NY Historical Society to host man who smeared Defense Secretary as anti-Semite

by on March 1, 2013 25
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Elliott Abrams, the pro-Israel enforcer inside the late Bush administration-- who called Chuck Hagel an anti-Semite with no evidence-- will speak at the New-York Historical Society next Tuesday night, about his book on Israel policy. Tickets are $30. The society is on Central Park West. I hope there'll be some sidewalk action.

About Philip Weiss

Philip Weiss is Founder and Co-Editor of Mondoweiss.net.
Posted in Israel/Palestine

{ 25 comments... read them below or add one }

  1. Jeff Klein says:
    March 1, 2013 at 2:20 pm

    Also, the man who organized death squads in Central America, and a convicted felon for lying to Congress. . .

    • DICKERSON3870 says:
      March 1, 2013 at 5:21 pm

      RE: “Also, the man who organized death squads in Central America, and a convicted felon for lying to Congress. . .” ~ Jeff Klein

      FROM WIKIPEDIA [Elliott Abrams]:

      [EXCERPTS] . . . During the Reagan administration, Abrams gained notoriety for his involvement in controversial foreign policy decisions regarding Nicaragua and El Salvador. During Bush’s first term, he served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director on the National Security Council for Near East and North African Affairs. At the start of Bush’s second term, Abrams was promoted to be his Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy, in charge of promoting Bush’s strategy of advancing democracy abroad. His appointment by Bush was controversial due to his conviction in 1991 on two misdemeanor counts of unlawfully withholding information from Congress during the Iran-Contra Affair investigation. . .

      ● Assistant Secretary of State, 1980s

      Abrams first came to national prominence when he served as Reagan’s Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs in the early 1980s and later as Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs. . .
      . . . During this time, Abrams clashed regularly with church groups and human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch.[12][13] and Amnesty International      , over the Reagan administration’s foreign policies. They accused him of covering up atrocities committed by the military forces of US-backed governments, such as those in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, and the rebel Contras in Nicaragua.

      • El Salvador

      In early 1982, when reports of the El Mozote massacre of civilians by the military in El Salvador began appearing in U.S. media, Abrams told a Senate committee that the reports of hundreds of deaths at El Mozote “were not credible,” and that “it appears to be an incident that is at least being significantly misused, at the very best, by the guerrillas.”[14] The massacre had come at a time when the Reagan administration was attempting to bolster the human rights image of the Salvadoran military. Abrams implied that reports of a massacre were simply FMLN propaganda and denounced U.S. investigative reports of the massacre as misleading. In March 1993, the Salvadoran Truth Commission reported that 5,000 civilians were “deliberately and systematically” executed in El Mozote in December 1981 by forces affiliated with the Salvadoran state.[15] . . .
      . . . Abrams himself claimed that Washington’s policy in El Salvador was a ”fabulous achievement.”      [18]

      ● Nicaragua

      When Congress shut down funding for the Contras’ efforts to overthrow Nicaragua’s Sandinista government with the 1982 Boland Amendment, members of the Reagan administration began looking for other avenues for funding the group. . .
      Abrams flew to London in August 1986 and met secretly with Bruneian defense minister General Ibnu to solicit a $10-million contribution from the Sultan of Brunei.[21][22] Ultimately, the Contras never received this money because a clerical error in Oliver North’s office (a mistyped account number) sent the Bruneian money to the wrong Swiss bank account.[22] . . .

      • Iran-Contra affair

      . . . During investigation of the Iran-Contra Affair, Lawrence Walsh, the Independent Counsel tasked with investigating the case, prepared multiple felony counts against Abrams but never indicted him.[22] Instead, Abrams entered into a plea agreement with Walsh. Abrams pled guilty to two misdemeanors of withholding information from Congress.[23] . . .”
      . . . On February 5, 1997, the D.C. Court of Appeals publicly censured Abrams for giving false testimony on three occasions before congressional committees. Although a majority of the court voted to impose a public censure, three judges in the majority would have imposed a suspension of six months, and a fourth judge would have followed the recommendation of the Board on Professional Responsibility that Abrams be suspended for a year. . .

