Smear and Fear

Editor's note: In the text of the original article you'll find many working links*

Smear and Fear

THAT'S HOW ISRAEL'S LOBBY OPERATES*

''ANYONE WHO OPPOSES THEM IS A "BIGOT" AN "ANTI-SEMITE''

by Justin Raimondo

Israel's once-powerful lobby in the U.S. is running scared. The American Israel Political Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is facing a burgeoning scandal with the upcoming trial of Steve Rosen their longtime chief lobbyist, and Iran policy expert Keith Weissman, who are accused of spying on behalf of Israel. Their source in the Pentagon Iran analyst and neoconservative ideologue Larry Franklin was caught red-handed by the FBI handing over top secret information to the two AIPAC officials, who then turned the vital data over to Israeli embassy employees.

Franklin pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years, with time off for good behavior i.e. testifying against his fellow spies.

Another big problem for the Lobby is that people are beginning to wake up to their game. A recent study, published by Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, shows how the Lobby has been able to dominate the foreign policy debate and divert policymakers from pursuing American interests, while assiduously pursuing Israel's. The authors, John Mearsheimer, known as a spokesman for the "realist" school of foreign policy analysis, and Stephen Walt, academic dean of the Kennedy School, have since come in for a relentless assault, a furious round of smears so vicious and hysterical that the effect is almost comical.

Take, for instance, Alan Dershowitz's contribution to the non-discussion, which insists on discerning the supposedly hidden "motive" behind the Mearsheimer-Walt piece. It couldn't possibly be that they disagree with the Lobby's agenda, and honestly believe that the debate over the centrality of Israel to American policy in the Middle East has been skewed oh no. They have to be "bigots" out to spread "anti-Semitic canards" and the "proof" of this is that they supposedly garnered some of their quotes from "Internet hate sites."

THE LOGICAL FALLACY INVOLVED HERE IS TOO OBVIOUS

How does Dershowitz know this? He claims his "staff" is compiling a "chart" that supposedly "proves" it. But since nothing short of looking over the authors' shoulders as they did their research could possibly "prove" such a thing, Dershowitz's "staff" is pissing in the wind. Dershowitz's whole case can be summed up as "David Duke believes the same thing therefore, it can't be true." The logical fallacy involved here is too obvious to be pointed out. Suffice to say that this about sums up the entire strategy of the Lobby in all the years of its operation: anyone who opposes them is a "bigot," an "anti-Semite," and is spreading the modern day equivalent of the infamousProtocols of the Elders of Zion.

WHAT A BUNCH OF MALARKEY.

This is victimology with a vengeance; it has usually worked in the past, though, and they are shocked that it doesn't seem to be working now. By trying this gambit on two distinguished scholars, however, the Lobby is showing just how desperate they are. Dershowitz, by the way, doesn't even try to confront the actual arguments made by Mearsheimer and Walt: instead, he spends some 20,000 or so words engaging in guilt by association.

Any mention of the term "neoconservatives" is taken by Dershowitz to mean "Jews" but this is clearly not the case, as many neocons are not Jewish, although Jews are disproportionately represented in their ranks. But, then again, Jews are over-represented in the ranks of the libertarianmovement, the leftistmovement, the antiwar movement, and probably a good many other ideological movements of one sort or another. That the neocons put special emphasis on their affinity for and support of Israel as a matter of high principle is directly relevant to the argument of Mearsheimer and Walt that attributes their influence on administration policy to its present state of distortion not because the neocons are Jews, but because they are neocons.

Furthermore, Mearsheimer and Walt explicitly stated that Jews are not the only or even the most influential members of the Lobby: evangelical Christians are by far more numerous and carry much more political weight in their unconditional support for the Jewish state. Dershowitz fails to mention this, because it doesn't fit into his distorted characterization. In addition, Dershowitz himself cites various groups and institutions listed by Mearsheimer and Walt, including the Brookings Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, and just about every Washington think tank of note, and expresses incredulity that such an amalgam could constitute a unitary group:

"The so-called members of 'the Lobby' have little in common with each other, except for a preference for democracy over tyranny, belief in Israel's strategic importance to the United States, support for an endangered American ally, commitment to the survival of a small democracy in which Jewish culture can thrive, and the recognition of the need for one nation that will always be open to Jews threatened with discrimination and persecution in a world with continuing if not increasing anti-Semitism."

THE LOBBY IS A NARROW "JEWISH CONSPIRACY"

Dershowitz cannot have it both ways: either the authors of the study are claiming that the Lobby is a narrow "Jewish conspiracy," consisting primarily or even exclusively of Jews, or else it is an impossibly broad construction that encompasses virtually everyone to the left of David Duke and to the right of Cindy Sheehan. Which is it?

