March 30, 2004

9/11 Commission Director: Iraq War Launched to Protect Israel



by Emad Mekay

IPS uncovered the remarks by Philip Zelikow, who is now the executive director of the body set up to investigate the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001 – the 9/11 commission – in which he suggests a prime motive for the invasion just over one year ago was to eliminate a threat to Israel, a staunch U.S. ally in the Middle East.

Zelikow's casting of the attack on Iraq as one launched to protect Israel appears at odds with the public position of President George W. Bush and his administration, which has never overtly drawn the link between its war on the regime of former president Hussein and its concern for Israel's security.

The administration has instead insisted it launched the war to liberate the Iraqi people, destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and to protect the United States.

Zelikow made his statements about "the unstated threat" during his tenure on a highly knowledgeable and well-connected body known as the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), which reports directly to the president.

He served on the board between 2001 and 2003.

"Why would Iraq attack America or use nuclear weapons against us? I'll tell you what I think the real threat (is) and actually has been since 1990 – it's the threat against Israel," Zelikow told a crowd at the University of Virginia on Sep. 10, 2002, speaking on a panel of foreign policy experts assessing the impact of 9/11 and the future of the war on the al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

"And this is the threat that dare not speak its name, because the Europeans don't care deeply about that threat, I will tell you frankly. And the American government doesn't want to lean too hard on it rhetorically, because it is not a popular sell," said Zelikow.

The statements are the first to surface from a source closely linked to the Bush administration acknowledging that the war, which has so far cost the lives of nearly 600 US troops and thousands of Iraqis, was motivated by Washington's desire to defend the Jewish state.

The administration, which is surrounded by staunch pro-Israel, neo-conservative hawks, is currently fighting an extensive campaign to ward off accusations that it derailed the "war on terrorism" it launched after 9/11 by taking a detour to Iraq, which appears to have posed no direct threat to the United States.

Zelikow has long-established ties to the Bush administration.

His close ties to the administration prompted accusations of a conflict of interest in 2002 from families of victims of the 9/11 attacks, who protested his appointment to the investigative body.

Ina s much as this is just so much tired old conspiracy theory, devoid of any substantiation AND it flies in the face of all the facts about the need for the war, let's assume it is true.

So what?

We've fought PLENTY of wars on behalf of our staunch allies.

Why shouldn't we topple Sadam and erase a huge threat to Israel?

Inter Press Service, March 29, 2004

. . . The administration, which is surrounded by staunch pro-Israel, neo-conservative hawks, is currently fighting an extensive campaign to ward off accusations that it derailed the "war on terrorism" it launched after 9/11 by taking a detour to Iraq, which appears to have posed NO DIRECT THREAT to the United States. . .

. . . Even though members of the 16-person PFIAB come from outside government, they enjoy the confidence of the president and have access to all information related to foreign intelligence that they need to play their vital advisory role. Known in intelligence circles as "Piffy-ab", the board is supposed to evaluate the nation's intelligence agencies and probe any mistakes they make.

The unpaid appointees on the board require a security clearance known as "code word" that is higher than TOP SECRET. The national security adviser to former President George H.W. Bush (1989-93) Brent Scowcroft, currently chairs the board in its work overseeing a number of intelligence bodies, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the various military intelligence groups and the Pentagon's National Reconnaissance Office. . .

. . . Zelikow has long-established ties to the Bush administration. Before his appointment to PFIAB in October 2001, he was part of the current president's transition team in January 2001. In that capacity, Zelikow drafted a memo for National Security Adviser CONDOLEEZA RICE on reorganising and restructuring the National Security Council (NSC) and prioritising its work. . . .

. . . To date, the possibility of the United States attacking Iraq to protect Israel has been only timidly raised by some intellectuals and writers, with few public acknowledgements from sources close to the administration. Analysts who reviewed Zelikow's statements said they are concrete evidence of one factor in the rationale for going to war, which has been HUSHED UP.

"Those of us speaking about it sort of routinely referred to the protection of Israel as a component," said Phyllis Bennis of the Washington-based Institute of Policy Studies. "But this is a very good piece of evidence of that." . . .

""Those of us speaking about it sort of routinely referred to the protection of Israel as a component,""

And a very important component it is.

Face it, Isarel is the only civilized state in the entire Middle East. That's just an irrefutable fact.

If Isreal goes, the entire middle east is virtually thrown back into the stone age.

Protecting our only true ally in the asshole of the world is of utmost importance.

If that is the icing on the cake of defeating Sadam then so be it.

If you believe that, then you have to admit that the Iraq War was in the works BEFORE 9/11.

