"I will always keep the threat of military action on the table to defend our
security and our ally Israel." - Barack Obama

[FRObamaProjectorAIPAC.jpg]

How fortunate for Senator Barack Obama that the AIPAC convention [1] took
place immediately after he clenched the Democratic nomination for president. It
was a great opportunity for the victor to show his true colors to an
extremely powerful Democratic constituency, the pro-Israel lobby.

Obama didn't disappoint his audience, many of whom had feigned concerns
about his candidacy. Phony hand wringing about emails claiming that Obama is
a Muslim extremist was nothing but a ploy to insure that the Israeli
government would get whatever it wanted in an Obama administration.

The Israelis should be rejoicing about the prospect of an Obama victory. Not
only did the Senator repeat the litany of trite pro-Israeli phrases "only
democracy in the Middle East," "special friendship" and so on, but he
promised extra cash to Israel's already bulging United States bank account.
"As president I will implement a Memorandum of Understanding that provides
$30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade - investments to
Israel's security that will not be tied to any other nation."

Not that there was ever a reason to worry. AIPAC always makes sure that
Israel gets what it wants from American presidential administrations.
Obama's victory shows that he knows the rules of the game backwards and
forwards. By the time he finished his address at the AIPAC convention, he
had been interrupted by sustained applause thirteen times [2] and walked
away holding the audience in the palm of his hand.

"AIPAC always makes sure that Israel gets what it wants from American
presidential administrations."

Part of keeping Israel and its American lobbying force happy is to repeat
what they want to hear, whether true or false. Dire warnings about a nuclear
Iran attacking Israel are lies. Only Israeli government officials speak
openly of attacking Iran and only Israel has nuclear weapons. Iran has never
threatened Israel in any way, but that unimpeachable and inconvenient fact
is not allowed on the American political campaign trail, and certainly not
at an AIPAC convention.

So lying is the order of the day, and the Senator did not disappoint. "It
(Iran) pursues a nuclear capability that could spark a dangerous arms race,
and raise the prospect of a transfer of nuclear know-how to terrorists. Its
President denies the Holocaust and threatens to wipe Israel off the map."

Iranian president Ahmedinajad never said anything about wiping Israel off
the map and doesn't say that the Jewish holocaust never took place. These
lies have been repeated so often and are so useful in justifying the threat
of military action that neither Obama nor anyone else who repeat them are
ever called bold faced liars. The prospect of Iran giving hypothetical nukes
to terrorists makes no sense whatever. If Iran does pursue a nuclear
capability, it will be no different than American allies Pakistan and India,
whose acquisition of nukes has already created an arms race of its own.

"Dire warnings about a nuclear Iran attacking Israel are lies."

Obama's speech not only proved that AIPAC is powerful, but it proved that he
and his recently defeated opponent are as alike as Tweedle Dum and Tweedle
Dee. Hillary Clinton was pilloried for saying that "we would obliterate" a
nuclear Iran. As always, Obama was less clumsy and ham fisted, but said the
same thing. "I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining
a nuclear weapon," is a lot smoother than talk of obliteration but says
exactly the same thing. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are indeed
political twins.

Just a few days after Obama pledged to give Israel carte blanche, one of its
cabinet ministers, Shaul Mofaz, felt emboldened to say that an Israeli
attack on Iran was "unavoidable." Bush has been itching to attack Iran and
now both major party presidential nominees are on record as saying that
killing is fine with them. The only difference between the two is that Obama
didn't join John McCain in singing songs [3] about killing human beings.
When it comes to foreign policy and Israel, Obama and McCain are also
political twins.

"Iran has never threatened Israel in any way."

It was left to the government of Iran to succinctly sum up the problems that
the United States and Israel create for the rest of the world. In a letter
[4] to the United Nations Secretary General, Iran's representative had this
to say.

"Such a dangerous threat against a sovereign State and a member of the
United Nations constitutes a manifest violation of international law and
contravenes the most fundamental principles of the Charter of the United
Nations, and, thus, requires a resolute and clear response on the part of
the United Nations, particularly the Security Council."

Lots of luck Iran. Even if the Security Council takes action the United
States will use its veto power to silence the world body. That is what
happens in the Bush administration and that is what will happen in January
2009, whether the next president is named Obama or McCain. Evil twins still
call the shots in American politics.

Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms.
Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at
Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. Ms. Kimberley maintains an
edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com [5] . More
of her work is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive [6] page.



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References:
[1]  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cOJNC2EuJw
[2]  http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20080604/cm_thenation/1096326710
[3]  http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?Itemid=36&id=187&option=com_content&task=view
[4]  http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=170257
[5]  http://freedomrider.blogspot.com/
[6]  http://www.blackagendareport.com/archives/mk/mkhome.php