      SOURCE – link to en.wikipedia.org

      • DICKERSON3870 says:
        March 1, 2013 at 5:29 pm

        P.S. FROM HistoryCommons.org [Elliott Abrams]:

        ● “June 2001: Abrams, Other Think Tank Neoconservatives Move to Join White House”

        Hardline neoconservative Elliott Abrams (see June 2, 1987) joins the National Security Council as senior director of Near East and North African affairs. A State Department official will later recall: “Elliott embodied the hubris of the neocon perspective. His attitude was, ‘All the rest of you are pygmies. You don’t have the scope and the vision we have. We are going to remake the world.’ His appointment meant that good sense had been overcome by ideology.”

        • Rush of Neoconservatives into Administration
        Abrams’s entry into the White House heralds a rush of former Project for the New American Century members (PNAC—see January 26, 1998 and September 2000) into the Bush administration, almost all of whom are staunch advocates of regime change in Iraq. “I don’t think that most people in State understood what was going on,” the State Department official will say later. “I understood what this was about, that PNAC was moving from outside the government to inside. In my mind, it was an unfriendly takeover.” [UNGER, 2007, PP. 205]

        • Neoconservatives Well-Organized, Contemptuous of Congress
        In June 2004, former intelligence official Patrick Lang will write: “It should have been a dire warning to the US Congress when the man who had been convicted of lying to Congress during the Iran-contra affair [Elliott Abrams] was put in charge of the Middle East section of the NSC staff. One underestimated talent of the neocon group in the run-up to this war was its ability to manipulate Congress. They were masters of the game , having made the team in Washington in the 1970s on the staffs of two of the most powerful senators in recent decades, New York’s Patrick Moynihan and Washington’s Henry ‘Scoop’Jackson (see Early 1970s). The old boy’s club—Abe Shulsky at OSP [the Office of Special Plans—see September 2002], Undersecretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, Middle East Desk Officer at the NSC Abrams, Defense Policy Board Chairman Richard Perle—had not only worked together in their early government years in these two Senate offices, but they had stayed together as a network through the ensuing decades, floating around a small number of businesses and think tanks, including the American Enterprise Institute and the openly neoimperialist Project for a New American Century. The neocons were openly contemptuous of Congress, as they were of the UN Security Council.” [MIDDLE EAST POLICY COUNCIL, 6/2004]

        SOURCE – link to historycommons.org

  2. DICKERSON3870 says:
    March 1, 2013 at 4:57 pm

    RE: “Elliott Abrams, the pro-Israel enforcer inside the late Bush administration– who called Chuck Hagel an anti-Semite with no evidence– will speak at the New-York Historical Society next Tuesday night, about his book on Israel policy.” ~ Weiss

    MY COMMENT: Elliott Abrams seems quite proud of the fact that his smear campaign of lies against Hagel has resulted in the U.S. having “a weaker secretary of defense”.

    SEE – “Elliott Abrams: ‘Hagel will be confirmed, but he will be a weaker secretary of defense’”, By Noam Sheizaf, +972 Magazine, 2/22/13

    [EXCERPTS] In an interview to the Israeli daily ‘Yedioth Ahronoth,’ the former neoconservative diplomat criticizes Hagel for his ‘I am an American senator’ remark.
    Israeli journalist Nahum Barnea has today a short interview with Elliott Abrams on the issue of Chuck Hagel’s nomination to secretary of defense, which various Israeli advocacy groups have opposed.
    Abrams opens by explaining why he believes Hagel is an anti-Semite . . .
    • Abrams: “I don’t hate him (Hagel). I don’t know him in person. I have friends who say they have known him for years and never heard an anti-Semitic remark from him. I think that everyone who rules out an initiative by Jews to influence American policy is an anti-Semite. That’s my definition. “Hagel once said ‘I am not an Israeli senator, I am an American senator. My commitment is to the United States’. This wasn’t a gaffe.” […]
    • Barnea: You know that eventually he will be confirmed. The Senate usually doesn’t interfere with the president’s appointments.
    • Abrams: “Yes. I suppose he will be confirmed. But he will be a weaker secretary of defense. The fight against Hagel presents the Republican party as a very pro-Israeli party, which is a good thing. Second, it’s becoming clear to everyone that there is a strong pro-Israeli lobby that is relying mostly on Christians. This is not a Jewish lobby.”

