreed with Morans opposition to the war. West Virginias Sen. Robert Byrd (bottom center) and Ohios Rep. Dennis Kucinich (bottom right) were among the most eloquent and outspoken members of Congress fighting the schemes of the neo-conservatives to bring America into war. The pro-Israel owners of the major broadcast networks and newspapers paid back Kucinich by imposing a virtual blackout on his 2004 presidential campaign.
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Although President George W. Bush (left) frequently described Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (center) as the guy who tried to kill my dad, referring to a flimsy and apparently baseless conspiracy theory alleging a plot by Saddam against former President George H. W. Bush (right), what the younger Bush never mentions is that his fathers friend and fellow Republican, former Illinois Rep. Paul Findley (bottom left) revealed in 1992 that former Israeli intelligence officer Victor Ostrovsky (bottom center) had exposed a 1991 plot by a right-wing faction in Israels Mossad to kill the elder Bush, who they perceived as a threat to Israel. Ostrovsky provided the details to former Rep. Pete McCloskey (bottom right), another Bush friend, who then conveyed a warning about the plot to the Secret Service. In his 1994 book, The Other Side of Deception, Ostrovsky reported the Mossad planned to assassinate Bush during a conference in Madrid. Having captured three Palestinian extremists, the Mossad leaked word to the Spanish police that terrorists were on their way to Madrid. The plan was to kill Bush, release the Palestinians on the scene and kill them on the spot. Bushs assassination would be blamed on the Palestiniansanother Mossad false flag. The major media has never once reported this shocking story.
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In January of 2001, while grassroots Republicans were celebrating the new Bush administration and cheering greatly admired Gen. Colin Powellthe military hero newlyappointed as secretary of statereaders of Jewish newspapers such as Forward were being given a very negative picture of Powell. In a front-page headline story on Jan. 19, 2001 (above), Forward announced the Israeli lobby was leery of Powell and that the hawksthe neo-conservatives were maneuvering to limit his power over foreign policy and boost that of [Defense Secretary] Donald Rumsfeld. As the neo-conservatives began banging the drum for war against Iraq, media voices such as World Jewish Congress chief Edgar Bronfmans Time (inset) and then Newsweek and its sister publication, The Washington Post, followed Forwards lead and began questioning Powells capabilities. Essentially, Powells crime was being insufficiently supportive of the demands by the neo-conservativesmost of whom never served in the militarythat Americans be sent as cannon fodder for Israel in a war against Iraq. Among the most strident pro-war advocates of American imperialism have been (bottom, left to right) Commentary, published by the New York chapter of the American Jewish Committee, Rupert Murdochs Weekly Standard (edited by William Kristol) and U.S. News & World Report, owned by Mort Zuckerman, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
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In March of 2003on the eve of the American invasion of IraqMichael Collins Piper, the author of The High Priests of War, was in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as the invited guest of the distinguished Zayed Centre for Coordination and Follow-Up, the official think tank of the League of Arab States. Pipers lecture, on the topic of American media bias in favor of Israel, received highly favorable news coverage in the Arabic and English-language press in the Middle East (see above). However, Piper was shocked to learn thatprodded by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of Bnai Brith the Bush administrations ambassador to the UAE contacted the Zayed Centre to complain about Pipers lecture, attempting to quash an American citizens First Amendment rights while he was on foreign soil. The ADL and the Mossad-linked Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) continued to raise such a ruckus about the lectures by Piper and others at the Zayed Centre that the Bush administration finally put so much pressure on the government of Abu Dhabi that the Zayed Centre was shut down, demonstrating that Israeli lobby power even extends, at least indirectly, into the upper reaches of the Arab world.
