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WHO RULES: THE ISRAEL LOBBY
OR UNCLE SAM?
The answer
at last! Uri Avnery, former Knesset member, assesses the Lobby's
power. "If the Israeli government wanted a law tomorrow
annulling the 10 Commandments, 95 U.S. Senators (at least) would
sign the bill forthwith." But, yes, in the end the dog wags
the tail.Fifty
years ago Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" blew the cobwebs
out of millions of young minds and drove a stake through the
heart of Eisenhower's America. Lenni Brenner remembers Ginsberg
in the East Village.Dr Mengele died in exile, in disguise. Dr Ishii
died rich and recognized, in his own Tokyo home. Christopher
Reed on Japanese WW2 medical tortures and how the U.S. covered
them up.CounterPunch
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Many disastrous conflicts in human history
were led by men who spoke as if they were directed by God to
lead the slaughter. President Bush asserts that "I trust
God speaks through me and without that, I couldn't do my job."
His sincere belief that the human carnage and destruction resulting
from his war of choice against Iraq is somehow the will of God
should not be a surprise to Americans of the Christian and Jewish
traditions.
As a seven year old child in a Christian church in Alabama, I
was appalled by the Old Testament's story of Joshua and the battle
of Jericho in our Sunday School class. Joshua, a great prophet
of God and successor to Moses as the leader of the Israelites
was commanded by God to commit genocide in the 6th chapter of
Joshua. When invading Jericho, as instructed by God, the Jews
"annihilated with the sword everything that breathed in
the city, including men and women, young and old, as well cattle,
sheep, and donkeys." Then God commanded the Jews take the
"silver and gold, bronze and iron" for "God's
treasury". When I asked the teacher why God would want his
people to kill little children when Jesus loved the little children
and was the Prince of Peace, our Sunday School teacher said the
lesson was to obey God..
The Christian tradition of God as the warrior began in A.D. 312
with the Roman Emperor Constantine. Constantine said he had
prayed for divine help before the engagement and then had a vision
of a cross in the sky above his soldiers as they marched into
the fray. This mystical event led to his Christian conversion
after a major victory in battle against legions of his brother-in-law..
Christianity was declared the religion of the Roman Empire by
Constantine, and the image of Christ as the Prince of Peace became
conveniently interchangeable with Christ as the warrior God.
Previously, the Roman Empire had persecuted the Christians because
they were pacifists, taught not to serve in the military or use
violence against others.
It had been unlawful for a Christian to be a soldier in the Roman
army, but Constantine's conversion abruptly allied Christianity
with Rome's military and by A.D. 416 it was compulsory for all
Roman soldiers to be Christians. The medieval crusades led by
Christians continued the genocide in the name of religion and
recent history continues the tradition.
Before he became the Chancellor of Germany Hitler said, "My
feeling as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter
", and as he launched WW II that devastated Europe Hitler
said "I would like to thank Providence and the Almighty
for choosing me of all people to be allowed to wage this battle
for Germany." In 1940, Adolf Hitler said, "But there
is something else I believe, and that is that there is a God.
. . . And this God again has blessed our efforts.."
In another speech to the German
people Hitler said , " The mercy of the Lord slowly returns
to us again. And in this hour we sink to our knees and beseech
our almighty God that he may bless us, that He may give us the
strength to carry on the struggle for the freedom, the future,
the honor, and the peace of our people. So help us God."
Before he began his candidacy for President, George W. Bush told
Evangelist James Robinson, "I feel like God wants me to
run for President. I can't explain it, but I sense my country
is going to need me. Something is going to happen . . . I know
it won't be easy on me or my family, but God wants me to do it."
Bush has been called "a prophet" by Pat Robertson.
According to Ralph Reed, God picked the President because "he
knew George Bush had the ability to lead in this compelling way."
Bush has said, "I trust God speaks through me. Without
that, I couldn't do my job". Bob Woodward, a Washington
Post editor asked President Bush if he consulted with his father,
the 41st President about Iraq before invading Iraq and his reply
was "He is the wrong father to appeal to in terms of strength;
there is a higher father that I appeal to."
The BBC reported that Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath
described his first meeting with President Bush in June 2003.
Shaath says: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven
with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go
and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and
then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny
in Iraq " And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words
coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get
the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East."
And by God I'm gonna do it.'"
Some White House aides have described Bush's behavior as arrogant
and abusive, characterized by sanctimonious invocations of his
personal relationship with Jesus Christ combined with obscenity-laced
invectives against subordinates.
It is very interesting that Bush's self-perception as being a
spokesperson for God is history repeating itself when compared
to other leaders who have wrought so much war and destruction.
Should people of religious faith be comforted to know we have
a Presidential Prophet of God in the White House? A self-described
decider of what is best for our country? Is it God who is really
directing Bush's policies of aggressive war, torture, domestic
spying and the unprecedented transfer of social wealth from the
country's working class majority to the multi-millionaires and
billionaires that make up its financial elite?
Tom Turnipseed is an attorney, writer and political activist
in Columbia, South Carolina. He can be reached at his website:
www.turnipseed.net
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