Jews and the war
Oh, this is ridiculous. James Moran, the Virginia congressman, has apologized after suggesting that the strong support of the Jewish community had pushed the US into war with Iraq. To which the right response is, not outrage, but hmmm, and so? Of course Jewish-Americans, attached to the notion of a Jewish homeland, want to remove one of Israel's most dangerous enemies. It's not as though this is the first time: American foreign policy, on issues from Ireland to Cuba, has always been driven by ethnic lobbies as well as the unadulterated national interest. And there's no reason why American policy shouldn't reflect the country's most passionate opinions, not just the median indifferent.
Moran's been faulted on fact: Jews support the war no more than the general population. But that's disingenuous. Jews lean liberal, and are more likely than the average citizen to oppose American intervention in, say, central America. In this case, they're as warlike as the mass, which points to a particular interest in the Middle East.
As for Moran's claim that Jewish leaders are influential enough to block the war if they wanted: that's probably an overstatement. However, enough Jewish writers and influencers have gone over to the hawks, or the angsty undecideds, to leave America's anti-war movement intellectually depleted. The American Left, without Jews, is reduced to a bunch of lumpen Stalinists, and posturing students who say no to war as foreplay before their demo sex.
So the massed ranks of the rabbis, the professional Jews and the politically correct -- all piling on Moran -- should cool it. They're paranoid about any discussion of Jewish power in America, reflexive in their response, and too ready to call any opponent an anti-semite. Don't debase the term. Moran Said Jews Are Pushing War [Washington Post]
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