Friday, April 28, 2006

Breaking the Last Taboo by ROBERT FISK

"Anyone who criticises Israel's actions or argues that pro-Israel groups have significant influence over US Middle East policy," the authors have written, "...stands a good chance of being labelled an anti-Semite. Indeed, anyone who merely claims that there is an Israeli lobby runs the risk of being charged with anti-Semitism ... Anti-Semitism is something no-one wants to be accused of." This is strong stuff in a country where - to quote the late Edward Said - the "last taboo" (now that anyone can talk about blacks, gays and lesbians) is any serious discussion of America's relationship with Israel.

Steppingstone to War by Justin Raimondo

The sheer power of what Mearsheimer and Walt call "the Lobby" is further demonstrated by the general public revulsion against the consequences of our very similar policy in Iraq. The unpopularity of our military presence in the Middle East has not deterred politicians from jumping on the war-with-Tehran bandwagon. Even as (some) Democratic lawmakers decry the occupation of Iraq and call for a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal, they join in the war whoops of the neoconservatives who are pushing to ignite a new war with Tehran. So much for the Democratic Party as a vehicle for antiwar sentiment.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

PNAC 101 - Rise Of The Neocons

The Project for a New American Century (PNAC) was born. Populated by influential Movers of industry and Shakers of public opinion, the PNAC is an organization united in the vision for a global U.S. empire - "Pax Americana" - through coercion and military domination. Their philosophy can be simply summarized:

Wilkerson Fingers the Neo-Cons on Iran by GARY LEUPP

It was May 2003. President Bush had declared “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq. The State Department, which had been unenthusiastic about that war, was not inclined to provoke another with Iran and indeed had been calling for diplomatic engagement with the reform-minded Khatami regime. That regime for its part asked the Swiss ambassador to Tehran to forward to the United States a request for talks. These would address U.S. concerns about its nuclear program, as well as the lifting of sanctions and normalization of relations.

John Fund vs. the Truth by Justin Raimondo

The neocon propaganda machine, in which Fund is a rather small but squeaky cog, is a perpetual motion machine of hate. Constantly in search of new victims, Fund and his kind function as talent scouts in search of fresh hate-objects: the Dixie Chicks, Michael Moore, Stephen Walt and John J. Mearsheimer – anyone who commits any number of impermissible heresies, such as, in the case of the latter two gentlemen, challenging our Israel-centric foreign policy in the Middle East.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

BATR/Old Right's Mark Dankof on Frank Whalen's Frankly Speaking Radio: Friday, April 28th, 0800 CST

Mark Dankof, columnist for BATR and Senior Editor of Old Right Topic News, will be the featured guest on Frank Whalen's Frankly Speaking Radio Show on the Republic Broadcasting Network on Friday, April 28th, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Central Standard Time. The show may be heard live on the Internet or after the fact through the show Archives. Consult Frankly Speaking Radio and Republic Broadcasting Network for listening details.

The topic of the show will be "The Inevitable War with Iran: Will There Be an Israeli Military Preemption?" The larger issue of the Neo-Conservative movement in the United States and its linkage with the pro-Israel American Christian Right will be among the subjects examined. Reference will be made to Mark Dankof's online research paper on the history of Dispensational teaching on prophecy and eschatology, and his recent BATR Columnist Guild piece on Edward N.Luttwak's article on Iran for Commentary magazine. Live listeners may call the show with questions for Mr. Dankof and Mr. Whalen.

