Here’s a link to Glenn Greenwald’s brilliant defenestration of O’Hanlon and Pollack for their comments on Iraq. Read it. I have one addendum. Greenwald states the following about Pollack’s sock, the Saban Center:
The above-the-political-fray Pollack is employed by the "Saban Center for Middle East Studies"
at Brookings — so named because it is funded with many millions of
dollars by billionaire Haim Saban, an Israeli-American neoconservative
who was a 2004 supporter of George Bush,
was a close associate of Ariel Sharon, and spent the 1990s persuading
Bill Clinton (with millions of dollars in donations to the Democratic
Party) to be more supportive of Israel.In a 2004 glowing profile, the NYT
described Saban as "throwing his weight and money around Washington
and, increasingly, the world, trying to influence all things Israeli,"
and in that article, Saban told the NYT: "I’m a one-issue guy
and my issue is Israel." The profile also reported: "While Mr. Saban is
a vocal opponent of President Bush — ‘I think Bush is just messing it
up every day more’ — he supports some of Mr. Bush’s policies. ‘On the issues of security and terrorism I am a total hawk.’"
In essence, Saban is Marty Peretz but with money that he earned
himself. That is who backs Ken Pollack’s presumably large paychecks and
funds his Brookings war "scholarship".
Great. I would note that virtually the same case was made re Saban by Walt and Mearsheimer in their landmark Israel-lobby paper. And I have shown that Pollack’s crucial book on the Iraq invasion The Threatening Storm never once mentioned the Israeli occupation, while presuming to tell Americans how the "Arab street" feels about us.
My point here is that leftlib Greenwald, conservative realists Walt & Mearsheimer, and lefty me are all interested in the same issue, the lobby’s effect on the U.S. discourse. This is potentially a powerful consensus. Greenwald hasn’t gotten as far as we have, he just needs to connect the dots a little more (there’s actually great congruence between the views of a "neocon" like Saban and pro-war Israel-concerned "liberals" like Ken Pollack and Thomas Friedman), and take the lobby on frontally. Come on in, Glenn, the water’s boiling…
it's weird. There is free discussion and use of the word "israel" in the comments section of blogs, but not in most blogs themselves.
Also, I'm wondering what effect the walt- mearsheimer book will have on the presidential race. Certainly Ron Paul will endorse the book. BUt I doubt any of the presidential canididates will comment on it and certainly none of the press will ask about it. even though it's a way bigger issue than virtually any other.
Phil – If I pointificate on the theory of relativity can I place myself as a peer with Einstein? What makes you think you are of the same level as Greenwald, Walt, and Mearsheimer? Such arrogance.
And while we're talking about Saban, let's not also forget that Jane Harman tried to use him to pressure Nancy Pelosi to reappoint her head of the House Intelligence cmttee (see accompanying link). The attempt to dragoon Saban into this sort of nasty lobbying constitutes a federal offense though unfortunately neither Harman nor Saban were seriously investigated along those lines.
Hey, big Rich, What evidence do you have about her "dragooning" Saban into this and what federal offense would that be exactly. Why haven't you reported this to the FBI. Oh, and by the way fascinating, completely wrong has usual post on the meaning of Islam. Lastly, Sheldon Adelson was a poor kid who made good. Your perfectly free to make your contributions to the holy land foundation, why don't you?
"In essence, Saban is Marty Peretz but with money that he earned himself."
I am not convinced that Saban earned his money himself. The Israeli government and its agents often make efforts that personalities and entities favorable to Zionism succeed in the media industries.
Golan Globus constitutes an example of Israeli government manipulations in the film industry. There are similar anomalies in other sectors as well.
Saban like Peretz is not really a Neocon, and he works the Democratic party more than he does the Republican party — a strategy that makes sense from the standpoint of transnational ethnic Ashkenazi political elites, which consider it important to have dogs in all the races.
Saban probably threw the last German election to Angelina Merkel by manipulating the German TV networks. She has been Saban's poodle ever since, and her chihuahua Schäuble has been at Saban's beck and call ever since.
great last sentence! what a stylist you are!!!!
Joechem, you got us man. The Israeli government, at the direction of the elders, paved the way for Haim Saban to make a fortune in movies and thereby consoidating our control of well, everything.
I don't know how you ferreted this out but I'm going to alert the LOBBY!!!!!!!!!!!!! and crank up the machinery to stamp you out. A guy like you, the propjet of our time, it will not be easy but we can do it.
For what it is worth:
In a Haaretz interview (12/7/06) with the indispensable Ari Shavit, Saban, after boasting about his intimacy with the Clintons, mentions only one European leader: Merkel.
He refers to her as follows:
" …I can go to Angela Merkel in the Chancellory and say, 'Hi, Angela, how are you?' And she replies, 'Haim, nice to see you.'"
Saban and Merkel:
http://www.merkelwitze.de/fotos/maenner03.htm
Thanks guys. Now it all makes sense. James Baker must be Jewish, since anyone and everyone who has influence is a Jew, right?
Quite an echo chamber you've got going here.
No one is arguing that only Jews have power, and the comment is just another variant of intellectually dishonest Zionist disputational tactics.
Zionists did major harm to the native population of Palestine when they murdered Arab Palestine.
Now possession of a secure powerbase in stolen and occupied Palestine has given transnational ethnic Ashkenazi political (and financial elites) the ability to do a lot of harm to the entire Middle East and the USA, but these political elites cannot maintain their influence in the USA without imposing hegemonic blocking on discussion of Zionism, the State of Israel, the Zionist lobby and the behavior of the organized Jewish community.
Obviously fanatic ethnic Ashkenazi Americans, whose primary loyalty lies with the State of Israel and ethnic Ashkenazi tribalism will move heaven and earth to delegitimize any honest discussion of Zionist crimes in the ME and Zionist power in the USA.
This behavior is not new, for we saw it from the Russian Revolution through the end of WW2 although the structure of Soviet Ashkenazi power was different and was centered in the Soviet Union instead of in the United States of America. Neverthess a lot of the elements and the denial was quite similar. Just think Walter Duranty and the New York Times.
Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.
Americans are beginning to wake up, and some ethnic Ashkenazim are rethinking communal power relations. Just as is the case with Zionist Ashkenazi power today, Soviet Ashkenazi power really only benefitted a tiny elite of ethnic Ashkenazim, the rest are canon fodder.
There was a similar pathology in pre-modern ethnic Ashkenazi intracommunal relations.
big o- if jews don't actually have any power and we are just delusional anti semites, than the walt mearshiemer book and this type of "echo chamber" are harmless.
yuo shuld welcome the anti sionist movment as a way to prove that jews really care more about america than israel and that israel would stop receiving aid from us immediately if they thought it was harming us
***
$30 billion to Israel, 25% increase:
"Israel, U.S. formally sign new defense agreement"
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/894255.html
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
"Israel and the United States signed Thursday a Memorandum of Understanding on the new American defense package for Israel. Under the new aid agreement, the U.S. will transfer $30 billion to Israel over 10 years, compared with $24 billion over the past decade.
The aid deal signed at represents a 25 percent rise in U.S. military aid to Israel.
Israel is slated to receive the first pay out in October 2008, amounting to $2.55 billion. That sum will grow each year by $150 million, until it reaches $3.1 billion in 2011.
In addition, the agreement permits Israel to convert into shekels 26.3 percent of the aid money, thereby enabling it to procure defense equipment from Israeli companies. The rest of the aid must be used to purchase equipment from American military industries.
The agreement was signed in Jerusalem by U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns and Foreign Ministry Director General Aharon Abramovich. Burns then met with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni…"