Pat Buchanan
His latest column in American Conservative is, for most of its length, interesting. Buchanan, a one-time Republican candidate for the presidency, draws the connection between support for Israel and support for the war on Saddam, which is a fair observation. He lists the American Jews in government and the media who are pursuing a Likudnik policy in the Midde East. Fair enough. And he says that the charge of anti-semitism is "designed to nullify public discourse" -- and I can't argue with that. But he ruins his own contribution to the public discourse with the following extraordinary outburst.
We charge that a cabal of polemicists and public officials seek to ensnare our country in a series of wars that are not in America’s interests. We charge them with colluding with Israel to ignite those wars and destroy the Oslo Accords. We charge them with deliberately damaging U.S. relations with every state in the Arab world that defies Israel or supports the Palestinian people’s right to a homeland of their own. We charge that they have alienated friends and allies all over the Islamic and Western world through their arrogance, hubris, and bellicosity. Whose War? [Pat Buchanan]
Did he have to use the word cabal? It's healthy to discuss Jewish influence over American policy, and the underlying reasons for war in Iraq. The only problem: the company of lightly veiled anti-semites such as Buchanan.
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