Mark Dankof's Broadcast Interview Source profile (Washington) and his Mark Dankof's America web site may be accessed by clicking the links provided.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Two Trials by Justin Raimondo

Think of it this way: if Scooter is convicted, even as key fabrications of Iraq war propaganda come apart at the seams, then the War Party will be discredited – and we might even recover our senses long enough to get the heck out of Iraq. Then legions of antiwar leftists and conservative realists, who want to sell out human civilization to the Islamo-fascists and are secretly in league with America's enemies, would overrun Washington, until this point secured by the War Party – and then what? >From the neocon point of view, "outing" Plame was a patriotic act, indeed, the only course that could have possibly served the public interest. The CIA, in their view, wasn't just against the war and the methods employed by the administration to justify it, they were on the other side. Therefore, it was Scooter's patriotic duty to expose Plame. Case closed.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Condi and the Bush Monarchy Above the Law by Kurt Nimmo

But packing the Clinton administration with Zionists was not enough for AIPAC and the settlers in Israel—in 2000, the Straussian neocons, all Israel Firsters to a man and woman, managed to have the Supreme Court appoint their man and then, four years later, subvert the already badly damaged election system in America and fix Bush for a second term (not that it mattered—the other “candidate,” John Forbes “Kohn” Kerry, was a consummate insider determined to kill more Iraqis than Bush and heap even more cash on the tiny outlaw state of Israel).

Thursday, April 20, 2006

In Rare Move, 2nd AIPAC Dismissal Hearing Set by Walter Pincus

In January, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III raised the possibility that the law may not be sensibly written when he sentenced a third person in the case, former Defense Department employee Lawrence A. Franklin, to 12 years in prison for giving classified information to Rosen and Weissman, former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Last month, after hearing oral arguments on dismissing the case against Rosen and Weissman, Ellis took the unusual step of ordering the Justice Department to respond to defense claims of unconstitutionality. Yesterday, after receiving the government's filing and the defendants' response, Ellis ordered another oral argument on the motion to dismiss.

Cheney, the Neocons and China by GARY LEUPP

Robert Dreyfuss’ article “Vice Squad,” about the Office of the Vice President in the American Prospect) is the best piece I’ve seen in awhile on the neoconservatives and their persistent influence in the Bush Administration. But it also places the neocons’ Middle East preoccupation in wider perspective.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Being Judgmental by Paul Gottfried

This brings me to my final point, which is the need for the Old Right not to be overly indulgent toward those who have turned the conservative movement into a distributor of FOXNEWS agitprop. Just because a few Straussians express second thoughts about the Iraqi adventure or just because Strauss himself may not have fed the neocons all of their platitudes, does not mean that we should welcome suspect figures as old friends. For one thing, apparent Straussian dissenters, starting with Fukuyama, may be looking to take their place in a line of media darlings. This includes those "moderate" neocons who may be more acceptable to the liberal establishment than the war-intoxicated Bill Kristol and the mouthy Fred Barnes. Like most neocons, the apparent dissenters are not exactly daring critics of the welfare state and have now broken from their camp on the war, in the direction of the mainstream media. Is it not possible, particularly in the case of the new media hero, Francis Fukuyama, to sniff opportunism at work? Two, it not clear why those who have created the propaganda justifying a welfare-warfare state are to be viewed as nice fellows because they do not support a conflict that most of their earlier value-statements could easily serve to justify. When a few Claremont-affiliated journalists went after Ryn for mistakenly attributing to their group W’s revolutionary rhetoric, my response was puzzled amusement. It really doesn’t matter how these folks are now reacting to the American invasion of a foreign country. More significant is what they and their guru had been saying for forty years about America’s liberating role in the world.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Rumsfeld's Fall Drags Hawks in Its Wake by Jim Lobe

While the unprecedented calls by six retired generals for his resignation have focused primarily on his competence, management style, and strategy for invading and occupying Iraq, Rumsfeld's departure would almost certainly cripple the coalition of neoconservative and aggressive nationalist war hawks in and around the administration for the remainder of Bush's term.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Who is this Israel, and what's all this talk of an "Israel Lobby"? - Ed Haas

Exactly how does the AIPAC accomplish its goals? What about the other groups / supporters that are defined as part of the “Israel Lobby”? Who else is supporting these lobbying groups and why? What is the real agenda and does it in fact place what’s best for the United States behind what’s best for Israel? The Muckraker Report interpretation of the working paper by Professors Mearsheimer and Walt is that the writing is on the wall if the American people want to read and comprehend it. What follows are the key elements of the Mearsheimer / Walt report pertaining to the “Israel Lobby.”

