AIPAC, ISIS And The U.S. Congress

None of AIPAC's 7 American publications, Defense Digest, Near East Report, Homeland Security Monitor, Energy Monitor, Issue Memo, Israel Connection or Middle East Spotlight discusses ISIS, let alone instructs Congress how to vote on the war with the so-called "Islamic State." In general, if you want to know how AIPAC wants congressmembers to vote just check on what its most slavish adherents do. Behind the scenes AIPAC was lobbying Congress like mad in favor of destroying ISIS.

AIPAC urges Congress to grant the president the authority he has requested to protect America’s national security interests and dissuade the Syrian regime’s further use of unconventional weapons. The civilized world cannot tolerate the use of these barbaric weapons, particularly against an innocent civilian population including hundreds of children. Simply put, barbarism on a mass scale must not be given a free pass. America’s allies and adversaries are closely watching the outcome of this momentous vote. This critical decision comes at a time when Iran is racing toward obtaining nuclear capability. Failure to approve this resolution would weaken our country’s credibility to prevent the use and proliferation of unconventional weapons and thereby greatly endanger our country’s security and interests and those of our regional allies.

AIPAC got shady New Dems Eliot Engel and Adam Schiff their ranking member positions on, respectively, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Technical and Tactical Intelligence subcommittee of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Neither ever crosses AIPAC and always both put their primary allegiances not to their own constituents in the Bronx and Westchester (Engel) or L.A., Hollywood and Glendale (Schiff) but to the far right factions of Israeli politics supported by AIPAC. Both are puppets of Israeli cutout Haim Saban, the Democratic Party equivalent of Sheldon Adelson. Schiff once personally drove me to Saban's mansion for a high dollar fundraiser to help bolster his political career. It was the first time I started realizing what exactly Adam Schiff is.

Before slinking off into the night until the lame duck session in November, Congress voted on a wrong-headed amendment by right-wing lunatic Buck McKeon to arm Syrian terrorists. Although most progressives voted against it, his amendment passed 273-156. And plenty of those votes came from Democrats, albeit many from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. AIPAC's congressional crew voted for it, led by the lobbyists' top lieutenants, Engel and Schiff as well as Steny Hoyer, Steve Israel, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Joe Crowley and Brad Sherman.

What's odd about AIPAC calling for the training and arming of the Syrian "moderate" terrorists is that none of them are "moderate" when it comes to Israel. They all want to kill Jews, destroy the state of Israel, push everyone into the sea and all the rest. Israel-- and AIPAC-- are seeing the problem from a different perspective though-- Iran and its quest for nuclear weapons. Israel sees Assad and Hezbollah as mere Iranian franchises and the fear was that if Congress defeated McKeon's amendment, it would somehow encourage Iran to move forward with nuclear weapons. That's called irrational paranoia-- but it apparently made sense to dozens and dozens of congressmembers under AIPAC's spell. Of course, AIPAC always supports any initiatives that leads to Arabs and Muslims killing each other off. What could go wrong?