Who Will Obama Blame for his Failed Iran Policy? The Jews, of Course
By Lauri B. Regan
As the Iran sanctions bill gains bipartisan and expansive support in the Senate, the Obama White House is in panic mode. From threatening to veto the legislation to accusing Senators who support the new sanctions bill of pushing for war with Iran, President Obama is using all of the down and dirty mobster-style tactics he can muster. He fears having to make some tough decisions down the road when Iran either walks away from negotiations or fails to fulfill its commitment to halt its nuclear weapons program. His aim is to buy himself another three years and kick the can to his successor even if that means that Iran will go nuclear under his watch.
But while Obama is putting all of the pressure on Democrats to side with him (and Iran) on this issue, he may also be setting up a fall guy if the mullahs do indeed walk away from the table or if they fail to meet their obligations under an interim deal.
The Soros-funded and Obama surrogate Moveon.org has begun a new fundraising campaign labeling the proposed legislation "AIPAC's war bill." While co-sponsored by 16 Democrats including Senators Schumer and Menendez, Moveon.org declared that S.1881 is "the bill pushed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that President Obama and Senate Democratic leaders have warned would blow up U.S. diplomacy with Iran and put us on the path to another disastrous Middle East war."
Similarly, the left-wing Huffington Post, in reporting on the administration daring the Democratic senators to "admit they are working to push the country toward war with Iran," felt compelled to point out that the legislation is "backed by" AIPAC. No mention of the numerous other organizations that have lobbied for, and support, the new sanctions bill including the Organization of Iranian-American Communities that issued this statement:
Why is it that a bill that has the support of a Jewish lobby group is labeled as such when it also has the support of numerous other organizations that are not Jewish? In addition to the OIAC, groups such as Concerned Women for America have also weighed in. And without the great work of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the existing sanctions regime would never have succeeded to the point of bringing the Iranian economy to near collapse, which is where we were before Obama capitulated in Geneva.
My AT colleague Richard Baehr points out that out of the now reported 77 Senators who support S.1881, only six are Jewish. Moveon.org and the White House must think that the "Jewish Lobby" has quite a lot of influence -- so much so that they can pressure 71 non-Jewish Senators to side with America over Iran and the White House. Of course, why the White House and Iran are on the same side of this issue is another question altogether. But the fact of the matter is that false claims of a powerful "Jewish Lobby" gains traction time and again notwithstanding the irrationality of such anti-Semitism.
That same anti-Semitism is seeping from the pages of the website of another Obama surrogate, the Center for American Progress. In 2011, ThinkProgress published an article entitled, "AIPAC's Iran Strategy on Sanctions Mirrors Run-Up to Iraq War Tactics." That article concludes, "It would appear that AIPAC is now using the same escalating measures against Iran that were used before the invasion of Iraq" slyly insinuating that were it not for the Jewish Lobby, President Bush would have never entered into that war. CAP must have gotten some negative feedback to those accusations because it published a follow-up to the column stating, "Given some misunderstandings about this post, we want to make clear that we are not reporting on whether AIPAC lobbied for the Iraq war." Nonetheless, the seeds were planted.
This was not CAP's only foray into the world of anti-Semitism. Peter Wallsten reported on this in the WashingtonPost noting that CAP was "embroiled in a dispute with several Jewish organizations over charges that some center staffers have publicly used language that could be construed as anti-Israel or even anti-Semitic." CAP's chairman and former president at the time was John Podesta. That would be the same John Podesta who is now Obama's counselor and who called Republicans a "cult worthy of Jonestown."
No one is denying that various pro-Israel groups including AIPAC, the Republican Jewish Coalition, and the American Jewish Committee have in fact proudly supported the sanctions that are in place and that are the subject of this new legislation. It is the pressure of the sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table to begin with. Rather than demonize a group that supports such sanctions based on the religious affiliation of that group, Moveon.org and others should be thanking their lucky stars that these groups exist and do fine work. The Obama administration came into office ill equipped to deal with foreign policy (and domestic for that matter). The work of organizations such as FDD and others that educate and/or lobby Congress should never be demonized. Unless of course you need a scapegoat -- and who else to fit that bill but the Jews?
This is not the first time the administration has attempted to set up AIPAC and the Jews. They played this game when Obama turned to AIPAC to lobby Congress to support a military intervention in Syria (that would be before he withdrew his red line and decided to leave our foreign policy in the hands of the Russians to whom he promised flexibility while leaving AIPAC dancing in the wind).
A military conflict in the region is almost inevitable at this point. Not because America does not have the ability through diplomacy, military might, or a strategic combination of the two to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. And not because we lost the war on terror which Obama never acknowledged exists. Prior to Obama entering the White House, America had defeated al Qaeda in Iraq, begun the sanctions regime that eventually crippled Iran's economy, and supported allies while threatening enemies.
Today, an emboldened Iran, our other enemies, and our friends see a wimpy president who has no interest and stomach for conflict in the region. The vacuum that has been left behind is being filled with the stuff of war. Leftist loons can blame the Jews for everything from 9/11 and the Iraqi war to a future war in the Mideast, but the facts point straight to the White House. Had these accusations of Jewish warmongering occurred four years ago, I might be concerned. Instead, they are coming from discredited organizations and voices that the American people no longer believe or trust. That, however, makes them no less dangerous and offensive.
