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CounterPunch
October
18, 2002
Israel Takes the Hill
by WILLIAM HUGHES
Whenever warmonger Benjamin Netanyahu, (a/k/a
"Bend-the-Truth Yahoo"), lands in Washington, D.C.,
he heads straight for Capitol Hill. Since 9/11, the former Israel's
Prime Minister has been repeatedly called as a "friendly"
witness before House legislative committees, and senatorial
forums, which all tend to display a pro-Israeli tilt.
The House's Government Reform Committee
is his favorite. Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), who also co-chairs
the House's Human Rights Caucus, is one of the ranking Democrats
on it.
On Sept. 12, 2002, Netanyahu gave that
committee its marching orders, when he ranted, "I speak
for the overwhelming majority of Israelis in supporting a preemptive
strike against Saddam's regime." His theme, before the
Congress, is always the same: "Israel and the U.S. must
jointly stand" against terrorism. Keep in mind, that this
was weeks before President George Bush (a/k/a "Little Bush)
submitted, and the Congress approved, the notorious pro-Iraq
War Resolution.
Netanyahu also suggested, at that same
hearing, that U.S. made television programs, whose contents
depict sexually explicit material and crass materialism, be
broadcast via satellite, to Iran to undermine its conservative
social, moral and religious foundations. "This is pretty
subversive stuff," he told the committee, according to
a UPI report. He mentioned two shows that run on Fox TV, "Melrose
Place" and "Beverly Hills 90210" for transmitting.
No congressmen took exception to his gross vulgarity. It is
all enough to make a Jeffersonian Republican, like myself,want
to throw up knowing that a foreign national is manipulating
the Congress to suit his Israel First agenda.
Additionally, I also wonder, "Shouldn't
Netanyahu be required to register as an agent of a foreign principal
with the Justice Department before giving the Congress his biased
spiel?" He claimed he was speaking "as a private citizen"
on behalf of the "overwhelming majority of Israelis."
If that's true, and if he isn't otherwise exempted under the
law, (see, Title 22 <U.S.C>. 611, et seq., the "Foreign
Agent Registration Act"), then why hasn't the Likud Party
partisan registered?
It's a sad truth that the slippery Netanyahu,
whose roots are in Tel Aviv, can gain instant access to the
Congress. Meanwhile, the gallant demand by survivors of the
USS Liberty (which was deliberately attacked by the Israelis,
on June 8, 1967) for a congressional inquiry into that premeditated
and murderous incident, are blocked by the Israeli Lobby. This
damnable fact speaks volumes about the moral cowardice of the
Congress and the awesome power of the Zionist cartel.
As for the preachy Lantos, he has been
in the Congress for eleven terms, where he is a recognized expert
on human rights, except for human rights violations by (Guess
who?) Israel! Embarrassing topics, like the systematic torture
of Palestinian detainees by Ariel Sharon's goon squads, never
come up on his legislative watch. It's strictly a no-no. He
was also one of the chief pushers of the pro-Iraq War Resolution
in the House. When Bush signed the measure, on Oct. 16, Sen.
Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), another of Netanyahu's favorite lawmakers,
and the prime endorser in the Senate of the Resolution, could
be seen smirking, in the photo op, over the president's left
shoulder.
If Lantos permitted Israeli's human rights
violations to be addressed, in any unfavorable light, before
a committee he influences, I'm sure the B'nai B'rith organization
would immediately yank that humanitarian award it gave him on
April 26, 2002. It was at that get together, that Lantos blasted
the U.N. Conference Against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa,
as a "forum for lynching Israel." Even though he was
at the Durban conference in his official capacity as an American
lawmaker, he walked out in support of Israel, falsely claiming
the event had been "hijacked by a group of Arab and Muslim
nations." This is truly bizarre behavior for a member of
the Congress. Lantos took an oath of office to uphold the Republic
and its values, so why is he walking out of an important international
meeting on human rights because of criticism of Zionist Israel?
Was he in Durban as a representative of the Knesset?
Netanyahu, too, loathes the U.N. He labeled
it "a house of lies." When teamed together, Lantos
and Netanyahu resemble a 3rd rated 1920s vaudeville act. Lantos
is the straight man in the orchestrated Capitol Hill gigs, while
Netanyahu usually gives the punch lines. Both are masters of
the Arab-bashing sound bites that lackeys in the media, such
as William Bennett, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly, parrot ad
nauseam.
At the mentioned B'nai B'rith affair,
held in San Francisco, Lantos prophesied that the "next
five years will demand a cost in trauma and blood, it will not
be easy." Whose blood was old Tom talking about? Iraqis?
Iranians? Palestinians? Americans? Huh?
Unlike vaudeville, however, the Lantos
and Netanyahu Political Show is for real. As expected, the controlled
media maintained its vow of silence about these slick Zionist
propaganda side shows. I could laugh about it all, but as a
taxpayer I remind myself, I'm helping to pay for this Israeli
pro war virus, that is leading the Republic down the path to
perdition.
William Hughes
is the author of Baltimore
Iconoclast. He can be reached at liamhughes@mindspring.com.
© William Hughes 2002
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