[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[wideawake]

I don't think Russert's question was out of bounds - Israel is an important player in this drama and it is as important to be informed about Israel's role as it is to be about, say, Turkey's.

Moran was deliberately playing to conspiracy theorists while Russert was speaking from the vantage of cynical Realpolitik.

Rather than searching for anti-Semitism under every rock, people should focus on clearly anti-Semitic incidents like Moran's little Nuremberg speech and the "Divest From Israel" campaign on campus.

[FRgal4u]

gee, are the Neo-Cons a bit too defensive here...I always question the role of Israel behind the scenes...people have to right to ask what drives the idealogies of Perle, Wolfowitz and a bunch of neocons..there is nothing wrong for Russart to grill Perle why he thinks the Oslo accord sucks...I want Americans fight for american issues, not for some hidden interests for some grps in a land far away...afterall, Israel is asking for a 10-15 billion dollar aid pkg - isn't that a bit too much to ask? As long as the Sharonites wont settle a peace plan with the Palestinains, there will be no peace in that region, and I fear America blood will shed for this nonsense there...period.

[Catspaw]

It's most trendy, most fashionable, among the intelligentsia to have faint whiffs of anti-semitism perfuming the air.

[sinkspur]

I do not know why, with the evidence from his own mouth continuing to convict him, that some FReepers still doubt that Pat Buchanan is a blatant anti-semite.

[uncbob]

Wonder how much the Israelis taking out Saddam's nuclear factory in the 80s was worth

They did us ONE big favor even if it was in their own interest

[randita]

Israel is our only real friend in the Middle East. We darn well better support them.

[Grampa Dave]

David Frum's rebuttal and charges re Buchanan

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/862987/posts

An Oped by David Frum:

“We charge that a cabal of writers who misuse the title of ‘conservatives’ are rallying to defend an Iraqi dictator who has waged war on American allies, attempted to assassinate an American president, fired on American aircraft, and who is now arming to threaten Americans with mass murder.


“We charge them with making common cause with left-wing radicals and radical Islamists, former communists and other people who hate the United States – all in order to prematurely halt the war on terror and preserve the Iraqi dictator’s rule.


“We charge them with forgetting George Washington’s warning in his Farewell Address against ‘habitual hatred’ for any nation – and instead allowing their unreasoning loathing of the Jewish state to lead them into what Washington condemned as a ‘passionate attachment’ to Baathist Iraq.


“We charge them with disregarding their wartime duty to lay aside their prejudices and resentments for the sake of the common good. We charge them with attempting to undermine a conservative Republican president in a moment of national emergency. We charge them with acting as excuse-makers for America’s enemies. We charge them with failing to put America first.”

[ZULU]

Two lefties and a rightist wacko proove anti-semitism is alive and well.

[ninenot]

There's a BIG difference between 'mutual interests' and 'exclusive interests.' Seems to me that for the time being, the US and Israel have 'mutual interests' in changing the Gummint in Iraq. Same may apply to Iran.

But we BOTH derive benefits.

Frankly, it's a lot easier to make the case that France (e.g.) is anti-Israel simply because they will not assist in the project of making the Middle East a reasonably safe place to live.

OTOH, of course, if there is a project which lends 'exclusive benefit' to Israel, it will not be useful for the USA to get involved.

[metesky]

The stubborn resistance of most Europeans, and less but still numerous Americans, to support war without a U.N. endorsement is testament to the strength of that vision -- even when its focus is on the derelict tenement of the United Nations.

Not to get off topic, but...

Fewer, Tony, FEWER!

Sheesh! I dropped out of college forty years ago, but that stuff irritates me no end.

[FourtySeven]

Buchanan's anti-semitism is somewhat up for debate, imo; Moran, clearly anti-semetic. But Tim Russert?!?

Tim Russert is one of the last beacons of truly unbaised reporting in the mainstream media! Forget about putting his question to Perle in context of the whole interview, let's look at the question itself: "And what would be the link in terms of Israel?"

Maybe all he was asking was, "Wouldn't Israel also benefit from Saddam's removal?" That's a VALID question! Israel is right next to Iraq; Israel is a key ally to the US. If it were a non-Jewish state that was being asked about, would it STILL be an invalid question? It says nothing about whether or not it's "right" to remove Saddam. It's just asking, "Are we doing it for Israel ALSO, or is it just for our own interests that we want to remove Saddam?" Hardly an anti-semetic question.

We know that there's liberal bias in the media; let's not squander that by trying to look for bias anywhere and everywhere.

[tm22721]

It will NOT be 'dog eat dog' without the UN.

It will be the 'US dog eating all of the other dogs'.

BUMP

[Optimist]

bump for later read