Michael Scheuer's Imperial HubrisLangzaam maar zeker krijgt het grote publiek de waarheid te horen:
gets out on C-SPAN
Robert Stark
There was controversy about a recent interview on C-span about terrorism with former CIA Bin Laden Unit Chief Michael Scheuer that many are complaining was anti-Semitic and were outraged that the C-SPAN host did not counter the remarks. The ADL said "we continue to receive many complaints from C-SPAN viewers about the unchallenged anti-Semitism and bigotry aired by callers to your shows, and we believe those complaints are justified. Recognizing that we share with you a commitment to freedom of speech and the marketplace of ideas, we also believe that respectable journalistic organizations have a responsibility and an obligation, consistent with the First Amendment, to speak out when the forum they provide is used to disseminate hate and anti-Semitism."
The caller who caused the controversy said , "I for one am sick and tired of all these Jews coming on C-SPAN and other stations and pushing us to go to war against our Muslim friends. They're willing to spend the last drop of American blood and treasure to get their way in the world. They have way too much power in this country. People like Wolfowitz and Feith and the other neo-cons -- that jewed us into Iraq -- and now we're going to spend the next 60 years rehabilitating our soldiers -- I'm sick and tired of it."
While his language may sound harsh, the reality is Americans are fed up with the power that the Israeli lobby has over our foreign policy which is costing us lives and treasure in the middle east and until recently has been taboo to even discuss. Those who speak out are labeled anti-Semites.
Michael Scheuer who is a critic of Israeli influence over our foreign policy basically agreed with the caller saying, "yeah. I think that of course American foreign policy is eventually up to the American people. One of the big things we have not been able to discuss for the past 30 years is our policy towards the Israelis. Whether we want to be involved in fighting Israel's wars in the future is something that Americans should be able to talk about. They may vote yes. They may want to see their kids killed in Iraq or Yemen or somewhere else to protect Israel. But the question is: we need to talk about it. Ultimately, Israel is a country that is of no particular worth to the United States."
The host asked Scheuer "strategically?" and he responded, "Strategically. They have no resources we need. Their manpower is minimal. Their association with us is a negative for the United States. Now that's a fact. What you want to do about that fact is entirely different. But for anyone to stand up in the United States and say that our support for Israel doesn't hurt us in the Muslim world, or our support for Hosni Mubarak's dictatorship doesn't hurt us, is to just defy reality."
In response to another called who asked "Why is it that the United States does not want to talk about Israel?," Scheuer said, "why don't we talk about that? Because AIPAC and other influential American Jewish groups are extraordinarily involved in the funding of American political campaigns and have the ability to reach out and make sure that people lose their jobs, or are otherwise hurt, if they dare to criticize Israel."
Scheuer has personal experience with this since he lost a job with the Jamestown Foundation think tank for comments about presidential Obama pandering to the Israeli lobby saying he was "doing the Tel-Aviv Two Step". He claims that the foundations pro-Israel donors ordered his termination. He said that "you know, you always talk about the Israel Lobby and its power, but to see it up close and personal aimed right at me was very educational. In fact, it was worth the experience of losing a job."
Scheuer says that "Israel has every right to do what it needs to do" to defend itself, including the development of nuclear weapons, Scheuer said that the U.S. has no real interest in either Israel or the Palestinian Authority. "That is a religious war in which we have no stake,"
LA Nonpartisan Examiner
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