Untermensch Indeed

Labor Party Chairman Ehud Barak said during a meeting with students at Ben-Gurion University that “we can reach a territorial continuity between Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip, by digging a 48-kilometer (157.5-feet) tunnel under Israeli sovereignty with Palestinian control of the traffic.”
Barak said that the tunnel, which may be dug between Beit Hanoun and a village near Hebron would cost between $2-3 billion, “a reasonable sum.” (Ilana Curiel)

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Feb 2 2009 15:21 utc | 3

@Cloned Poster 3:
Presumably that should be 157,500 feet. Nice play on words in the
lead-in.

Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Feb 2 2009 15:31 utc | 5

Recently, as some know, I have gone on a tangent as to the system. In my, ‘Clinical, methodical and damn, systemic’, theme, and I haven’t gotten much in feedback on this, while trying to produce link after link, of meta narrative. Some just don’t seem to bite. Most of what I have contributed to MOA has been intuitive and from my own experience, however, the following gives me much validation, and I once again bring it to the table for discussions.
System Justification and the Law- Part 1

Jon Jost’s presentation from 2007 Program on Law and Mind Sciences (PLMS) Conference.
“System justification theory addresses the holding of attitudes that are often contrary to one’s own self-interest and therefore contrary to what one would expect on the basis of theories of self-enhancement or rational self-interest.”

Justification and the Law- Part 2
State Aids and Cohesion Policy, sub rosa techniques, Instrumentation and pathology and finally, theopathy.
The quote, “the poor will be with you always” Religious bullshit is an old system referent, anyway, there it is…

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Feb 2 2009 15:49 utc | 7

David,
And if it turns out that the shelf life of a twinkie is longer than that of a proton, then it’s kinda strange to think that our universe may indeed die from a heat death long before planet Earth does…;~)

Posted by: Cynthia | Feb 2 2009 16:55 utc | 9

U$-
I was going to reply to your label comment on the liberal thread, I didn’t know if you were joking, but I guess you were trying to get people involved in a discussion of how important words are in creating our reality.
I’ve been a busy bonehead, and I didn’t get a chance to check your links yet, but from the gist of your comments I think I’m pretty interested in what you’re currently chasing. I’ve had a lifetime fascination with propaganda and marketing that began in the days of the Pet Rock, which itself could be a study in human gullibility.
I’ll spend some time reading and see what I think. Thanks.

Posted by: David | Feb 2 2009 18:52 utc | 11

U$-You must be lurking over at WRH, I just noticed the same posting-pretty creepy. But all on the up and up I’m sure ;(

Posted by: David | Feb 2 2009 19:07 utc | 13

U$-Thanks for the punctuation <*)))><...! I emailed to a buddy who builds bamboo flyrods... He'll get a kick out of it.

Posted by: David | Feb 2 2009 19:11 utc | 15

Speaking of the system…
Over at another haught I visit, there’s this:
DIY DNA research:
Hugh Reinhoff has sequenced his daughters DNA at home attempting to diagnose her unique genetic mutation.
My question is this, how long before they brand this guy as a terrorist? And sue him for not conforming to the “experts” of the FDA/ EPA military academic pharmaceutical industrial complex. If you get my drift…

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Feb 2 2009 19:40 utc | 17

I don’t know what your angle is Uncle but you are way off base. People who move nuclear weapons are a very small and specialized organization. A couple of them got complacent and did not look into a tiny window to see if the cruise missiles they were sending to Barksdale were real world or dummies. The wrong ones were loaded onto an airplane and arrived safely in Louisiana. there the mistake was discovered and severe measures were taken to prevent that sort of stupid crap from happening again.
just because some other dude who has missile in his title dies in Minot you assume he had something to do with this grand conspiracy to give cruise missiles to Israel or Iran or whoever the hell you fancy could do something godawful with them. this is a missile combat crew commander see, not cruise missiles.
and who the hell are the other six? a security guard who died in a motorcycle accident in another state? cops don’t get close to nukes unless they are accompanied by technician. the entire operation is two man concept where no single person is every alone with a weapon.
really, this continuous insinuation of something sinister detracts from the other links you find and present here. I believe you bring discredit upon yourself.

