[WCUSP] [jvp-philadelphia] Movers and Shakers of U.S. Foreign Policy By: Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

[Mitchell Plitnick]

Wow. I have to say, this was one of the poorest articles I've seen in a long 
time. Even the standard Global Zionist Conspiracy Theory stuff is usually 
better than this. It's hard even to know where to begin.

Almost every word the author uses is slanted with innuendo, yet virtually 
every accusation is unsubstantiated (as is often the case in these sort of 
pieces, but usually not this degree). The Milken institute (detestable 
though I find both it and its founder) is hardly a Zionist think tank (which 
would be exemplified by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, or 
the Jewish Institute [which is run by some Jews and some Jews, incidentally] 
for National Security Affairs), and the fact that the Federation gave the 
Institute a grant to promote economic development in Israel is not relevant 
to any sort of policy formation. The Milken institute deals with economics.

The author reveals a truly appalling ignorance of American history and 
American foreign policy. Shocked she is, SHOCKED that the US would consider 
sponsoring a terrorist group to oppose and hopefully overthrow a regime it 
does not like. Surely this must be the work of evil Zionists twisting 
otherwise noble American policy. And just as surely, those same evil 
Zionists and their ancestors must have plotted similar things in countless 
countries including Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Cuba, El 
Salvador, Angola, Nigeria, Vietnam, Laos, the USSR, East Germany, Iraq, 
Egypt, Afghanistan, and numerous others from the mid-19th century right up 
to the present day. Yes, those Zionists are a busy lot.

Having not mentioned Israel or Zionists until 2/3 of the way through her 
article, she suddenly writes: " In the forum at the Milken Institute, 
attended by rich folks ready to write checks in praise of his clever ideas 
and ideals, an audience of 99% Jewry, whose national interest was Max 
referring to?" Apparently, most of the audience must have been male and 
wearing kippot. Or perhaps she did a census of the audience asking them 
their religion or ethnicity. To say that I find that percentage, even as an 
exaggeration meant to bring home a point, to be baseless and likely very 
wrong, is an understatement. From there, she simply leaps into an 
unconsidered accusation that the national interest Max Boot ( a well-known 
neo-conservative, very pro-Israel to be sure) was referring to regarding 
Iran was not the US' but Israel's. I'll refer people to this article at 
http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_237.shtml which talks 
about this issue in relation to Iraq. But in this instance, and given that 
the neocons are routinely very typical gung-ho American patriots, such an 
accusation certainly needs some substantiation. Or for this sentence: "Their 
White House can no longer make a decision without Israel's blessing." So I 
take it that when Olmert said he would consider the Lebanese cease-fire 
offer at the end of July, he actually then told Bush to forbid it. Or when 
the Bush Administration withheld $900 million in loan guarantees three years 
ago, that was with Sharon's blessing. Even in this administration which has 
permitted and encouraged some of the most heinous acts in Israeli history, 
there are many more such examples. But a "writer" like this one will never 
let facts get in the way of her ravings. In fact, she'll make so sure of 
that that she will do her best to have as close to zero facts in her essay 
as possible.

Folks, our entire movement is suffering from a serious lack of understanding 
of US foreign policy. It's for that reason that I take as much as time as I 
have here to demonstrate how badly some people are distorting reality, 
whether through ignorance or malice. It's really important that we not let 
ourselves be swayed by such truly horrid "scholarship" and pedagogic 
writing.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marlene Santoyo" <marlsan at cavtel.net>
To: "WCUSPWILPF" <wcusp at wilpf.org>; "JVPphiladelphia" 
<jvp-philadelphia at lists.riseup.net>
Sent: Friday, November 17, 2006 11:05 AM
Subject: [jvp-philadelphia] Movers and Shakers of U.S. Foreign Policy By: 
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich


> Thought you might find this interesting
> http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15608.htm
> Also: I recommned that you read the comments.
>
> marlena santoyo
>
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