Saturday, November 24, 2007

The Israeli Lobby

Other special-interest groups have managed to skew foreign policy, but no lobby has managed to divert it as far from what the national interest might suggest, while simultaneously convincing Americans that U.S. interests and Israel's are essentially identical.










Owen Bennett-Jones of the BBC interviews John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, authors of The Israel Lobby which was temporarily banned in the United States but ultimately published here as The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

My favorite feature of BBC broadcasts that I am fortunate enough to catch on my local AM station is The Interview. A BBC interview is different in quality from anything to be found on American media. No question is allowed to go unanswered because follow-ups are guaranteed. Owen Bennett-Jones has a habit of drilling down to get answers from his elusive guests, and Mearsheimer and Walt are not afforded any exception from this practice.

I recommend jumping in 38 seconds into this 27+ minute tape. Alternatively, those so inclined can peruse an
abridged transcript here.

1 comment:

  1. Vigilante, Esteemed Colleague, you and I have long differed on this topic. Where to even start to address this book? Not at the anti-semitic point, because I don't sense that they are. I just happen to think they are waaaaaay off base. I've read the book (didn't buy it, though!) and although exhaustingly notated, it's still so not well-written. They claim both that the US goes to war with Iraq, Iran, Syria, etc in order to protect Israel. Then they claim that Israel's enemies can be "managed," that they are not truly capable of destroying Israel. So how can it be both?

    They say that we have terrorism because of the US's support of Israel. So why then do nations not supportive of Israel also have terrorism? And why did al-Qaeda outline SIX reasons for 9/11?

    Oh lord, I could wallpaper the comments section with my thoughts on this book. But suffice to say, compatriot, I completely disagree with you. Still. :)

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