If you believe that, then you also have to admit that the Iraq War has nothing to do with Al Qaeda or Osama bin Laden.

And If you believe that, then why did the President have to LIE to the American Public to have his little war?

I'll tell you why, because the President didn't care about the facts nor did he care about a Constitutionally valid case for war.

I'm KOBE HQ.

Please hack and spam my ignorant, Islamophobic website.

www.kobehq.com

"If you believe that, then you have to admit that the Iraq War was in the works BEFORE 9/11. "

No shit sherlock.

This "war" has been planned ever since the end of the first Gulf War and Sadam's subsequent breaking of every ceasefire agreement.

There were plans to attck Iraq in continuous flux and refinement all throughout Clinton's admin.

THis is nothing new.

The only thing 9-1 has to do with attacking Iraq now is it taught us a simple truth ...FINALLY.

Nip these threats from the Islamist world in the bud AND stop seeing the issue as a war against individual nation states.

Although whatever ties Sadam had to 9-11 remain shrouded if any, the fact is that because of 9-11, we MUST have an agressive and active mil,itary presence in the middle east. Taking the fight to THEM.

Iraq was simply an ideal launching point given Sadam's abysmal record as a monster and tyrant and the fact that he broke every ceasefire agreement making any invasion or strike completely "legal".

So yeah, you're right. Hopefully you'll be whining about how we had planned to attack Syria years befor we actually did it, which will hopefully be rather soon.

If Bush had really wanted to reduce or eliminate terrorism, he should have ended all military aid to Israel. This would have accomplished two things: (1) it would have virtually destroyed Israel's ability to wage aggressive wars against its neighbors and (2) it would have greatly lessened the feelings of rage that Arabs and other Middle Eastern peoples feel towards the United States and thus made events like 9/11 much less likely to occur. Israel is the number one terrorist state not only in the Middle East but in the World. It is a cancer that has to be removed.

"Israel is the number one terrorist state not only in the Middle East but in the World. "

Meyer...even you aren't this ridiculous.

That's simply an ignorant statement, as is the notion that Isarel is the aggressor in the conflicts it has with it's neighbors.

Either you are joking, incredibly stupid or simply an out and out Jew hating racist.

Thankfully, you're views are typically ignored by the actual thinking component of society.

Isreal will continue to get all the aid it needs and deserves from us.

Now, we SHOULD absolutely cut off all aid to murder-states or would be murder-states like "palestine".

Let's hear it again for the US rocket that killed that rolling piece of shit Yassin and his lackeys.

Hip Hip Hooray!

The best way to end terrorism is to have dialouge with them and find out what they want and then do it. If we just do what they want us to do, they'll leave us alone except when we're doing what they want us to. But when we get some free time, we can do what we want as long as it doesn't violate any Islamic laws or nothing.

The very fact that the Bush administration is appeasing Pakistan -- a country that actually has NUCLEAR WEAPONS, has admitted to selling NUCLEAR SECRETS on the black market, and has been hiding OSAMA BIN LADEN and AL QAEDA for over 2 YEARS -- trumps your parroted Republican rhetoric.

If Bush really want to "teach" those dirty middle eastern muslims a lesson, then Pakistan would have been the primary TARGET, not our primary ALLY.

The War in IRAQ had nothing to do with terrorism, and every day more and more evidence is surfacing to prove that very point.

...don't bother casting your pearls before shitpiles...

"If Bush really want to "teach" those dirty middle eastern muslims a lesson, then Pakistan would have been the primary TARGET, not our primary ALLY. "

Couldn't agree more.

In fact, you can staple Bush to a nuclear armed cruise missle and aim him at Islamabad.

That would be fine with me.

Obviously the war is about terrorism. It's obviously not about oil. We haven't seen any of that.

Everyday we kill more of these savage swarthy bugs. But I agree, we should be expanding the fight out of Iraq exponentially.

"Iraq was simply an ideal launching point given Sadam's abysmal record as a monster and tyrant..."

Ummm....okay. When do we invade North Korea?

"...Jew hating racist."

Wow! So anyone who criticizes Israel is a "Jew hating racist?" Please give us some more of this third grade logic of yours.

MORON.

fanta wrote:

"Wow! So anyone who criticizes Israel is a "Jew hating racist?"

agreed wrote:

"Everyday we kill more of these savage swarthy bugs."

Jewish racism, on the other hand, is good, you know. It's a great thing when young American goyem soldiers die for Israel, just so long as they don't try to marry into the Jewish bloodline, that is. Keep spreading the word, fanta.

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