Exposé on Jewish role in US policy is disowned

[Behind the Aegis]

HARVARD UNIVERSITY is distancing itself from a report by one of its senior academics that accuses the Jewish lobby in America of subverting US foreign policy in Israel’s interest.

After a furious outcry from prominent American Jews, Harvard has removed its logo from the study and disowned any responsibility for the views put forward in the working paper, released two weeks ago.

Yesterday it confirmed that Stephen Walt, the co-author of The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, will be stepping down in June as academic dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government to become an ordinary professor.

Professor Walt and John Mearsheimer, of the University of Chicago, caused a storm of protest when they published their report, which argued that America’s interests were being manipulated by the pro-Israel lobby, using a network of politicians, journalists and academics. It said that the Jewish lobby was a key factor behind President Bush’s decision to invade Iraq and cautioned that the US could be drawn into conflicts against Israel’s other enemies in the region.

more...

[Media_Lies_Daily]

1. I guess the truth can't be told. Four letters: PNAC.

[Coastie for Truth]

6. That's right-- PNAC

Have you ever read "" known colloquilly as "PNAC" - it's a very interesting read. Looks like it came right out in response to the challenge posed by "Peak Oil".

Classical PaleoCon and OldCon "Cold Warrior" thinking - "the world is running out of oil - so lets take the oil fields."

Classical British Colonial-Strategic Thinking as described in William Engdahl's "A Century Of War : Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order." --Projection of military power to assert hegemony over natural resources.

[KoKo]

11. Probably a few influencial big donors. Plus some international pressure..

[Coastie for Truth]

15. Two step process--

When I was in grad school

It was a major effort to discredit an academic paper or screw up a candidate's dissertation defense -- you really had to work at it. Today, with Google-Scholar, even a kid can do it.

Who "Sponsored" The "Research"

Maybe Carlyle or an oil company or Prince Talal? The fancy schmanzy deans at fancy schmanzy private universities have all kinds of grants - and part time jobs and consultantships and directorships.

Did you hear the one about the economics professor at Carnegie Mellon who said that if you trade in your 20 MPG SUV for a 50 MPG Prius you will burn MORE gas. Why? Because you will drive so many more miles.
It was Professor Lester Lave

;)

[Media_Lies_Daily]

17. The phrase that did it for me was "...another Pearl Harbor"....

...indicating that such an event would be the only way to gain the American public's support for expediting the takeover of the world's natural resources.

911.

[aquart]

18. Honey, it's so much easier to believe it's those wily Jews.

Which lets the rich Christian white guys off the hook.

[Tempest]

2. They disowned it

But it doesn't sound like they disputed the conclusions.

[Coastie for Truth]

7. I guess true to form

as described in Jerome Karabel's study of "things" at "elite universities" - "The Chosen."

[bloom]

3. Doesn't this just validate the study?

Seems like it to me.

[Coastie for Truth]

10. Because

You haven't actually read the PNAC document or the American Petroleum Institute Web Site or Engdahl's book. I can only post these things - I can't grade you on reading them.

[bemildred]

16. No, the study is about political lobbying and influence.

This would be a (successful) partisan attack on the independence of academic inquiry.

[pocket]

4. gee, I wonder who pressured them into this

.

[barb162]

21. Maybe they read it and saw all the errors

[laststeamtrain]

5. From the UK Times article

<snip>
Professor Walt said yesterday that he and his co-author stood by their paper and welcomed “serious scholarly discussion of its arguments and evidence”. Instead, they have provoked an emotional and angry response...
<snip>

[barb162]

22. And Marvin Kalb said it contained factual errors;

From the article "Marvin Kalb, a member of the Kennedy School, said that the report contained factual errors and failed to meet basic academic standards."

[tatertop]

8. Kool aid. Must. Drink. More.

By the way, oranges are blue and
you can run your auto on sea water.

[barb162]

23. You are of course referencing the M&W report

[KoKo]

9. Lost his position with the Kennedy School of Government...

:-( McCarthyism II is in total control. What Right Wing Racist has lost his job over comments made about Blacks, Women or Democrats?

Oops, I forgot...didn't Larry Summers just get booted after a couple of years of controversy...remarks about women? Or, was it really because he just wasn't popular with the faculty.

I guess Harvard has decided to just boot every one out these days... No, academic freedom there...

[David__77]

12. This article title is misleading.

The study is about the Israel lobby and Zionist groups. That is different than talking about "Jewish influence." There are plenty of Jews who don't have these goals. The article implies racism, but I see no evidence of such.

[Coastie for Truth]

14. Thank you for your quick catch

The article is entitled "Exposé on Jewish role in US policy is disowned" (www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2725-2110150,00.html), the OP is entitled "Exposé on Jewish role in US policy is disowned" (www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x120527). They appear to be identical>

The DU Guidelines clearly state "The subject heading for threads must contain the title of the source article. The only exception is when you must shorten long titles or to make the subject of the article more clear."

What issue are you trying to raise?

[aquart]

19. Really? Who benefits?

Pinning this on Jews is easy....WHO BENEFITS?

Is Israel stronger and safer with a weak and diminished, bankrupt USA?

Who controls the oil? Jews?

So easy to tell you what you always secretly suspected anyway and get you to buy what they're selling. The rich Christian white guys were fooled by the wily Jews.

"Zionist groups." Talk about code. (And I am fascinated to learn that the Jews are a separate race as opposed to practitioners of a religion. Or why say "racism"?)

No evidence of anti-semitism here. None at all.

[David__77]

13. See paper for yourself...

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=891198

Download it from SSRN.

It quotes Israeli leader Yitzhak Shamir as saying “neither Jewish ethics nor Jewish tradition can disqualify terrorism as a means of combat.” Isn't that interesting? Many Jews would strongly disagree with him. The paper points out that "not all Jewish-Americans are part of the Lobby, because Israel is not a salient issue for many of them. In a 2004 survey, for example, roughly 36 percent of Jewish-Americans said they were either “not very” or “not at all” emotionally attached to Israel." So it acknowledges that is not a racial question.

I think it is a valid topic. But it must be absolutely clear that anti-Semitism is racism and is evil and must be opposed at all costs.

[MsMagnificent]

20. It's another Straw Man

By putting in the name of an entire race/people instead of a much more finite country (and it's politicial machinations) the Straw Man argument is set up to promote that anyone who disagrees with Israel's political manipulation of America are therefore anti-Semites -- outright Nazis.
Of which, BTW, Arabs are also members of the Semitic peoples; I wish these writers were more precise and correct in their choice of words.

It's as ridiculous as saying all caucasians are Republicans (or all UK citizens are Episcopalian, etc.) and that to criticize the Republican Party for their own actions is to hate and demean every caucasian.

Sadly, I'd much more expect to see that kind of phrasing in an American news source over a British one. Due to lots of practice, certain American mouthpieces are so darn good at it now.


edit:

According to Wikipedia:

"The term Jew is not exclusive to active adherents to the faith. Those with Jewish parentage or more remote Jewish ancestry may be considered Jewish by other Jews or the non-Jewish societies they live in, even if they themselves do not consider themselves Jewish."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jew

The Jewish people are known as a race, however perhaps an ethnic group would be a better fit. It would be unfair to call a person an anti-semite because s/he uses the common terms and definitions already in practice.