Plain Ol'; citing the Daily Kos......Nothing new here...... On Tue, Oct 14, 2014 at 12:06 PM, plainolamerican <[email protected] > wrote:
> Key neocons call for ending U.S. aid to Israel > <http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/28/1317362/-Key-neocons-call-for-ending-U-S-aid-to-Israel> > > by Jon Perr <http://www.dailykos.com/user/Jon%20Perr>Follow > <http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/28/1317362/-Key-neocons-call-for-ending-U-S-aid-to-Israel#?friend_id=8251&is_stream=1> > attribution: CBN News > In their controversial 2007 book *The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign > Policy > <http://books.google.com/books?id=bQHXJ4JzxV4C&pg=PT41&lpg=PT41&dq=walt+mearsheimer+%22it+is+time+to+treat+israel+like+a+normal+country%22&source=bl&ots=AP9lfoauqx&sig=U3aKWiDtTRgyobaZyRdkgRn9hYg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VZDWU8DsFevXigKL4oHAAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=walt%20mearsheimer%20%22it%20is%20time%20to%20treat%20israel%20like%20a%20normal%20country%22&f=false>*, > authors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt proposed a dramatic change in > American financial aid for Israel currently amounting to $3 billion > annually. "It is time to treat Israel like a normal country," they argued, > "and make U.S. aid conditional on an end to the occupation and Israel's > willingness to conform its policies to American interests." For this (among > other perceived sins), the two men were vilified by many American > politicians, press and pundits, and were quickly labelled anti-Semites--and > worse. > > But now, some of the same voices that led the charge against Mearsheimer > and Walt are now calling for ending U.S. aid to Israel altogether > <http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/18/some-of-israel-s-top-defenders-say-it-s-time-to-end-u-s-aid.html>. > At the front of that pack is Elliot Abrams. But the Iran-Contra > conspirator, Iraq war architect and cheerleader for a preventive U.S. war > to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities doesn't want to terminate financial > support in order to enhance American leverage on Israel, but instead to > *dramatically > limit Washington's influence* over the Jewish State. > > As Eli Lake > <http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/18/some-of-israel-s-top-defenders-say-it-s-time-to-end-u-s-aid.html> > explained in The Daily Beast, right now President Obama, overwhelming > bipartisan majorities in Congress and the American Israeli Political Action > Committee remain committed to sending billions in U.S. aid for years to > come. But some of the usual suspects among the neoconservative movement > have a different take: > > "The experience of the Obama years has sharpened the perception among > pro-Israel Americans that aid can cut against Israel by giving presidents > with bad ideas more leverage than they would otherwise have," said Noah > Pollak, the executive director of the Emergency Committee for Israel > (ECI)... aid provides easy fodder for critics to claim that the alliance is > a burden on the United States or that it's a one-way street of America > giving and Israel receiving. All things being equal, why not remove these > falsehoods from the debate?" > > Abrams, who has called on Congress for an authorization for the use of > military force (AUMF) to give President Obama a free hand to bomb Iran, > wants to give Benjamin Netanyahu and his successors a free hand, period. > > "My view is over time it would be healthy for the relationship if the aid > diminished. Israel should be less dependent on American financial > assistance and should become the kind of ally that we have in Australia, > Canada, or the United Kingdom: an intimate military relationship and > alliance, but no military aid." > > (It should be noted, as former Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren did, > that the United States does not have a mutual defense agreement with > Israel. Then again, unlike Australia, Canada or the United Kingdom, > Israel's power is not fungible on behalf of the United States. As the > experience of the First Gulf War > <http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/20/world/war-gulf-president-bush-urges-israeli-restraint-phone-appeals-shamir.html> > showed to the chagrin of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, justifiable Israeli > retaliation against Iraqi Scud missile strikes would have shattered the > allied coalition that ejected Saddam Hussein from Kuwait.) > > *Continue reading below.* > > With the Israeli economy booming and soon to be bolstered by massive > proceeds from new natural gas discoveries, the once vital American billions > will seem increasingly incongruous. As Abrams put it, "I do not believe a > country that has a sovereign wealth fund can be an aid recipient." > > It's no surprise that David Wurmser would agree. Wurmser, an aide to Dick > Cheney who resigned in 2007 over the Bush's administration's catastrophic > policy > <http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/20/1315353/-Hamas-rule-in-Gaza-President-Bush-built-that> > that enabled Hamas to take over Gaza, as far back as 1996 called Israel to > graduate from being a "tenuous project" to a "real country." Now a > consultant for U.S. firms looking to invest in the Israeli energy sector, > Wurmser argues that the U.S. should cut the cord precisely so Israel can > operate with impunity free of pressure from Washington: > > "The aid both implied a lack of feasibility of the state as well as tying > the state's hands and reducing its freedom to maneuver. Both of which are > inappropriate for a truly independent country, which it had become in this > period." > > That's putting it mildly. As the withering criticism of Secretary of > State John Kerry > <http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/us-fuming-israeli-criticism-john-kerry> > from the Israeli government and press shows, our ally like any other will > ultimately do what it believes are necessary for its--and not > American--interests. (That 87 percent of Israelis don't want a truce > <http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Poll-865-percent-of-Israelis-oppose-cease-fire-369064> > to prevent the suddenly very popular Benjamin Netanyahu to crush Hamas in > Gaza is reflects the two nation's diverging national interests.) While > not all of their fellow travelers agree, the message from the > neoconservatives seems to be this. Israel will--and should--do whatever it > wants to anyway; Americans might as well as save that $3 billion a year. > Apparently, it's better for Stephen Walt, John Mearsheimer and millions of > American taxpayers to be frustrated for free. > > -- > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "PoliticalForum" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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