Posted by: dan of steele | Feb 2 2009 22:06 utc | 19

Hahahahahaha
http://www.jpost.com
IDF colonel leaves speaking tour of UK for fear of arrest

On Thursday night, after news of his visit reached pro-Palestinian groups, some 80 protesters demonstrated outside the offices of the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) in central London, where Rapp was scheduled to speak.
Calling for police to arrest him, the protesters blocked public pathways, while one scaled the building’s walls. Police made several arrests.
The event was cancelled and the decision was made for Rapp to return to Israel out of fear of a universal jurisdiction arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.
A loophole in British law allows private criminal complaints of war crimes to be lodged against military personnel, even if they are not British citizens and the alleged crimes were committed elsewhere. Pro-Palestinian groups in Britain and other countries have been trying to exploit the loophole against IDF officers and Israeli leaders.
Israel is working with the British government to change the law.

Posted by: sabine | Feb 3 2009 5:24 utc | 21

@22,
If only Petraeus wasn’t too busy at the Superbowl. He would have used his superpower to thwart them.

Posted by: biklett | Feb 3 2009 7:25 utc | 23

A new post by China Hand discusses Syed Saleem Shahzad‘s recent four part report on Pakistan’s “counterinsurgency campaign”.

Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Feb 3 2009 8:26 utc | 25

I was responding to Parviz over at the Iranian weapons ship, and I found the post too long and too far off thread, it doesn’t belong over there so I’ll stick it up here.
Parviz,
It would be an honor to raise a glass with you!
I’m going to wear my ignorance on my sleeve about the history of the Middle East for a moment, I want to try and see what I can recall without having google’s help.
I keep thinking of an old National Geographic (from the late 70’s) I remember reading about Lebanon and Beirut, and how they’d been damaged (especially Beirut) during the civil war and how sad I felt as a child, because the article made the place seem magical.
I still remember some of my early schooling and I recall the history of the Arabs was incredible, including their mastery of mathematics, their complicated architecture (indoor toilets!) and their culture.
Immediately the next thing that comes to mind is the crusades. What a screwed-up mess that was. My memories of the crusades can be summed up as a bunch of drunk rednecks gone wild and vicious after being turned loose in the halls of the world’s finest university. It still saddens me to think of what happened during those dark days… Why does ignorance always seek to destroy knowledge and beauty? I’m still remembering from my childhood, and memories such as these might explain why I’m such a strange adult these days.
I attended both seven day adventist and baptist churches, but with friends and their families; my parents, thank god, weren’t religious. So I’ve grown-up having participated in religion, but never buying into it. In fact, it made me feel creepy going, but I would because there were always girls at church. I have never understood the blood and body of christ shit the adults did while us youg’uns were in sunday school… That really spooked me, but not in a good way.
I suppose, because of attending christian churches, it has made me very distrustful of christians. Funny thing that! (and again, thank G–d!) To me and my pinprick of a mind it seems as though religion is the root of all evil in history, but that’s just me.
As for Iran, I believe you’re descendants from the persians which makes me think of Alexander the Great… I think my ignorance is going to be embarrass me, out in public and all, but then that’s never stopped me before 🙂
When I “remember” my memories are more like “feelings” and less like data from a hard drive; exercises like this are good, because it shows me how little I really know regardless of how much I think I know, you know what I mean?
Now I realize I don’t know, off the top of my head, who the damn persians were.
I guess saying I need to do a bit more reading is like saying the top of Mount Everest needs a bit more snow…
Yes, Parviz it would be an honor to partake of a libation with you, or anyone from a country that I’m supposed to “hate”
I have always felt all wars would end if the people fighting the war could spend time talking to each other about crops, kids, fishing, ect and keep the politicians silent.
The world is too full of sad stories, but one that always breaks my heart when I think of it in known as the Christmas truce and takes place one Christmas Day during World War I.
Link to Snopes
Pray for peace, but fight for justice!
I’m off to coffee and a quick education in Iranian history…

