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Elections & Voting
George W. Bush's
position on Iran is "disturbing" and "dangerous," reads a
position paper written in late 2005 by American Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC). One year ago the Bush administration accepted a Russian proposal to
allow Iran to continue to develop nuclear energy under Russian supervision.
Needless to say, AIPAC wasn’t the least bit happy about the compromise. In a letter to
congressional allies, mostly Democrats, the pro-Israel organization admitted it
was "concerned that the decision not to go to the Security Council,
combined with the U.S. decision to support the 'Russian proposal,' indicates a
disturbing shift in the administration's policy on Iran and poses a danger to
the U.S. and our allies." Israel, however,
continues to develop a substantial nuclear arsenal. In 2000, the British
Broadcasting Corporation reported that Israel has likely produced enough
plutonium to make up to 200 nuclear weapons. So, it is safe to say that
Israel's bomb-building technologies are light years ahead of Iran's budding
nuclear program. Yet Israel still won't admit they have capacity to produce
such deadly weapons. Meanwhile, as AIPAC
and Israel pressure the U.S. government to force the Iran issue to the U.N.
Security Council, Israel itself stands in violation of numerous U.N.
Resolutions dealing with the occupied territories of Palestine, including U.N.
Resolution 1402, which in part calls on Israel to withdraw its military from
all Palestinian cities at once. AIPAC's hypocrisy
is nauseating. The Goliath lobbying organization wants Iran to cease enriching
uranium while the crimes of Israel continue to be ignored. So who is propping
up AIPAC's hypocritical position? None other than Democratic presidential
candidate Senator Hillary Clinton of New York. As one of the top
Democratic recipients of pro-Israel funds for the 2006 election cycle,
pocketing over $83,000, Senator Clinton now has Iran in her crosshairs. During a Hanukkah
dinner speech delivered in December of 2005, hosted by Yeshiva University,
Clinton prattled, "I held a series of meetings with Israeli officials
[last summer], including the prime minister and the foreign minister and the
head of the [Israeli Defense Force] to discuss such challenges we confront. In
each of these meetings, we talked at length about the dire threat posed by the
potential of a nuclear-armed Iran, not only to Israel, but also to Europe and
Russia. Just this week, the new president of Iran made further outrageous
comments that attacked Israel's right to exist that are simply beyond the pale
of international discourse and acceptability. During my meeting with Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon, I was reminded vividly of the threats that Israel faces
every hour of every day . . . It became even more clear how important it is for
the United States to stand with Israel . . .” As Senator Clinton
embraces Israel's violence, as well as AIPAC's fraudulent posture on Iran, she
simultaneously ignores the hostilities inflicted upon Palestine, as numerous
Palestinians have been killed during the continued shelling of the Gaza Strip
over the past year. Clinton’s silence
toward Israel's brutality implies the senator will continue to support AIPAC's mission
to occupy the whole of the occupied territories, as well as a war on Iran.
AIPAC is correct -- even President Bush appears to be a little sheepish when up
against the warmongering of Hillary Clinton. Hillary inIsrael’s pocket Hillary, along with
her husband Bill, paid a visit to Israel in the fall of 2005. The former
president was a featured speaker at a mass rally that marked the 10th
anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. It was
Hillary's second visit to Israel since she was elected to office in 2000. The senator did
manage to take time out of her tour to meet with then Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon to discuss "security matters." Hillary also made her way to
the great apartheid wall, which separates Palestine from Israel. As the barrier
is nearing completion, the monstrosity will ultimately stretch to over 400
miles in length. Palestinians
rightly criticize the obtrusive wall on the grounds that it cuts them off from
other towns in the occupied in the West Bank. Thousands more will be cut off
from their jobs, schools, and essential farmland. Hillary and her
pro-Israel buds don't get it. When you put powerless Palestinians behind a
jail-like wall where life in any real economic sense is unattainable, you wreak
pain and anguish, which in turn leads to more anger and resentment toward the
Israeli government’s brutal policies. Indeed, the wall will not prove to be a
deterrent to resistance, but an incitement to defiance. "This is not
against the Palestinian people," Clinton said as she gazed over the
massive wall. "This is against the terrorists. The Palestinian people have
to help to prevent terrorism. They have to change the attitudes about
terrorism." The senator's
comments seem as if they were taken word-for-word from an AIPAC position paper.
They may well have been as the lobby packs her coffers full of cash. In May of
2005 Clinton spoke at an AIPAC conference where she praised the bonds between
Israel and the United States: "[O]ur future
here in this country is intertwined with the future of Israel and the Middle
East. Now there is a lot that we could talk about, and obviously much has been
discussed. But in the short period that I have been given the honor of
addressing you, I want to start by focusing on our deep and lasting bonds
between the United States and Israel." Clinton went on to
talk about the importance of disarming Iran and Syria, as well as keeping
troops in Iraq for as long as "it" takes. It was textbook
warmongering and surprise, surprise, Hillary got a standing ovation for her
comments. It is of no matter
that Iraq will never see true democracy. The U.S. won't allow that. Our
government will never allow a free Iraq to form that embodied even the
slightest disgust toward Israel or America. Democracy in Iraq, like democracy
in Israel, has clear limitations. Similar to her
husband and the current president, Hillary Clinton will never alter the U.S.'
Middle East policy that so blatantly favors Israeli interests.  and edits BrickBurner.org, the official news blog
of DissidentVoice.org.
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