    SOURCE – link to 972mag.com

    • DICKERSON3870 says:
      March 1, 2013 at 5:32 pm

      P.S. RE: “Yes. I suppose he [Hagel] will be confirmed. But he will be a weaker secretary of defense.“ ~ Elliott Abrams (from above)

      MY COMMENT: Ergo, Elliott Abrams apparently thinks that the U.S. having a weak Secretary of Defense is a good thing (at least, when it benefits Likudnik Israel), and he is proud of the role his smear campaign played in weakening our new Secretary of Defense.
      If Elliott Abrams isn’t an “Israel firster” (actually a Likud firster), then I’m a monkey’s uncle (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

  3. PeaceThroughJustice says:
    March 1, 2013 at 6:22 pm

    Roger Hertog (junk bond billionaire and Israel-firster) is the Chairman of the NY Historical Society’s Board of Trustees. In fact, three of its four trustees are Jewish.
    link to nyhistory.org

    • American says:
      March 3, 2013 at 1:01 am

      “Roger Hertog (junk bond billionaire and Israel-firster) is the Chairman of the NY Historical Society’s Board of Trustees. In fact, three of its four trustees are Jewish.”

      Oh good, another Jewish Lobby.
      O.k. last time I talked about society ‘shunning” bad/immoral people I got a lot of grief for suggesting that is how to handle cretins like Abrams.
      Well, in for a penny in for a pound…..I think people who don’t ‘shun’ cretins like Abrams should be ‘shunned’ themselves.
      But I guess to get a ‘shunning’ movement going society would have to have some standards or principles……which we don’t seem to have much of these days.

  4. James Canning says:
    March 1, 2013 at 6:36 pm

    Let us not forget how Elliott Abrams helped trigger the Hamas counter-coup in Gaza, by conspiring with Israel to subvert the results of the Palestinian elections.

  5. flyod says:
    March 1, 2013 at 7:27 pm

    i’m saving up for dennis ross in new paltz come april. tickets are only 18 bucks

  6. chris o says:
    March 1, 2013 at 9:43 pm

    The fact that there is a $30 ticket price as opposed to a free event somehow makes it less bad.

  7. weindeb says:
    March 1, 2013 at 10:43 pm

    Shame on the New York Historical Society for hosting this blood-soaked, far-right ideologue, an Israel-Firster contemptuous of Congress, and who, were it not for a disgraceful pardon, would have deservedly served some hard time in prison. That he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations speaks very poorly for that organization, to say the least.

  8. Avi_G. says:
    March 2, 2013 at 12:23 am

    You think that’s bad?

    Sarah Palin has just signed a contract with al-Jazeera as an analyst/commentator.

    • Avi_G. says:
      March 2, 2013 at 12:56 am

      Nevermind. Apparently, the article I read was supposed to be satire.

      Unless you want to embarrass me, please reject/delete my comment about Palin.

    • Michael Levin says:
      March 2, 2013 at 10:06 am

      “False rumors of Sarah Palin as Al Jazeera host
      Reporter mistakes satirical piece in article on former Alaska,” Al Jazeera English, 2/12/13. link to stream.aljazeera.com

      • Avi_G. says:
        March 2, 2013 at 11:11 am

        Michael,

        Thanks.

        Here’s a tongue-in-cheek post of mine that’s still waiting for approval (Note the time):

        Avi_G. says:
        Your comment is awaiting moderation.
        March 2, 2013 at 12:56 am

        Nevermind. Apparently, the article I read was supposed to be satire.

        Unless you want to embarrass me, please reject/delete my comment about Palin.

        We’ve got one smooth moderator.

        • Annie Robbins says:
          March 2, 2013 at 11:15 am

          omg…the downside of non synch moderation

          whoops!

