Rep. Moran put his foot in it politically recently. According to the Washington Post,
Naturally this has caused an outcry and his opponents have grabbed an opportunity to lambast him.
What I want to know is, is there any basis in fact to this statement? Are there any Jewish organizations that have gone on the record in favor of the war, or have lobbied for it?
To keep this appropriate for GQ remember that I’m looking for a factual answer!
Yes most Jewish organizations (excepting the more leftwing ones) have come out strongly in favour of the war as Saddam is seen as a major threat to Israel, I don’t think anyone disputed that. Some have been wanting to get rid of Saddam for a long time, but certainly not actively lobbying for war.
But they do not have enough power to push the US into such a major war.
Well, the word “any” leaves a lot of room for interpretation, but I would say the answer is “No.” We’re not in the Gulf again because of any evil Zionist cabal.
The second question: I don’t know specifically any “Jewish organizations” that have lobbied, but if you include the State of Israel as a “Jewish organization,” then, in view of the Osirak incident of 1981, I think they’re on record as being in favor of not having a nuclear Iraq.
The statement was probably made due to the fact that Saddam is friends with Arafat, and supports the Palestinians in the PLO’s desire to take Israel back. And of course, the US doesn’t want that to happen, we support Israel. This may be the reason for Moran’s statement, and I suspect it’s at the cause somewhere along the line, but Moran has made several anti-Jewish statements, so it may be more than that, you’d have to ask Moran himself to find out.
Not to suggest that is the only reason for our current situation with Iraq, mind you, merely saying it may have built Moran’s theory that the Jewish are leading this war.
Let me clarify my question. I mean “any” to be any legitimate organization that operates openly, whether a religious, social or political organization, with a mission of supporting the interests of Jews at large or a segment of Jews in the U.S. One example is Hadassah. The mention of an evil Zionist cabal is a non sequitur with regard to the OP.
Also, on the second point, being in favor of not having a nuclear Iraq is not the same as being in favor of war on Iraq. I don’t think anyone but Iraq is in favor of a nuclear Iraq.
As I said in the OP I am interested in what facts are on the record.
BTW, Pat Buchanan made a similar comment just before the First Gulf War:
There are only two groups that are beating the drums for war in the Middle East - the Israeli Defense Ministry and its amen corner in the United States.
I think it’s kinda funny referring to American Jews as “the amen corner.” Isn’t that supposed to refer to Baptists or something?
And I did not mean to imply that you as the OP thought there is an evil Zionist cabal, and I apologize if that’s the way it came across. I was actually implying that that was what The Honorable Jim Moran was saying–taking the venue of a church, and basically pointing out that “those people (Jews) are the ones supporting a war.”
Saying Saddam is friends with Arafat is strecthing any relationship that may exist between the two, also the PLO removed the bits that were incompatible with the existence of Israel from their charter before Oslo, almost ten years ago.
The main reason for the animoisty between Saddam and Israel goes back to the older anti-zionist politics that existed long before the formation of the PLO. Also his skud missle attack on Israel during the Gulf War makes most Israelis seem as a real threat.
Earl, I imagine the by the ‘Amen corner’ Pat Buchanan must of meant dispensationalists, not Jewish Americans.
OK. Good point.
That’s actually the way I took it, and it’s an interesting and perfectly valid discussion point. I am not familiar enough with Moran to have my own opinion on that. I am just emphasizing the factual question rather than try to get underneath what is motivating Moran, since this is a volatile topic.
Oh, I feel like I’m on thin ice (knowing how Manny likes to keep things on topic) but is that point accurate:
Here is a translation of the Palestinian Charter:
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH00pv0
Here is a news story on the vote to remove the articles (several years after Oslo):
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9604/25/palestinian.charter/
And here is someone who says that "Yeah, they said they were going to rewrite it, but they haven’t:
http://www.freeman.org/m_online/feb98/lerner.htm
If that’s true, regardless of what they have voted on, the Palestinian Charter today still calls for the destruction of Israel.
I wouldn’t read too much into that last article, the offending parts of the charter were annulled twice, in 1993 by Arafat and in 1996 by the Palestinian National Council, just because a revised version has not been produced, it is not the same as saying they are still in effect.