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<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=4>2009-07-18<br>
<b>How Israel Lobby took control of US foreign policy<br>
</b>AIPAC becomes foreign agent dominating American foreign policy while
disguised as domestic lobby. <br>
By Jeff Gates - LOUISIANA<br>
<br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>In the early 1960s, Senator
William J. Fulbright fought to force the American Zionist Council to
register as agents of a foreign government. The Council eluded
registration by reorganizing as the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee. AIPAC has since become what Fulbright most feared: a foreign
agent dominating American foreign policy while disguised as a domestic
lobby.<br><br>
Israelis and pro-Israelis object when they hear that charge. How, they
ask, can we so few wield such influence over so many? Answer: it’s all in
the math. And in the single-issue advocacy brought to bear on US
policy-making by dozens of ‘domestic’ organizations that now compose the
Israel lobby, with AIPAC its most visible force.<br><br>
The political math was enabled by Senator John McCain whose support for
all things Israeli ensured him the GOP nomination to succeed
Christian-Zionist G.W. Bush. McCain’s style of campaign finance reform
proved a perfect fit for the Diaspora-based fundraising on which the
lobby relies. Co-sponsored by Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, this
change in federal election law typifies how Israeli influence became
systemic.<br><br>
‘McCain-Feingold’ raised the amount (from $1,000 to $2,300) that
candidates can receive from individuals in primary and general elections.
A couple can now contribute a combined $9,200 to federal candidates:
$4,600 in each of the primary and general elections. Primary elections,
usuall low-budget, are particularly easy to sway. <br><br>
Importantly for the Diaspora, this change also doubled the funds
candidates can receive without regard to where those contributors reside.
A candidate in Iowa, say, may have only a few pro-Israeli constituents.
When campaign support is provided by a nationwide network of
pro-Israelis, that candidate can more easily be persuaded to support
policies sought by Tel Aviv. <br><br>
Diaspora-based fundraising has long been used by the lobby with
force-multiplying success to shape US foreign policy. Under the guise of
reform, John McCain doubled the financial resources that the lobby can
deploy to elect and retain its supporters. <br><br>
<b>Fulbright was Right<br><br>
</b>The influence-peddling process works like this. Candidates are
summoned for in-depth AIPAC interviews. Those found sufficiently
committed to Israel’s agenda are provided a list of donors likely to “max
out” their campaign contributions. Or the process can be made even easier
when AIPAC-approved candidates are given the name of a
“bundler.”<br><br>
Bundlers raise funds from the Diaspora and bundle those contributions to
present them to the candidate. No quid pro quo need be mentioned. After
McCain-Feingold became law in 2003, AIPAC-identified bundlers could raise
$1 million-plus for AIPAC-approved candidates simply by contacting ten
like-minded supporters. Here’s the math:<br><br>
The bundler and spouse “max out” for $9,200 and call ten others, say in
Manhattan, Miami, and Beverly Hills. Each of them max out ($10 x $9,200)
and call ten others for a total of 11. [111 x $9,200 = $1,021,200.]
<br><br>
Imagine the incentive to do well in the AIPAC interview. One call from
the lobby and a candidate can collect enough cash to mount a credible
campaign in most Congressional districts. From Tel Aviv’s perspective,
that political leverage is leveraged yet again because fewer than ten
percent of the 435 House races are competitive in any election cycle
(typically 35 to 50). <br><br>
Additional force-multipliers come from: (a) sustaining this financial
focus over multiple cycles, (b) using funds to gain and retain seniority
for those serving on Congressional committees key to promoting Israeli
goals, and (c) opposing any candidates who question those goals.<br><br>
<i>Jewish Achievement</i> reports that 42% of the largest political
donors to the 2000 election cycle were Jewish, including four of the top
five. That compares to less than 2% of Americans who are Jewish. Of the
<i>Forbes 400</i> richest Americans, 25% are Jewish according to Michael
Steinhardt, a key funder of the Democratic Leadership Council. The DLC
was led by Jewish Zionist Senator Joe Lieberman when he resigned in 2000
to run as vice president with pro-Israeli presidential candidate Al
Gore.<br><br>
Money was never a constraint. Pro-Israeli donors were limited only by how
much they could lawfully contribute to AIPAC-screened candidates.
McCain-Feingold raised a key limit. The full impact of this foreign
influence has yet to be tallied. What’s known, however, is sufficient to
apply the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Of the top 50 neoconservatives
who advocated war in Iraq, 26 were Jewish (52%).<br><br>
Harry Truman, a Christian Zionist, remains one of the more notable
recipients of funds. In 1948, he was trailing badly in the polls and in
fundraising. His prospects brightened dramatically in May after he
recognized as a legitimate state an enclave of Jewish extremists who
originally planned to settle in Argentina before putting their sights on
Palestine.<br><br>
That recognition was opposed by Secretary of State George C. Marshall,
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the bulk of the diplomatic corps, the
fledgling Central Intelligence Agency and numerous distinguished
Americans, including moderate and secular Jews concerned at the troubles
that were certain to follow. Not until 1984 was it revealed that a
network of Jewish Zionists had funded Truman’s campaign by financially
refueling his whistle-stop campaign train with $400,000 in cash ($3
million in 2009 dollars).<br><br>
To buy time on the public’s airwaves, money raised from the Israel
lobby’s network is paid to media outlets largely owned or managed by
members of the same network. Presidents, Senators and Congressmen come
and go but those who collect the checks rack up the favors that amass
lasting political influence. <br><br>
The US system of government is meant to ensure that members of the House
represent the concerns of Americans who reside in Congressional
districtsnot a nationally dispersed network (a Diaspora) committed to
advancing the agenda of a foreign nation. Federal elections are meant to
hold Senators accountable to constituents who reside in the states they
representnot out-of-state residents or a foreign government.<br><br>
In practical effect, McCain-Feingold hastened a retreat from
representative government by granting a nationwide network of foreign
agents disproportionate influence over elections in every state and
Congressional district. Campaign finance ‘reform’ enabled this network to
amass even more political cloutwielding influence disproportionate to
their numbers, indifferent to their place of residence and often contrary
to America’s interests.<br><br>
This force-multiplier is now wielded in plain sight, with impunity and
under cover of free speech, free elections, free press and even the
freedom of religion. Therein lies the perils of an entangled alliance
that induced the US to invade Iraq and now seeks war with Iran. By
allowing foreign agents to operate as a domestic lobby, the US was
induced to confuse Zionist interests with its own.<br><br>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0Fs73XZqm8" eudora="autourl">
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0Fs73XZqm8</a> <br><br>
<b>Jeff Gates</b> is A widely acclaimed author, attorney, investment
banker, educator and consultant to government, corporate and union
leaders worldwide. Gates’ latest book is <i>Guilt By AssociationHow
Deception and Self-Deceit Took America to War</i> (2008). His previous
books include <i>Democracy at Risk: Rescuing Main Street From Wall
Street</i> and <i>The Ownership Solution: Toward a Shared Capitalism for
the 21st Century</i>. For two decades, he was an adviser to policy-makers
worldwide.</font> <br><br>
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