Posted on 12/31/2003 3:05:52 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
Discussing the Iraq war with the Washington Post last week, former General Anthony Zinni took the path chosen by so many anti-Semites: he blamed it on the Jews.
Neither President Bush nor Vice-President Cheney—nor for that matter Zinni’s old friend, Secretary of State Colin Powell—was to blame. It was the Jews. They “captured” both Bush and Cheney, and Powell was merely being a “good soldier.”
Technically, the former head of the Central Command in the Middle East didn’t say “Jews.” He instead used a term that has become a new favorite for anti-Semites: “neoconservatives.” As the name implies, “neoconservative” was originally meant to denote someone who is a newcomer to the right. In the 90’s, many people self-identified themselves as “neocons,” but today that term has become synonymous with “Jews.”
And if anybody should know better, it’s Gen. Zinni. It is well-known that those who are labeled “neocons” within the administration—whether the number-two official at the Pentagon, Paul Wolfowitz, or undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith—are almost always Jews.
Sadly typical is a Business Week article this May that identified Wolfowitz, Feith, Defense Policy Board member Richard Perle, former Reagan administration official Ken Adelman and Weekly Standard editor William Kristol—all Jews—as “neocons,” yet Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld—neither one Jewish—as simply “key allies.” Policy beliefs and worldviews were not different between these two groups; only religion distinguishes them.
Given that the “neocons” do not control the Departments of State or Defense nor the National Security Council—gentiles all head those agencies—and given that the White House is clearly run by non-Jews, how is it that Zinni claims that the “neocons” were responsible for the U.S. liberating Iraq? As he explains to the Post, “Somehow, the neocons captured the president. They captured the vice president.”
And the Post piece uses dramatic language when discussing Zinni’s views on the “neocons”:
“The more he listened to Wolfowitz and other administration officials talk about Iraq, the more Zinni became convinced that interventionist ‘neoconservative’ ideologues were plunging the nation into a war in a part of the world they didn’t understand.”
Zinni’s comments are eerily similar to those made by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit this October. In a speech that drew a standing ovation from the leaders of Muslim nations in attendance, Mahathir remarked, “Today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.”
Since Jews make up roughly 2% of the American population and less than a fraction of one percent of the world’s—yet attract disproportionately more of the world’s bigoted venom—the only way to perpetuate the hatred of Jews that has existed for centuries is to blame them for controlling vital industries, “ruling the world by proxy,” or by “capturing” the leader of the free world and his likewise freely elected vice-president.
Let’s suppose for a moment that Zinni, who could not be reached for comment, had no idea that “neocon” has become code for “Jew.” At best, his statements were simply ludicrous. Both Cheney and Bush had full knowledge of the unabated evil of Saddam Hussein—the former even having helped lead the Gulf War as the Secretary of Defense—and neither needed to be “captured” by anyone to understand the need to rid the world of Saddam’s tyranny.
But now let’s suppose Zinni has at least minimal common sense and at least passively follows Washington politics. In that instance, Zinni’s comments are not much different than Mahathir’s—and just as inaccurate. As anyone with even a passing knowledge of the administration can tell you, the president and the vice-president were probably the two biggest advocates for liberating Iraq. Even at the staff level, the majority of the leading “hawks” were gentiles such as National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice and White House chief of staff Andrew Card.
It’s a shame that someone who so honorably served his nation for three decades would tarnish his legacy with such idiotic remarks. If he didn’t mean to use “neocon” as a code word for “Jew,” he should say so. But if he meant to, then he should just shut up.
But wait a second. For whatever reason (I don't know how that label evolved) the people who advocate the policy of aggressive military action with the goal of instituting Pax Americana are called neocons. If you disgree with that policy, and name it's implementers and adherents, you shouldn't be called a racist just because some of them are Jewish. I see this as neocons playing the 'race' card to chill dissent, and that bothers me as much as if anyone else was doing it.
I think your closer then you think. I expect his name to pop up big time after the dems have there nominee. The lefty's are starting to drool over the possibility of having a Dean/Zinni ticket (now that Clark has killed any chance it could be him as VP, someone has got to teach that boy politics).
Zinni as a Dean running mate, could do some damage. (though he was a republican, did vote for Bush, yada yada yada, now regrets it, etc).
I'm old enough to have heard the phrases "chill dissent" and "pax Americana" though five decades. And they have just about always been phrases of the left. Gunslingr3 sounds like he is a foreign policy leftist. That's not an insult, and I'll also mention that Gunslingr3 may also be a good conservative on domestic policy. However, I would just point out that favoring a strong and assertive America has been solid conservativism in the US since before Goldwater, and certainly since then.
My God, that is a brilliant assessment and I think quite accurate. Let's hope the opposition research guys are watching this closely.
Not as bad as the sailors on the USS Cole.
Read George Washington's Farewell Address. Read John Quincy Adams' 'Monsters to Destroy' speech. They encapsulate my foreign policy views. If that's 'leftist', well, whatever...
My guess is that they already are looking at Zinni with renewed vigor
Maybe his service was not as honorably as the author would hope.
Gen Zinni is one of the finest general officers I have known or served under.
I would follow him in combat any day
I would also trust him to make the operational decisions in any war.
Strategic decisions are the relam of the NSC and ultimately, the president.
Had Zinni been CINCCENT he would have probably advised against the campaign (Al-La Yamamoto at Pearl Harbor) and then taken his orders and prosecuted it brilliantly
As it was we were micromanaged by OSD to the point of distraction
We've come as far as we have IN SPITE of Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and all the OSD crowd. Not because of them.
I disagree with Zinni on his position about the strategic timing of the war
But I know his position is well considered and thoughtful. He's 40/60 against, I'm 60/40 for
Having reached Baghdad right behind the 3ID and spent a good deal of time in liberated Iraq, I can say that we did a good thing and most Iraqis appreciate it.
But we made a lot of mistakes in both the prosecution of the war and especially in the postwar stand up of OCPA and the reliance on contractors
All of which was OSD (Rumsfeld - Wolfowitz) driven.
If the military had been left in charge we'd be a lot farther along now
Worst micromanagement from OSD since McNamara
I was so happy when Bush got elected. Finally, I'd thought we'll get some adults in the pentagon instead of these dillitante amateurs
Instead I find all we did was trade cowardly dillitante amateurs for bellicose dillitante amateurs
I'll vote for Bush again, we've absolutely no choice, but I'll feel a whole lot better if he ditches his OSD crew
The people on this thread who say insulting things about Gen Zinni malign a good man.
All the best
Qatar-6
We're in agreement here.Where I find Zinni deficient is the timing and the public bleating. Frankly,THAT choice leads me to conclude he is suffering from advanced Croweitis. Now,I'm glad to hear your confidence in the general.I agree, he'd do his job well enough. I disagree with Zinni on his position about the strategic timing of the war
This is the crux of my"trashing" of Zinni,and I'd say a good bit of those of us who served before, while and after he did.His timing and motivation are highly suspect. Thanks for the job you did.Were you around in the McNamera days? I was.
How can anyone complaining of their actions be accused of anti-semitism? Another question, after getting past the anti-semitism, does a "Jew" that does not believe zionism has been a success in establishing Israel and the resulting problems, is he anti-semitic? Phrases just get tossed around like trash in a dumpster with no thought given to the meaning. The neocons running under the banner of anti-semitism does not honor either side of the issues involved.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.