Thread: Zionist Influence on American Foreign Policy

Groups like the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) obviously have a large influence on American foreign policy. These types of groups are enormously powerful and have Congress tightly secured in their pockets. So tightly secured in fact, that they forced through a resolution that called on President Obama to do everything in his power to delegitimize the Goldstone report (a thorough review of Hamas and the IDF's conduct during Operation Cast Lead). Israel's conduct during this war on Gaza was horrendous. They killed hundreds upon hundreds of women and children and waged war on Gaza's infrastructure (war crimes according to anyone). The Goldstone report concluded that Israel and Hamas may be guilty of crimes against humanity. What kind of lawmakers do we have? Ones that cover up war crimes committed by friends.
This same war on Gaza (Op. Cast Lead) was reminiscent of their 2006 war on Lebanon, in which over 1200 Lebanese (mostly civilians) and 119 Israelis (mostly soldiers) died, while Lebanon's infrastructure was decimated. Also, I will never forget how Israel, in the last 24 hours of the war (when the cease-fire was known to be coming), dropped millions and millions of cluster bombs. They dropped more cluster bombs during that day then they did during the entire 34 day war. These cluster bombs have thousands of mini-bomblets that disperse over entire regions, and, according to conservative estimates, have a failure rate of at least 25%. The failed bomblets, to this day, kill unsuspecting kids playing in all kinds of places. The Israeli government has even ignored pleas from the Lebanese at the UN to provide them with a map detailing where the cluster bombs were dropped. The Israelis argue that Hamas used civilians as shields during these wars, but, in probably the most densely populated region on Earth (Gaza strip), it is hard to separate the military from the civilian infrastructure. The IDF also said the same thing about Hezbollah during their war on Lebanon, but these claims have never been proven (and if they could be proven, they would have). This is how I view it, at least. Another argument the IDF uses is the need to halt rocket fire. This point, as far as I'm concerned, is moot because of Israel's extremely disproportionate response and their propensity to launch missiles and aerial attacks before any rockets have been launched. Just look at who broke the cease-fire preceding Op. Cast Lead - Israel, in the form of a multiple ton bomb that killed 6 members of Hamas. Then, when Hamas retaliated with their measly rocket-fire (which rarely injure, let alone kill, a civilian. I understand they can cause psychological damage, but real American-made bombs cause BOTH), the Israelis used this as an excuse to escalate the situation by sending in their automated bull-dozing fleet, F-18s armed to the teeth with phosphorous bombs, and Merkava tanks.

The problem with the Israeli lobby is that there is no equivalent counter to their influence. No powerful Palestinian/Arab lobbies have emerged and the result has been a completely one sided mediator to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. President Obama is being a little more even-handed then any other president in recent history by demanding a freeze to all settlements. Even though the Israelis haven't complied, President Obama is trying to draw a hard line. Without the dismantling of all these illegal settlements, there will never be peace. These land grabs infuriate and humiliate the Palestinians, and it will only result in a third uprising.

The problem in the Middle East is the lack of an unbiased mediator - a result of the Israeli lobby. I believe the extremely influential Israeli lobby must be done away with for a just and lasting peace to occur in the Holy Land. What do you think?