Posts Tagged ‘AIPAC’

The Iran Nuclear Deal and Its Fallout

Thursday, July 16th, 2015 by Vbhotla

ON JULY 14th, PRESIDENT OBAMA achieved perhaps his biggest diplomatic victory in brokering a nuclear deal with Iran. Predictably, reactions in Congress and by 2016 Presidential candidates were mixed. But perhaps more relevant are the reactions of advocacy groups and diplomatic allies, both for and against the accord.

POLITICO reports that Obama swiftly convened a conference call on Tuesday with prominent Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy groups in an attempt to contain the fallout from the nuclear deal. Per POLITICO, the message was clear: “chill out and read the agreement.” Of particular concern to the administration are Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the pro-Israel Jewish advocacy group AIPAC, both of whom are likely to criticize first and ask questions later.

As Vox notes, the Iran deal is a massive blow to Netanyahu, who has staked his political reputation, as well as his relationship with the United States, on preventing the deal from happening, at least in its current form. Netanyahu plans on lobbying Congress to kill the agreement, but he is almost certain to fail. AIPAC, similarly, is “deeply concerned” about the deal, According to the Washington Post.  POLITICO reports that the group is already planning to mount a public awareness campaign. They will likely make a lobbying push as well. But other Jewish groups have praised the deal as an important step for stability in the region.

J Street, a left-leaning pro-Israeli group, lobbied in support of the deal leading up to the announced agreement on Tuesday. The group praised the deal, saying that it “meet[s] the critical criteria…that verifiably blocks each of Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon.” POLITICO notes that another group, the left-leaning New Security Action, also supported the deal, and it has launched a public relations campaign, including a Funny or Die Video, to support the agreement.

According to the Huffington Post, it seems a virtual certainty that Congressional opponents of the deal will be unable to override it, much to the chagrin of Benjamin Netanyahu and AIPAC, but with such powerful foes opposing it, nothing is truly certain. It’s a good bet that opponents of the deal will continue to fight it in favor of a harsher deal for Iran or scrapping the current deal altogether.

AIPAC Chimes in on Syria

Tuesday, September 10th, 2013 by Vbhotla

THINGS HAVE HEATED up in Washington as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group, has called on Congress to authorize military action against Syria.

In a statement last Tuesday, AIPAC wrote:

AIPAC urges Congress to grant the president the authority he has requested to protect America’s national security interests and dissuade the Syrian regime’s further use of unconventional weapons. The civilized world cannot tolerate the use of these barbaric weapons…

On Thursday, the lobby announced that it would be sending more than 250 leaders and activists to Capitol Hill to lobby as many members of Congress as possible on the issue, and in particular prominent GOP leaders who have yet to commit to action on Syria, such as Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas).  The meetings are scheduled to occur today.

As POLITICO notes, it’s rare for AIPAC to be involved in military matters, and the organization has been very careful to avoid the use of the word “Israel” in its press releases.  This omission is likely because AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups do not want their support for intervention to appear self-serving.  Yet news that Israel itself now strongly advocates a strike against Assad diminishes any need to be circumspect.

It’s still too early to tell how effective these efforts will be, but it’s without question that AIPAC, which prides itself on its incomparable clout in Washington, will have an impact.

It’s a…..Plutocracy? Really?

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011 by Vbhotla

There was an interesting article on Al Jezeera this week blasting the US government as being a plutocracy.  The author asserts that American democracy has been sold to the highest bidders.  This is nothing new, but the interesting part is an email from a Capitol Hill staffer who was, apparently irritated by being swayed by outside interests (aka lobbyists).

Considering a surveyed, this assertion — and, in particular, the fact that the email is from a Hill aide — is ludicrous.

See the full text of the letter, as printed in Al Jazeera:

Perhaps the best line in the entire article was a quote from PBS commentator and former top  LBJ aide Bill Moyers:

“Why isn’t government working for them? Because it has been bought off. It is as simple as that. And until we get clean money we are not going to get clean elections, and until we get clean elections, you can kiss goodbye government of, by, and for the people. Welcome to the plutocracy. ”

It’s almost so ridiculous it’s convincing.

Happy Hump Day!