Get out of private American affairs and don't interfere with our nation's consideration of whether or not Chuck Hagel will well serve OUR nation, not Israel, as Secretary of Defense.
AIPAC already owns my congressman, as I never cease to remind the man, as well as reminding him of my extreme displeasure with his traitorous behavior.
Ray McGovern has written an analysis of Israeli interference in our consideration of Hagel in Consortium, picked up by Truthout. In this analysis he delineates the problem of Iran:
Please God! Spare this nation from another trillion-dollar war!
considers the role of pro-Israel NeoCons in the US invasion and occupation of Iraq:
As a two-term senator, Chuck Hagel’s other real sin was that he was one of the few defectors among congressional Republicans regarding the Iraq War. Though Hagel voted for President George W. Bush’s war authorization, he eventually recognized his mistake and fessed up.
Hagel said he believes the Iraq War was one of the biggest blunders in U.S. history. He sharply criticized the Bush/Cheney foreign policy as “reckless,” saying it was playing “ping pong with American lives.” Such comments have made Hagel particularly unpopular with the top tier of hawkish Republican senators, such as Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona.
But, this is the heart of the matter, as McGovern states:
What really lies behind this? I suspect the fear is that, were Hagel to become Secretary of Defense, he would take a leaf out of his book as Senator and openly insist, in effect, that he is the American Secretary of Defense and not the Israeli Defense Minister.
I dislike being anti-Israel but if it is in defense of my own nation's independence, I shall be so. We have sworn our independence of other nations before. Perhaps it is time for another revolution. And, I am joined by a number of veterans' organizations, (OK, not on the revolution thing):
"We like Hagel. We think he's a great guy, and having a combat veteran in there would be a good thing," Vietnam Veterans of America President John Rowan said. "The Israeli thing? That's not our thing. I'm not an expert on foreign policy. If there's an issue, they'll dredge it up at the confirmation hearing."
Paul Rieckhoff, founder and Executive Director of IAVA, called Hagel "a balanced, thoughtful, honest, non-partisan guy, and I think for our community, especially, it would be really important to have a combat veteran in this job … I'll let the experts on Israel comment on those [other] things."
One exception was Jon Soltz, founder of VoteVets.org, who on Thursday called the anti-Hagel arguments and attacks "cheap political antics."
Soltz, who is Jewish, told Military.com he has known and worked with Hagel. Hagel is neither an anti-Semite nor anti-Israel, Soltz said, but a moderate who has acted in the best interest of Israel.
"There is anti-Semitism in the world," said Soltz. "There are people who are against Israel. [Hagel's critics] need to reserve those comments for when it matter. What they're saying hurts all Jews, it hurts their ability to understand when [anti-Semitism] does exist."
Solz sent me an e-mail saying exactly that and I'm standing with Solz.