How Bill Kristol Purged the Arabists
After taping John Stossel's show on May 16 in New York, the Mrs. and I took the 10 a.m. Acela back to Washington. Once we had boarded the train, who should come waddling up the aisle but Bill Kristol.
The Weekly Standard editor seemed cheerful, and we chatted about the surge in Mitt Romney's popularity and prospects.
I did not ask what he had been doing in New York, but thanks to the website Mondoweiss, I found out. Kristol was there for a May 15 "debate" with Jeremy Ben-Ami of J Street, the pro-Israel organization, at B'nai Jeshurun synagogue on the Upper West Side.
After listening to Kristol, writes Phil Weiss, "I am still reeling."
"Kristol was treated like royalty and came off as ... a Republican Party warlord," bragging "about how all the hostile elements to Israel inside the Republican Party were purged over the last 30 years—(and) no one (now) dared to question the power of the Israeli lobby."
"The big story in the Republican Party over the last 30 years, and I'm very happy about this," said Kristol, is the "eclipsing" of the George H.W. Bush-James Baker-Brent Scowcroft realists, "an Arabist old-fashioned Republican Party ... very concerned about relations with Arab states that were not friendly with Israel ... ."
That Bush crowd is yesterday, said Kristol. And not only had the "Arabists" like President Bush been shoved aside by the neocons, the "Pat Buchanan/Ron Paul type" of Republican has been purged.
"At B'nai Jeshurun," writes Weiss, "Kristol admitted to playing a role in expelling members of the Republican Party he does not agree with." These are Republicans you had to "repudiate," said Kristol, people "of whom I disapprove so much that I won't appear with them."
"I've encouraged that they be expelled or not welcomed into the Republican Party. I'd be happy if Ron Paul left. I was very happy when Pat Buchanan was allowed—really encouraged ... by George Bush ... to go off and run as a third-party candidate."
Kristol's point: Refuse to toe the neocon line on Israel, and you have no future in the Republican Party.
Ben Ami seemed equally exultant: "We've won the war; we won the war," he told the audience. Ninety-nine percent of Congress now votes almost 100 percent pro-Israel.
But Ben Ami appeared nervous about how this unanimity in the Congress behind Israel had been achieved:
"I very seriously and absolutely do believe that a significant percentage of American members of the House of Representatives and the Senate are intimidated on this issue (of Israel). ... They worry about the ramifications of speaking out. ... They are worried about the attacks that they will receive."
Ben Ami said the 50 members who have criticized Israel are courageous, but, "Another 200 are scared to do it." Haaretz.com reports Ben Ami as saying congressmen "live in fear" of the Israeli lobby.
Kristol laughed at this and dared Ben Ami to name them.
When Ben Ami brought up the destruction of Palestinian rights on the West Bank and said Hillary Clinton repeatedly raises this issue with Israel, writes Weiss, "Kristol sniggered."
It's a "myth," said Kristol, that Arabs care about Palestinians. The Israeli occupation on the West Bank can last for 45 or 60 years more. Bill Kristol on Palestinian rights sounds like Bull Connor talking about Negro rights in Birmingham in 1965.
Another source says Kristol predicted that Sen. Joe Lieberman, whose voting record is closer to Socialist Bernie Sanders' than to conservative Jim DeMint's, will be secretary of state in the Romney administration.
A former head of the Israel lobby AIPAC describes Lieberman as "the No. 1 pro-Israel advocate and leader in the Congress."
Joe led the cheers for our last three Middle East wars—and has pushed for two more, against Syria and Iran.
About Kristol's comments, a point of personal privilege.
George W. Bush never "encouraged" me to go third party. At the Iowa straw poll in 1999, he asked me to stay in the party, and party chair Jim Nicholson came to my home to make the same request.
At the synagogue, Kristol was never asked about his role in the Iraq War that he and his collaborators pressured Bush to wage as "Israel's fight against terrorism is our fight."
Some 4,500 Americans died in that war, 35,000 were wounded, and 100,000 Iraqis perished, leaving half a million widows and orphans.
Result: U.S. influence in the Middle East is at a nadir. Al-Qaida has spread into Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Syria and North Africa.
Now the neocons are worming their way into the Romney camp, dropping us hints on whether John Bolton or Joe Lieberman will be the next secretary of state.
Has Gov. Romney imbibed the Kristol Kool-Aid that caused the war and cost the party Congress in 2006 and the presidency in 2008?
Hard to believe, but we should find out before November.
COPYRIGHT 2012 CREATORS.COM
Entries(RSS)
I don't believe Gov. Romney will even need to be served any Kool-aid before he unequivocally backs Isreal. He knows what's good for him.
