US Elections
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." President Dwight D. Eisenhower April 16, 1953
George Washington farewell address to the Nation (1796; how far we have come that now lobbyists for Israel are appointed to high government offices)
a "passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill will, and a disposition to retaliate in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld; and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country without odium, sometimes even with popularity, gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial, else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people to surrender their interests." http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/49.htm
An Israeli panel rates Giuliani is 'best' US presidential candidate for Israel. Haaretz-assembled panel ranks Gingrich, McCain and Clinton behind Giuliani; Obama in bottom place http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/759119.html
The US elections are important because policies and actions of the US government have traditionally caused hundreds of thousands of deaths (e.g. in Vietnam and Cambodia by bombing, over a million dead in Irasq by sanctions etc.), millions of dispossessed (e.g. 5 million Palestinian refugees due to US support of Zionist colonialization), and disenfrachised/impoverished people (e.g. US led globalization). It is important that the public gets educated about what special interests are pushing for what regardless of whether democrats or republicans are in power. Books like Noam Chomsky's "The Fateful Triangle" and Greg Palast's "The best democracy money can buy" provide part of the puzzle. Ultimately citizens need to ask and research to find answers to such simple questions like: was the War on Iraq for Israel!? Is the society going to turn into a The dog-eat-dog world? If the US claims it is an honest broker, why is it that we provide $5 billion in aid top Israel annually? And why is it taht both under democratic and republican administrations, the US vetoed countless UN security council resolutions about the issue. The Green Party is providing some leadership and real principled stances on peace issues. A wing of the Democratic party is sprouting some backbone to challenge the establishment. Cynthia McKinney's return to Congress despite the Israeli lobby and the effort of both establishment democrats and republicans is also encouraging. So keep up the pressure, keep working and educating. Time to reclaim America for the people.
Here are some other relevant articles
Kerry Votes for Israel all the time
Whether Bush or Kerry, Sharon is laughing
Israel Involvement in Torture in Iraq
Congressional funding
Think Tanks and incestrous relationships in shaping US Foreign policy
http://weholdthesetruths.org/politics/Articles/new-direction-murphy.htm
http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?contentid=252144&subsecid=900020&knlgAreaID=450004
http://www.cfr.org/pub6559/leslie_h_gelb/the_threestate_solution.php
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17103
http://www.cflweb.org/kerryonisrael.htm.htm
Arab Americans in Swing States hold key to election
Genevieve Cora Fraser on John Kerry as President |