Pat Buchannan on "America's" War

[Seraphim Reeves]

Pat Buchannan asks, Whose War?

http://www.amconmag.com/03_24_03/cover.html#anchorWhose%20War?

Seraphim

[Jennifer]

The Simon Wiesenthal Center response to Buchanan's article.
"A NEW ANTISEMITIC VIRUS SEEKS TO BLAME ISRAEL AND ITS SUPPORTERS FOR THE WAR
IN IRAQ!
TO: CONCERNED CENTER FRIENDS

FROM: RABBI MARVIN HIER

RE: A NEW ANTISEMITIC VIRUS SEEKS TO BLAME ISRAEL AND ITS SUPPORTERS FOR THE
WAR IN IRAQ!

America's Jews are under attack.

Voices from both the right and the left are playing the antisemitism card
with glee as they righteously blame the Jews for America's war with Iraq.
What's worse, the silence from more moderate voices in America is deafening.

One-time Presidential candidate and CNBC commentator Pat Buchanan, in a
just-published article in the American Conservative, blames the conflict
with Iraq on the State of Israel and a 'cabal' of neoconservatives, the
majority of whom are Jewish and supporters of Israel. Among Buchanan's
vitriol: "We charge that a cabal of polemicists and public officials seek to
ensnare our country in a series of wars that are not in America's interests.
We charge them with colluding with Israel to ignite those wars and destroy
the Oslo Accords."

What is truly frightening is the fact that this anti-Israel, anti-Jewish
rhetoric is not coming from the lunatic fringe. It is now creeping into the
American mainstream -- helped by bigots like Buchanan and Rep. James Moran.

The fact is, it is now in vogue to blame an Iraq war on Israel and American
Jews.

Just read what else Pat Buchanan had to say: "We charge them [American
neoconservatives; read: Jews] with deliberately damaging U.S. relations with
every state in the Arab world that defies Israel or supports the Palestinian
peoples' right to a homeland of their own. We charge that they have
alienated friends and allies all over the Islamic and Western world through
their arrogance, hubris and bellicosity." And in summary of his remarks,
Buchanan writes: "They charge us with antisemitism. False. The truth is,
those hurling these charges harbor a passionate attachment to a nation not
our own that causes them to subordinate the interests of their own country
and to act on an assumption that, somehow, what's good for Israel is good
for America."

And on another front, Democratic Congressman James Moran is still feeling
the heat (even after his apology) for his recent remarks asserting, "If it
were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with
Iraq, we would not be doing this." Moran went on to perpetuate the old
canard of a powerful group of Jews machinating behind the scenes when he
said, "The leaders of the Jewish community are influential enough that they
could change the direction of where this is going, and I think they should."

Even more shocking, this sentiment reflects a new canard that is alarming
and must be stopped: that support of Israel is outweighing the better
judgment of American Jewry and forcing U.S. President Bush and his advisors
to pursue war. You and I know that these assertions are baseless: Never mind
that Jewish support for American military action to disarm Saddam Hussein's
Iraq is identical with non-Jewish Americans at 59%.

Of course, this is not the first time Buchanan has singled out Israel and
its supporters for censure. No matter what the issue, Buchanan draws a
straight line to blame the Jews. But in this case, he has had the audacity
to lay the most serious crisis facing the United Nations and the U.S. at the
doorstep of the Jewish State and those who support her.

The war in Iraq may be over in a matter of days, or perhaps weeks. But the
war against the Jews will continue long after the troops have returned home.
We are determined to fight this and all lies about the Jewish people with
our most powerful weapon: the TRUTH. But we need your help to put a stop to
the Buchanans and Morans of the world.

Please don't delay. It is so imperative that we have your support now to
help us continue on with our work sounding the alarm on the dangerous
falsehoods that are seeping into the American consciousness.



I want to help stop the spread of this latest antisemitic virus. I want to
help the Wiesenthal Center expose the bigots spreading this lie, alert the
public and the media to their outrageous antisemitism, and respond with
speed and strength.

Please click here to support the work of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

A pop-up window will show up whenever you click a link in this message.
Please use it to forward this important message to your family and friends
to add their voices!

Thank you."

The Jewish Press on Pat Buchanan:http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=2203
"As he did back in 1990 and 1991, Patrick Buchanan is once again
fanning the flames of anti-Semitism with his allegations that an
American administration is cal-ling the nation to arms at the
urging of Jews on behalf of the Jewish state.

