Time magazine index of Israel mentions Hagel hearing
Time Magazine online asks the obvious question about Chuck Hagel’s confirmation hearing last week, why did the Senators refer constantly to Israel, 106 times, and barely mention Afghanistan (and the issue of military suicides, twice). In “Just Who Do They Represent: At Hagel Hearing, Concern for Israel Tops U.S. Troops in Combat,” author Brandon Friedman, a veteran, doesn’t take the next step and address the Israel lobby, but we get it.
[Utah Senator Mike] Lee—by himself—made reference to Israel and its security a total of 16 times.
Why is this important? It’s important because Lee never mentioned Afghanistan and the 66,000 U.S. troops at war there.
And Lee was not alone.
Freshman Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas also grilled Hagel about Israel. He mentioned the Jewish state 10 times—without ever once referring to Afghanistan or the U.S. troops in combat there.
When it was their turn to question Hagel, GOP senators Roy Blunt of Missouri and Roger Wicker of Mississippi each referred to Israel in a half dozen instances. Neither mentioned Afghanistan.
In nearly eight hours of interrogation and testimony, Israel and its interests were referred to by the Senate Armed Services Committee a total of 106 times. On the other hand, there were a mere 24 references made to Afghanistan and the Americans fighting there—most by Democratic Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the committee.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan—where the U.S. frequently targets militants with drone-launched Hellfire missiles—barely merited mention at all.
It’s difficult to interpret this message any other way: the Senate Armed Services Committee—particularly its Republican membership—is more concerned with the apparent American defense secretary’s relationship with Israel than with the future of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the fate of U.S. troops engaged in both locations.
It’s good to see someone is reminding the voting public that these idiots do not represent the members of the military from their own states that they’ve sent off to fight their ill-advised wars against the rest of humanity.
Why aren’t they asking about the administration’s memo that says any government official, not just the President, may kill any US citizen on the basis of mere suspicion and that they don’t even need evidence that the suspect is planning an attack against anyone? The notion that the 16-year old kid they murdered in Yemen was playing a significant role in al-Qaida operations is simply ludicrous and doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
http://news.msn.com/politics/report-memo-concludes-us-can-kill-american-terrorists
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/doj-drones-paper_n_2619582.html
Oh, did time wake up from a deep sleep? well, it is a far, far better thing that institutions of the establishment start talking sensibly despite previous long silences than that they feel (as NYT seems to feel) the need to remain silent forever.
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil about Israel? NYT, sure, but Time breaks what I presume is its silence on Israel.
don’t think that this israel myopia will get past the attention of service members and veterans as the likes of that coprophiliac vitter are grilling a vietnam veteran over his less than fulsome allegiance to the state of israel.
Good for Time on line. The hearing was horrific. Not a hearing at all a vicious effort to barbecue Hagel.
Who funds these senators? I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that in many cases it’s the same racketeering companies who make money selling the weaponry that keeps the war on terror going.