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Complimentary to BooMan’s new fp story – Bob Menendez is a Problem.
- “Among elected officials from New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie is not the biggest asshole. That designation belongs to Sen. Bob Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who is actively undermining the administration’s foreign policy and making war much more likely with Iran. The White House is seething, and they want everyone to know it.”
Israeli leaders are more united, Netanyahu’s cabinet and the Knesset, to withstand White House pressure on the Palestinian issue. Since the Oslo Accords brokered under George Bush the Elder and James Baker III, Netanyahu first term, Sharon, Olmert and Netanyahu today have strategically increased settlement expansion and new outposts throughout the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and the Jordan Valley. Israel is about to close the Jerusalem-Jericho corridor with massive building of houses. Israel is using these advances to make any Palestinian peace proposal fail. Israel’s support to Islamophobia in the western world puts scandulous pressure on governments through the rise of right-wing populist politicians.
Israel wanted to attack Iran during the Bush years but didn’t have the backing of its own intelligence community and military leadership. Netanyahu has mustered his political allies to replace many opponents in both entities. Netanyahu’s biggest asset is the US Congress, a group of fat ass politicians waiting to strike it rich in K Street or a corporate position. The popular support for the men and women in Washington is abhorrently low. It’s of no concern to these “representatives.”
The Jewish community in the US is NOT supportive of Netanyahu and his policy towards the Palestinians and aggression towards Iran. Syria and Iran are today’s boogeymen as the Middle-East is set on fire. If Israel strikes Iran, the next step will be to cleanse the West Bank and transfer Palestinians across borders to Arab nations for “security reasons.”
The policy of Israel towards its neighbours Lebanon (1982-2000) and Syria has left many, many scars. Obama and Kerry rightfully stepped back from entering the civil/sectarian war in Syria and should be applauded. Instead the Neocon and Aipac crowd are in a united last-ditch effort to pull the rug from under a diplomatic solution to Syria – Iran – and Palestine.
From Robert Gates’ book of errors …
In another review of the book, Gates offers insight into the leadership of George W. Bush …
Robert Gates: Israel too influential in Bush-era White House
WASHINGTON — Former US defense secretary Robert Gates says in a new memoir that he worried Israel and Saudi Arabia had too much influence in the George W. Bush White House.
He also writes in the book — “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War,” which is set for release next week by Knopf — that President Barack Obama grew frustrated with US policy in Afghanistan and that Vice President Joe Biden has been wrong on nearly every foreign policy and national security issue.
He clearly admired Bush never looking back on it or having second thoughts. In a section where he addresses his relationships with the prominent members of the Bush White House, Gates makes clear he viewed the president as a “mature leader” who was also intellectually strong and confident in his abilities.
Israel and Saudi Arabia ‘wanted Iran taken care of while Bush was still president’
During his time as secretary of defense, Gates says one of his main goals was to keep the U.S. from entering another military conflict while Afghanistan and Iraq were still raging. However, on issues like Iran and Syria, Gates faced some in the White House (notably then-Vice President Dick Cheney) who wanted to use military action to “solve” problems in those countries. While Gates says he is a strong supporter of Israel, he writes that he “worried about the influence of the Israelis and the Saudis in the White House… and their desire to have problems like Iran `taken care of’ while Bush was still president.”
Later, during a debate over support for enhanced Israeli strike capabilities, after Gates outlined his opposition, he writes that, “Cheney spoke next, and I knew what was coming … The United States should give Israel everything it wanted.”
Jeffrey Goldberg – Israel Could Do Grave Harm to US Interests
- ○ Aipac’s Tortured Role in Iran Nuclear Talks: Tear Down Deal, While Appearing to Support It
○ Kerry Ends ME Visit – ‘EU Boycott an Anti-Zionist Conspiracy’
○ Fear Inc: Funding Islamophobia in America and Dutch politician Geert Wilders