        • Avi_G. says:
          March 2, 2013 at 12:01 pm

          Annie Robbins says:
          March 2, 2013 at 11:15 am

          omg…the downside of non synch moderation

          whoops!

          The horror, I know.

          But seriously, it would be nice if moderation were more, ummm, shall we say, agile.

        • Annie Robbins says:
          March 2, 2013 at 12:34 pm

          agile! hmm, but seriously, as i recall there have been many such requests from you for deleted comments over the years. please accept my apologies for this one slipping by.

        • Avi_G. says:
          March 2, 2013 at 11:05 pm

          Annie,

          I appreciate your accommodating me. I really do.

          My “agile” comment was more in the broader sense. That is to say that it seems the moderators at Mondoweiss are working with a rather unfriendly software, a software that instead of making things more streamlined is making the moderator’s job more complicated, less intuitive and to some degree — I don’t know for sure — a real pain. It stems from frustration with awaiting moderation for days. For now, that issue seems to have been remedied.

          As for the post above, don’t worry about it. I wasn’t even referring to that when I made my comment. I should have made that clear from the start.

    • weindeb says:
      March 2, 2013 at 2:52 pm

      To err is human, Avi_G, to forgive is difficult, but I do forgive, and I also suspect that were that fugitive from the evolutionary process, Sarah Whatever, hired by al-Jazeera, the organization would become very popular indeed!

  9. MK_Ultra says:
    March 2, 2013 at 5:29 pm

    Tickets are $30. Only $30? Seems like it’s getting very affordable to become a Zionist groupie. Now, the rest of us should show up with our spoiled produced (purchased at the farmers market, of course) and old shoes and give him the pelting of a lifetime. That, btw, seems to be the preferred method to welcome rabid warmongering Zionists around the Middle East and other locations around the world.

  10. johnjhart@gmail.com says:
    March 2, 2013 at 10:12 pm

    March 1, 2013

    Louise Mirrer
    President and Chief Executive Officer
    New York Historical Society
    170 Central Park West
    New York, New York 10024

    Re: Bernard and Irene Schwartz Distinguished Speakers Series – Elliott Abrams

    Dear Ms. Mirrer:

    I am offended and disappointed that the New York Historical Society would sponsor a presentation by the disgraced academic and political appointee, Elliot Abrams.

    As we know, Mr. Abrams was a member of a group of Neoconservatives who were appointed to senior positions by President George W. Bush and were primarily responsible for the decisions that led to the bumbling, misguided, catastrophic invasion of Iraq. The fanatical Mr. Abrams is presently a Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, i.e., he is a disgraced Neocon who hides out at a think tank. Most recently, during the nomination and confirmation process of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Mr. Abrams was heavily involved in the organized smear campaign, including specious claims of prejudice, against Mr. Hagel. In interviews and articles, Mr. Abrams shamed himself by peddling in half truths, innuendos, hearsay, and spin against a distinguished combat veteran and Senator (1).

    It is misguided for the New York Historical Society to host an event by a disgraced academic who is highly representative of a pilloried political movement.

    Sincerely,

    John J. Hart

    (1) In his infamous January 2013 interview with NPR concerning Mr. Hagel, the following dialogue highlights Abrams’ methods: Host: “The comment that you attribute to Chuck Hagel, about the USO in Haifa, did not come directly from Chuck Hagel, is that correct? It was through someone who was talking to a reporter, paraphrasing what she said Chuck Hagel had told her.” Abrams: “It is what she said Chuck Hagel had told her, that’s right.” In other words, Abrams is actively asserting a claim made by someone who had spoken to someone who had spoken to Mr. Hagel. In this nationally important context (a Cabinet appointee), how dubious of Abrams!

  11. Ecru says:
    March 4, 2013 at 3:53 pm

    Why would any historical society worthy of the name want to speak to an ardent Zionist. Zionism doesn’t have history it only has mythology. Which is only to be expected I suppose since it’s really a religious cult that’s swapped out the idea of a deity to be worshipped for one of a land and people to be worshipped.