"swieze oko" imonujace odwaga

FORMER REP. BLASTS FOREIGN GRIP ON CONGRESS

Paul Findley says America lost her independencethe day the attack on Liberty
was whitewashed



By Paul Findley

In the greatest service of his long public life, former President Jimmy
Carter warns of the grave consequences of America's phenomenal subservience
to Israel. In his latest book and recent lectures, he focuses on how Israel's
cruel occupation, made possible by massive and unconditional U.S. support,
has subjected the Palestinian people to terrible suffering for 40 long
years.

Beyond that grave human tragedy, candid observers must cite U.S. complicity
in Israeli lawlessness as the major factor that prompted the horror of 9-11
and lured America into launching three costly, wrong-headed and failing
wars-Afghanistan, Iraq and the war on terror.

The linkage is easily identified. America's support of Israel's brutality
was the main motivation for 9-11. Nine-eleven would not have happened if any
U.S. president in the last 40 years had refused to finance Israel's
humiliation and destruction of Palestine.

Michael Scheuer, a former CIA analyst now a consultant to CBS News, recently
told a congressional committee that "our unqualified support of Israel" was
the main reason for 9/11. Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, President George W.
Bush's first special envoy to the Middle East, has stated that the United
States invaded Iraq for Israel and oil.

The U.S. acts of war in Afghanistan and the war on terror were President
Bush's retaliation for 9-11-Israel and only Israel-urged the United States
to invade Iraq. Israel's lobby in Washington pushed hard and prevailed.

Despite this grim record, U.S. subservience to the wishes of Israel's
leaders does not change. Israel is the only nation urging the United States
to attack Iran. The lobby is pushing hard again. If the United States
assaults Iran it will be on Israel's behalf.

Congress, like the rest of America, is totally devoid of debate on the
amazing role of this small nation in critical U.S. policy. Members are
fulsome in public praise of the Jewish state, but no politician mentions the
illegal behavior of Israel or the staggering burden it imposes on our
country.

How did Israel gain this influence?

It all started 40 years ago. On June 8, 1967, the U.S. commander in chief,
President Lyndon B. Johnson, turned his back on the crew of a U.S. Navy
ship, the USS Liberty, despite the fact that the ship was under deadly
assault by Israel's air and sea forces. The Israelis were engaged in an ugly
scheme to lure America into their war against Arab states. They tried to
destroy the Liberty and its entire crew, then pin the blame on the Arabs.
This, they reasoned, would outrage the American people and immediately lead
the United States to join Israel's battle against Arabs.

The scheme almost worked. It failed because, despite the carefully planned
multipronged assault, the Liberty crew managed to broadcast an SOS over a
makeshift antenna. When the appeal reached U.S. aircraft carriers nearby,
the commanders immediately launched fighter planes to defend the ship.

Informed of the launch, President Johnson ordered the rescue planes to turn
back immediately.

For the first time in history, forces of the U.S. Navy were denied the right
to defend a Navy ship under attack. Johnson said, "I don't care if the ship
sinks, I am not going to embarrass an ally." Those were his exact words,
heard by Navy personnel listening to radio relays.

The ally Johnson refused to embarrass was Israel. When the SOS reached the
top military commanders in Israel, they immediately canceled the assault,
claiming it was a case of mistaken identity. At the White House, Johnson
accepted Israel's claim, even though he knew it was a lie. Then Johnson
magnified the day's infamy by ordering a coverup of the truth. Liberty
survivors were sworn to secrecy. Even those in hospital beds and badly
wounded were threatened with court martial if they told anyone what actually
happened. The coverup has been continued by every administration since
Johnson's.

It proved to be a fateful turning point in Israel's power over U.S. foreign
policy. The Liberty experience convinced Israeli officials that they could
get by with literally anything-even the murder of U.S. sailors-in their
manipulation of the U.S. government. Financial aid to Israel began to pour
like a river, all of it with no strings attached. According to The Christian
Science Monitor, this outpouring has now cost U.S. taxpayers more than
$1.4 trillion.

Costs go far beyond money. Thousands of American families are blighted
forever, with America's once high moral standing in shambles. Because of its
unqualified support of Israel, Washington is hated worldwide as never
before.

The principal source of Israel's influence is the fear it seems to instill
in every sector of our society. The most effective instrument of
intimidation employed by its lobby is the reckless accusation of
anti-Semitism, often leveled at anyone criticizing any aspect of Israeli
behavior.

I can personally certify that for many years it has cast a blanket of fear
over Capitol Hill and blocked any semblance of debate.

I unintentionally contributed to that fear in 1985 when my book, They Dare
to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's Lobby, was
published. It reports in detail the efficiency of Israel's U.S. lobby, its
history and tactics.

My book became a bestseller. I hoped it would inspire public officials and
other citizens to revolt against the lobby's influence on U.S. policy, but
several of my former colleagues told me it had the opposite effect. One
said, "After what AIPAC did to you and (Charles) Percy, I vote with the
lobby every time."

Israel's grip on America seems impervious. Two distinguished political
scientists, John Mearshiemer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt
of Harvard, strode resolutely into the Middle East minefield a year ago by
co-authoring a paper on Israel's lobby. More recently, Palestine: Peace Not
Apartheid, a book written by former President Carter, revered worldwide for
his effective work on international conflict resolution, was published.

With few exceptions, America's major editors, producers, commentators,
academics and politicians have given these courageous initiatives the silent
treatment. Nationwide, the lobby's influence is pervasive, sustained and
deep, a phenomenon unprecedented in U.S. history. It is impossible to
explain the silence except as a reflection of profound fear.

The situation is highly dangerous. America has already paid a towering price
for our subservience to Israel, and great additional burdens seem
inevitable. If the United States is involved in acts of war against Iran,
anti-American protest will rise to new heights, especially throughout the
Islamic world. It will inevitably deepen the widely held belief among
Muslims that America seeks to undermine Islam.

The outlook for reform is grim. Elected officials of both major political
parties in Washington seem hopelessly captured by Israel's agents. So does
every serious candidate for the presidency in 2008. All U.S. citizens must
accept a measure of responsibility for Israel's grip on America. Those of us
who knew what was happening did not protest with sufficient force and
clarity. Those who did not know should have taken their responsibility as
citizens more seriously. They should have informed themselves.

The scene is likely to improve only if U.S. elected officials are criticized
so forthrightly from home that they fear a constituent revolt more than they
fear Israel's lobby. This, of course, will not happen until the countryside
benefits from a rigorous and edifying public debate about Israel's role in
our national life.

Paul Findley, a U.S. representative from Illinois from 1961-83, lives in
Jacksonville, Fla. He is the author of five books, including the Washington
Post seven-week bestseller, They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions
Confront Israel's Lobby, Chicago Review Press.


.

Relevant Pages