Buchanan, of course, is far from alone in charging that a
nefarious pro-Israel cabal has implanted itself in the Bush White
House and is tailoring American foreign policy to suit Israel’s
needs. It is an argument that has gained considerable traction in
the fever swamps of both the extreme right and the extreme left,
and over the past several weeks has begun making some inroads
into mainstream public opinion.

While Buchanan is nowhere near as influential as he was at
the time of the Gulf War — three unsuccessful presidential runs,
the most recent of which featured a disastrous alliance with the
fringe Marxist Lenora Fulani, have greatly diminished his
standing and appeal — it would be foolish to dismiss him as a
political has-been reduced to editing a magazine with a minuscule
readership.

This is not some moon-faced Klansman with an IQ barely
above moron level, but rather a brilliant writer and razor-sharp
polemicist who, according to those who know him, possesses a not
inconsiderable amount of personal charm.

And that is precisely why it is so important to never lose sight
of Buchanan’s many pronouncements that over the years have
caused him to be viewed with such suspicion and alarm.

Back in 1998 the Monitor compiled a number of those
pronouncements in a two-part column that readers were still
requesting reprints of two and three years later. Now that
Buchanan’s anti-Jewish paranoia is again a matter of public
discussion (see the lead editorial in this week’s Jewish Press), it
seems as good a time as any to revisit the Buchanan files.

Although he has described anti-Semitism as “a grave sin, a
disease of the heart,” Buchanan habitually employs words and
phrases that leave a Jew with a kicked-in-the-gut sensation — and
he does so with what at times seems like barely concealed glee.

His strange concern for former Nazis (Alan A. Ryan, Jr., a
former Justice Department prosecutor, once characterized
Buchanan as “the spokesman for Nazi war criminals in America”)
is coupled with a disdain for Holocaust survivors, whom he’s
described as suffering from “group fantasies of martyrdom and
heroics.”

A constant critic of Kurt Waldheim during the latter’s tenure
as UN secretary general, Buchanan suddenly became a whole lot
more supportive when the true nature of Waldheim’s wartime
activities was made public. The ostracism of Waldheim by the U.S.
and other countries, wrote Buchanan, had to it “an aspect of moral
bullying and the singular stench of selective indignation.”

In addition to weighing in on Waldheim, Buchanan actively
lobbied then-Attorney General Edwin Meese on behalf of Karl
Linnas, who had headed a Nazi concentration camp in Estonia
(Meese ignored Buchanan’s entreaties, deporting Linnas to the
Soviet Union), and made his unhappiness known when the U.S.
apologized to France for having sheltered the “Butcher of Lyons,”
Klaus Barbie.

“To what end,” Buchanan asked rhetorically in a column on
the Barbie matter, “all this wallowing in the atrocities of a dead
regime...”

He also took up the cause of Arthur Rudolph, the father of
Hitler’s V-2 rocket program who after the war had become an
American citizen and part of the U.S. space effort, and that of
John Demjanjuk, alleged to have been the infamous Treblinka
guard known as Ivan the Terrible.

The latter became something of an obsession for Buchanan,
who in his zeal to prove Demjanjuk innocent came dangerously
close to making common cause with Holocaust revisionists.

Claiming in a 1990 column that diesel engines “do not emit
enough carbon monoxide to kill anybody” — diesel exhaust being
the very substance used in the gas chambers at Treblinka —
Buchanan triumphantly declared that “Demjanjuk’s weapon of
mass murder cannot kill.”

(Continued Next Week)"

[James the Just]

I am surprized that the Rabbi did'nt mention or attack Mel Gibson for his film "The Passion",for being anti-semitic.

James

[Nigula Qian Zishi]

Maybe that's in the continuation next week? ;-)

[DeathByCookies]

Ooh, this ought to be interesting! Seraphim the anti-semite vs. Jennifer the Zionist!

[Jennifer]

I'd be surprised if the Jewish Press made any mention of Mel Gibson.  The Jewish Press for those not in the know is a religious paper although they're very hawkish about Israel.  But Mel Gibson's movie might very well be anti-semitic.  His father is certainly an anti-semite and holocaust denier.  Like father...like son?  Gibson is also a traditional Catholic and anti-semitism is very common in traditional Catholic circles.  

Buchanan's screed (fyi, I'm against the war) sounds very similar to traditional anti-semitism.  The "cabal" of Jews behind the scenes manipulating the government into an unwanted war.  Anything Buchanan says about the Jews should be suspect because he is a bigot.  