Dershowitz complains that the authors fail to mention other powerful lobbies, e.g., the Saudi lobby, as having substantial influence on American policymakers. But this hardly invalidates the argument that the Israel lobby's influence is usually decisive, especially when it comes to the formulation of American policy in the Middle East.

Dershowitz take umbrage at the Mearsheimer-Walt characterization of AIPAC as a "de facto agent of a foreign government," and acts as if this is the equivalent of a blood libel but why, then, is the U.S. government now saying that the evidence against AIPAC honcho Rosen and his accomplice is "overwhelming," and why did Franklin plead guilty and take it on the chin with 12 years in the hoosegow? If AIPAC isn't an agent of Israel, then the Communist Party was never an agent of the Soviet Union and the German-American Bund was never an agent of Nazi Germany.

HOW DOES THAT "DISCREDIT" WHAT THEY HAVE WRITTEN ON THIS PARTICULAR TOPIC?

A good part of Dershowitz's attack on Mearsheimer-Walt consists of challenging their sources: Alex Cockburn is supposedly "discredited" becauseŠ well, just because Dershowitz says so. Also, he's "anti-American." So is Noam Chomsky, and so is Norman Finkelstein, according to The Dersh but even if this is true, how does that "discredit" what they have written on this particular topic? The answer is: it doesn't, as any beginning student of logic could tell you.

Dershowitz tries desperately to impugn Mearsheimer's and Walt's motives in writing their piece: the nastiness in his screed explodes in the reader's face like a very bad smell. This is in stark contrast to the understated wording and calm, measured tone of the Mearsheimer-Walt piece itself, which nowhere engages in the kind of polemical overkill that underscores Dershowitz's desperation and the Lobby's.

Dershowitz and other critics of Mearsheimer and Walt cite Daniel Drezner's remark that the study is "piss-poor" scholarship, but that term more accurately describes the hastily thrown-together tirades assembled by Dershowitz & Co. Emotionalism, ad hominem attacks, posing false choices, appeals to authority, reductive reasoning, hasty generalizations there is hardly a logical error left out. As one commenter on Drezner's blog pointed out, Mearsheimer and Walt have never written on this subject, yet suddenly they're anti-Semites? It just doesn't make sense.

SMEAR YOUR ENEMIES AND INTIMIDATE ANYONE WHO MIGHT AGREE WITH THEM

Yet, it does make a twisted kind of sense if you look at the way the Lobby has operated for many years. Smear and fear smear your enemies and intimidate anyone who might agree with them. That is, in essence, their method. A concerted effort to get the Kennedy School to disassociate itself from the work of Mearsheimer and Walt, and the sudden announcement that Walt will no longer serve as academic dean, indicate the Lobby's efforts have been at least partially successful.

This is really too bad, since what is needed now more than ever is an open debate over the course of American foreign policy in the post-9/11 era, a discussion that cannot take place without engaging the Lobby and its inordinate influence. By launching a campaign of defamation against Mearsheimer and Walt, the Lobby has proved one of the central points made by the authors: that a real debate on Israel's influence on American foreign policy has so far failed to take place due to the Lobby's tactic of smearing anyone who dares take issue with them.

TRYING TO SILENCE THEIR CRITICS

The central contention of Mearsheimer and Walt that the level of support for Israel by the U.S. is not in America's interest is nowhere confronted by any of their critics. This is because their argument is irrefutable and because their critics are operating from an entirely different premise, which has nothing to do with promoting American interests.

By trying to silence their critics, the Lobby is making a huge mistake, one that will likely boomerang as the trial of Rosen and Weissman gets underway. As it becomes all too clear how and why the Lobby is now trying to lure us into war with Iran, just as they lied us into war with Iraq and the tape-recorded transcript of their treason is read aloud in court the American people will begin to ask questions.

And the Lobby is not going to like most of the answersŠ

JUSTIN RAIMONDO

* [enditem] - You can find this article at Url.: http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=8832

* Related: April 13, 2006 - 'From the China Lobby to the Israel Lobby - Rent-seeking in US foreign policy' - by Leon Hadar - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/mcsjb

* An example concerning the cheap smears as described in the above, is from Indymedia Washington DC, where the editors usually fight back and publish, but as most other media they have been infiltrated too. This is about yesterday's article, filed by the FPF:

Indymedia DC - ''Foreign Policy/Empire/Imperialism : Iraq : Media'' - The 9/11 inside job: US Physicist says heat substance felled WTC - 12 Apr 2006 - by Anonymous - ''This article is a rare one, which not will be seen in the PNAC's propaganda press. Seeing it with the eyes of a true PNAC disciple and Bush-believer, one can only conclude that this 'cave man' Osama must have been some kind of Arab Einstein mixed with James Bond.''

