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State Department affirms Israel’s impunity– abandoning ambassador who said Israeli investigation of Corrie killing was unsatisfactory

A new low point in the history of American protection for Israeli impunity: State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland yesterday refused to criticize the Israeli court decision saying there was nothing wrong with an Israeli army tank crushing an American protester to death while she was trying to protect children in a Gaza house in 2003. 

A reporter asked Nuland specifically about the statement ascribed to American ambassador Dan Shapiro:

Israel’s investigation into the death of American activist Rachel Corrie was not satisfactory, and wasn’t as thorough, credible or transparent as it should have been, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro told the Corrie family this week.

And Nuland seeks to retract this statement, implying that it was simply a form of “private” “support,” like grief therapy:

QUESTION: An Israeli court today ruled against the family of Rachel Corrie, the American who was killed by a bulldozer in Gaza. Is the U.S. satisfied with that investigation, and is the U.S. disappointed that the Israeli military hasn’t taken responsibility for her death?

MS. NULAND: Well, first of all, we reiterate our condolences to the Corrie family on the tragic death of their daughter, Rachel. As you know, we’ve worked with the family all through this process, and we will continue to provide consular support. We understand the family’s disappointment with the outcome of the trial. Under Israeli law, the family has the right to appeal the verdict, and we’ve seen reports that they are considering doing that. So we will see how this proceeds going forward.

Please.

QUESTION: Can I follow up on that?

MS. NULAND: Yeah.

QUESTION: There are reports that her family at a press conference said that Ambassador Dan Shapiro told them that he found the – he was finding the investigation not to be transparent. Do you have any comment on that?

MS. NULAND: I was asked this question earlier this week. Beyond saying that we have met with the family regularly, that we have provided consular support, I’m not going to get into our private discussions with the family.

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It’s surreal in the extreme. Victoria wife of neocon and Romney advisor Kagan.

Have to wonder how the Corrie family will respond to Nuland’s claim “we have met with the family regularly, that we have provided consular report”

Have the Corrie’s ever made statements about the US state dept? I thought they had said something about not feeling supported or satisfied with the U.S. state dept

Phil Amy Goodman talked with the Corrie family yesterday. Interview is heartbreaking

Integrity is not what is expected of any State Department mouthpiece, no exceptions! That’s how they earn their keep.

Victoria Nuland is a member of the same group of Israel-centric neoconservatives who engineered the Iraq War in the Bush 43 administration. What is she doing in the Obama administration? (She seems to be yet another Israeli op inside the US government.)

# Victoria Nuland
adviser to=Dick Cheney
affiliation=Brown University
affiliation=Bush 43 administration
affiliation=CFR (Council on Foreign Relations)
affiliation=Choate Rosemary Hall
affiliation=National War College
affiliation=Obama administration
affiliation=US State Department
brother-in-law=Fred Kagan
category=born 1961
category=Jewish neoconservative
category=neoconservative
category=US ambassador to NATO
category=US State Department spokesperson
ethnicity=Jewish
father-in-law=Donald Kagan
father=Sherwin B. Nuland
husband=Robert Kagan
Mitt Romney link=Robert Kagan
PNAC link=Robert Kagan
publisher=Washington Post
religion=Jewish
school=Brown University
school=Choate Rosemary Hall

This sounds like a warning to all in the USA. The Government is simply willing to undersell a US citizen’s life to please the Israel lobby. By the way, there were plenty of ways to avoid such a repugnant declaration. But snakes don’t need diplomacy.