Recently received an email from the Council for the National Interest, Washington, DC with an invitation to visit their website. On their front page, I saw what appears to be their latest advertisement, one that appeared in the New York Times on Sunday, November 5th, 2006, which they still seem to be featuring. It is freely distributed by the Council and I felt that it could make for lively discussion by people interested in the Middle East, the hotbed of our foreign policy.
This NYT ad is about a very controversial subject and not everyone will agree with its premises. The role of the Israel Lobby in US foreign policy is extremely contentious as its past discussion attest. It has stirred opinions that extend from full derision to full confirmation. But what is the extent of Israel Lobby influence? Was Iraq done for Israel sake and will whatever is in store for Iran likewise be laid at the Israel Lobby’s doorstep. That’s what the Council seems to imply in this NYT’s ad.
Questions the ad asks, once again:
Did the Israel Lobby encourage the preemptive war with Iraq?
Is the Israel Lobby currently encouraging a US attack on Iran?
Is the Israel Lobby stand attempting to block a real two state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
For publication sake, I had to break the ad up, but I hope that the essentials of its message are plain.
This cartoon, part of the ad, speaks for itself.
The views represented in this ad belong to the Council for the National Interest. But they are food for thought for anyone else interested in where the Middle East has been and where it may be going.