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In 1992 former Rep. Paul Findley remarked that in all the words written about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Israels intelligence agency, the Mossad, has never been mentioned, despite the obvious fact Mossad complicity is as plausible as any of the other theories. However, in 1994, in his book Final Judgment (right) Michael Collins Piper author of The High Priests of Wardocumented the Mossad roles alongside the CIA in the JFK conspiracy. Although never in any major bookstore, some 45,000 copies of Final Judgment are now in circulationmore than more widelypublicized books on the topic. Now in its 768-page 6th edition (ordering coupon on page 127) Final Judgment explains how JFKs murder set the stage for the Israeli lobby to achieve the immense political power it has today. The book documents that in 1963 JFK (bottom left) was embroiled in a bitter secret conflict with Israeli leader David Ben-Gurion over Israels drive to build the atomic bomb. Ben-Gurion resigned in disgust, saying that because of JFK, Israels existence [was] in danger. Upon JFKs assassination, U.S. policy toward Israel began an immediate 180-degree turnabout. Final Judgment documents what Israeli journalist Barry Chamish says is a pretty cogent case for Mossad involvement in JFKs murder. The fact is that when New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison prosecuted trade executive Clay Shaw with conspiracy in the assassination, Garrison had stumbled on the Mossad link: Shaw served on the board of Permindex, a front for Mossad arms procurement operations. A key Permindex shareholder, the Swiss-based Banque De Credit Internationale, was the fiefdom of Tibor Rosenbaum, a top Mossad official, and chief money laundry for Meyer Lansky, chairman of the crime syndicate and Israeli loyalist. The CEO of Permindex was Louis Bloomfield of Montreal, an operative of the Bronfman family, intimate Lansky associates and leading patrons of Israel. Final Judgment points out that James Angleton, the CIAs Mossad liaison, was a devoted partisan of Israel who orchestrated a false scenario linking accused assassin Lee Oswald to the Soviet KGB. Even mainstream organized crime sources note that leading Mafia figures accused of being behind the assassination were Lansky subordinates. Perhaps Oliver Stone failed to mention these details in JFK because his film was financed by Arnon Milchan, an Israeli arms dealer linked to smuggling of materiel to Israels nuclear programthe point of contention between JFK and Israel. Although Israeli diplomat Uri Palti called Pipers thesis nonsense, and pro-Israel columnist George Will declared it vicious intellectual licentiousness, The Los Angeles Times grudgingly admitted that Final Judgment was novel indeed, saying it weave[s] together some of the key threads in a tapestry that many say is unique. The very week in 1997 the American Library Association sponsored Banned Books Week, the Anti-Defamation Leaguea leading cog in the Israeli lobbycreated an uproar, forcing cancellation of a college seminar on the JFK assassination because Piper had been invited to speak. The ADL feared impressionable students might take Piper seriously, but they believed those same kids were old enough to fight in foreign wars to protect Israel.
Index
n effort has been made to make this index as broad-ranging as possible. Although the index largely focuses on proper names, there has also been an effort to include some subject listings, along with cross-references. Unfortunately, because of the fact that the neo-conservative movement in the United States has become so intermeshed with that of the hard-right Likud bloc in Israel, along with Jewish and Christian fundamentalist groups, both foreign and domestic, the distinctions often become quite blurred. Indeed, the truth is that the term Israeli lobby itself has almost become synonymous with that of the term neo-conservative network. And although the neo-conservatives often howl hysterically that neo-conservative is often used as a subtle way of describing someone who is Jewish, nothing could be further from the truth, particularly since some of the most fervent critics of the neo-conservatives and of Israeli excesses happen to be Jewish. Despite all this, the index should prove helpful. Weve provided additional explanatory material where appropriate, especially when it illuminates the character of the individual or organization being referenced. Godwho is known, by the way, in the Arab world, as Allah smiles on those who have the patience to assemble a comprehensive index. Persons whose photographs appear in the photo section are noted in italics.