Posted by: David | Feb 3 2009 14:21 utc | 27

I had the same feeling of sleaziness when dealing with the Campus Crusade for Christ in the late 70’s when attending university. It put me off Christianity completely for a long time. Turns out they were heavily supported by the Bunker Hunt brothers, two completely smarmy fat bastardw who made themselves infamous through their unsuccessful attempt to corner the silver market.
I knew there was a reason I always felt the need to wash my hads after dealing with those people…

Posted by: Anonymous | Feb 3 2009 15:29 utc | 29

LOL, tantalus
esp the comment “i can’t believe he’s not better”

Posted by: b real | Feb 3 2009 16:32 utc | 31

Yep, b real. ‘Johnny Rotten’ the Situationalist brand – though that in itself was exciting back in the day. I admit I haven’t listened to a thing he’s done since the first PiL. Wire, This Heat, Swell Maps etc etc on the other hand…
Anyway, nice to see that punk’s not dead, just enjoying a nice bit of hot buttered toast. Bless.

Posted by: Tantalus | Feb 3 2009 17:45 utc | 33

I have often pointed out the one-sidedness and neglecting of facts by Human Rights Watch. Here is former HRW member taking them down. Human Rights Watch Goes to War

In the years since 2000, HRW pursued a consistent — and consistently effective — formula: criticize Israel, but condemn the Palestinians. Challenge the legality of an Israeli aerial bombardment, preferably in polite, technical terms, and vociferously denounce the Palestinian suicide bomber in unambiguous language — especially when raising questions about the latest Israeli atrocity. In HRW publications, explicit condemnations and accusations of war crimes were almost wholly monopolized by Palestinians. With Israeli citizenship a seeming precondition for the right to self-defense, the right to resist was for all intents and purposes non-existent.

Posted by: b | Feb 3 2009 18:28 utc | 35

uncle
the ‘outlawed’ sequences need to be watched again & again
the crimes have to be revealed again & again
some argue here that there are no crimes particular to u s imperialism. i know the contrary to be the truth
the details are not only necessary for the truth but to also make sense of this world gone wrong

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Feb 3 2009 22:17 utc | 37

Tantalus@28,
I think the best thing to come from the crusades was that a bunch of inbred white trash learned a bit about civilization… a bit o’ spice with their rotten meats, some silk for the double-wide and the list could go on.
It’s always barbarians raiding from the north civilized people fear… recent dangerous northern invaders include a Gov Palin, most Canadian hockey fans, and ice storms. I suppose I wouldn’t want to be living in Mexico knowing this historic fact. Of course they’ve been smart, they keep all their jewels hidden from the gringos, maybe having learned a thing or two from past experiences.
One thing I’ve found typing “crusade” is that it’s easy to write “cursade” instead; doesn’t that seem a much more appropriate word for what happened?

Posted by: David | Feb 4 2009 1:39 utc | 39

Malooga: I hear you can fuzz out the effects of the chip with enough Victory gin.
Which reminds me, I’d better get the garden beds ready to plant some potatoes after one of the springtime full moons.

Posted by: catlady | Feb 4 2009 5:23 utc | 41

“A Brief History of the World Order” seems to tailor history to the theory as much if not more than it uses history to support the argument. It’s a supremely teleological argument whose thrust is so inexorable as to overwhelm everything. We can all hug our fate like those champs of telos who are erotically longing for Armageddon. A critical mind should reject a theory that posits Obama and Al Gore as agents of the devil, and the end of history as the dreaded One World Government.
But the machinations of the Illuminati is a sweet theory, so carry on.

