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February 13, 2012
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February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
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February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Dec. 16, 2004
/ 4 Teves, 5765
That Old Standby — the Scapegoat
By
Jonathan Tobin
Blaming Israel for America's troubles is never out of fashion
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Not long ago, I was talking about reporting news on Israel with a young journalist who works for a major metropolitan daily newspaper.
When it was pointed out that the Jewish press had an obligation to fill the gap in unbiased information and perspective on the Middle East, this man piped up, saying that was all well and good, but were Jewish journalists telling the truth about Israel being the reason America was a terror target?
When I responded that this was nonsense, he replied insouciantly that we all knew very well that American support of Israel lay behind the war on terror — and that it was fruitless to deny it.
Is this view typical of most or even many Americans? Probably not, thank heaven. For the most part, it has been limited to the anti-Zionist fever swamps of the left or right where the likes of far-right-wing pundit Pat Buchanan or left-wing propaganda film auteur Michael Moore live.
But it is gaining traction, and one of the sources for this new respect for a bogus theory was the favorable reaction from many in America's chattering classes for a book published earlier this year.
"Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror" spent several weeks on The New York Times best-seller list during the recent presidential campaign, as it edged ahead of a spate of other books bashing the Bush administration.
But what made "Hubris" different was its author, a guy publishers called "Anonymous," but who was described as a "senior U.S. intelligence official."
The mystery about Anonymous' real identity didn't last long, and was soon traced back to CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. The author was revealed to be none other than one of the agency's chief spooks, Michael Scheuer, who was formerly the head of the C.I.A.'s unit dedicated to tracking down none other than terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.
Predictably, Scheuer does not take responsibility for the failure of his unit's main task. But he does have a lot to say about the faults of the Bush administration and, rather pointedly, the flaws in American foreign policy that have led us to war with fundamentalist Islam.
The No. 1 answer on that impressive list of faults is American support for Israel.
Writing as if he stole Buchanan's playbook, Scheuer's chapter head on this topic is called "The Burden of an Eternal Dependent." He blasts what he calls America's "overwhelmingly one-way alliance with Israel," and, like Buchanan and other sniveling weasels of the far right, complains that any criticism of the alliance is branded anti-Semitic.
He dismisses Israel as a "far-away theocracy in all but name," disputes its rightful label as a democracy, and preposterously blames the Jews for keeping millions of Palestinian refugees in "eternal exile," instead of rightly naming the Arab states that have incarcerated them in camps rather than resettle them, as Israel has done with equally numerous Jewish refugees from Arab countries and other parts of the world.
According to Scheuer, friendship for Israel comes at too high a price for Americans. American friends of Israel, he says, have "succeeded in lacing tight the ropes binding the American Gulliver to the tiny Jewish state." Scheuer also says that Al Qaeda statements about the U.S.-Israel alliance are accurate, and is not shy about bizarrely referring to his former quarry bin Laden as a "great" man.
After reading this pitiful stuff, readers are forced to come to some conclusions that Scheuer probably didn't intend; namely, that for all of the flaws in the Bush administration's strategies and the usual screwups that occur in any war, maybe some of the problems America has encountered ought not to be blamed on the Jewish "neoconservatives," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld or even on the president himself.
Maybe the problem was the CIA.
Because if an idiot like Scheuer could be entrusted with U.S. intelligence, then maybe the people running the CIA weren't as smart as we were led to believe. Maybe it's the people who are always being anonymously quoted expressing their dismay about administration policy (usually in stories that start on the front page of The New York Times, quoting unnamed CIA officials and suspiciously leaked CIA documents) that we should be worrying about, not the "Jewish lobby" that Scheuer obsesses about.
A NATIONAL PRIORITY
A close reading of Scheuer's book and his public statements makes it clear that a complete housecleaning of this "rogue agency," as it has been termed by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), isn't merely appropriate, it is a national priority.
Indeed, it is the motives of those who have criticized new CIA director Porter Goss' wholesale ousting of top agency operatives — the ones who gave Scheuer the okay to publish a partisan book in the middle of a presidential campaign — that ought to be put in question, not his.
Of course, the problem is that lies about Israel and the willingness to "blame the Jews" for the war on terror and, by extension, the Sept. 11 attacks, have a tendency to spread far beyond the limited number of readers of Scheuer's book or even those who saw the author's appearances on "Sixty Minutes" or "Meet the Press" during his proverbial 15 minutes of fame.
When former CIA officials wind up on the same page as Michael Moore and Pat Buchanan, you know something was very wrong at Langley. It's high time these fools were turned out on their ears.
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JWR contributor Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.
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© 2004, Jonathan Tobin
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