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Israel: The Dead Roach in America's Salad by Charley Reese

The Israeli lobby and the neoconservatives are beating the drums for war with Iran. I hope the president is not that dangerously stupid. The betting on whether he is that stupid is about even.

The neocons – who, being self-centered, seemingly have no concept of human nature – are advancing the premise that a military attack on Iran will cause the people to lose faith in their government and result in regime change.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Oppose The Palestianian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006: The U. S. Campaign Against the Occupation Of Palestine

Mark Dankof urges BATR and Neo-Con Watch readers to peruse the petition to oppose the so-called Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 (H. R. 4681). The petition is supported by the U. S. Committee Against the Occupation of Palestine and contains information on the bill and the Capitol Hill line-up on the legislation.

Friday, April 14, 2006

If ever there was a nation not to drive to extremes, it is Iran by Simon Jenkins

The speech was full of jihadist rhetoric. Blair's desire to wipe non-democratic values off the map is akin to Iran's view of Israel. But we know that when he says war he means war. The speech was the wildest by a British leader in modern times and was the clearest imaginable statement of a casus belli. He mentioned Iran three times. It was gilt-edged, copper-bottomed, swivel-eyed neoconservatism.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Synergism of the Neo-Cons by KAMRAN MATIN

The implications of last year's victory of Mahmud Ahmadinejad in the Iranian presidential elections have already reached beyond the Iranian political landscape. Externally the dispute between Iran and the US-EU on Iran's nuclear programme has sharply escalated. This escalation has in turn been both distorted and intensified by Ahamdinejad's recent comments on Israel and Holocaust which the west has spared no time to employ in its political and diplomatic pressure on Iran.

Neocon: Iran will have Nuke in Sixteen Days by Kurt Nimmo

I beg to differ with Mr. Cole. Bush—or rather the Straussian neocons who use him every day as a less than satisfactory sock puppet—the neocons could not care less about Bush’s "base" of pathetic fake-patriots clueless about reality (as the Straussian neocons tell us they create reality—at least for the easily duped and bedazzled). Additionally, "the spread of Iraq-style instability to more countries in the region" is precisely what the neocons want.

The Wrath of Neocon-Jewish Alliance by ALI H. ASLAN

It is this neocon-Jewish joint venture which has to a large extent shaped the US policy on Turkey for many years, with its strong arms in Congress, bureaucracy, trade and think tanks. Many key figures associated with this group were present at the AEI meeting. For that reason, one should consider the meeting important. The neocon-Jewish alliance has been the leading group who kept the positive interest in Ataturk’s Turkey alive in Washington so far, due to their US-Israel focused regional plans and because they are concerned about secularism in Islamic nations. Some, like Richard Perle, were even making money by conducting professional lobbying for Turkey. However, things turned the other way around with the (March 1, 2003) parliamentary motion crisis.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Iran Showdown Tests Power of "Israel Lobby" by Jim Lobe

That was much the same message delivered by Perle himself and rapturously received by the attendees at AIPAC's 2006 convention here last month. The convention, at which the keynoter, none other than the administration's ultimate hawk, Vice Pres. Cheney, vowed "meaningful consequences" if Iran did not freeze its nuclear programme, drew several hundred Democratic and Republican lawmakers in what could only be described as a show of raw political power.

"I don't think there's another group in the country that has two successive conferences in which the centrepiece was beating the drums for war in Iran," noted one senior official with another major pro-Israel organisation, who asked not to be identified. "They are the main force behind this."

Lobbyists' Prosecutors Pointing to Spy Case by Walter Pincus

Federal prosecutors have reached back 60 years to a case involving a convicted Soviet spy as a precedent for indicting two former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) under the 1917 Espionage Act for receiving and transmitting national defense information.

