Posted on 05/24/2004 7:23:03 PM PDT by SJackson
Senior Jewish Pentagon officials have come under attack from former special US envoy to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni, in a CBS "60 Minutes" interview to be broadcasted Monday night.
Although Israelis remember Zinni as Secretary of State Colin Powell's would-be broker of an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, he served before that as commander-in-chief of the US Central Command from 1997 to 2000 and was in charge of all US troops in the Middle East.
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Zinni has recently become a major critic of the Bush administration's Iraqi war, specifically the Pentagon's failure to advise the President properly.
"There has been poor strategic thinking in this," Zinni said. "There has been poor operational planning and execution on the ground. And to think that we are going to 'stay the course'; the course is headed over Niagara Falls. I think it's time to change course a little bit, or at least hold somebody responsible for putting you on this course. Because it's been a failure."
Zinni specifically aimed Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, Former Defense Policy Board member Richard Perle, National Security Council member Eliot Abrams, and Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby - a group of policymakers within the administration known as "the neo-conservatives" whom he claims saw the invasion of Iraq as a way to stabilize American interests in the region and strengthen the position of Israel.
"I think it's the worst kept secret in Washington. That everybody - everybody I talk to in Washington - has known and fully knows what their agenda was and what they were trying to do," says Zinni.
"Because I mentioned the neo-conservatives, who describe themselves as neo-conservatives, I was called anti-Semitic. I mean, it's unbelievable that that's the kind of personal attacks that are run when you criticize a strategy and those who propose it. I certainly didn't criticize who they were. I certainly don't know what their ethnic religious backgrounds are. And I'm not interested."
Zinni said he believed their strategy was to change the Middle East and bring it into the 21st century.
"All sounds very good, all very noble. The trouble is the way they saw to go about this is unilateral aggressive intervention by the United States - the take down of Iraq as a priority," Zinni added. "And what we have become now in the United States, how we're viewed in this region is not an entity that's promising positive change. We are now being viewed as the modern crusaders, as the modern colonial power in that part of the world."
Zinni said Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz should accept responsibility for the Iraqi impasse and resign. "60 Minutes" said Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz had declined a request to respond to Zinni's remarks.
Several days ago, Senator Ernest Hollins accused President Bush of embarking on the Iraqi war to buy the Jewish vote. In a speech to the sentae last week, Hollins refused to retract his words and attacked the Jewish lobby AIPAC.
With Agencies
And Bush appointed this "bigot" as special envoy to the Middle East.
So does that make Bush a bigot also?
Or is he simply incompetent?
So does that make Bush a bigot also?
Or is he simply incompetent?
Evidently, you've abandoned the failed, "X-Files"-ish Shadowy Conspiracy To Edit Zinni's Published Words Worldwide gambit. Good. Can't really blame you on that score.
Big Concept Time, now. Pay attention: perhaps -- just perhaps, mind -- Zinni hadn't made any openly anti-Semitic utterances GWB had opportunity to find out about, prior to this latest noxious series of same. Maybe -- and I sense this is an argument you'll be eager enough to accept -- Bush erred, in picking what turned out to be a demonstrably inferior man, morally, ethically and intellectually.
You'll have scant success, I'll wager, in convincing others hereabouts that Bush -- like Zinni -- is a (now un-closeted) bigot. In both cases: the words and deeds of BOTH men ring clearly, carillion-like, for themselves. Nice try, though.
Ummmmmmm... yeah. It's in the thread entitled Zinni slams Jewish Pentagon officials. Eleven paragraph story. Wanna link...? :)
---I certainly don't know what their ethnic religious backgrounds are. ---
I'm supposed to believe that this man doesn't know that Wolfowitz is a Jew? That's simply not credible and it raises questions about the man who would make such a claim.
How stupid does he think we are? No wonder his diplomatic mission was a complete non-starter.
Don't even waste your time with this one, dude. He can't even back up his/her nutbar assertion that non-Jews are "unwelcome" in Israel, for pete's sake. :)
No, it means you are a twit.