[Aklie Semaet]

Anything Buchanan says about the Jews should be suspect because he is a bigot.

True enough. He is a bigot and no doubt an anti-Semite. Genuine opponents to the war (and Israel) should keep people of his ilk at a far distance. Their spurious conspiracy theories about ‘cabals’ and the superman status they give to Jewish interest groups (i.e. “they control America!!!”) only serves to distract people from a serious critical analyses of Mid-East affairs in place of cheap anti-Jewish bigotry. Besides being diversionary it is dangerous.

But the Simon Wiesenthal Center is not without it’s own bias. I attended their courses for school teachers on ‘intolerance’ (methods to teach children about prejudice and diversity in the classroom) as well as went through their Holocaust Museum. By the time we left, we submitted an official complaint to the Museum for its obvious hypocrisy. While justly dealing with the holocaust and other episodes of intolerance they did an about face when it came to dealing with Israel. Bulldozing through Palestinian neighborhoods, depriving them of homes and setting up ‘settlements’ with segregationist “Jews only” policies in the West Bank was covered up and was not presented as examples of intolerance, while at the same time every effort was expended on portraying the Arab victims of Zionist colonization as anti-Semitic. Even in the Holocaust Museum itself, artistically very brilliant, the impression was given that everyone and their mama is anti-Jewish (presumably by genetic programming) and that the only solution was for the creation of Israel. The Zionist impulse is very strong at Simon Wiesenthal, and so is the obsession with charging everyone who disagrees with them as anti-Semitic. But for Buchanan they have a point.  

But Mel Gibson's movie might very well be anti-semitic.

Well that is just going to have to stick. The Jews (meaning the central leaders as well as mobs of people) denied Christ and played a big part in his crucifixion. To ask a Christian to modify that historical fact, of great theological importance, for considerations of modern political correctness is discrimination against the religious beliefs of Christians. If Mel is to be faulted for anti-Semitism then it is because of his decision not to use real Aramaic speakers in the film, now that is very anti-Semitic..  

[Seraphim Reeves]

of course, the alleged "rebuttal" to Pat's article had nothing to offer, but a jazzed up/obfuscated version of the same old, tired, worn out reply all well trained Zionists have for their critics - the simple charge of "anti-semitism."

It cannot be helped that many of the key trouble makers in this issue are Jews, or that these problems revolve in large part around "Jewish issues" (such as Israel.)  However, such a reality (as artificially sensitive as it's been made out to be) cannot bar men who know better from offering commentary.

What would be great, would be a treatment of Pat's article on it's own merits - perhaps an examination of the connections he makes, particularly those involving current White House & Pentagon pals.

As for Mel's new film, I'm looking forward to it.  At the very least, it promises to be the most "correct" in it's portrayal of our Lord.  Of course, for some, the Gospel itself is "anti-semtitic" (as is the basic Christian affirmation, that the Church inherits the blessing of Abraham, not the Synagogue which rejects his "Seed"), thus that this film will offend them is a given.  Apparently some Hollywood Rabbi has already had a problem with the film, just based on word of mouth (since, apparently, it's not going to white wash the responsibility of Jewish religious authorities in Christ's death.)

Seraphim

[Aklie Semaet]

of course, the alleged "rebuttal" to Pat's article had nothing to offer, but a jazzed up/obfuscated version of the same old, tired, worn out reply all well trained Zionists have for their critics - the simple charge of "anti-semitism."

Yes it did have that negative componenet to it...but it also highlighted some of his unsavory defenses of Nazis and Nazi sympathizers. If that does not make an anti-Semite I don’t know what will.

It cannot be helped that many of the key trouble makers in this issue are Jews

It can not be helped that many of them are also White Anglo Saxon Protestants either. Why highlight one at the expense of the other unless, of course, one has a hidden agenda?

[Jennifer]

of course, the alleged "rebuttal" to Pat's article had nothing to offer, but a jazzed up/obfuscated version of the same old, tired, worn out reply all well trained Zionists have for their critics - the simple charge of "anti-semitism."

It wasn't a "rebuttal" of his charges.  You don't rebut the ravings of anti-semites.  The purpose of both articles was to warn people (especially Jews) about what the well known anti-semite Pat Buchanan is saying about the war.  

"It cannot be helped that many of the key trouble makers in this issue are Jews, or that these problems revolve in large part around "Jewish issues" (such as Israel.)  However, such a reality (as artificially sensitive as it's been made out to be) cannot bar men who know better from offering commentary."