The Gorin case was cited in an unusual Justice Department filing last week in the case of Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, former lobbyists for AIPAC who were indicted last August for receiving classified information in conversations with U.S. government officials and passing it on to journalists and Israeli Embassy officials.

Bush: Method in the madness? by Jim Lobe

Hersh quoted Patrick Clawson, an Iran expert at the AIPAC-created Washington Institute for Near East Policy, as calling for war, if covert action, including "industrial accidents", was not sufficient to set back Iran's nuclear ambitions. At the same time, the Sunday Times quoted former Defense Policy Board chairman Richard Perle as asserting that destroying the program would be much easier than many anticipated.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Paul Wolfowitz's Heart of Darkness by William Hughes

Wolfowitz is a gross distortion, a caricature of our country, its badly conned masses and its fast-fading values. He represents what can happen to a nation, when it allows a warmongering bureaucrat, without any real checks and balances on his conduct, to act out his darker, lethal impulses. Putting someone like Wolfowitz, a raving Neocon, in a position of power was like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. (4) How did this loose cannon get into a place of making our defense policy? When will our nation be rid of this dangerous Neocon menace? (5) When, if ever, will our rudderless country comes to its senses?

US plans strike to topple Iran regime by Julian Borger

It is a widespread belief in Washington's neo-conservative circles that a comprehensive air assault would disorient the Tehran government and galvanise the Iranian people into bringing it down. The departure of senior neo-conservatives from the administration after Mr Bush's 2004 re-election was thought to have weakened their clout, but Mr Hersh's report suggested that the president's personal convictions may yet prove decisive.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Smear and Fear 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.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Neocon Plan to Wreck the Economy by Kurt Nimmo

If we are to believe Sterling Seagrave, “co-author of Gold Warriors and an extremely well-connected financial source in both the US and China as well as Europe,” the White House, that is to say the Straussian neocons in control of the White House, have ordered the Federal Reserve to print a whopping two trillion in funny (or not so funny fiat) money. “The U.S. Treasury is allegedly running printing presses 24/7 to accommodate that order” and this “probably explains why the US Treasury Secretary resigned several months ago and was replaced by a Bush flunkey, and why Greenspan resigned from the Fed several weeks ago, not wanting to go down with the Titanic…. We have been predicting this over the past two or three years, as the inevitable consequence of the Bush administration’s bizarre policies, although we were not certain exactly when it would occur.”

Friday, April 07, 2006

Let Me Shine Your Shoes, Sir by Scott McConnell

Iraq, Barnes tells us again and again and yet again, is now, thanks to George W. Bush, a “pro-American democracy” because Bush, “adamant about democracy,” with his “hands on style,” has never been afraid to override the crabbed views of experts. And, lest we forget, it is Bush alone who has done this, not his advisors. The cynical might suspect that this last is a form of neoconservative special pleading, designed to spirit the War Party intellectuals away from the scene when the Bush policy goes down in flames. It might even be charitable to Barnes to think so, for the alternative is to believe that the courtier style that saturates Rebel-in-Chief is without guise.

Iran: The Next Neocon Target by Rep. Ron Paul

The demand for UN sanctions is now being strongly encouraged by Congress. The "Iran Freedom Support Act," HR 282, passed in the International Relations Committee; recently, the House passed H. Con. Res. 341, which inaccurately condemned Iran for violating its international nuclear nonproliferation obligations. At present, the likelihood of reason prevailing in Congress is minimal. Let there be no doubt: The neoconservative warriors are still in charge and are conditioning Congress, the media, and the American people for a preemptive attack on Iran. Never mind that Afghanistan has unraveled and Iraq is in civil war: serious plans are being laid for the next distraction which will further spread this war in the Middle East. The unintended consequences of this effort surely will be worse than any of the complications experienced in the three-year occupation of Iraq.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