Posted by: Copeland | Feb 4 2009 6:52 utc | 43

Proposed Solutions to the Economic Crisis
In our opinion, we must first atone for the past and open our cards, so to speak.
This means we must assess the real situation and write off all hopeless debts and “bad” assets.
True, this will be an extremely painful and unpleasant process. Far from everyone can accept such measures, fearing for their capitalisation, bonuses or reputation. However, we would “conserve” and prolong the crisis, unless we clean up our balance sheets. I believe financial authorities must work out the required mechanism for writing off debts that corresponds to today’s needs.

Putin’s been reading MoA?

Posted by: Jeremiah | Feb 4 2009 9:48 utc | 45

Fun!
-especially the comments.

Posted by: beq | Feb 4 2009 12:11 utc | 47

good one beq. maybe i will get one for my front porch.

Posted by: annie | Feb 4 2009 15:21 utc | 49

& mullah fasullah in the swat valley – sounds like a funk band – perhaps he is a funky taliban

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Feb 4 2009 21:26 utc | 51

A somewhat radder variant of the much-neglected organizing concept of debtors’ clubs. Americans can’t wreck the joint alone, but with coordinated foreign pressure and sufficient domestic desperation, things could just change a bit.

Posted by: …—… | Feb 4 2009 22:35 utc | 53

Peter Gowan:

A striking feature of the New Wall Street System business model was its relentless drive to expand balance sheets, maximizing the asset and liabilities sides. The investment banks used their leverage ratio as the target to be achieved at all times rather than as an outer limit of risk to be reduced where possible by holding surplus capital. A recent New York Federal Reserve report demonstrates how this approach proved powerfully pro-cyclical in an asset-market bubble, driving the banks to expand their borrowing as asset prices rose.
…
A central mechanism through which the investment banks could respond to asset-price rises was borrowing in the ‘repurchase agreement’—or ‘repo’—market. Typically, the investment bank wishes to buy a security, but needs to borrow funds to do so. On the settlement day, the bank receives the security, and then uses it as collateral for the loan needed to pay for it. At the same time, it promises the lender that it will repurchase the security at a given future date. In that way, the bank will repay the loan and receive the security. But typically, the funds for repurchasing the security from the lender are acquired by selling the security to someone else. Thus, on the settlement day, the original lender to the investment bank is paid off and hands over the security, which is immediately passed on to the new buyer in exchange for cash. This kind of repo funding operation presupposes an asset-price boom. It has accounted for 43 per cent of leverage growth amongst Wall Street banks, according to the same New York Fed report. Repos have also been the largest form of debt on investment banks’ balance sheets in 2007–08.
…
The question arises as to why the Wall Street banks (followed by others) pushed their borrowing to the leverage limit in such a systematic way. One explanation is that they were doing this in line with the wishes of their shareholders (once they had turned themselves into limited liability companies). ‘Shareholder value’ capitalism allegedly requires the ratio of assets to capital to be maximized. Surplus capital reduces the return on shareholder equity and acts as a drag on earnings per share. [17] But there is also another possible explanation for borrowing to the leverage limit: the struggle for market share and for maximum pricing power in trading activities. If you are a speculative arbitrageur or an asset-bubble blower, financial operational scale is essential to moving markets, by shifting prices in the direction you want them to go. In assessing which of these pressures—shareholder power or pricing power—drove the process, we should note how ready the Treasury, Fed and Wall Street executives have been to crush shareholder interests during the credit crunch, yet how resolutely they sought to protect the levels of leverage of the bulge-bracket banks during the bubble. By all accounts, Citigroup’s turn to maximum balance-sheet and leverage expansion for trading activities derived not from shareholder pressure, but from the arrival there of Robert Rubin after his stint as us Treasury Secretary.

via New Left Review.