Since when is Bush a Jew or Rumsfield or any of the other warmongers in the administration?  Buchanan's conspiracy theories sound very similar to the ravings of the anti-semites of the early 20th century.  The "cabal" of Jews behind the scenes running the country.  The suspicions that a Jew is more loyal to the Jewish people than to this country.  These kinds of comments will raise a red flag for anyone familiar with the unfortunate history of anti-semitism in Europe.  

"What would be great, would be a treatment of Pat's article on it's own merits - perhaps an examination of the connections he makes, particularly those involving current White House & Pentagon pals."

Like I wrote earlier, we don't treat anti-semites seriously.  

"As for Mel's new film, I'm looking forward to it.  At the very least, it promises to be the most "correct" in it's portrayal of our Lord.  Of course, for some, the Gospel itself is "anti-semtitic" (as is the basic Christian affirmation, that the Church inherits the blessing of Abraham, not the Synagogue which rejects his "Seed"), thus that this film will offend them is a given.  Apparently some Hollywood Rabbi has already had a problem with the film, just based on word of mouth (since, apparently, it's not going to white wash the responsibility of Jewish religious authorities in Christ's death.)"

Jews remember the pogroms at Easter time back in the old country.  Europe has a very bloody history where the Jews are concerned.  Several times the Jews of Europe have been almost entirely wiped out by their Christian neighbors.  Everything said about the Jews is filtered through that unfortunate history.  So Jews get nervous (rightfully so) when they hear that a prominent traditional Catholic whose father denies the holocaust and believes that a conspiracy of Jews has infiltrated the Vatican is making a movie which might make it seem as if the Jews are completely to blame for Christ's death.  

[sinjinsmythe]

I think one aspect that Buchanan is missing in this war is the connection to the oil industry.

[Mexican]

Jennifer:

The Jewish Community in Mexico, and various rabbis have made public statements in which they reject the war on Iraq as an unaccaptable violation of International right, they are also opposed to any participation of Israel in this war, and to the racist policies of radical zionism.

I also think we should keep our distance from the racist views of Buchanan, but there's also a difference between being anti-semite and being opposed to some policies. Anti-semitism is the hate against the Jewish people because of their religion and most of all their race, and being opposed to the policies of the State of Israel as a country does not make people anti-semites.

There are many pharisaic attitudes from both sides, those who support people like Buchanan and those pseudo-conservatives who label every person who oppose the war against Iraq as anti-semite, anti-american and so on.

I especially warn about those who demand blind obedience to the Pope regarding liturgy and accept every modern innovation but now criticize him and oppose him because of his anti-war possition. At the same time they've always opposed the US government because of sexual education, contraception, etc. and now they try to sell President Bush as a harbenger of morality and ask people to support thw war. This is all no sense.

[Jennifer]

I think it's patently absurd and indicative of anti-semitism to blame this war on "the Jews."  There are plenty of other parties hoping for a windfall from Iraq.  For example, Haliburton is already getting contracts to "rebuild" Iraq.  It should be noted that VP Cheney has major connections with Haliburton.  The large American oil companies stand to win from this too.  One more thing, if "the Jews" have Bush in their back pocket why has Bush announced the "road map" to peace in the middle east?  The hardcore zionists are not happy with Bush about this.  And the Bush administration has been more supportive of a Palestinian state than any other recent administration.  Three years ago, Buchanan and his ilk were raving about how "the Jews" were running the Clinton administration.  Now it's the Bush administration.  Whatever they don't like is because of "the Jews."

[Linus7]

One element that seems to be missing in this discussion is the Evangelical Protestant fascination with the modern state of Israel and the Evangelical acceptance of the ecclesiology of Dispensationalism, with its "two kingdoms" theory.

I am not really sure how much Israel is "behind" the war in Iraq, but I know for a fact that millions of Evangelical Protestants believe the Jews, and especially those in the state of Israel, are the "chosen people of God," and can do no wrong.

They believe that any nation that opposes the will of Israel will be cursed by God.

Certainly there are many Evangelical Protestants who hold positions of power and influence in our government.

How much are Dispensationalism and its ecclesiology and eschatology influencing their decisions?

[Mexican]

Yes here in Mexico there's an Evangelical sectarian leader who has a programme in a local channel and he has the flag of Israel at his side, he unbatedly supports the war on Iraq and hates the muslims and is a millenarist and a paranoid who says so many lies. It's really frustratng to see how these people can appear in TV.

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