Britannia Radio

 

The US/Israel special relation under attack 

By Ted Belman

Predictably, John Measheimer comes out in support of Chas Freeman in his article The Lobby Falters..

According to him “the Israel lobby launched a smear campaign against Freeman” and he suggested the attack was unfounded. He faults Obama with these words “But Barack Obama’s pandering to the Israel lobby during the campaign and his silence during the Gaza War show that this is one opponent he is not willing to challenge.”

The object of his anger once again is the Israel Lobby (AIPAC) which he charges, has “since gone to great lengths to deny its role in Freeman’s resignation.” That may well be the case as AIPAC wanted this issue to be about American interests and not about Israel’s. Measheimer wanted otherwise.

He identifies what, in his opinion, was at stake.

Why does the lobby care so much about one appointment to an important, but not top leadership position? Here’s one reason: Freeman would have been responsible for the production of National Intelligence Estimates. Israel and its American supporters were outraged when the National Intelligence Council concluded in November 2007 that Iran was not building nuclear weapons, and they have worked assiduously to undermine that report ever since. The lobby wants to make sure that the next estimate of Iran’s nuclear capabilities reaches the opposite conclusion, and that would have been much less likely to happen with Freeman in charge. Better to have someone vetted by AIPAC running the show.

An even more important reason for the lobby to drive Freeman out of his job is the weakness of the case for America’s present policy towards Israel, which makes it imperative to silence or marginalise anyone who criticises the special relationship. If Freeman hadn’t been punished, others would see that one could talk critically about Israel and still have a successful career in Washington. And once you get an open and free-wheeling discussion about Israel, the special relationship will be in serious trouble.

He ignores the fact that said intelligence report has been discredited by subsequent reports and findings and that AIPAC was right to oppose it or the need to have intelligence reports untainted by agenda.

This “special relationship” really bugs him while he ignores the special relationship with Saudi Arabia. The reason being that, in his opinion and in the opinion of like-minded people, the former is bad for the US and the later is good for the US. It all boils down to this. Judging from Obama’s moves to date, Obama would be included in this group.

In conclusion he writes,

When pro-Israel forces clashed with a major political figure in the past, that person usually backed off. Jimmy Carter, who was smeared by the lobby after he published Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, was the first prominent American to stand his ground and fight back. The lobby has been unable to silence him, and it is not for lack of trying.

Freeman is following in Carter’s footsteps, but with sharper elbows. After stepping down, he issued a blistering denunciation of ‘unscrupulous people with a passionate attachment to the views of a political faction in a foreign country’ whose aim is ‘to prevent any view other than its own from being aired’. ‘There is,’ he continued, ‘a special irony in having been accused of improper regard for the opinions of foreign governments and societies by a group so clearly intent on enforcing adherence to the policies of a foreign government.’

Freeman’s remarkable statement has shot all around the world and been read by countless individuals. This isn’t good for the lobby, which would have preferred to kill Freeman’s appointment without leaving any fingerprints. But Freeman will continue to speak out about Israel and the lobby, and maybe some of his natural allies inside the Beltway will eventually join him. Slowly but steadily, space is being opened up in the United States to talk honestly about Israel.

This is a process that Measheimer started with the publication of his book, “The Israel Lobby”. It is a process aided and abetted by Samantha Power and General Jones and others on the Obama team. It is also aided and abetted by George Soros and his minions, MoveOn.org and J-Street.

Ted Belman