Joe Klein takes on the neocons and McCain; "When Extremists Attack"

[Hamlette]

I have now been called antisemitic and intellectually unstable and a whole bunch of other silly things by the folks over at the Commentary blog. They want Time Magazine to fire or silence me. This is happening because I said something that is palpably true, but unspoken in polite society: There is a small group of Jewish neoconservatives who unsuccessfully tried to get Benjamin Netanyahu to attack Saddam Hussein in the 1990s, and then successfully helped provide the intellectual rationale for George Bush to do it in 2003. Their motivations involve a confused conflation of what they think are Israel's best interests with those of the United States. They are now leading the charge for war with Iran.

Happily, these people represent a very small sliver of the Jewish population in this country. Unhappily, their views have had an impact in the highest reaches of the Bush Administration--and seem to have an influence on John McCain's campaign as well. Happily, the Bush Administration seems more interested in talking to the Iranians than in launching on them--and, according to my Israeli friends, the Israelis are not going to do anything foolish, either. I remain proud of my Jewish heritage, a strong supporter of Israel and a realist about the slim chance of finding some common ground with the Iranians. But I am not willing to grant these ideologues the anonymity they seek.

In early 2003, during my first weeks as a Time Magazine columnist, I wrote a handful of skeptical columns about the coming war in Iraq, including this one about Israel's security as a hidden casus belli. Then, with the troops in place and the war about to begin, I said something stupid on Tim Russert's cable TV show--reluctantly saying ok, we should proceed with the attack. It was the only statement I made in favor of the war and I quickly came to my senses--but that's no excuse. We have lost more than 4000 Americans, tens of thousands have come home grievously injured, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed and wounded, and we are weaker, palpably and morally, as a result.

I am not going to make the same mistake twice. I don't think a war with Iran is coming, thank God, but this time I am not going to pull any punches. My voice isn't very important in the grand scheme of things, but I'm going to do my job--and that means letting you know exactly where I stand and what I believe. I believe there are a small group of Jewish neoconservatives who are pushing for war with Iran because they believe it is in America's long-term interests and because they believe Israel's existence is at stake. They are wrong and recent history tells us they are dangerous. They are also bullies and I'm not going to be intimidated by them.

http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/07/when_extremists_attack.html

Joe might not roll over for McCain this time. He's being pushed by the neocons and as of this moment in time, he sounds pissed.

[kevinmc]

1. Glad he wrote this ....... hope he keeps the spotlight on them .... n/t

[Hamlette]

2. it wasn't tactically smart to call him intellectually unstable....me thinks

and I agree, I hope he keeps the spotlight on them. They are dangerous. (And with Perle trying to buy up the rights to oil in Northern Iraq it makes you wonder if it had NOTHING to do with security (ours or Israels) and even the neocons were in it for the oil.)

[mrreowwr_kittty]

5. Of course it did!

But the point was to convince Israelis that the neo-cons really had their security at heart. Only, the latest polls show that more Israelis support Obama. At the end of the day, I believe that, more than anything, proves that Obama's opeverseas trip was a HUGE success. He convinced the people of Israel that he was the better American leader for them. The speech in Germany only reified that. As did his visit with Sarkozy and in England. Whatever. It was his trip to Israel that sealed the deal.

[Cha]

3. Wow, wasn't he a bushite

for awhile..a mediawhore? Something?

[Hamlette]

6. he's said some stuff that has pissed me off in recent months

I'm not sure what's up with this late trend pushing back against the necons and McCain. He and John Marshall have traded barbs over whether McCain is a straight shooter (very cordial barbs mind you) and Glenn Grennwald and Joe have really gone the rounds in the last year or so.

I'm beginning to wonder whether McCain's attack on Obama and pushing the photo op at the base in Germany is not helping him with "his base" (the media). Andrea Mitchell started it by saying "Obama was NEVER going to take the press with him on the visit so McCain is lying." I think she was boxed in and had to say that because a few days earlier she was complaining about the media being denied access when Obama was with the troops in Iraq. But she might have been pissed off because it was such a blatant lie and cheap shot.

I also wonder whether McCain attacking the media for allegedly not being fair to him hurt some. When the pundits call themselves his base for 10 years they might not like being told they are treating him unfairly. Then the study comes out showing they are harder on Obama than McCain and its another McCain lie.

The media has taken a well deserved beating for not pushing back on the war with Iraq and some of them are sounding like they will not let the same thing happen with Iran. When McCain says "the media are Obama's stooges and we should bomb Iran" it rubs some members of the press the wrong way.

Who knows, Joe could be sincere.

[Cha]

7. I hope so...that one mediawhore is

changing their tune.

The media has been our enemy for a long time and I'm delighted that more and more are realizing that and doing something about it.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

4. My b/f probably typifies the average American Jew.

He's not religious at all, but is the son of a European pogrom escapee. He is a stalwart liberal, and appalled at the encroachment of reactionary whackjobs on U.S/Israel relations. It's like no one ever even bothered to ask the Jewish population of this country what they think of the direction our policy should go. I go to many events with him, and while it's clear that support for Israel is strong, our so-called "official policy" toward the Middle East does NOT reflect the view of the majority of Jews in this country. :wtf: Are they not listening? Or do they not even care?