The HIJACKING of AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY: AIPAC and THEIR “NEOCONSERVATIVE” ALLIES in the BUSH ADMINISTRATION

Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is under investigation by the FBI for passing on classified Defense Department documents to Israel. In particular, the documents relate to American position papers about our future relationship with Iran – one of three countries Bush referred to as “The Axis of Evil.”

This investigation has quietly been going on for over a year, but gained new traction when a Pentagon analyst named Lawrence Franklin came into the picture. Franklin is a protégé of Douglas Feith, Defense Undersecretary for Policy, one of the well-known members of the “Neoconservative” pro-Likud group within Rumsfeld’s Pentagon.

Richard Perle, Douglas Feith

This group, which includes Paul Wolfowitz (Deputy Secretary of Defense under Donald Rumsfeld), Richard Perle (former chairman of the Defense Policy Board, a civilian group that advises the Pentagon), “Scooter” Libby (Chief of Staff to Dick Cheney), David Wurmser (Middle East advisor to Dick Cheney), David Frum (former speechwriter for George W. Bush), Elliott Abrams (Special Assistant to George W. Bush on Near East and North African Affairs), Harold Rhodes (official in the Defense Intelligence Agency),

David Wurmser, Elliott Abrams, “Scooter” Libby

Bill Luti (Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs), and others, represents, in the opinions of many, the hijacking of American foreign policy by a cabal of advisors who puts the interests of Israel above those of their own country, the United States. In particular, their allegiance seems to be to SHARON’S LIKUD PARTY exclusively.

They defy the great majority of the Jewish population in the United States and in Israel – who actively favor a peaceful solution in the Middle East and an independent Palestinian state.

This mirrors the drift in emphasis of AIPAC as well, which now appears to be simply a PRO-LIKUD PRO-Sharon lobbying organization. There are many pro-Israel lobbying groups in this country, but none of them have the narrow focus and intimidating clout that AIPAC does. AIPAC, along with the “EVANGELICALS,” in this country has become a powerful voting block and effective lobbying effort that moves quickly and effectively to intimidate and silence anyone who disagrees with their agenda … as they tried to do with Howard Dean.

Congress has been intimidated for years by AIPAC’s willingness to work for the defeat of anyone who doesn’t vote as they desire — which means they’ll be targeted for defeat if they don’t vote every year for the 2.2 billion dollars in foreign aid to Israel, as well as demonstrate a healthy public disdain for Palestinians in general and the peace process in particular.

Last month, in a little-noticed piece of news, we saw further evidence that Sharon’s allies in the Bush Administration had done their job. Yediot Ahronot, an Israeli newspaper, stated that Israel was no longer using the Bush Road Map (not that anyone was still under any delusions that it was working). The Bush Administration responded with silence — a sad commentary that they are giving tacit approval for Sharon to do whatever he pleases — and again ignore and abuse the rights of the Palestinians.

What has become apparent, with Bush’s approval, is that Sharon now intends to get out of Gaza — his worst festering sore — while initiating a once-and-for-all power grab on most of the West Bank, using walls, tanks, and fighter jets to enforce his will forever.

The “American Likud” — the “Neoconservatives” who advise Bush — has won two great victories in Bush’s first term. They convinced him to invade and occupy Iraq. And they convinced him to put forward a weak and halfhearted peace plan — the Road Map. These two victories — “the hijacking of our foreign policy” — will haunt us for years to come, and will cost us dearly in blood, money, and national prestige.

U.S. President George W. Bush & Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon

“Neoconservatives” in this country and in Israel have for years envisioned a Middle East revolutionized by war — wars fought by Americans but for the security of Israel. They decided there could be no real security in the Middle East until Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon were disarmed. Until Bush was elected, these outrageous and dangerous ideas were given little attention by past presidents. But with George W. Bush and his “Evangelical” followers, they found a useful front man for their theories.

September 11th changed everything and turned contemporary thinking on its head. The “American Likud” saw its opportunity to push their violent, visionary agenda on a parochial but arrogant “cocky” president as part of the overall war on terrorism.

Before the war, many experienced voices told Bush that the war on terrorism had to go through Jerusalem — that finding a just and honorable solution to the Palestinian question would do wonders for our international reputation. By throwing the prestige of the American presidency into such an effort, Bush could have demonstrated to the Arab world that we were genuine in our desires for justice.

THIS COULD HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED FOR A FRACTION OF THE COST OF THE IRAQ WAR AND WITH NO LOSS OF AMERICAN OR IRAQI LIVES.

