> I was on to the John Hagee issue months ago in this very group and warned about the developing situation. Most conspiracy researchers are not paying attention and are still digging around in oil industry issues to try to explain the bizarre behavior of the neocon-controlled Bush/Cheney regime.
Yes! My problem is still that I would need to study the separate religious-politico-economical <http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/03/16/aipac/index.html?source=rs\ s> US right wing characters much more extensively to keep them apart in separate mental spaces. I noticed though early that the political sectors of Iran Contra and the religious parts merge at times: e.g. Oliver North and that the US brings out things in religions that might have been a much more secret layer before: money, power to move the masses. > > Do you appreciate that the official mainstream Israel lobby, including both AIPAC and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, is now completely in bed with Christian Zionists and Christian Armageddonists who are actively seeking, with all their emotion and will, to drive the world towards total destruction? What does this state of affairs say about the essential character of Zionism as a whole? Hagee was received with great enthusiasm at the latest AIPAC gathering. Videos of his speech -- and of AIPAC's reaction -- are available across the net. Look up a few and savor the fragrance of an Armageddonist cult in full rut. I still have the impression that Hagee et al are simply tricking the masses. Do you think Hagee really believes in his "Jerusalem Countdown" Vision? As European agnostic I find this hard to believe. But documentaries on the topic are getting momentum over here too. So I guess we can say the world watches in amazement. > > This current crop of Armaggedonists, which includes George W. Bush, is armed with an immense arsenal of weapons of mass destruction which it feels it is entitled (even divinely commanded) to use preemptively. What puzzles me a bit at the moment is that the people who consider the larger issue as some kind of new antisemitism often feel arrogantly enamored with the right of the empire or generally the stronger. (History is used a stone pit in this respect were apples are compared with pears. That's what puzzles me most at the moment. And exactly that feels pretty shortsighted and not very wise. Reminds me of the following flower power quote: Jimi Hendrix: When the Power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Shapiro> > The American mainstream media continue to cover up what is going on, in the hope of getting on with a war against Iran. AIPAC's ties to John Hagee should be a huge on-going story at the New York Times, the Washington Post, MSNBC, CNN and other big media outlets. > David Buckley catches what puzzles me about the larger scenario pretty well. I am still not sure if this is some kind of post 9/11 carpe diem/seize the moment enterprise and I doubt we will ever know. Things would look much different without 911. AIPAC: Cheerleading the Apocalypse <http://letters.salon.com/news/feature/2007/03/16/aipac/view/index2.html\ ?show=all> What�s spooky about these AIPAC types is not that they�re�Jewish� (that�s too broad a brush for this crowd, and Levey knowsit); it�s that they have an agenda that dovetails nicely with theso-called �Christian Zionists� and with the remnants of the PNACCriminals. The nature of that agenda is best expressed as thedetermination to create what some have called a �Greater Israel�(a-k-a Eretz Israel) embracing ALL of the (alleged) territory ofthe ancient and relatively short-lived Kingdom of Israel ofBiblical times. Where the borders of such a state might be, is anyone�s guess;but the real point to note here is that, once we read the situationin this way, Israel is no longer the beleaguered and besieged�little democracy� which must be protected against them evil,anti-semitic, �Islamofascist� Arabs trying to push holcaustsurvivors into the sea. This is STILL, unfortunately, the popular(mis)conception portrayed by the American media, which in itseagerness to apppear more pro-Jewish-than-thou has left itself opento all kinds of idiocies. Most Americans think that Israel is infact �defenceless� against its more powerful neighbors. In reality,nothing could be further from the truth. It is in fact a majorconfrontational imperial player in the region. Its populationreached 6,000,000 around 2000; it has nuclear weapons; it routinelyspies on the U.S.; and, it uses US support as its most playablecard in the region and internationally. No other country has arecord of ignoring UN Resolutions that competes with that ofIsrael. And, the US has routinely acted like Israel�s puppet invirtually all international arenas, supporting Israeliintransigence even when this did NOT serve American interests. (Asfor instance in its current refusal to "recognize" or negotiatewith the demnocratically-elected representatives of the Palestinianpeople). Why do the �Christian Zionists� support AIPAC? Because the�restoration� of Eretz Israel has all kinds of Apocalyptic,End-Times implications that they embrace. Early Christianity, atroot, as any competent �secular� historian will tell you, wasinherently Millennial. It believed that Jesus was the Christ andthat his coming presaged the End of the World. Contemporary�Christian Zionists� are enraptured by the possibilities andimplications of the �restored� Biblical Kingdom, becuse it wouldseem to create the secular conditions necessary for the�restoration� of God�s Kingdom ... when, presumably, True Believerswill inherit the Earth (or the whirlwind, depending). What about the PNAC crew? Their �foreign policy� is not simplydictated by oil. Their aim is a permanent US military presence inthe �Eurasian theatre.� Why? Because, future US global hegemony isbelieved to be tied to geopolitical supremacy in that region.Without �boots on the ground� the US will likely be frozen out byEurope, Russia, China, or India or any combination of theseunlikely bedfellows. The biggest threat to US hegemony would be theemergence of a �regional� player ... like, say, Iran! So: It�s NOTan accident that US troops are stationed in considerable numbers onIran�s eastern and western borders. In mid-February, reports in theinternational media highlighted the fact that US planning for aninvasion of Iran had been completed. The Iraq surge may eventuallybecome the pretext for cross-border incursions into Iran and/orSyria. And, a catalyst for a wider war. Nor is it an accident thatthe American image of Iran goes back ONLY to the �Hostage Crisis�under Jimmy Carter, and completely ignores the CIA�s role in thefall of Mossadeq, and the rise and maintenance of the Shah�s brutaland repressive regime. My apologies for being so long-winded, but Israel/Palestine isTHE KEY to the Middle East. And it�s important for Americans (inparticular) to be aware of the ways in which seemingly disparategroups can become intimate bedfellows in pursuit of complementaryalbeit kooky goals. For Salonicans interested in these matters I�d recommend AviShlaim�s brilliant history of the modern Israeli state, �The IronWall.� And for proof that the PNAC foreign policy agenda is NOT, atroot, different from say that of the �liberal� Democrats, seeZbigniew Brzerzinski�s �The Great Game.� When the dust settles atthe end of this current venture, the US will have a minimalmilitary presence of 50,000 to 100,000 troops permanently stationedon the ground in westen/central Asia. THAT�s the real goal. TheAmerican Republic and its democratic heritage is a hostage to (andthe most likely casualty of) that imperial vision. -- David Buckley I shouldn't be here, but I found my old Reader subscriptions again. But it needs study, this is nothing to do instinctively without studying further it seems. So far I could only share the headlines. No idea how to make more text appear. -b