READ THE FULL ARTICLE... IT SAYS UNDERNEATH, AND THAN THIS TURNS UP:

"The requested content was deleted with notes: anti-semitic" - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/qr54u

RACIST?

In Washington there are many groups blaming and smearing. Out of a religious and/or criminal conviction, or just because they are paid to do so. One of the pro-PNAC lobby groups trying to screw Indymedia DC in the lobby direction and doing 'damage control' for the PNAC pack is this one:

''DC Indymedia Watch - DC Indymedia watch focuses on exposing the false progressivism of the DC Indymedia editors including Nancy Shia, Chris Belcher, Luke Kuhn, Mike Flugennock, and others. Contact DC Indymedia Watch at dcindymediawatch1@hotmail.com''.

In reality the lobby only confims what is said about the smear tactics: always ad hominem and never explaining with controllable facts what's wrong. Answering any question with either nonsense or another question. The tactic is as old as the road to Rome. (Emperor Claudius expelled them from Rome ca. 52 CE).

RELATED: PNAC - THE 'PROJECT FOR A NEO-CON AMERICAN CENTURY':

* BEING SMEARD, DEMONIZED c.q. 'KILLED' BY THE LOBBY CRIMINALS BECAUSE THEY PRESENTED SOME FACTS: Prof. John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago's Department of Political Science and Prof. Stephen M. Walt of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government: 'The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy' - Working Paper Number: RWP06-011 - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/fsl7h

* US CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL CONFIRMING THE CREATION OF A WORLD GOVERNMENT - "He asked if there was an international conspiracy to overthrow our government: The answer is ''Yes" - Short video - Url.: http://100777.com/media/RonPaul-NewWorldOrder.wmv

* HOLODOMOR = HOLOCAUST 0F MORE THAN 6 MILLION IN UKRAINE - Writer Eric Margolis: "genocide accounted for at least 40 million victims, not including 20 million war dead. Kaganovitch and many senior OGPU officers (later, NKVD) were Jewish." - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/kycrw - Stalin's Terminator: LAZAR KAGANOVITCH - Url.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor

* CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN THE US? - 'IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE!' - But of you don't react now... - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/o6lpx

* THE 'WHY' OF GLOBAL RESISTANCE - HOW IT IS DONE BY THE PNAC'S CIA JACKALS & THE WORLD BANK's SERIAL KILLER WOLFOWITZ - Confessions of an economic 'hit man'. World Bank insider Perkins explains: "Jackals' are C.I.A. - sanctioned people that come in and try to foment a coup or revolution. If it doesn't work, they perform assassinations, or try to." - They steal billions for the World Bank, IMF, USAID, UNDP, AID etc. - Perkins web site - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/jvhbu - It's your life too: Must watch Video Url.: www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8171.htm

* PRESENT AND PAST - UNICEF reports on another PNAC HOLOCAUST: that the under-5 infant mortality for 2003 was 110,000 in occupied Iraq, 292,000 in occupied Afghanistan. Gideon Polya: 'Non-reportage of US-linked infant mass mortality' - December 23, 2004 - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/rb3rx

* The 'PROJECT FOR A NEW AMERICAN CENTURY's is HOLOCAUSTING MORE TODDLERS: Children Continue To Be the Main Victims Of the U.S. War Crimes - By Dr. César Chelala - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/oys87

* 'PROJECT FOR A NUCLEAR AMERICAN CENTURY': NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST FOR YOU TOO - Depleted Uranium for Dummies - Url.: http://www.notinkansas.us

* THE NEW SCIENTIST ABOUT ONE OF THE PNAC'S WEAPONS AGAINST US: SWEEPING STUN GUNS TO TARGET AND CONTROL YOU AND/OR CROWDS - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/kbx58

* THIS IS A VERY INFORMATIVE ARTICLE - AN EYE-OPENER - After working around the globe for more than forty years, I can not find anything wrong with this eloquent description of the state of affairs: ''Just six simple words that carry the weight of the world upon them, six simple words that act as the engine for so much turmoil and unrest.'' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/gj4x5

* WHO RULES AMERICA - AND OUR LIVES? - Please read the following article with an open mind, and if you don't believe it you can verify it for yourself, as the author suggests. Keep in mind the intense and non-stop psychological conditioning already for ages being used by major media - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/evpf

* 6 MILLION PEOPLE WERE KILLED? - ANOTHER HOLOCAUST - THIS IS ONE OF MANY BY THE PNAC's CIA: John Stockwell, former CIA Station Chief in Angola in 1976, working for then Director of the CIA, George Bush. ''How 6 million People Were killed in CIA secret wars against Third World countries'' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/gpcg

* "Sarah, if the American people had ever known the truth about what we Bushes have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - George Bush Senior speaking in an interview with Sarah McClendon in December 1992.

* How The Bush Family Made Its For