it is ridiculous to suppose that they are single- handedly shaping administration policy
Yes, it would be ridiculous to claim that we're going to war because of the single-handed influence of Jews, and possibly "verging on anti-Semitism." But that's not what he said. If one were sensitive about conspiracy theories, one might have heard that, and that may have been what he meant, but I rather doubt that.
What he said was "If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this." Which could just as easily mean that if prominent Jewish leaders, who have a lot of interest and influence in Middle East policy, were to oppose or express ambivalence about the war, the Administration would be hard pressed to pursue it. And the public opinion of the non-Jewish 98 percent of the population would be influenced, as well, likely enough to get the polls down to less than majority support. And if Israel, itself, were not to favor the war... |
