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Politics : Israel to U.S. : Now Deal with Syria and Iran -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BubbaFred who wrote (5166)	5/29/2004 5:22:09 PM
From: Crimson Ghost	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 22250

ADMIRAL ZINNI SAYS WAR WAS PUSHED FOR ISRAEL forward.com FORWARD - The simmering debate over the role of Jewish neoconservatives in drawing America into war in Iraq erupted with new fury this week. One of America's most respected ex-generals took to the airwaves to charge on CBS News' "60 Minutes" that the war had been fought for Israel's benefit, just days after a similar charge was leveled on the floor of the U.S. Senate. The retired general, Anthony Zinni, a past chief of the U.S. Central Command and President Bush's former Middle East special envoy, told "60 Minutes" on Sunday that the neoconservatives' role in pushing the war for Israel's benefit was "the worst-kept secret in Washington." Three days earlier, Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, a South Carolina Democrat, rose on the Senate floor to defend a newspaper essay he had written earlier in the month making the same charge. Both men complained that they had been unfairly labeled anti-semitic for speaking out. Their comments come just weeks after the United Nations' special envoy to Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi, called Israel a "poison in the region" and said that American support for Israeli policies was making his job more difficult. In the face of these mounting criticisms, a leading Jewish Democrat on Capitol Hill, Rep. Nita Lowey of New York, told the Forward that the president's policies were increasing the danger to Jews across the world. "We are very worried about the rise of anti-semitism internationally," said Lowey in an interview Monday with the Forward. She argued that disdain for the president and his policies has "stirred up" anti-semitic feelings worldwide. "It's a real concern for me as a Jewish member of Congress." Lowey's comments drew sharp criticisms from officials at the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Congress. "That's absurd," said the ADL's national director, Abraham Foxman, when informed of Lowey's comments. "It's worse than blaming the victim. It's blaming someone who stands up for the victim." David Twersky, the director of international programs at the American Jewish Congress, also objected, telling the Forward: "Without being partisan about it, I am appalled that anyone should attribute the rise of anti-semitism in the Islamic world, and separately in Western Europe, to George Bush's policies in the Middle East." One Democratic activist, who asked not to be identified, defended Lowey's comments: "There is certainly a strong stream within the party, and particularly among progressives -- and many Jews are progressives -- that George Bush's inability to play well with others and his inability to think diplomatically and multinationally ... has increased world hatred of the United States. There are many in the Arab world who believe that America is run by and owned by Jews. So it is not that hard to get from A to B. I tend to think that any independent analyst would tend to say the same thing. So why try to give [Bush] the benefit of the doubt? If he could connect these dots it would modify his behavior and make him think more diplomatically."