Last night David Cohen, Under Secretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, spoke for an hour at NYU Law School about everything he is doing to crank up international pressure on Iran. But when three reporters tried to ask questions after the speech, Cohen couldn’t take the heat. He refused to answer questions, and gave the reporters the number of the Treasury Department press office.
This guy obviously feels no public accountability for his actions. For 45 minutes Cohen read a speech that had been simultaneously published on the Treasury website. Could have saved me a trip to the city! Then he answered a few questions, including from a woman who said that Ahmadinejad is Hitler, but Cohen was careful not to call on anyone in the back two rows, reserved for the press. At this time he made his only spontaneous remark, that sanctions are harsh measures, and hurt innocent people, but they are designed to forestall violence. (My argument about boycott and sanctions for Israel, by the way).
Then– well ahead of the advertised 8 o’clock ending for the event– Cohen announced that he had to run. At least three reporters accompanied him up the stairs from the hall and out on to W. 3rd Street. Ali Gharib of Daily Beast asked Cohen about the human cost of the sanctions. I asked Cohen, Does Israel have nukes – and is our double standard here an issue when he seeks international partners to turn up the heat on Iran? Chase Madar, author of the recent book on Bradley Manning and a frequent contributor to this site and the American Conservative, pulled up the rear. He wanted to ask Cohen how the sanctions compare to what we did to Iraq, where the punitive measures were said to have killed hundreds of thousands.
Cohen ignored the questions, but he obviously felt queasy about doing so, or maybe he felt rude. When we got out to the sidewalk, he turned to us and told us to call his spokesman, and gave Gharib the telephone number for the Treasury Department press department.
I did not have the presence of mind to say to him what I am saying now: You don’t seem to feel any sense of public accountability for your actions.
Since Zionists proudly proclaim themselves to be only part-time Americans, we have a right to ask what are they doing holding policy positions in the US government, let alone holding elected office here?
i dont know that he’s a zionist. maybe you can ask him though?
Good point, though in this case his answer might just be a referral to the Treasury Department press office.
Many pro-Israel activists in the American government — especially neoconservatives — seem to have the authoritarian mentality of Stalinists. They think they are above all accountability.
They don’t get what Americanism and modern Western democratic values are all about. They apologize for nothing and accept no responsibility for the disastrous consequences of their bad policies (like the Iraq War). They refuse to test their views in fair and open debate. They would prefer to conduct their political machinations in total secrecy, free from the scrutiny of the American people.
From where do these attitudes of royal privilege and entitlement arise? And when will Americans muster the will to enforce accountability on them?
“From where do these attitudes of royal privilege and entitlement arise? ”
And they exile people more throughly than Roman emperors.
E.g.: Helen Thomas, “First Lady of the Press”, erased as if she never existed. Awards in her name terminated, name scrubbed from journalism courses.
The Roman emperors did it too. People who had become unpersons were subject to damnatio memoriae. Their names were erased from inscriptions.
Helen Thomas. Yeah, I think some will look back on that character assasination with shame. Did we defend her enough? Vocally? Publically? And if no, why not?
I’m surprised there wasn’t a light at the DNC to signal that it was OK to stop clapping for the reinsertion of God and Israel in the platform.
[see: link to isteve.blogspot.com ]
@ LanceThruster
The Emergency Committee For Israel has shown a klieg light video on the DNC actual NO vote triple signal, urging all good Jews to leave the Democratic Party for Mitt’s (to a Wagner tune for dramatic effect): link to youtube.com
This video was just shown on Fox Business News moments ago and will be discussed next up–as soon as John Bolton finishes his war-mongering analysis of the protests going around the ME against the US. Fox News says the video is geared to sway the Jews in Florida. It’s on now.
Summary of short interview on Fox Bus News apropos the new tv campaign ad directed at Florida Jews today:
Jewish voters for Obama in 2008: 78%
Rabbi Brad Hirschfield: “I predict Jews could shift to as low as 60% for Obama, but
it’s not likely as Israel is not a high priority for Jews.”
Interviewer replies, “I though it was, is, the Jewish community is always saying so!” looking amazed.
Rabbi: “But Israel should be a high priority for all Americans.
We share the same values as Israel.
It’s a security of US thing, not a Jewish thing
Israel is our long time ally for 60 yrs in ME
I’m willing to eat plenty of crow on that [If shift to GOP by 40%), ha, ha.” (Big shit-eating grin surrounded by beard)
They’ve certainly come out of the shadows, nu?
Thank you Gharib, Madar and Weiss for politely asking these important questions. The silence tells the story. Call me was his response.
But Phil, Mr Cohen is only doing what policy dictates he should do, isn’t that excuse enough.
Front page huffpo. US embassy stormed in Yemen
Kudos to Phil for trying to get answers. Operatives from the unit Cohen leads at Treasury have briefed AIPAC’s think tank, the Washington Institute for Near East Poilcy, on TFI activities. Apparently they felt more free to take questions from that crowd. The question of how many Israel partisans staff TFI is relevant since it is a relatively new unit that appears to have been set up to enforce AIPAC-drafted legislation passed by Congress. Economic warfare bills have been AIPAC’s key lobbying initiative over the past few years.
IRmep filed a FOIA to obtain the names and positions of all TFI unit employees in April. Hugh Gilmore, the FOIA liaison, was initially very cooperative stating that of course such directory information should be public, “since there’s no such thing as secret government.” In June Brian Sonfield, also of Treasury, suggested that the FOIA could be fulfilled simply by looking at the OPM employee records.
link to php.app.com
But searching there doesn’t allow a focus in on TFI (or any particular unit). So, for now, we do have a secret government. And whatever the views of Cohen, his predecessor clearly seemed to be primarily motivated by concerns about Israel, as those who have been privileged enough read his thesis overseen by Martin Peretz can attest.