Bauer, Gary, 35, 116 Bennett, William, 20, 22, 35, 116 Big Oil & Zionism, 57-59 Bilderberg Group, 22 Bollyn, Christopher, 92, 115 Bolton, John, 9, 12, 13, 20, 55 Boody, Robert, 80 Boot, Max, 42 Bradley Foundation, Lynde & Harry, 22, 36, 37, 111 Bronfman, Edgar, 19, 51, 74, 110 Brownback, Sam, 72 Bryen, Stephen, 23, 29, 30-34 Bryen (Stephen) Espionage Scandal, 30-32 Buchanan, Pat, 35, 43 Bush, George H. W., 41-42, 58, and Mossad plot to kill him: 61; 119 Bush, George W., 2, 5, 20, 24, 40-42, 43-45, 45-47, as religious fanatic: 46, 67, allied with Sharon: 54-56, 57-59, 61, 66, 86, 91, 109, 119 Byrd, Robert, 11, 118 Clement, Richard, 27
Abraham, Spencer, 20 Abrams, Elliott, 13, 20, 27, 112 Allen, Andrew E., CIA and Mossad operative, 90 American Empire essentially a Zionist project, 99-103 American Enterprise Institute, 5, 12, 22 American Free Press (alternative national weekly paper), 14, 22, 32, 57-59, 79, 89, 92 American Jewish Committee, 38, endorses Jared Taylor: 88 Anderson, John, 80 Anti-Defamation League (ADL), 9, 68, 75, 79 Anti-Muslim and Anti-Arab hate-mongering, 83-90 Anti-terrorism propaganda and legislation (pre-9-11), 69, 80-87 Ashcroft, John, 68-69, terrified of calico cats and scantically-clad classical statues: 114 Ashcroft staff member attacks Gentiles as goyim, 68 Bacevich, Andrew, 43-45
124
Cannistraro, Vince, 84 Case, Clifford, 23 Castro, Fidel, 92-94 Center for Security Policy, 36, 38 Cheney, Dick, 12, 13, 34, 41, 86, 91, 113 China and Israel, 33-34 Christensen, Arne, 64 Christian Coalition, 39, 73 Christian critics of Zionism, NeoConservatism, 78-80 Christian fundamentalists allied with Jewish fundamentalists, 68-76 Christian Right & Neo-Conservatives, 67-76 CIA (and American racists), 88 CIA conflict with neo-conservative Team B, 24-27 CIA funded American Trotskyites, 18 Clinton, William, 54, 62-63 Cohen, Eliot, 35 Committee for a Free World, 28 Committee on the Present Danger, 27, 28, 92 Council on Foreign Relations, 22, 35, 38, 39, 63, 64, 66 Creative Destruction of the Arab world (neoconservative theory), 60-61, Crowley, Dale, Jr., 78-79 Cuba (to be blamed for terrorism), 92-94 Decter, Midge, 29, 35 Delay, Tom, 72 Donnelly, Thomas, 36, 41 DSouza, Dinesh, 42 Eisenhower, Dwight D., 93-94 Emerson, Stephen, 37, 83-84, 88, 117 Empower America, 22, 35, 38, 64 Falwell, Jerry, 59, 70-71, 78, 79, 116 Feith, Douglas, 12, 13, 34, 42, 49, 55, 71-72 Fifty Unanswered Questions About 9-11, (report from American Free Press), 92 Final Judgment, by Michael Collins Piper, 122 Findley, Paul, 61, 119 Foxman, Abe, 68, 75 Fradkin, Hillel, 36 Franks, Tommy, 49 Friedman, George, said Israel was big winner on 9-11, 59
INDEX
Gaffney, Frank, 36, 38, 72, 112 Gerecht, Reuel,, 37 Gingrich, Marianne, 64 Gingrich, Newt, 64, 117 Goyim (racist term used by Ashcroft-Bush staffer to describe non-Jews), 68 Greater Israel, 2, 57-59, 67 Hannah, John, 13 Heritage Foundation, 81 Himmelfarb, Gertrude, 15, 29 Hubbard, Al 20 Indyk, Martin, 62-63 Inhofe, James, 72-73, 118 Israeli propaganda and terrorism, 80-84 Jackson, Henry M., 5, 12, 23, 24, 25, 36, 78 Jewish fundamentalists aligned with Christian fundamentalists, 68-76 Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), 13, 31, 33-34, 42, 81, targets United Nations: 99-103 JINSA: see Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. Joffe, Alexander, 99-103 Johnson, Paul, 42 Joyce, Michael, 37 Kagan, Donald, 37 Kagan, Frederick, 37 Kagan, Robert, 6-7, 37, 53, Kampelman, Max, 28 Kass, Leon 20 Kemp, Jack, 22 Kennedy, John F., 93-94, assassination: 122 Keyes, Alan, 116 Kissinger, Henry, 22, 38, 66, plan for world war: 95-97, 115 Krauthammer, Charles, obsessive-compulsive advocate for Israel, 8, 37, 42-43, 64, 117 Kristol, Irving, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 28, 3539, 45, 81, 111 Kristol, William, 4, 5, 6, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 29, 34, 35-39, 41-42, 45, 52, 63, 81, 91, 111 Kucinich, Dennis, 10-11, 118 La Haye, Tim, 59, 74-76, 79, 116 Lake, W. Anthony, 63 Laquer, Walter, 82
INDEX