Posted by: Jeremiah | Feb 5 2009 16:53 utc | 55

been waiting for this one for several weeks now, limited hangout & all
U.S. Aided a Failed Plan to Rout Ugandan Rebels

DUNGU, Congo — The American military helped plan and pay for a recent attack on a notorious Ugandan rebel group, but the offensive went awry, scattering fighters who carried out a wave of massacres as they fled, killing as many as 900 civilians.
The operation was led by Uganda and aimed to crush the Lord’s Resistance Army, a brutal rebel group that had been hiding out in a Congolese national park, rebuffing efforts to sign a peace treaty. But the rebel leaders escaped, breaking their fighters into small groups that continue to ransack town after town in northeastern Congo, hacking, burning, shooting and clubbing to death anyone in their way.
The United States has been training Ugandan troops in counterterrorism for several years, but its role in the operation has not been widely known. It is the first time the United States has helped plan such a specific military offensive with Uganda, according to senior American military officials. They described a team of 17 advisers and analysts from the Pentagon’s new Africa Command working closely with Ugandan officers on the mission, providing satellite phones, intelligence and $1 million in fuel.
…
“The operation was poorly planned and poorly executed,” said Julia Spiegel, a Uganda-based researcher for the Enough Project, which campaigns against genocide. The massacres were “the L.R.A.’s standard operating procedure,” she said. “And the regional governments knew this.”
American officials conceded that the operation did not go as well as intended, and that villagers had been left exposed.
“We provided insights and alternatives for them to consider, but their choices were their choices,” said one American military official who was briefed on the operation, referring to the African forces on the ground. “In the end, it was not our operation.”

Posted by: b real | Feb 7 2009 6:14 utc | 57

re the latest shoe throwing, Sweden gets into the act too. Shoes and books were thrown at the Israeli ambassador the other day. here is a bit of video. I do not see ASKoD there…could have been filming though I suppose.

Posted by: dan of steele | Feb 7 2009 10:34 utc | 59

from a friday democracy now interview w/ p.w. singer on his new book on robots & the military

..when I use the term “robotics revolution,” I need to be clear here. You know, I’m not talking about a revolution where, you know, your Roomba vacuum cleaner is going to sneak up and ambush you. We’re talking about a revolution in the way wars are fought and who fights them. And this aspect of distance is one of the big ones. It changes the very meaning of going to war.
You know, my grandfather served in the Pacific fleet in World War II. When he went to war, he went to a place where danger took place, and the family didn’t know if he was ever coming back. And that’s very different than the experience of, for example, a Predator drone pilot that I met with who described that basically his experience of fighting in the Iraq war was getting in his Toyota Corolla, driving to work—he’s doing this in Nevada—driving into work for twelve hours, he puts missiles on targets, then gets back in the Toyota, commutes back home, and within twenty minutes he’s talking to his son at the dinner table.
When you say “puts missiles on targets,” you mean bombs.
Hellfire missiles. You know, he’s basically—he is engaging—
He attacks, I mean.
He is engaging in combat. But he’s doing it from 7,000 miles away. And then, at the end of the day, he goes to a PTA meeting or takes his kid to soccer practice. And so, it’s a whole new experience of war, which is actually creating a new concept of a warrior.

am i wrong, or do the internationally-accepted rules of warfare then make this killer a legitimate target at his home, in his toyota, at his PTA meeting or his kids soccer practice in wherever nevada?

Posted by: b real | Feb 7 2009 21:31 utc | 61

@58 the LRA’s insurrection is looking increasingly proxy war-ish. A credible (NGO) local who is there tells stories of airdrops in the bush, and not for the UPDF. She attributed them to Acholis outside Uganda. The LRA has a regional tribal underpinning that gets ignored in all the crowd-pleasing horror of sliced-off lips and stuff.

Posted by: …—… | Feb 8 2009 17:07 utc | 63

Ricks was unimpressive, I thought, and behind the curve.
On Iraq, he believes the briefings from Odierno and the GZ embassy that Iraq is about to break up (of course, if US troops are withdrawn). He hasn’t realised that this is an interested appreciation. From what I can see, things are going in precisely the opposite direction. Maliki looks like he will be cutting the ground from under the generals’ feet.
In any case, Obama understands perfectly well what the generals are up to.
He didn’t have anything very brilliant to say about Afghanistan either. It’s no great secret that much of the problem lies in Pakistan now. He failed to say that if Pakistan is destabilised, it is the US that will have created the situation.

