'Iraq was Invaded to Secure Israel,' says Senator Hollings, and
'Everybody Knows It.'

By Mark Weber

When a prominent American political figure speaks boldly about Jewish-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 pro-Israel lobby and speak 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.

"With Iraq no threat, why invade a sovereign country?," he wrote. "The answer: President Bush's policy to secure Israel. Led by [Paul] 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 Zionist 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 Senate on May 20 to defend and explain his essay.

"I don't apologize for this column," he said. "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," Hollings declared.

(Comment: The same friend who attacked the USS Liberty on purpose, the same friend who bombed American buildings and tried to blame it on Arabs, the same friend who destroyed America's intelligence network (Pollard Affair), the same friend who costs America 3 trillion dollars, the same friend that has spied on the US time after time, the same friend that sold American missile technology to the Chinese)

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 said: "I have thought this out as thoroughly as I know how, and it worries me that here we are..."

Bush's motive in going to war for Israeli interests, Hollings charged, was to get 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 [Zionist] Project For The New American Century. Everybody knows it [is] 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 [1964] Gulf of Tonkin [incident]. 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."

Also, visit www.nowarforisrael.com

An opinion piece from an anti semite! How wonderful!

Why do you say he is an anti-Semite? I assume you (really) mean anti-Jewish, rather than anti-Semite, but still, what evidence do you have of that?

Color me, purely curious.

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"Tweeter was a Boyscout before she went to Vietnam and found out the hard way... nobody gives a d@mn."

"Israel" and "Jewish" aren't the same thing.

One could be anti-Israeli, for example, without being anti-Jewish.

One can note the power of the Israeli (or Jewish) lobby without being anti-Semitic.

I think it's a bit of a stretch to say we invaded Iraq purely to help Israel -- the Bush administration had its own reasons for doing so -- but I'm sure that was a consideration, as it would be in any such situation -- you look at how your actions will affect your allies in the region.

I generally support Israel (though not the settler movement), but even I think it's well past time for us to be offering "uncritical" support to anybody, particularly in the Middle East.

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Man up.

Nor did I ever read anything to indicate any other Arab country was going to. It never turns out well for the Arabs.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

Well, as it turns out, the Neo Conservatives don't share your views. Here's an excerpt form the Israeli report I mentioned earlier: "A Clean Break, a new strategy for securing the realm."

This report led to the U.S invasion of Iraq.

"Israel can shape its strategic environment, in cooperation with Turkey and Jordan, by weakening, containing, and even rolling back Syria. This effort can focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq - an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right - as a means of foiling Syria’s regional ambitions."

Writers include prominent Neo Conservatives like Richard Perle, Wurmser and Douglas Feith.

Have you got any idea what Neo Conservatism actually is all about? Haven't you noticed that the Neo Conservative elite pretty is almost exclusively Zionist? Israel's interests and Zionist interests in the Diaspora are one of their main concerns....one could even argue that they are their top priority.

Geez. Was Hollings in the KKK alongside Byrd?

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"What exactly is this foreign policy experience?" Obama said mockingly of the New York senator. "Was she negotiating treaties? Was she handling crises? The answer is no."

But the emotional charge gained from playing the race/religion/Holocaust card is too powerful to give up. And it's worked so far, so why stop now?

Some B-list neo-con was debating a university professor on a local morning show several months ago. When the topic turned to Israel, and the neo-con began running short of intellectual ammo (which didn't take long), he instantly pulled the old religion/Holocaust card from his sleeve. At that point, the true debate ended and it turned into an emotion filled verbal slap-fight - just as the neo-con intended.

It's sad that people can't discuss this issue without someone making a baseless claim of the questioner being a Nazi or klansman. But you can predict the reaction. It's like waiting for the saliva from one of Pavlov's dogs.

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"Tweeter was a Boyscout before she went to Vietnam and found out the hard way... nobody gives a d@mn."

Well, yeah....why in the world would we get the impression we did from the Senator's words.....when he singled out the Jews in the Bush administration: Wolfwitz, Krauthammer, and Perle? Even though Krauthammer is not in the administration; guess Hollings doesn't know that.

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"What exactly is this foreign policy experience?" Obama said mockingly of the New York senator. "Was she negotiating treaties? Was she handling crises? The answer is no."

2 facts for a retard
1. semites are arabs in general- egyptians, palestinians, greeks, not jews as they like to call themselves on their media
2. definition of opinion is something that you assume, such as "troops will be home by christmas" or "freedom fries taste good". i dont see any such in Teddys post, if you do, please show them