Thanks for all you do
QUOTE: At this time he made his only spontaneous remark, that sanctions are harsh measures, and hurt innocent people, but they are designed to forestall violence. (My argument about boycott and sanctions for Israel, by the way).
Well, yes. But the sanctions on Iran are happening and the BDS attack on Israel is minuscule (more threatened and discussed than happening in any significant way). Where are the (newly re-created) non-aligned nations on Palestine?
What if the so-called non-aligned nations (120 nations says wiki at link to en.wikipedia.org
) were to demand that Israel comply with international law to the extent of removing and not re-allowing settlers from OPTs, dismantling or demolishing all settlements in OPTs; and state that they will each sanction Israel (until their demand is met) in a steadily growing manner beginning with removal of ambassadors and cessation of commercial air-traffic with Israel and leading to trade sanctions; and that they would invite all OTHER nations either to join them or else to explain their failure to enforce international law including the Fourth Geneva Convention “under all circumstances” as most have agreed to do.
RE: “Last night David Cohen, Under Secretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, spoke for an hour at NYU Law School about everything he is doing to crank up international pressure on Iran. But when three reporters tried to ask questions after the speech, Cohen couldn’t take the heat. He refused to answer questions. This guy obviously feels no public accountability for his actions . . .” ~ Weiss
MY COMMENT: He answers only to AIPAC and the rest of the pro-Israel lobby!
SEE: “From Irgun to AIPAC: Israel Lobby’s US Treasury Follies Hurt”, by Grant F. Smith, Dissident Voice, 12/16/08
ENTIRE ARTICLE – link to dissidentvoice.org
Dickerson,
Grant F Smith is the guy posting here as IRMEP.
What and amazing contribution he has made to the Israel lobby debate!
yes indeed
BEGIN ARTICLE
TITLE Obama’s ‘Sanctions Czar’ in Israel, Says More Needs to be Done
AUTHOR Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
PUBLICATION Israel National News
DATE June 4, 2012
URL link to israelnationalnews.com
BEGIN QUOTE
END QUOTE
END ARTICLE
Does David Cohen have any ties to the Israel lobby or neoconservatives? I don’t know.
I don’t know how zionist Cohen may or may not be but Stuart Levy was at least the go to man for both the zionist and the cuban exiles in the US congress when they wanted someone or some group punished. Remember the Mexico hotel deal where some businessmen delegation from Cuba was visiting Mexico ? Levy created an international incident by having the hotel throw it’s Cuban guest out cause Ros-L and Wexler and some others in congress wanted to kick them around.
That kind of petty, idiotic, US reputation damaging shit is what you get when you have politicians and agency officials with personal foreign agendas and loyalties.
Clean them out. Put in Americans.
When Cohen talked about all the economic pressures he was putting on Iran, did he mention other members of the “Axis of Resistance” as well? This morning Cohen issued new sanctions on Hezbollah, specifically because of its non-cooperation with the neocon agenda on Syria:
There are many reasons being floated for why the Obama administration has claimed that “Assad must go,” but no one with any knowledge of the history and dynamics of the Middle East has claimed that it is in the interests of regional stability: “by … working to support a regime that will eventually fall, Hezbollah’s ongoing activity undermines regional stability.” Cohen is a neocon mouthpiece.
And he gets to do this politicking for Israel on the wings of the big US government . . . where he’s employed.
_______________________
When I worked as a consultant for a multi-national, I did a nine-month stint in DC. Flew down from NYC nearly every morning. The project was multi-billion, so the cost of car service, flights, and whatever, were considered de minimus.
I represented the multi-national’s interest in its contract with the govt. What shocked me was the power of the unelected underlings to carve out and create what they wanted to have happen, how they could effect it (and how easy it would be for sinister agendas to gain traction). Their bosses, house and senate members, relied upon these underlings to do the drudge work of creating the details. The bosses got summaries or talking points as project updates so they wouldn’t sound ignorant at cocktail time.
The worst of the bunch were the career worker bees who worked from one administration into the next. They knew and understood how to work one small change under their control, send to another who could turn it a mere degree under his or her control, and on and on through a seemingly innocent chain in the five weeks until a new president was inaugurated. And voila, it appeared to be the ‘position’ or ‘business’ of the new administration. Ground set.
_______________________
David Cohen wasn’t elected. He was appointed. His bio says, “Cohen was involved in crafting legislation that formed the basis of Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act, the 2001 update to the Bank Secrecy Act.” (who knew?) Starting in 1999, when he was as Senior Counsel to then General Counsel at Treasury, Neal S. Wolin. The USA PATRIOT Act, if you remember, was ready in draft form for Ashcroft on September 19, 2001, eight days after 9/11.
Cohen was preceded in his current job by Stuart Levey, the man Obama then chose as Acting Treasury Secretary until Geithner was confirmed six days after Obama was inaugurated. You can do a lot of damage, as they say, under the radar in that timeframe as the first Patriot Act showed.
Cohen is married to Suzy Friedman Cohen, and her mother is Barbara Benioff Friedman, elected Chair of the Board of Governors of Hebrew United College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2006, among a lot of other boards she’s on.
link to huc.edu
yeah, why does Treasury seem to reserve places for israel’s operatives to exercise direct power over U.S. policy and actions? ?
As soon as the non aligned movement comes up with al alternative to SWIFT, America is screwed and nut jobs like Cohen will have non one but themselves to blame.
“The worst of the bunch were the career worker bees who worked from one administration to the next” That would be quite the list..Wolfowitz, Feith, Bolton, Wurmser, Kagans, Hadley etc etc. Where did Stephen Hadley go?
MRW always appreciate your insightful comments