AIPAC Policy Conference 2005
Tuesday, May 24, 2005 11:11 AM
Take a look at the "confirmed speakers" at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual "Policy Conference", now underway in Washington. The lineup is a stupefying, bipartisan love feast: for starters, Secretary of State Dr. Condolezza Rice, Senator Hillary Clinton, and Dr. Howard Dean, M.D., head of the National Democratic Party, among others. And then the man of the hour, the unindicted war criminal himself, G.W.'s good friend, Ariel Sharon. There are many others, almost every important politician in town of both parties, "liberals" and "conservatives" alike. No one wants to be left out. No one can afford to be left out.
For these Washington politicos, feeding at the trough, America itself is a kind of sideshow. Their own careers are what count. They know full well that AIPAC is being investigated by the FBI for espionage. Under these circumstances, the right thing to do would have been to distance themselves from the organization, at least for the moment. But just the opposite is happening. The enthusiastic public support of AIPAC by the entire Washington establishment--Rice, Clinton, Dean, Bush, etc.--will undercut any investigation, and they know it.
AIPAC, the most powerful lobby in Washington, does not register itself as a lobby or agent of a foreign government. It is not lobbying, you see, only promoting friendship. AIPAC's pet project at the moment is to make an earth-shaking big deal out of the Gaza pullback, and to lobby Capitol Hill to pay for relocating the "settlers".
This sets a very important precedent from Ariel Sharon's perspective. Just in case there is any "pressure" from Washington down the road for any sort of token withdrawal from the West Bank, Sharon's attitude will be: "If you want it, you pay for it. Israel is already sacrificing too much." Make no mistake, as with the invasion and conquest of Iraq, the bill for the war to subjugate Palestine is being paid for by the American taxpayer.
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