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THE INSIDE HISTORY OF THE ISRAEL
LOBBY
Former top
CIA analysts Kathleen and Bill Christison give CounterPunchers
the real scoop on the Israel lobby and precisely how powerful
it is. Read
how US presidents from Wilson, through FDR to Truman were manipulated
by the Zionist lobby; how Israel bent LBJ, Reagan and Clinton
to its purpose; how Bush's White House has been the West Wing
of the Israeli government; how Washington's revolving doors send
full-time Israel lobbyists from think-tanks to the National Security
Council and the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans. For all who want a
true measure of the Lobby's power, the Christisons' 8-page dossier,
exclusive to CounterPunch newsletter subscribers, is a MUST read. CounterPunch
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On Sunday afternoon, June 4, 2006, a
Forum, which dealt with the topic of "Iraq, Iran and Militarism,"
was held at the Cork Gallery in Baltimore. It is located near
the historic Greenmount Cemetery. (1) The event was sponsored
by the "Generations for Peace and Democracy," a progressive
group. The speaker at the affair was the popular anti-war activist,
Kevin Zeese.
Zeese said, "We know that
both parties are selling the country to the highest bidder. So,
in a historical context, where do you want to be? Republicans
controlled by corporations? Democrats controlled by corporations?
Or, with some independent movement that is going to challenge
the lack of representation of the people. I think in a historical
context, we know where we want to be...What we do now will have
an effect. We make a difference. So, waking people up to make
a difference is very important to moving things forward electorally."
Zeese is the director of DemocracyRisingUS.,
an organization working to end the Iraqi War and the Occupation.
He served as the press secretary for Ralph Nader in 2004. Presently,
he is an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate in Maryland,
who is looking to bring together, in a unity campaign, the combined
electoral efforts of the Green, Populist and Libertarian Parties,
along with disenchanted members of the state's Democratic and
Republican organizations. According to this morning's Baltimore
Sun, "15.3 percent of the state's 3 million registered voters
were either unaffiliated with a political party or enrolled in
a minor party. That's up from 13.4 percent of 2.7 million voters
in 2000." (2)
Zeese underscored in his over
hour long address that, "we've got to break the two party
straight jacket, so people can vote for what they believe in
and make their own choice. The two parties treat all of us as
children, as lazy morons, who are stuck watching too much TV...So,
many voters feel trapped."
The general election, in Maryland,
is set for Nov. 7, 2006. Zeese has labeled the two opposition
parties as "corporate dominated." He has written that
if there was ever a moment for Marylanders "to get organized"
and to "throw the bums out," it's right now. (3) The
Baltimore Sun also wrote that Zeese is "addressing issues
that major parties won't, such as challenging U.S. policy in
Israel and a tax-reform plan that would exempt an individual's
first $100,000 in income from taxation."(2)
Continuing with his remarks,
Zeese said: "I'm the only person in the U.S. Senate race
in Maryland, other than [candidate] Bob Kaufman, who's opposed
[to the U.S.] bombing Iran. And a lot of that again is Hard Right
Israeli Lobby pressure. Richard Cohen, who writes for the Washington
Post, said that 65 percent of the Democratic Party's resources
comes from the Hard Right Israeli Lobby and 35 percent of the
Republican Party's resources come from the same [place]."
As of today's date, 2,475 U.S.
troops have been killed in Iraq and another 17,869 seriously
wounded. We won't know, however, for years what effects the radioactive
depleted uranium dust has had on the health, and sanity, of those
required to serve in Iraq, as well as on the 27 million peoples
of that unfortunate country. (4) The cost to U.S. taxpayers for
the conflict now stands at $286 billion. The number of Iraqis
slain may be as high as 300,000. (5) In addition to the disgraceful
Abu Ghraib torture scandal, recent reports indicate that some
of the U.S. troops may have engaged in war crimes by intentionally
slaughtering unarmed Iraqi civilians, including children. The
inept Pentagon czar, Donald Rumsfeld, responded to these latest
alleged outrages by suggesting a course "in ethics"
for troops. Let's hope that he doesn't appoint that confessed
fraudster, Jack Abramoff, to handle that job.
Meanwhile, the prime architect of the Iraqi War, the then-Deputy
Secretary of Defense, Paul Wolfowitz, a grotesque Neocon, has
come out of this debacle smelling like a rose. He was rewarded
with the high paying sinecure of the presidency of the World
Bank, in Washington, D.C. It is also beyond cavil that the country
was lied into the war by slick operatives of the Bush-Cheney
Gang, who were aided an abetted by War Hawks in the U.S. Congress,
like: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT),
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), Rep. Peter
King (R-NY), and the convicted felon and now ex-member of the
House of Representatives, Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA).
(6) To view pictures of some of dead, and tortured, from the
Iraqi bloodbath, go to this footnote. (7)
Zeese touched, in detail, on
a variety of subjects, like: on the global economy, the Arms
Race, the Middle East and the Militarization of Space, too. He
would then engage the audience with their questions. Concluding
his comments, Zeese said: "What we are doing to the environment
is not a debate anymore. And if we don't act quickly, I mean
in five to ten years. We will have to get some serious changes
going to our policies to avoid an environmental disaster and
that will be global. These guys [the Energy Industry] are worried
about their profits, which are already so outlandish and that's
a whole other story, while ignoring this one...the state of our
environment." (8)
William Hughes writes for the Baltimore Chronicle.
Notes:
1. Abraham Lincoln's assassin,
John Wilkes Booth, among tens of thousands of others, is buried
in Greenmount Cemetery. Allen Dulles, once a CIA kingpin, is
also entombed there. The locals believe Dulles' grave is "bugged!"
Former Baltimore mayors and Maryland governors; along with notable
benefactors, too, who greatly enriched the community; like: Enoch
Pratt and Johns Hopkins, lie buried there. Many Confederate and
Union veterans of the Civil War also rest in peace in Greenmount
Cemetery. See, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenmount_Cemetery
2. David Nitkin, June 4, 2006, "Perils of the state's angry
politics."
For More Information on Kevin
Zeese visit www.ZeeseForSenate.org
or if you want to get active in the campaign visit the Zeese
campaign wiki site www.Zeese.US.
Now
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Against Israel
By Michael Neumann
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