Ledeen, Michael, 29, 60-61, 82 Lefkowitz, Jay, 20 Lehman, John, 36, 37-38, 112 Lemnitzer, Lyman, 92-94, 115 Lewis, Bernard, 85-88, 117 Libby, I. Lewis, 12, 20, 113 Lieberman, Joseph, 52, 77-78, 118 Likud Party of Israel (allied with neo-conservatives), 2, 5, 12, 19, 49, 51-52, 54-56, 57 Lisker, Joel, 30 Luttwak, Edward, 82 Marcos, Ferdinand, targeted by neo-conservatives, 38 McCain, John, 20, 38, 62, 64-66, 118 McConnell, John, 20 McCloskey, Paul (Pete), 61, 119 Media attacks Vatican, 76-77 Media promotes dispensationalism, 74-76 Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), 13, attacks Michael Collins Piper: 121 Military targeted by neo-conservatives, 47-51 Moon, Sun Myung, 76, 78, 110 Moran, Jim, 1, 118 Mossad and JFK assassination, 122 Mossad plot to kill GHW Bush, 61 Mossad targets Michael Collins Piper: 121-122 Murdoch, Rupert, 5, 6, 19, 38, 64, 110 Neo-conservatives & anti-Europeanism, 52-54, Neo-conservatives & Christian Right, 67-73 Neo-conservatives & new imperialism, 40-45 New World Order scenario by Henry Kissinger: 95-97 Nitze, Paul, 25, 27, 28, 35, 115 Operation Northwoods, 93 (generally, 9294) Oppenheimer family, 19 Ostrovsky, Victor, 61, 84, 119 Overthrow.com, 89-90 Paisley, John, 26-27, 113 Pearl Harbor (9-11 as new Pearl Harbor), 91-92 Peretz, Martin, 38, 110 Perle, Richard, 4, 5, 6, 12, 14, 23, 24, 29, 30,
125
31, 32-34, 36-38, 42, 48, 52, 55, 78, 92, 112 Pike, Winston Ted and Alynn, 79 Piper, Michael Collins, targeted by Mossad: 121-122 Pipes, Daniel, 25, 115 Pipes, Richard, 25 Podhoretz, Norman, 29, 35, 38, 45-47, 88, 111 Podhoretz, John, 35, 38, 111 Pomerantz, Steve, 84 Powell, Colin, 12, 21, 49, 120 Preston, Don, 80 Preterist movement, 79-80 Project for the New American Century, 6, 22, 36, 37, 41, 91 Quayle, Dan 6, 20 Reagan, Ronald (and neo-conservatives), 5, 12, 16, 18, 19, 28-29, 31, 32-33, 38, 46 Rees, Matthew, 20 Revell, Oliver (Buck), 84 Rittenhouse, E. Stanley, 79 Robertson, Pat, 59, 79, 116 Rockefeller family, 22, 63 Rockefeller, Nelson, 33 Rodman, Peter 12 Rogue States Rollback plan by neo-conservatives, 62-66, Rostow, Eugene, 27, 28 Rothschild, Lord Jacob (and family), 19, 22, 63, 64, 79, 110 Royal Institute of International Affairs, 22, 63 Rumsfeld, Donald, 29, 49, 50, 86, 87, 91, 113 Saba, Michael, 30, 32, 114 Safire, William, 64 Scaife, Richard Mellon, 84 Schiller, Rabbi Meyer, 90 Schumer, Charles, 68-69 Scofield, Cyrus, 79 Scully, Matthew, 20 September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, 59, 9192, 94 Shahak, Israel, 59 Sharon, Ariel, 2, 5, 8, 9, 36, 51, allied with Bush: 54-57, 67, 109 Shattan, Joseph, 20 Solarz, Stephen, 38
126
Steyn, Mark, 42 St. George, Andrew, 24, 26, 32, 114 Team B Affair, 24-27, 92 Terrorism Industry (pre-9-11), 80-83 Trotsky, Leon (and Trotskyites), 15-17, 18, 33 Troy, Tevi, (Ashcroft staffer-turned-Bush advisor called non-Jews goyim), 68 US racists attack Arabs, Muslims, 88-90 U.S.S. Liberty, 39 USSR (Neo-conservatives misrepresent Soviet intentions), 24-27, 29 Taylor, Jared, 88-90, endorsed by Rabbi Meyer Schiller, 90 United Nations targeted by neo-cons, 99-103 Vatican targeted by neo-conservatives, media, 76-77 Vidal, Gore, 17 Walker, Charls, 28 Walters, John, 20
INDEX
Weber, Mark, associated with anti-Arab agitator: 90 Weber, Vin, 22, 38, 64, 117 Wehner, Peter, 20 White, Bill (overthrow.com) 89-90 Wittmann, Marshall, 39 Wohlstetter, Albert, 24 Wolfowitz, Paul, 12, 13-14, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 34, 35, 36, 38, 41, 42, 49, 50, moves against military: 50-51, 71, 72, 86, 87, 91, 113 Wurmser, David, 12, 55, Wurmser, Meyrav, 12 World Jewish Congress, 51, 74 Zakheim, Dov, 12 Zionism & the new imperialism, 45-47, 51-52, 54-56, 57-59, Zionism & Big Oil, 57-59 Zuckerman, Mortimer, 110, 120
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In THE HIGH PRIESTS OF WAR, Ive examined the hard-line neo-conservative forces that constitute the backbone of the Israeli lobby today. They have exercised their power in a manner that has led to tragedy for America and the world and which is certain to lead to further disasters in the near future. They are shameless criminals of the worst sort and I do not hesitate to say it. Writing about these subjects is radical and controversial, but, as they say, its a dirty job and someone has to do it. I make no apologies for telling the truth. Thats why I have appreciated the continuing expressions of support and constructive criticism Ive received from my readers over the years. I always look forward to your e-mails and letters and hearing what you have to say. Sincerely,