But Bush invaded Iraq instead! We now know that the “American Likud” in the Pentagon manipulated and overstated the intelligence that took us to war, while ignoring the intelligence that didn’t support their preconceived plans. We now are bogged down in an endless bloody occupation of a fractured foreign country on the verge of civil war.

By doing so, we may have pleased ARIEL SHARON and AIPAC, but we have also fractured our own electorate, diluted our national will and purpose, and demoralized the moderate forces in the Middle East who have been counting on us.

Now … President George W. Bush’s Road Map to Peace “Rests in Peace” … Buried by Sharon

While Iraq burns, the more quiet victory of the “American Likud” is just as much a disaster. Bush’s Road Map was always a slow-motion excuse to allow Sharon to consolidate his power over the Palestinians. This has only served to justify Israel’s land grab for the future, and to doom whatever hope actually existed in the Peace Plan.

Sharon’s constant vilification of Arafat served as an excuse for Bush and Sharon to begin the quiet sabotage of the Peace Plan. Thus, the brazen announcement by the Israeli prime minister that Israel is now free to act as if the plan never existed. In the shadow of Iraq, Sharon can now act with impunity in the construction of the great wall and in settlement enlargements and reinforcements.

Which brings us back to the investigations of Lawrence Franklin, and AIPAC’s possible complicity in espionage. The FBI has quietly conducted exhaustive interviews within the civilian Pentagon — the “Neoconservatives” — in this effort, as well as with AIPAC employees …

… AND, it is vital for the FBI to investigate carefully the role that the Israeli Secret Service — the Mossad — played throughout this entire process.

For its part, AIPAC has launched a vigorous public defense, and not surprisingly, issued veiled accusations of “anti-Semitism” about the investigation.

Lawrence Franklin, who works for Douglas Feith and Paul Wolfowitz, became an overnight expert on Iran. He has had many contacts with the corrupt Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar, who was deeply involved in the Iran-Contra scandal in the mid-80s — for which Elliott Abrams was removed from the U.S. Government.

Franklin is being investigated for giving AIPAC a draft of a presidential directive on Iran — a directive that was probably composed by his “Neoconservative” bosses, the same advisors who brought us the Iraq war. The suspicion is that AIPAC was passing on this directive to Israel, not simply as information, but also as a request for directions and recommendations, to be passed back to the “Neoconservatives” in the Pentagon.

Does this indicate the beginning of a campaign within the Bush Administration, encouraged by Israel, to find justifications for an invasion of Iran? And if so, does this also indicate another egregious example of a foreign government influencing our American foreign policy?

President Bush addresses AIPAC in Washington on 5/18/04

Until recently, the moderates in the Bush Administration have held their own against the “Neoconservative” — and Israeli/Likud — agenda for an expanded war against Iran and possibly Syria. Because of this stalemate, Bush hasn’t gone much beyond his “Axis of Evil” declaration and his Iran positions have been muddled and mixed.

But this could change dramatically if Bush is reelected, and his “Neoconservative” advisors retain their sway over him. Their first job would be to refer Iran’s violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to the U.N. Security Council. But, as we now know from the Iraq war, this might only be another cosmetic effort at legitimacy before plunging ahead on our own into another Middle East war.

The exhaustive investigations of the “March to War” have revealed how our intelligence agencies were compromised in their analysis, and how that information was manipulated to promote a false sense of urgency and danger. But, incredibly, not a single person involved in this failure has lost his job. George Tenet’s resignation as CIA director represents the only action remotely resembling someone being held responsible for this monumental failure. President Bush shows little concern for having been terribly misled.

This sort of cavalier leadership can only embolden the “Neoconservatives” — the “American Likud.” Their commitment to their utopian vision of Middle East wars seems unaltered. And the Franklin investigation may reveal just how much influence AIPAC and the Mossad have in shaping U.S. foreign policy behind closed doors.

There are powerful forces within the Bush Administration that will do everything in their power to stonewall or derail this investigation. The FBI is to be commended for going forward with it, no matter where the evidence leads.

We cannot afford to allow this investigation to become sidetracked or buried under the cloud of executive privilege. Nor can we allow it to be kicked down the road, because the White House says it interferes with the war on terrorism.

IT’S TIME FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO CLEARLY SEE WHO PROMOTED THE IRAQ WAR, AND WHY.

AND IT’S TIME FOR US AMERICAN CITIZENS TO SEE WHO INFLUENCES THE DECISIONS THAT PRESIDENT BUSH MAKES.