We're in a conversation aimed at forming a new political combination. Inspired by Josh Ruebner's tragicomic effort to pierce the veil on AIPAC's influence in Congress, Grant Smith of IRMEP talks about the real nuclear "hegemon" in the Middle East (Israel) and about AIPAC's myrmidons. [emphasis mine]
Rep. Mark Steven Kirk (R-Ill.) sponsored
an amendment to the foreign operations bill that would prevent the Export-Import
Bank of the United States from providing loan guarantees to companies selling
refined petroleum to Iran. According to the Washington Report on Middle
East Affairs, Kirk is the top 2008 recipient of pro-Israel
political action committee (PAC) contributions [.pdf]. Kirk received $91,200
in the 2008 election cycle, bringing his career total thus far to more than
$221,000. Kirk’s AIPAC-sponsored sanctions legislation passed the House Appropriations
Committee on June 23. While tactically positioned as a rebuke to the crackdown
on Iranian election protesters, the measure is only the most recent of a raft
of long-term AIPAC-sponsored
sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program. Israel contends Iran is secretly
developing nuclear weapons under the auspices of a civilian program, though
no hard evidence has emerged. Yet one illicit nuclear arsenal in the region
has been positively identified.
