http://www.ihr.org/news/040716_hollings.shtml
July 16, 2004
'Iraq was Invaded to Secure Israel,' says Senator Hollings, and
'Everybody Knows It.'
By Mark Weber
July 16, 2004
When a prominent American political figure speaks boldly about
Jewish-Zionist power, that's news. So the recent remarks by South
Carolina's senior Senator that Iraq was invaded "to secure Israel,"
and that "everybody" in Washington knows it, are indeed remarkable.
Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, a Democrat who has represented his state in
the US Senate since 1966, is now serving his final term in Washington.
That fact may also help explain why he's now willing to defy the
pro-Israel lobby and speak candidly about its power.
It began with an essay about the Iraq war that appeared in the May 6
issue of the daily Post and Courier of Charleston.
"With Iraq no threat, why invade a sovereign country?," he wrote. "The
answer: President Bush's policy to secure Israel. Led by [Paul]
Wolfowitz, Richard Perle and Charles Krauthammer, for years there had
been a domino school of thought that the way to guarantee Israel's
security is to spread democracy in the area."
Several Zionist organizations, as well as some prominent Jewish
political figures, quickly chastised Hollings, and his remarks were
denounced as anti-Semitic.
But he didn't back down. Instead, he rose in the Senate on May 20 to
defend and explain his essay.
"I don't apologize for this column," he said. "I want them to
apologize to me for talking about anti-Semitism." President Bush went
to war in Iraq "to secure our friend, Israel" and "everybody knows
it," Hollings declared.
Referring to the cowardly reluctance of his Congressional colleagues
openly to acknowledge this reality, he said that "nobody is willing to
stand up and say what is going on." With few exceptions, members of
Congress uncritically support Israel and its policies due to "the
pressures that we get politically," he said. The pro-Israel lobby
knows "how to make you tuck tail and run." But "not the Senator from
South Carolina," he added, referring to himself. To emphasize the
seriousness of his remarks, Hollings said: "I have thought this out as
thoroughly as I know how, and it worries me that here we are..."
Bush's motive in going to war for Israeli interests, Hollings charged,
was to get Jewish support in election campaigns. "President Bush came
to office imbued with one thought: reelection. I say that advisedly. I
have been up here with eight Presidents. We have had support of all
eight Presidents. Yes, I supported the President on this Iraq
resolution, but I was misled. There weren't any weapons, or any
terrorism, or al-Qaida. This is the reason we went to war. He had one
thought in mind, and that was reelection...
"That is not a conspiracy. That is the policy. I didn't like to keep
it a secret, maybe; but I can tell you now, I will challenge any one
of the other 99 Senators to tell us why we are in Iraq, other than
what this policy is here. It is an adopted policy, a domino theory of
The [Zionist] Project For The New American Century. Everybody knows it
[is] because we want to secure our friend, Israel...
"Let's realize we are in real trouble. Saudi Arabia is in trouble.
Israel is in trouble. The United States is in trouble. I am going to
state what I believe to be the fact. In fact, I believe it very
strongly. They just are whistling by on account of the pressures that
we get politically. Nobody is willing to stand up and say what is
going on."
Hollings cited the role of the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC), the most important pro-Israel lobby group in
Washington, in determining US policy in the Middle East. "You can't
have an Israel policy other than what AIPAC gives you around here. I
have followed them mostly in the main, but I have also resisted
signing certain letters from time to time, to give the poor President
a chance.
"I can tell you no President takes office -- I don't care whether it
is a Republican or a Democrat — that all of a sudden AIPAC will tell
him exactly what the policy is, and Senators and members of Congress
ought to sign letters. I read those carefully and I have joined in
most of them. On some I have held back. I have my own idea and my own
policy..."
The Iraq war has been "a bad mistake," said Hollings. "Getting rid of
Saddam was not worth almost 800 dead GIs and over 3,500 maimed for
life..." This war is "a mistake like Vietnam," he added. "We got
misled with the [1964] Gulf of Tonkin [incident]. We got misled here,
and we are in that quagmire...
"The entire thing is a mess. Don't give me 'support the troops,
support the troops.' I have been with troops, about three years in
combat, so don't tell me about troops. I have always supported the
troops."
See also: A Look at the 'Powerful Jewish Lobby'.
© 2005 Institute for Historical Review
--
Contempt of Congress meter reading-offscale.
Hello, theocracy with a fundamentalist US Supreme
Court who will ensure church and state are joined
at the hip like clergy and altar boys.
America 1776-Jan 2001 RIP
.
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