[Washington Post] Dana Milbank - On Monday, at the invitation of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Stephen Walt of Harvard's Kennedy School and University of Chicago political scientist John Mearsheimer held a forum at the National Press Club in Washington to expand on their allegations about the Israel lobby. Blurring the line between academics and activism, they accepted a button proclaiming "Fight the Israel Lobby" and won cheers from the Muslim group for their denunciation of Israel and its friends in the U.S. Clenching the lectern so tightly his knuckles whitened, Mearsheimer accused Israel of using the kidnapping of its soldiers by Hizballah as a convenient excuse to attack Lebanon. Whatever motivated the performance, the result wasn't exactly scholarly. Walt singled out two Jews who worked at the Pentagon for their pro-Israel views. But why single out Paul Wolfowitz and Doug Feith and not their non-Jewish boss, Donald Rumsfeld? Mearsheimer cited two Jews in the White House, Elliott Abrams and David Wurmser, as "fervent supporters of Israel." Never mind that others in the White House, such as national security adviser Stephen Hadley, Vice President Cheney, and President Bush have been just as fervent.
2006-08-29 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive