[antiwar-van] U.S. Zionists, Israel blamed for start of Iraq war

[hanna kawas]

            http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/433498.html

            Last Update: 31/05/2004 09:35

            Prominent U.S. Jews, Israel blamed for start of Iraq war

            By Nathan Guttman, Haaretz Correspondent



            WASHINGTON - As the argument in the United States over the
necessity of the war in Iraq and the manner in which it was waged
intensifies, and as the presidential election date draws nearer, those who
have tried to accuse Israel or the U.S. Jews of pushing the administration
into battle are once again sounding their voices.




            In the American Jewish community, they warn it could get worse.

            The most blatant example in recent weeks was an article written
by veteran Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (Dem.-South Carolina), who
charged in an article published in a Charleston newspaper at the beginning
of the month that behind the decision to go to war was "President Bush's
policy to secure Israel."

            In his article, Hollings mentions the names of three prominent
Jews, from the neoconservative stream in the administration, as those
responsible for pushing for the decision to go to war in Iraq.

            Two weeks later, Hollings stepped up to the podium in the Senate
and delivered an emotional address in which he defended his statements,
attacking the Jewish establishment and repeating the main thrust of his
claims.

            Hollings has been the most outspoken U.S. official against the
alleged Israeli-Jewish connection to the war; but a week ago, the issue was
also picked up by retired general Anthony Zinni, a well-known and esteemed
figure from the center of the American political spectrum.

            In an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," Zinni, who, with Tom
Clancy, is about to publish a book in which he harshly criticizes the war
and Bush's team, said there were a number of neoconservatives who had
promoted the idea of the war in Iraq with the purpose, among others, of
"strengthening the position of Israel."

            Zinni mentioned the names of five representatives of the
neoconservative stream - all of them Jewish. He did say, however, that the
religious or ethnic affiliations of the members of the administration were
of no bearing on the matter.

            Despite the significant difference between the statements of
Zinni and those of Hollings, certain members of the U.S. Jewish community
are beginning to feel a little uncomfortable.

            "The fact is that this claim is out there," says the national
director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, on the charge that
the Jews and supporters of Israel were the ones who pushed the U.S. into the
war. "We were pointed out at the beginning, and it's easier to blame us when
things go bad," he adds.

            The claims about the Jewish-Israeli link to the war were raised
even before they were voiced by extreme right-wing spokespersons such as Pat
Buchanan and Democratic Congressman Jim Moran, who found himself having to
apologize for saying that without the Jewish community's strong support, the
U.S. would not have gone to war in Iraq.

            Foxman says the charges are being voiced anew because the
argument over the war is heating up. "We knew that if things went wrong,
they will look for someone to blame," he says. "The more protest, the more
politicizing of the issue, people will be sloppier and will not be careful
in what they say."

            But the link between Israel and the war in Iraq espoused by
Hollings is not the only one. More voices are making the connection from a
different direction, charging that the only solution to the embroilment in
Iraq is a more intensive approach toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.

            Last week, in an article by Nicolas Kristof in the New York
Times, Zinni was reported to have said that he had been surprised to hear
from members of the administration that the advantage of the war in Iraq is
that "the road to Jerusalem leads through Baghdad."

            According to Zinni, "The opposite is true; the road to Baghdad
leads through Jerusalem. If you were to solve the Middle East peace process,
you'd be surprised what kind of other things work out."

            Similar sentiments were expressed by Anthony Cordesman, one of
the most highly regarded academics on the Iraq issue, in an article in the
Baltimore Sun a week ago. The first step toward fixing America's status in
the Arab world must be "steady and visible U.S. pressure ... on [the Israeli
and Palestinian] governments," Cordesman wrote, while urging the U.S.
administration to make a concerted effort to stop Israeli settlement
activity.




            Senator Ernest Hollings charged that 'President Bush's policy to
secure Israel' was behind the decision to go to war. (AP/Archives)


            Related Links


            * Senator Hollings' opinion piece on Israel and the Iraq war

            * Senator Hollings' comments in Congress on his Mideast opinion
piece

            * General Zinni's interview to 60 minutes
















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