Why won't the Senate speakout for a cease- fire in Lebanon?

[concerned citizen23]

I subscribe to an email newsletter called “The Pen” -- many of you may be familiar with them ---which is an activist organization that serves to notify it’s subscribers of petitions to sign in support of legislators who are sponsoring various forms of legislation:

A recent notification was for:
TELL THE SENATE TO SPEAK OUT FOR AN IMMEDIATE CEASE-FIRE IN LEBANON
ACTION PAGE: http://www.usalone.com/hambacker/pnum437.php

As part of their notification they provide commentary as to why one should support the legislation and sign the petition. The petition in turn is sent to your respective elected officials requesting their support.

This particular petition is proposed legislation opposing H. Res. 921 which passed the U. S. House on July 20, by a vote of 410-8.( The H.Res.921 measure expressed unconditional support of "Israel's right to defend itself").

Toward the end of their dissertation the “Pen” asked:

“So what is it with our...Senators....why are they not(speaking)out on the senate floor for an end to the senseless slaughter on both sides?”

I signed the petition and sent the following message:

Please, let's quit playing stupid, it's embarrassing and tiresome:

So what IS wrong with our Senators, elected officials and the Bush Administration?

Can you say: LOBBYIST as in?
The American-Israel Public Affairs Committee

(The following are excerpts from a research paper “The Israel Lobby and the Global Dominance Group”
By “Project Censored)

“Jeffrey Birnbaum from the Washington Post writes, “It ranked consistently among the five most influential interest groups in Fortune magazine's poll of Washington insiders”.

Besides AIPAC, other pro-Israel lobbies include The Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs (JINSA), the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Affairs (CAMERA), the Zionist Organization of America, and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP).

The Israel Lobby has a significant presence in corporate media. Haim Saban is Chairman and CEO of Fox Family Worldwide, Inc. He says in a 2002 New York Times interview, “I'm a one-issue guy and my issue is Israel.” Mr. Saban gave millions of dollars to Democratic campaigns, courted John Kerry, and gave tens of millions for a Middle East division at the Brookings Institute, and vacations with Bill Clinton.

A recent survey by the National Journal ranked AIPAC No. 2 among Democratic lawmakers and No. 4 among Republicans.” CNN reports that in 2000, AIPAC “spent more than $1 million in lobbying. It also directed many of the pro-Israel political action committees, which made $6.5 million in campaign contributions that year, two-thirds to Democrats, and a third to Republicans”.

The Bush/Cheney administration employs many members of the Lobby including such pro-Israel advocates as Elliot Abrams, John Bolton, Douglas Feith, I. Lewis Libby, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, and David Wurmser. In 2004, The New York Times reported that immediately after September 11, Feith and Wolfowitz pushed for attacks against Iraq and then Iran, a policy AIPAC advocated.

The working paper,“The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy” by John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, asserts the Israel Lobby (and yes, they do mean Lobby with a capital L) as being the figurehead in grappling the U.S.’ magnificent support”.

(See above mention research paper and http://www.projectcensored.org)

[LUHiWY]

1. neocons vs zionists?

....is there a difference?

..the tail wags the dog.......

[concerned citizen23]

4. Not really...

[cali]

2. It's not just AIPAC

It has a lot to do with Institutional Memory- a very real phenomena. In any case, I'm glad that one of my Senators has called for an immediatie ceasefire.

[concerned citizen23]

3. No ...of course not...

There are many players to be sure, as noted in the article there a numreous other organizations that are contributing to the "cause"

[leesa]

5. We make money when people are at war. The goal is to goad Iran

and Syria into fighting. Our economy is based on selling weapons and reconstruction contracts to every side in a battle.

[concerned citizen23]

6. So True...

and all this rapid turn over in inventory is very profitable...