Romney's base is Christian evangelicals,neo-conservatives and libertarians. His long friendship with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu has been long standing and open, as has his willlingness to attack Iran upon a moments reflection.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/us/politics/mitt-romney-and-benjamin-netanyahu-are-old-friends.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
He is also a clever and duplicious politician that should, therefore, put the best foot forward for his current handlers and supporters - --such as Karl Rove, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, and other long standing party leaders of the past fifty years. I admire both Pat Buchanan and Bill Kristol for speaking the truth in these matters. Buchanan and his wing were purged long ago, and the spoils should go to the victors who," they say", should also write the history. If the next fifty years play out like the last fifity, that history should read something along the lines: "it was necessary, good and long over due that men like Pat Buchanan, Southern partisans and mid-western dupes be purged from the Republican Party as they were never actually part of that party in the first place. Of course after the purge along with the honest and at last, public recognition at the national level that these types had simply been useful dupes, the GOP, like the old soldiers they pretended to support,, never so much collapsed as they just slowly faded away.
Robert, this is tame stuff regarding Romney's connections with Israel. He's been tracked, or handled, since his days at Harvard by Orit Gadiesh, who I believe is still chairman of Bain & Company. She was a to-level operative of Israeli military intelligence and to this day, I believe, sits on the board of the Peres Center with Avner Azulay, a top-level Mossad operative. Romney tells us his "top advisers" are Michael Chertoff and Dov Zakheim, both of whom are circumstantially connected with the 911 false flag attack, while the latter was comptroller of the Pentagon when $2 trillion went missing and the team investigating the mysterious loss were conveniently killed and their records destroyed when the plane with no wings, engines, or tail section hit the Pentagon. Rumsfeld twice referred to the object that hit the Pentagon as a missile, as did 911 commissioner Roemer. Romeny's advisers are the kind of people every American patriot would dream of having to handle his agenda.
Dan,
I did not look past the obvious facts as stated by Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Kristol. It does not bother me in the least that they are both sympathetic to the Israeli state. What bothers me is the fact that Mr. Buchanan's views are better represented and more fairly debated in the Israeli press than they are in America's press. The freedom of speech promoted in our country is very unique and often has little relation towards arriving at a deeper understanding or promoting a broader comprehension of a given subject. In fact it usually involves a very small number of people suffering from some obvious mental illness, perhaps even related to unique neuronic pathways of brains inspired by a rare and intense hatred --- such as desecrating holy ground, disrupting private funerals or mistaking a human vice for the cause of all human wickedness.
Pat Buchanan is a decent man who served Presidents, his party, loved his country and defended family, friends and traditions with a passion. The orchestrated character assasinations against him will in time prove to have been unjustified, predictable and much more dangerous than the open and public debate he desired to have with his detractors.
This is a big topic and important. Billy Krystal proselytizes for war and more war and even more war. Does he think America can do what the Romans knew not to try? Does he thing his cabal of warmongers can fail more successfully than Alexander? I agree with Pat B. and Mr. Reavis for the most part. I will probably quibble about the overinflated influence of the Israel lobby. It being apparent to me that Saudi influence is predominant.
That fool Rumsfeld advocated an invasion force of 50,000 troops for the invasion of Iraq. Those neo-con dopes went forward with their ill-conceived invasion plan even after their essential northern prong was shut down by Turkey. There are sound reasons why military experts encourage the protection of supply lines. I could go on for hours. Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and it never ends. I don't have words to sufficiently express my contempt for those warmongering dilettantes. I prefer the honest deceit of mush minded communists.
What exactly is wrong with the purging of Arabists?
Were the Arabists not the ones who encouraged financing of both Iraq and Iran until they tore each other apart, in order to keep the Saudis happy? Were the Arabists not the ones who tolerated the sinking of an American ship by the Iraqis in order to maintain relations with them? Or the ones who rushed to the defense of rich Kuwaitis in the Gulf War? Or the ones who were first promoting anti-Iran hawkishness? Maybe I am wrong, but it certainly seems like a very costly relationship, this coddling of Arabs.
So basically, the Arab lobby was weakened in favour of the evangelical Christian lobby that wanted to favour Israel over all ME partners? I say the net loss or gain was none.