THE ARCHITECTS OF WAR: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

President Bush has not fired any of the architects of the Iraq war. In fact, a review of the key planners of the conflict reveals that they have been rewarded – not blamed – for their incompetence.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Bush and neocons beating war drums for attack on Iran by Linda S. Heard

If any other US administration were in the White House, I might feel the same way. But when you have a born-again president, who believes his wars are Creator-inspired, advised by a bunch of “Israel first” neocon ideologues, and others whose pockets are bulging from war-related defense or reconstruction contracts, then the answer to “will they, or won’t they?” is, sadly, anyone’s guess.

The dangers of unintended consequences by Arnaud de Borchgrave

A prominent "neocon," still in good odor at the White House and OSD (Office of the Secretary of Defense), speaking privately, assured us that by the time president Bush leaves office in January 2009, Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions would be history.

Assuming tough sanctions -- draconian or otherwise -- don't bring Iran's mullahs to heel, we inquired, trying not to sound too wimpish, what would be Mr. Bush's next step?

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Bush's War Hawks Edged Out of the Nest by Jim Lobe

Demoralized by the quagmire in Iraq, as well as President George W. Bush's still falling approval and credibility ratings, the coalition of aggressive nationalists, neoconservatives, and the Christian Right that promoted the belligerent, neo-imperial trajectory in U.S. foreign policy has lost both its coherence and its power to dominate the political agenda here.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Israel and Moral Blackmail by Justin Raimondo

As we learn more about the activities of Scooter Libby, and more indictments come down, the key role of the neoconservatives in the Bush administration as the sparkplugs who ignited this war will become as plain as the wart on Ahmed Chalabi's nose. To Hitchens and the rest of the neocon fellow travelers, this is merely "code" for "the Jews." This is the sort of moral blackmail that has always ended all discussion of this vitally important topic – but not anymore.

Fukuyama's "Defection" by ROGER MORRIS

It is a "legacy" for which Fukuyama is now at pains, understandably, to deny paternity, though the DNA is rather unmistakable. It is scarcely the neoconservatives' fault alone. The New York Times' resident reviewer, Michiko Kakutani, in her own qualifying ignorance necessarily clinging to the obligatory shallows, thought America at the Crossroads "astute and shrewdly reasoned tough-minded and edifying." Yes, well.

Reconquista: Neocon Malkin Gets it Wrong by Kurt Nimmo

Michelle Malkin, neocon pundit and concentration camp advocate, made an appearance on the Bill O’Reilly show last week and asserted the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) and its El Plan de Santa Barbara are leftist aberrations. In fact, the organization and its ethnic cleansing plan are not left, right, or a component of any other false political paradigm—Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán and El Plan de Santa Barbara are nothing less than a globalist tool and the Mexicanos and other Latinos who participated in the “La Gran Marcha” held last week are dupes.

Neo-Cons Jumping Ship by Richard Walker

Like rats on a sinking ship, leading neo-conservatives are now abandoning the U.S. foreign policy that they have used to steer into dangerous waters. Meanwhile, the ship continues to sink, taking with it any hope that the United States will be able to refocus on threats it has ignored in the midst of the Iraq debacle.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

The neocon prophet burns Bush

You know an ideology has come of age when opponents stop addressing it with argument and start using it as a term of abuse. Thus 'neoconservative' is used by the American right to describe a radical policy doctrine, while the European left uses it as a handy alternative to 'Yankee imperialist pig-dog'.

US professors accused of being liars and bigots over essay on pro-Israeli lobby by Julian Borger

The article argues that the US has "been willing to set aside its own security and that of many of its allies" to advance Israeli interests, largely as a result of pressure from Jewish American groups such as the American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC) allied to pro-Zionist Christian evangelists and influential Jewish neo-conservatives such as former Pentagon officials Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith and Richard Perle. It argues their combined influence was critical in the decision to go to war in Iraq.