But while Obama is putting all of the pressure on Democrats to side with him (and Iran) on this issue, he may also be setting up a fall guy if the mullahs do indeed walk away from the table or if they fail to meet their obligations under an interim deal.
The Soros-funded and Obama surrogate Moveon.org has begun a new fundraising campaign labeling the proposed legislation "AIPAC's war bill." While co-sponsored by 16 Democrats including Senators Schumer and Menendez, Moveon.org declared that S.1881 is "the bill pushed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that President Obama and Senate Democratic leaders have warned would blow up U.S. diplomacy with Iran and put us on the path to another disastrous Middle East war."
Similarly, the left-wing Huffington Post, in reporting on the administration daring the Democratic senators to "admit they are working to push the country toward war with Iran," felt compelled to point out that the legislation is "backed by" AIPAC. No mention of the numerous other organizations that have lobbied for, and support, the new sanctions bill including the Organization of Iranian-American Communities that issued this statement:
As such we commend bi-partisan effort in both chambers of the U.S. Congress to maintain and strengthen economic sanctions on the dictatorial regime ruling Iran, since sanctions has been a key factor in forcing the Iranian regime to come to negotiating table....
We also laud the proper understanding and approach by key members of House of Representatives that the Iranian regime has a consistent history of obfuscation, and is capable of cheating, making it an imperative that sanctions should always be hanging there because that's what brought Iran to the table in the first place.
This is precisely what OIAC as the legitimate representative of a vast majority of Iranian-Americans in the United States has been urging, because sanctions are an important leverage in averting war and ultimately empowering the Iranian people to establish a non-nuclear, democratic and secular republic in Iran, which would be at peace with its neighbors in the Middle East.
Why is it that a bill that has the support of a Jewish lobby group is labeled as such when it also has the support of numerous other organizations that are not Jewish? In addition to the OIAC, groups such as Concerned Women for America have also weighed in. And without the great work of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the existing sanctions regime would never have succeeded to the point of bringing the Iranian economy to near collapse, which is where we were before Obama capitulated in Geneva.
My AT colleague Richard Baehr points out that out of the now reported 77 Senators who support S.1881, only six are Jewish. Moveon.org and the White House must think that the "Jewish Lobby" has quite a lot of influence -- so much so that they can pressure 71 non-Jewish Senators to side with America over Iran and the White House. Of course, why the White House and Iran are on the same side of this issue is another question altogether. But the fact of the matter is that false claims of a powerful "Jewish Lobby" gains traction time and again notwithstanding the irrationality of such anti-Semitism.
That same anti-Semitism is seeping from the pages of the website of another Obama surrogate, the Center for American Progress. In 2011, ThinkProgress published an article entitled, "AIPAC's Iran Strategy on Sanctions Mirrors Run-Up to Iraq War Tactics." That article concludes, "It would appear that AIPAC is now using the same escalating measures against Iran that were used before the invasion of Iraq" slyly insinuating that were it not for the Jewish Lobby, President Bush would have never entered into that war. CAP must have gotten some negative feedback to those accusations because it published a follow-up to the column stating, "Given some misunderstandings about this post, we want to make clear that we are not reporting on whether AIPAC lobbied for the Iraq war." Nonetheless, the seeds were planted.
This was not CAP's only foray into the world of anti-Semitism. Peter Wallsten reported on this in the WashingtonPost noting that CAP was "embroiled in a dispute with several Jewish organizations over charges that some center staffers have publicly used language that could be construed as anti-Israel or even anti-Semitic." CAP's chairman and former president at the time was John Podesta. That would be the same John Podesta who is now Obama's counselor and who called Republicans a "cult worthy of Jonestown."
No one is denying that various pro-Israel groups including AIPAC, the Republican Jewish Coalition, and the American Jewish Committee have in fact proudly supported the sanctions that are in place and that are the subject of this new legislation. It is the pressure of the sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table to begin with. Rather than demonize a group that supports such sanctions based on the religious affiliation of that group, Moveon.org and others should be thanking their lucky stars that these groups exist and do fine work. The Obama administration came into office ill equipped to deal with foreign policy (and domestic for that matter). The work of organizations such as FDD and others that educate and/or lobby Congress should never be demonized. Unless of course you need a scapegoat -- and who else to fit that bill but the Jews?
This is not the first time the administration has attempted to set up AIPAC and the Jews. They played this game when Obama turned to AIPAC to lobby Congress to support a military intervention in Syria (that would be before he withdrew his red line and decided to leave our foreign policy in the hands of the Russians to whom he promised flexibility while leaving AIPAC dancing in the wind).
A military conflict in the region is almost inevitable at this point. Not because America does not have the ability through diplomacy, military might, or a strategic combination of the two to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. And not because we lost the war on terror which Obama never acknowledged exists. Prior to Obama entering the White House, America had defeated al Qaeda in Iraq, begun the sanctions regime that eventually crippled Iran's economy, and supported allies while threatening enemies.
Today, an emboldened Iran, our other enemies, and our friends see a wimpy president who has no interest and stomach for conflict in the region. The vacuum that has been left behind is being filled with the stuff of war. Leftist loons can blame the Jews for everything from 9/11 and the Iraqi war to a future war in the Mideast, but the facts point straight to the White House. Had these accusations of Jewish warmongering occurred four years ago, I might be concerned. Instead, they are coming from discredited organizations and voices that the American people no longer believe or trust. That, however, makes them no less dangerous and offensive.
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