Washington Report, December 2005, pages 5-6

Letters to the Editor

A War for Israel?

Now that the invasion of Iraq has become the unmitigated disaster that so many of us predicted it would become, we should reflect on who got us into this mess and why.

President Bush (the unabashed coward who used his political connections to evade service in Vietnam) probably wanted to prove to himself and to the world that he really was a man. He might not have had the courage to go to war himself, but he certainly had what it takes to send other to war.

Vice President Cheney (another shameless draft dodger) probably saw the war in Iraq as a splendid business opportunity for his cronies at Haliburton and as an opportunity to control a large share of the world’s oil reserves.

Donald Rumsfield probably saw the war as an opportunity to show the world what a brilliant military tactician he is (boy, did he ever).

However, I can’t help but think that the ultimate driving force behind the invasion and occupation of Iraq were the ultra-Zionist neocons such as Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle. Their first loyalty has always seemed to be to Israel and they recognized that, of all the Arab states, Iraq clearly had the most potential to become strong enough to confront Israel. Iraq has the world’s second largest proven oil reserves and (unlike Saudi Arabia) it has a wealth of fresh water and arable land. It also has a large population of intelligent, educated people. With proper leadership (something it has lacked since ancient times) it would rapidly become a force to be reckoned with in the Middle East. They probably reasoned that the invasion of Iraq would not only neutralize one of Israel’s most powerful foes, but would also give Israel access to Iraq’s water and oil.

I fear that more than 2,000 American soldiers (and countless innocent Iraqis) have died primarily to make the Middle East safe for Israeli aggression. The Zionist neocons played our clueless president like a fiddle.

Clyde A. Farris, MD, Tualatin, OR

Let’s hope that with the Oct. 28 indictment of neocon I. “Scooter” Libby, Cheney’s now former chief of staff, Americans will learn more about the members of the Israel-first cabal—formerly known as “chickenhawks”—who orchestrated this country’s deadly adventure.

Who’s a “Foreign Fighter”?

The Sept. 19 incident in Basra involving the two British soldiers wearing Arab clothing and carrying an anti-tank missile seems very strange. Stranger still that they shot at the Iraqi police when confronted.

When they were asked why they were dressed this way, carrying an explosive device, they said they couldn’t answer, and their commanding officer should be consulted. After the British mounted a full-scale attack and demolished the jail that held the two solders, the local population and the Iraqi police were understandably annoyed—to put it mildly.

But the underlying situation still requires examination—what was the purpose of having soldiers disguised as Iraqis, and what were they going to do with the explosive? Is this something that is done regularly by coalition troops? What were they doing with the missile that they could not do in British military uniforms? And why the rush to break them out of jail, rather than going through diplomatic channels? Are there other coalition troops going around dressed as Iraqis, carrying explosives?

Perhaps these are the “foreign fighters” that we are constantly being told about!

Henry Van Zandt, Hermosa Beach, CA

Simon Wiesenthal Remembered

I met Simon Wiesenthal in Vienna in the Winter of 1994. I was looking for male Jews who would be willing to serve, on the board of advisers of Deir Yassin Remembered.

I had already written to Elie Wiesel, but he had refused to answer a similar request. He also refused to meet with me on two occasions when I was in Boston. I was getting used to rejection.

On my way back from a conference in Gaza, I purposely stopped in Vienna to see Herr Wiesenthal and to tell him about the Deir Yassin Remembered project and to ask him to join the board. I knew where he lived through my wife’s cousin, who lives in Vienna. When I approached him, I found a frail man in his mid-eighties.

I addressed him in German. He seemed to relax a bit when I told him I was American (which I am sure he already knew from my accent) and that I admired his work. But as I described the purpose of Deir Yassin Remembered, namely to build a memorial to the victims of Deir Yassin at the site of the massacre in Jerusalem, he became more apprehensive.

I handed him an outline of the project and asked him to join the organization. He declined. I then asked if we might use his famous quote, “Hope Lives When People Remember.” He said, “Go ahead; it is all the same to me.” (“Das ist mir Wurscht.”) And he turned and walked away.

From that time on, in spite of objection by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in California, Deir Yassin Remembered has used the slogan, “Hope Lives When People Remember.”

Daniel McGowan, Executive Director, Deir Yassin Remembered, Geneva, NY

More Fallacies and Lies

I have just received the August issue of your magazine. As always, it is professionally done and very well edited.

But I am surprised and must take exception to what can only be described as your “obsession” with the attack on the USS Liberty which took place in 1967—38 years ago!

You seem to have an article on this deplorable accident in every issue of your publication. The August issue features a “twofer”—articles by both Mr. Findley and by Ms. Hanley.

