tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post6996071455646588947..comments2024-03-27T15:36:44.737-07:00Comments on Haq's Musings: Obama's Historic Win and Rahm Israel EmanuelRiaz Haqhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-10702342382012903452008-11-06T15:56:00.000-08:002008-11-06T15:56:00.000-08:00Libertarian,I admire the Jewish people for their c...Libertarian,<BR/>I admire the Jewish people for their culture of hard work and achievement. We should all emulate that. I also make a distinction between Israel lobby that pushed for Iraq war and the Jewish citizens in America, most of whom opposed the Iraq war. Please read Meersheimer and Walt for more on this. Or Michael Scheuer.<BR/><BR/>I see this excessive power of Israel lobby or any other pressure group whether Muslim or Jewish or NRA or corporate as a threat to US democracy. The corrosive effect of money and influence peddling is adversely affecting our executive, legislature, even judiciary. The powerful have gotten away with a lot lately, on both Wall Street and Main street. Iraq war was ignited by the necons, most of whom were supported by Israel lobby, people such as Wolfowitz and other PNAC proponents. The Iraq war has now radicalized the Muslim world, sunk the Republican party and bankrupted the US. Unless Obama is careful, he will meet the same fate as W.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-65050851330954407702008-11-06T11:24:00.000-08:002008-11-06T11:24:00.000-08:00And this policy of blind support of Israel and acc...<I>And this policy of blind support of Israel and accepting dictation of Israeli lobby in Washington is at the center of the wars and the economic disaster we find ourselves in.</I><BR/><BR/>I don't see this. What wars have been started by the "Israel lobby"? Also could not figure out where you stand on your earlier post about the Jewish dimension in the economic crisis. <BR/><BR/>The truth is that Jews - 13 million on the entire planet - have ridiculously disproportionate representation in law-making, media, entertainment, finance, academia, high tech (Google founders, Facebook founder among others). While we can point to clubby behavior among them, there is a culture of excellence in the community that is second to none. What's remarkable is that they have not let their obviously strong religious leanings interfere with excellence in the secular sphere.<BR/><BR/>With such a high profile across the board comes the tomatoes - that's par for the course. Your criticism of Rahm Emanuel - especially his father's connections - seem personal, though. And a blanket indictment of the "Israel lobby" is really a stretch.libertarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05258039856928341788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-52747615550731035682008-11-06T10:41:00.000-08:002008-11-06T10:41:00.000-08:00If you are looking for change - forget it. Middle ...If you are looking for change - forget it. Middle East might as well brace for disappointment.<BR/>http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1225910044052Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-49070122042049903842008-11-06T09:25:00.000-08:002008-11-06T09:25:00.000-08:00Anonymous,This is not "Change", as far as US Mid-E...Anonymous,<BR/><BR/>This is not "Change", as far as US Mid-East policy is concerned. And this policy of blind support of Israel and accepting dictation of Israeli lobby in Washington is at the center of the wars and the economic disaster we find ourselves in.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-26167892568632069962008-11-06T08:55:00.000-08:002008-11-06T08:55:00.000-08:00"In Congress, Emanuel has been a consistent and vo..."In Congress, Emanuel has been a consistent and vocal pro-Israel hardliner, sometimes more so than President Bush. In June 2003, for example, he signed a letter criticizing Bush for being insufficiently supportive of Israel. "We were deeply dismayed to hear your criticism of Israel for fighting acts of terror," Emanuel, along with 33 other Democrats wrote to Bush. The letter said that Israel's policy of assassinating Palestinian political leaders "was clearly justified as an application of Israel's right to self-defense" ("Pelosi supports Israel's attacks on Hamas group," San Francisco Chronicle, 14 June 2003)."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com