Posted by: Alex | Feb 8 2009 19:50 utc | 65

I figure I am not the only one who has wondered how things go for old-time barfly DeAnander. She dropped of a report over at eurotrib, here is part of it:
DeAnander:

Greetings to all.

I am very busy with my local projects, including putting in the infrastructure for a food garden.  My long silence is not indicative of anything wrong — no news is good news in this case.  New love has come into my life most unexpectedly this last summer, and I’ve been rather closely focussed on “soaking in” to my local community and biome, coming to terms with a new lover/partner after many years of solitude, and enjoying the command of my own time that has come with retirement from the day job.

It is odd to be finding contentment and happiness, even moments of dumb-grin joy, in a time of (what looks like) civilisational collapse.  Even on the brink of the volcano, it seems, we can still dance a hornpipe.  I’m working on the boat, trying to make her mobile again before the supply of industrial goods starts to dry up;  got a worm bin started, am composting food waste and (as I said) planning a food garden in my partner’s back yard.

Posted by: a swedish kind of death | Feb 8 2009 21:13 utc | 67

Good for DeAnander!
Thanks askod.

Posted by: beq | Feb 9 2009 17:42 utc | 69

slothrop
you are right, it is a dirty lie – compounded by the corpses & broken bodies that go with it
how many more of these lies before the he is revealed as just another tyrant

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Feb 10 2009 3:54 utc | 71

If he’s just another tyrant, which I tend to believe, then why can Leahy come out of the closet now? Wouldn’t Obama be just as much a threat? Well no I guess, it didn’t happen on O’s watch. The investigation is something that now can be tolerated as an expression of true democracy in action… aaahh..uuugg.

Posted by: Juannie | Feb 10 2009 4:19 utc | 73

Mumbai tactics in Kabul: Taliban attack government buildings in Kabul

At least five men armed with assault rifles and grenades attacked the Justice Ministry, said Mohammad Ali, a ministry employee. Two assailants died in the ensuing firefight with security forces. At least three employees were killed, another witness said.
Afghan Justice Minister Sarwar Danesh told The Associated Press by mobile telephone that he was holed up in the building, where a number of gunmen were also hiding.
…
Another suicide bomber attacked the ministry’s corrections department in another part of the city, said police officer Zulmay Khan. There were a number of casualties from the second attack.
Zabiullah Mujaheed, a Taliban spokesman, said five Taliban fighters attacked the ministry, while two others targeted the corrections department.
The attacks were in response to the alleged mistreatment of Taliban prisoners in Afghan government jails, Mr. Mujaheed said.
“We have warned the Afghan government to stop torturing our prisoners,” Mr. Mujaheed told the AP in a phone call from an undisclosed location.

