Greenwald: "In what way are Hamas and Hezbollah enemies of the US?"

[BurtWorm]

http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/07/openly-debating-us-involve_115314968593755505.html

But the most audacious argument for new and expanded war was advanced on Sunday by Bill Kristol, on Fox News, where he said this:

And indeed, this is a great opportunity. I think our weakness, unfortunately, invited this aggression, but this aggression is a great opportunity to begin resuming the offensive against the terrorist groups. Israel is fighting four of our five enemies in the Middle East, in a sense. Iran, Syria, sponsors of terror; Hezbollah and Hamas. Al Qaeda doesn’t seem to be involved. We have to take care of them in Iraq. This is an opportunity to begin to reverse the unfortunate direction of the last six to nine months and get the terrorists and the jihadists back on the defensive.


So, "Israel is fighting four of our five enemies in the Middle East" -- the only small exception being Al-Qaeda, which, as Cenk Uygur pointed out in this excellent post, happens to be the only group which actually attacked us. As I noted on Saturday, Kristol is now arguing that the Israeli war is really "our war," and on Sunday he took that a step further by claiming that groups devoted exclusively to fighting Israel are somehow also among our "five enemies in the Middle East." (Interestingly, Kristol doesn't appear to count among our five Middle Eastern enemies the insurgents whom we are actually fighting in Iraq; he only counts as our enemies those whom Israel is currently attacking or threatening to attack).

In what conceivable way are Hamas and Hezbollah enemies of the United States? They are unquestionably enemies of Israel, but what grounds exist even for arguing that they are our enemies? And while Syria undoubtedly is no fan of the U.S., what actions has it engaged in that would make it a threat to the U.S. even remotely sufficient to wage war on it? Plainly, Kristol, like so many neoconservatives, recognizes no difference of any kind between U.S. and Israeli interests, and is thus salivating at the opportunity to finally induce the U.S. to wage war on Israel's enemies.

For that reason, I think this article in this weekend's Washington Post is groundbreaking and critically important. It extensively and fairly addresses a question which most mainstream media outlets have fearfully avoided -- namely, the effect of the domestic Israeli lobby on U.S. foreign policy. With our military action in Iraq, that question was declared all but off limits, as war advocates, from the President on down, claimed that there was something malignant about questioning to what extent our urgent need to get rid of Saddam Hussein was influenced by a desire to bolster Israeli, rather than American, security....

[BurtWorm]

1. kick

[BurtWorm]

2. Greenwald: Bush wants to keep Israel's interests off limits to discussion

<<George Bush himself instructed us that discussions of the role Israel plays in our Middle East policy is off limits when he told us that we must engage only in responsible debate over Iraq, not irresponsible debate, which he defined to include discussions of the extent to which a desire to protect Israel (or a desire to preserve oil supplies) influenced our invasion of Iraq:

Yet we must remember there is a difference between responsible and irresponsible debate -- and it's even more important to conduct this debate responsibly when American troops are risking their lives overseas.

The American people know the difference between responsible and irresponsible debate when they see it. They know the difference between honest critics who question the way the war is being prosecuted and partisan critics who claim that we acted in Iraq because of oil, or because of Israel, or because we misled the American people. And they know the difference between a loyal opposition that points out what is wrong, and defeatists who refuse to see that anything is right.


And consistent with the Commander-in-Chief's decree, anyone who has argued that a desire to protect Israeli interests plays too large of a role in our foreign policy has been subjected to some of the most vicious and relentless smears. Ask Juan Cole about that, or John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. Those tactics have, as intended, prevented a substantive debate on this question, as most people have feared even approaching the topic.

But that tactic isn't likely to work any longer. If neoconservatives are now going to argue openly and explicitly that we should intervene in this war because we have to fight with Israel against our common Islamic opponents, surely it now must be considered "responsible debate" to question to what extent the U.S.'s willingness to act in the Middle East is motivated by an excessive or unwise commitment to Israeli security. Bill Kristol and friends are again advocating an extraordinary measure -- that the U.S. join Israel in this war. A full and open debate on that topic is vital.>>

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[cushla_machree]

4. They are enemies to the United states

Because, they are enemies to Israel. Thats about as simple as it gets, even though it is against our own security interest, we must support Israel.

People like Kristol and the neoconservatives are decidedely anti-american. Because they use OUR govervment to further the interests of another nation, Israel.

That is why Lieberman in CT must go. Because it is more important to support the Iraq War to him, because of Israel, then it is to do what is best for our country.

Its sickening. He is a sad example for a politician, because he votes based on his jewishness here, not as an american. Get that bum out.