------ Forwarded Message > From: "dasg...@aol.com" <dasg...@aol.com> > Date: Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:38:25 EST > To: Robert Millegan <ramille...@aol.com> > Cc: <ema...@aol.com>, <j...@aol.com>, <jim6...@cwnet.com> > Subject: Blair Admits Israel Collaborated in Bush Decision to Invade Iraq > (Before 9/11?) >
> British Prime Minister: Israeli officials were part of decision to invade Iraq > February 20, 2010 12:02 > by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News > http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=58012 > > Tony Blair (photo from WEF) > In his recent testimony to the UK Committee investigating the Iraq war, > British Prime Minister Tony Blair admitted that Israeli officials influenced > and participated in the decision by the US and UK governments to attack Iraq > in 2003. > > During testimony regarding his meetings in Texas with then-US President George > W. Bush in 2002, Blair stated, ³As I recall that discussion, it was less to do > with specifics about what we were going to do on Iraq or, indeed, the Middle > East, because the Israel issue was a big, big issue at the time. I think, in > fact, I remember, actually, there may have been conversations that we had even > with Israelis, the two of us, whilst we were there. So that was a major part > of all this." > > Professor Steven Walt, co-author of the book 'The Israel Lobby', wrote an > op-ed following Blair's admission describing how he and co-author John > Mearsheimer were attacked by the US media and by right-wing lobbyists for > Israel when they made that claim in 2003. Now, Walt says, he feels vindicated > because Tony Blair himself has had to admit publicly the extent to which the > invasion of Iraq by the US, the UK, and other armies, was influenced by > Israel's strategic interests in the region, and Israeli officials themselves. > > Walt stated, ³ Professor Mearsheimer and I made it clear in our article and > especially in our book that the idea of invading Iraq originated in the United > States with the neoconservatives, and not with the Israeli government....We > also pointed out that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other Israeli officials > were initially skeptical of this scheme, because they wanted the U.S. to focus > on Iran, not Iraq. However, they became enthusiastic supporters of the idea of > invading Iraq once the Bush administration made it clear to them that Iraq was > just the first step in a broader campaign of 'regional > transformation' that would eventually include Iran.² > > The two Harvard professors were vehemently attacked at the time by many > prominent Jewish leaders in the US, who accused Mearsheimer and Walt of > anti-Semitism for their 'preposterous' claim that Israeli officials had any > impact at all on the US and UK governments' decision to attack Iraq. > > In his recent op-ed, Professor Walt also noted that the attacks against him > and Professor Mearsheimer were made despite many articles and statements by > prominent Jewish organizations and writers in the US. In one example, he > referred to an editorial in the Jewish newspaper Forward, published in 2004, > which stated, ³As President Bush attempted to sell the war .. in Iraq, > America's most important > Jewish organizations rallied as one to his defense. In statement after > statement community leaders stressed the need to rid the world of Saddam > Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction. Some groups went even further, > arguing that that the removal of the Iraqi leaders would represent a > significant step toward bringing peace to the Middle East and winning > America's war on terrorism". > > The editorial also noted that "concern for Israel's safety rightfully factored > into the deliberations of the main Jewish groups." > > No apologies have been made to Professors Walt and Mearsheimer by any of the > groups or individuals who attacked them, even after British Prime Minister > Tony Blair recently admitted that Walt and Mearsheimer's claims were true. > ------ End of Forwarded Message