Posted by: b | Feb 11 2009 8:02 utc | 75

Did anyone here know that Obama’s Chief of Staff left the U.S.A. to fight for Israel? I was shocked to learn this, plus other revelations by the excellent Michael Scheuer who wrote “Imperial Hubris” and is one of my ex-CIA favourite authors:
February 10, 2009
Lobby? What Lobby?
by Michael Scheuer
Last December, I spoke to the nonpartisan Jamestown Foundation’s annual conference on al-Qaeda. My talk was a worldwide survey of how America’s war against Islamism had gone in 2008; an analysis of al-Qaeda’s current fortunes and growth potential; and an assessment of whether U.S. policies were adequately protecting genuine U.S. national interests as the Obama administration began. I concluded that 2008 was a year of setbacks for America, and that the future appeared rather bleak.
For the speech, I took as my text a truncated version of the
introduction I wrote for the paperback edition of my book, Marching
Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq. In preparing the new text I was pleased to find my predictions in the hardcover had been accurate, but saddened that Americans had not faced the fact that our Islamist foes are motivated by U.S. foreign policies and their impact. One policy I am critical of in Marching Toward Hell is the nature of the U.S.-Israel relationship. I argued that unqualified, bipartisan support for Israel damages U.S. national security, and I damned those who identify critics of the relationship as anti-American, anti-Semitic, or, in my case, according to AIPAC leader Morris J. Amitay, a man who would make Mein Kampf “required reading” at the CIA.
In the course of analyzing 2008 events, I found no reason to alter my
view. And after hearing McCain and Obama during the campaign, there was no reason to expect change in Washington’s Israel policy. At the
Jamestown Conference, I therefore first discussed the abject failure of President Bush and his advisers to recognize that al-Qaeda and its
allies are waging war because of U.S. policies – one of which is Israel policy – and not because of our lifestyle and domestic politics.
I next offered an estimate of Mr. Obama’s potential to change these
terrorism-motivating policies. While admitting an inability to read
Obama’s mind, I noted that he had given at least two strong hints – to Americans and the Muslim world – that he would be as pro-Israel as Mr. Bush. I noted that (a) Mr. Obama spent the last months of the
presidential campaign “dancing the Tel Aviv two-step,” promising to
protect Israel as if it were located inside the United States; and (b) Obama appointed Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff, a U.S. citizen who during the 1991 Gulf War left America to serve in Israel’s military.
These statements of fact suggested to me that U.S. policy toward Israel and the Muslim world would be identical to Mr. Bush’s, albeit couched in softer, come-let-us-reason-together rhetoric.
My speech seemed well received, but in January I received a call from
Jamestown’s president telling me I had been terminated as a senior
fellow by the Foundation’s board of directors. Why, I asked? He
responded by citing my comments about Obama doing the “Tel Aviv
two-step” and my description of Emanuel’s record, both of which he said might be in a speech by Rep. Ron Paul. My remarks about Emanuel
apparently sparked particular anger among the Foundation’s directors, as Jamestown’s president referred to them at least three times in a short telephone conversation. In any event, the president said several major financial donors to Jamestown threatened to withdraw funding if I remained a senior fellow, so I was getting the boot. Then he added that my every-other-week essays for Jamestown’s Terrorism Focus had attracted readers and praise for the Foundation, so the directors said I could keep writing for the journal. I declined this honor, which seemingly was a bribe made in the hope that I would not speak publicly about being terminated as a senior fellow for saying the current state of the U.S.-Israel relationship undermined U.S. national security.
I regret leaving Jamestown, as I have great respect for its analysis on several vital U.S. security issues. But at the same time, I am grateful to the Foundation’s directors for terminating me. In the hardcover of Marching Toward Hell, I condemned the U.S.-Israel relationship and those who take it “upon themselves to decide who is and who is not a ‘good American,'” based on his or her views of U.S.-Israel relations, and “then mete out punishment to those of their countrymen who do not make the grade.” At the time, my view was based on what pro-Israel U.S. citizens had done to Pat Buchanan, President Carter, and Professors Walt and Mearsheimer.
Now, however, I have the personal experience of losing both position and income for condemning Washington’s status quo Israel policy as a threat to U.S. national security. The introduction to my paperback, therefore, can be said to be credibly written by an author with firsthand knowledge of how the Israel Lobby works. After my experience with the “nonpartisan” board of directors at Jamestown, I can only say of them what FDR said of his domestic foes: “They are unanimous in their hatred for me – and I welcome their hatred.”

Posted by: Parviz | Feb 12 2009 15:38 utc | 77

Malooga, sorry, my mistake. You guys/gals are much quicker than I.

Posted by: Parviz | Feb 12 2009 19:05 utc | 79

dahr jamail

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Feb 13 2009 20:49 utc | 81

@sabine #82
“Xe” is the website I have been using for the past few years to check the changes in currency exchange rates.
I have the feeling there is a joke here I am missing. At the least, it should present a great deal of confusion.

Posted by: Monolycus | Feb 14 2009 5:12 utc | 83