I wonder why you refuse to accept that this was an unfortunate accident in the middle of a raging war. This has been proven conclusively by congressional investigation and by in-depth books and articles written about it.

It appears that you keep using this hoary incident as something on which to hang your editorial hatred of Israel.

There are so many other pertinent things that you could mention, such as:

• the Arabs’ murderous attack on the Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics;
• the countless attacks by Jihadists in which hundreds and thousands of Jews, Israelis, and others all over the world have lost their lives;
• the Arab attack on the Marines barrack in Beirut, in which hundreds of American service persons died;
• the 1997 bombing by Arabs of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, in which 23 Americans were killed;
• the attack by Iraqi forces (in peacetime) on the USS Stark in the Persian Gulf, which killed almost exactly as many Navy personnel as were killed in the USS Liberty incident;
• the attack by Arabs on the USS Cole, with the loss of many American servicemen;
• And, of course, last but certainly not least, the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, in which over 3,000 Americans lost their lives—followed by the deadly attacks on Spanish trains and the London subway system.

All those were deliberate attacks by Arabs against American assets and personnel. And then there are the regrettable and unavoidable accidents of war (and sometimes peace) such as:

• the tragic incident, not too many years ago, in which, in peacetime, trigger-happy personnel of the USS Vincennes (an American warship) shot down a civilian commercial Iranian airliner, killing over 200 innocent people;
• the accidental bombing, as a result of intelligence error, by which our pilots bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade and by the hundreds of other civilians whom U.S. forces killed by intelligence error in the “Kosovo action.”

But none of that seems to be of any importance to you—the USS Liberty seems to consume you totally. And nowhere do you mention that Israel, though innocent, paid heavy compensation to the U.S. government and to the victims of this incident.

I hope I live that long, but I would not be surprised if in 50 years from now, you would still editorialize about the “perfidious act of the Israelis” in attacking the USS Liberty.

On a somewhat lighter note, in Mr. Killgore’s article, “U.S. Gets Tough on Israeli Arms Sales to China,” he describes the Lavi fighter plane as “U.S.-designed and paid for.” Mr. Kilgore is in serious error. The Lavi was totally designed in Israel, though there was indeed some U.S. financial contribution.

Gerardo Joffe, President, FLAME, San Francisco, CA

We wonder who’s really obsessed: the survivors of Israel’s attack on the USS Liberty, who ask only for a full investigation by their government, or apologists for Israel such as yourself who try to prevent an open inquiry (and who, we might add, seem to go berserk whenever the subject is raised). Since we prefer to use our time more productively than to respond to each item in your litany of obfuscations, we’ll simply refer to you the quote by Jesuit Father John Sheehan, who observed, “Every time anyone says that Israel is our only friend in the Middle East, I can’t help but think that before Israel, we had no enemies in the Middle East.”

On a lighter note, if you consider more than $2 billion to be “some” U.S. financial contribution, perhaps you’d like to make a similarly modest contribution to us.

Jews for Justice

You have a primer on your Web site written by Jews for Justice in the Middle East (<http://www.wrmea.com/jews_for_justice/>).

My newspaper is willing to print a primer, and this is one of several I’m giving to them for consideration. But I’d like to give them more about Jews for Justice and also contact information. I did a Google search and can only come up with third party resources (distributors of the primer) like yourselves, If Americans Knew and Cactus 48.

Any help you can give would be great.

Linda Frank, NW Middle East Peace Forum, Tacoma, WA

AET Book Club director Sara Powell has the following mailing address: Jews for Justice in the Middle East, P.O. Box 14561, Berkeley, CA 94712. In addition to their excellent pamphlet, The Origin of the Palestine-Israel Conflict (which, as you note, can be downloaded from the Washington Report Web site), she also recommends one put out by the Mennonite Central Committee entitled What is Palestine/Israel? by Sonia K Weaver. It is available via its Web site, <www.mcc.org>,or by calling (888) 563-4676.

Request for Ritter

Recently, early in the morning, a BBC broadcast of an interview—an interrogation actually—of Scott Ritter was received. Questioned by an antagonistic interviewer Scott never faltered once and was most impressive in telling it as it is—and was. This fellow makes one feel almost proud (again) to be an American. Would it be possible to feature some of Scott’s information in the Washington Report? I’m sure your readers would appreciate his eye-opening revelations.

Keep up the good fight.

Paul Richards, Salem, OR

We’re also fans of the former U.N. weapons inspector, who has been marginalized for his determination to set the record straight on Iraq (see “Saddam Hussain Did Not Expel U.N. Weapons Inspectors,” May 2002 Washington Report, p. 23). We’ll continue to cover his appearances in the Washington, DC area, and try to make more
of his writings available to Washington Report readers.