Zinni, and others believe the problems of the Middle East would end if Israel either did not exist or caved in to Palestinian terrorism. But most of the conflicts that have drawn our involvement had nothing to do with that - the Iran-Iraq war and the First Gulf War had nothing to do with Israel/Palestinians. Even Osama Bin Laden/9-11 was unrelated if we are to believe OBL. It was all about our presence in Saudi Arabia 'containing' Saddam which was Zinni and other expert's strategy. OBL only started spewing about the 'Jews' after 9-11. I seem to recall Arafat denouncing the attack, and giving a pint of blood for the victims.
Gosh.. another personal attack. Can't say I'm surprised. If you're going to piss on a 4-star Marine, surely you can do the same to a lowly peasant like me.
Zinni hadn't made any openly anti-Semitic utterances GWB had opportunity to find out about, prior to this latest noxious series of same.
So he's an anti-Semite, but he hid it from his fellow Marines, his supervisors, and his subordinates, for how many years?
Bush erred, in picking what turned out to be a demonstrably inferior man, morally, ethically and intellectually
Zinni is "inferior" for critisizing the administration?
I guess once Patriot Act 3 passes, you guys can send him off to Gitmo.
Zinni -- is a (now un-closeted) bigot
Right of out the leftists playbook... anyone who disagrees with me, *must* be a racist and a bigot, right?
As I clearly referenced the STORY , and not the HEADLINE: that's a particularly lame and inept dodge, on your part, IMHO.
Wolfowitz, Perle, etcetera are publicly known in government power circles as Jews. Zinni singled out J-E-W-S, taking especial pains to link them with the transparent code phrase du jour "neo-cons." Again: this is all in the story which you disingenuously, for whatever reason, pretend to be incapable of reading and interpreting for yourself. (I'm doing you the courtesy of assuming that you're just pretending not to be able to read it, of course. Feel free to correct me on that score, by all means.)
"I think it's the worst kept secret in Washington. That everybody - everybody I talk to in Washington - has known and fully knows what their agenda was and what they were trying to do," says Zinni.
How sweet. He's found a new way of paraphrasing the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, without actually openly referencing same.
"Their" agenda. What "they" were trying to do. Oooooooo. Joooooooooooos. Spooky. [::rolls eyes::]
Making fun of your failed arguments is a "personal attack" now, is it? LOL! Your skin's too thin for posting on a public message board, then, my lad.
I guffaw openly and heartily at the Wounded, Outraged Ingenue gambit, incidentally. Just to save you some time, is all.
So he's an anti-Semite, but he hid it from his fellow Marines, his supervisors, and his subordinates, for how many years?
Most likely. Unless you imagine he'd have good cause, on a regular basis, to knowingly commit career suicide while attempting to rise through the ranks by openly identifying himself as a bigot, of course.
Pull the other one. It's got bells on it.
Zinni is "inferior" for critisizing the administration?
How desperate and sad. Find, please, where I specifically cited Zinnis as being "inferior" FOR CRITICIZING THIS ADMINISTRATION.
You know you cant. I know you can't. And everyone readng along knows you can't. Oopsie. I guess once Patriot Act 3 passes, you guys can send him off to Gitmo.
Typical leftist paranoia. "Ashcroft and all the big, mean Republicans are gonna send us all to Gitmo for disagreeing with them, oh, boo-hoo-hoo."
Please. LOL!
Neo-conservatives are thus....Jewish comservative children of Jewish Socialist/Communist/ Democrat Parents who have changed to Republicans, It's ONLY a handful of Jewish couples who have children that make up neocons.
Wolfowitz, who switched parties during the Reagan administration, now describes himself as ''a Scoop Jackson Republican.''
Ah....today I heard that the Dems need the Jewish MONEY....big difference .
I've been to Israel and I have NO idea what yu are implying.
BTW, this article is based on the "60 minutes" piece from Sunday (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/21/60minutes/main618896.shtml). Zinni just says neo-cons, "60 Minutes" names them off (and they include Scooter Libby, is he Jewish, I really don't know). When he's talking about "their" agenda, he's talking about neocons.
BTW, the original article does not have the word "Jewish" in the headline. SJackson must have added it.
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