IRAQ WAS INVADED `TO SECURE ISRAEL,'

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-01-2003
IRAQ WAS INVADED `TO SECURE ISRAEL,'
1
Sun, 08-22-2004 - 9:02am
Bush Invaded Iraq to 'Secure Israel,' Says Sen. Hollings (Aug 20)

By Mark Weber

Al-Jazeerah, August 20, 2004


http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2004%

20opinions/August/20o/Bush%20Invaded%20Iraq%20to%20Secure%20Israel,%

20Says%20Sen.%20Hollings%20By%20Mark%20Weber.htm

IRAQ WAS INVADED `TO SECURE ISRAEL,' SAYS SENATOR HOLLINGS,

AND `EVERYBODY KNOWS IT'

When a prominent American political figure speaks boldly about

Zionist power, that's news. So the recent remarks by South Carolina's

senior Senator that Iraq was invaded "to secure Israel," and

that "everybody" in Washington knows it, are indeed remarkable.

Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, a Democrat who has represented his state in

the US Senate since 1966, is now serving his final term in

Washington. That fact may also help explain why he's now willing to

defy the powerful pro-Israel lobby and speak with candidly about its

power.

It began with an essay about the Iraq war that appeared in the May 6

issue of the daily Post and Courier of Charleston.

(http://hollings.senate.gov/~hollings/opinion/2004506A17.html)

"With Iraq no threat, why invade a sovereign country?," he

wrote. "The answer: President Bush's policy to secure Israel. Led by

Wolfowitz, Richard Perle and Charles Krauthammer, for years

there had been a domino school of thought that the way to guarantee

Israel's security is to spread democracy in the area."

Several Jewish organizations, as well as some prominent Jewish

political figures, quickly chastised Hollings, and his remarks were

denounced as anti-Semitic.

But he didn't back down. Instead, he rose in the US Senate on May 20

to defend and explain his essay.

(http://hollings.senate.gov/~hollings/statements/2004521A35.html)

"I don't apologize for this column," he declared. "I want them to

apologize to me for talking about anti-Semitism." President Bush went

to war in Iraq "to secure our friend, Israel" and "everybody knows

it," said Hollings.

Referring to the cowardly reluctance of his Congressional colleagues

openly to acknowledge this reality, he said that "nobody is willing

to stand up and say what is going on." With few exceptions, members

of Congress uncritically support Israel and its policies due to "the

pressures that we get politically," he said. The pro-Israel lobby

knows "how to make you tuck tail and run." But "not the Senator from

South Carolina," he added, referring to himself. To emphasize the

seriousness of his remarks, Hollings added: "I have thought this out

as thoroughly as I know how, and it worries me that here we are..."

President Bush's motive in going to war for Israeli interests,

Hollings charged, was to seek Jewish support in election

campaigns. "President Bush came to office imbued with one thought:

reelection. I say that advisedly. I have been up here with eight

Presidents. We have had support of all eight Presidents. Yes, I

supported the President on this Iraq resolution, but I was misled.

There weren't any weapons, or any terrorism, or al-Qaida. This is the

reason we went to war. He had one thought in mind, and that was

reelection...

"That is not a conspiracy. That is the policy. I didn't like to keep

it a secret, maybe; but I can tell you now, I will challenge any one

of the other 99 Senators to tell us why we are in Iraq, other than

what this policy is here. It is an adopted policy, a domino theory of

The Project For The New American Century. Everybody knows

it because we want to secure our friend, Israel...

"Let's realize we are in real trouble. Saudi Arabia is in trouble.

Israel is in trouble. The United States is in trouble. I am going to

state what I believe to be the fact. In fact, I believe it very

strongly. They just are whistling by on account of the pressures that

we get politically. Nobody is willing to stand up and say what is

going on."

Hollings cited the role of the American Israel Public Affairs

Committee (AIPAC), the most important pro-Israel lobby group in

Washington, in determining US policy in the Middle East. "You can't

have an Israel policy other than what AIPAC gives you around here. I

have followed them mostly in the main, but I have also resisted

signing certain letters from time to time, to give the poor President

a chance.

"I can tell you no President takes office -- I don't care whether it

is a Republican or a Democrat -- that all of a sudden AIPAC will tell

him exactly what the policy is, and Senators and members of Congress

ought to sign letters. I read those carefully and I have joined in

most of them. On some I have held back. I have my own idea and my own

policy..."

The Iraq war has been "a bad mistake," said Hollings. "Getting rid of

Saddam was not worth almost 800 dead GIs and over 3,500 maimed for

life..." This war is "a mistake like Vietnam," he added. "We got

misled with the Gulf of Tonkin . We got misled here,

and we are in that quagmire...

"The entire thing is a mess. Don't give me `support the troops,

support the troops.' I have been with troops, about three years in

combat, so don't tell me about troops. I have always supported the

troops."

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-03-2003
Sun, 08-22-2004 - 9:39am
It's an individuals opinion, just like any other opinion. He's certainly entitled to it, but if you'll forgive the terminology, that doesn't make it the gospel.

~mark~