Prateek,
In a 2007 letter from Congressman Henry Hyde to President George W. Bush, Hyde stated that "the Christian community is being crushed in the mill of the bitter Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and that expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were "irreversibly damaging the dwindling Christian community"
None of the people you refer to in your post care about the ancient Christian communities in the Holy Land -- who are Arabic and Melkite Christians. By purging this type of Arabist from any conversation or public debate in America, it makes it much easier to purge them from the Holy Land and reduce the entire Middle East to a perpetual war between America and Israel one one side, and Islam on the other. With friends like this, who needs American evangelicals or Saudi royalists and their cheap oil for November elections?
Any object or weapon fired, thrown, dropped, or otherwise projected at a target. Missile. That's what my paperback dictionary says and it was never out of my sight on 9-11.
But, that clarification of a minor misleading inference aside, I'm glad to see another conspiracy nut on the site. Conspiracies are fun.
I think your question is fair Prateek. However, I think it may be helpful to first examine Billy's assumptions and claims. Because, despite what Billy Krystal says about Arabists, the republican party and ME policy, I don't see it. It doesn't seem coherent to me. Even if I assume that Arabists are an identifiable group of people, which I doubt, and that they have been purged from the party; why and how does Billy think US policy in the ME under Romney/Lieberman/McCain will differ significantly from the Bush era policy? I use the term policy very loosely. Are additional wars in Syria and Iran the answer? If so, I also need to ask how Romney ME policy will differ from Obama's? That laid back hedonist is probably going to beat Romney into Syria and he may beat Romney into Iran. Does that make Obama a pure neocon republican? Or does Billy need more? Will the purified republican party force Romney to bulldoze the permanent Arab refugees into the sea? Policy differences in the ME indeed.
And this 100% pro-Israel thing. How's that again? Is Billy saying the Romney group will cut the Saudis off? No more multi-billion dollar weapons sales to any Arab countries? Will Romney kick Turkey in the teeth because they are having a hissy fit with Israel? Will Romney starve the Egyptians? Will Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait no longer host our fleets and our armies? I suppose if the Iraq war was for Israel, Billy may also believe a Romney administration will do all of the above and more. But I don't see it. All I see from Romney is more of the same. Which mostly involves kissing the Saudi Prince's ring, paying them for the privilege of doing their dirty work and pretending it all makes sense.
Maybe Billy only means a Romney administration, together with a purified republican party, will send more money and weapons to Israel. OK, not really different, just more. And that Arabist thing? Maybe Billy Krystal knows who they are and maybe they were purged from the republican party. Maybe. But I don't see it and I don't see any significant ME policy changes coming from a Romney regime either. So, despite his excitement, Krystal's boasts are meaningless. Nothing to see here, just some more wars in the ME. SNAFU.
It is people like Bill Kristol who convinced me to register as an independent. It amazes me how many of these neo-cons, around my age, never served in Vietnam but are macho neo- Lemay's in their desire to carpet bomb the Middle East killing women and children, Christian or Muslim. These are the same long haired guys who snickered at us sailors in Boston in the late 60's/early 70's while they were smoking joints,playing guitars and expressing solidarity with the Viet Cong. Now, years after getting their degrees from Harvard and getting ensconced by daddy in a successor position they want to continue their anti-establishment rantings and scheming by subverting traditional American foreign policy to suit their own parochial objectives in the Middle East using the word 'anti-Semite' against anyone opposed to an America First foreign policy and those of us who are morally aghast at the plight of the Palestinians. These people are Machiavellian's and they are about as conservative as sailor on liberty with a hundred bucks in his pocket. Kristol thinks illegal immigration is okay; is pro amnesty for those that are here and tried to eliminate the pro-life plank in the 1992 GOP convention calling it 'anachronistic'. I don't want to belong to any party where Pro-Death commissars like him reign.
Sir, one or two fast comments. "These people are Machiavellian's.." Well, IMO not so much. If the neocons like Krystal were students of Machiavelli, they would not be pursuing the suicidal policies they pursue in far off lands. And if they did, they would fight those conflicts to win. Those guys are no more students of Machiavelli than they are students of Clausewitz. They have the notion that America is entitled and obligated to spread it's glorious exceptionalism throughout the globe, by force of arms. In short, they are nutty, dilettante warmongers.
Being morally aghast about the 'plight' of the Arab refugees is, of course, fine. And Krystal's preferred policy is to maintain the status quo. Not very helpful. However, those permanent refugees are a product of Arab policy, not American. Let's give the Arab Muslims credit for their ruthlessness, shall we? Those folks are stuck in stateless limbo because they are barred by their countries of origin from returning. That, and the heavily subsidized illusion that the nation of Israel belongs to them, fortified by the fiction that they are Palestinians. Much as I agree with your critique of Krystal, blame for the Arab refugees is not his.