{"article":{"id":111545,"heading":"Ex-Mideast Envoy Zinni Charges Neocons Pushed Iraq War For Israel","author":"Jewish Newspaper: The Forward","created":"2004-05-31 19:37:04","modified":"2004-05-31 19:37:04","last_modified":"Tue, 01 Jun 2004 02:37:04","article":"<br>  <br> Israel Lowey: Bush's Policies Increasing Danger to Jews Around the  <br>  <br> World  <br><br> By Ori Nir And Ami Eden  <br><br> Forward  <br>  <br> 28 May 2004  <br><br>  <br>  <br> The simmering debate over the role of Jewish neoconservatives in  <br>  <br> drawing America into war in Iraq erupted with new fury this week.  <br>  <br> One of America's most respected ex-generals took to the airwaves  <br>  <br> to charge on CBS News' \"60 Minutes\" that the war had been fought  <br>  <br> for Israel's benefit, just days after a similar charge was leveled  <br>  <br> on the floor of the U.S. Senate.  <br><br> The retired general, Anthony Zinni, a past chief of the U.S.  <br>  <br> Central Command and President Bush's former Middle East special  <br>  <br> envoy, told \"60 Minutes\" on Sunday that the neoconservatives' role  <br>  <br> in pushing the war for Israel's benefit was \"the worst-kept secret  <br>  <br> in Washington.\" Three days earlier, Senator Ernest \"Fritz\"  <br>  <br> Hollings, a South Carolina Democrat, rose on the Senate floor to  <br>  <br> defend a newspaper essay he had written earlier in the month  <br>  <br> making the same charge. Both men complained that they had been  <br>  <br> unfairly labeled antisemitic for speaking out.  <br><br> Their comments come just weeks after the United Nations' special  <br>  <br> envoy to Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi, called Israel a \"poison in the  <br>  <br> region\" and said that American support for Israeli policies was  <br>  <br> making his job more difficult.  <br><br> In the face of these mounting criticisms, a leading Jewish  <br>  <br> Democrat on Capitol Hill, Rep. Nita Lowey of New York, told the  <br>  <br> Forward that the president's policies were increasing the danger  <br>  <br> to Jews across the world.  <br><br> \"We are very worried about the rise of antisemitism  <br>  <br> internationally,\" said Lowey in an interview Monday with the  <br>  <br> Forward. She argued that disdain for the president and his  <br>  <br> policies has \"stirred up\" antisemitic feelings worldwide. \"It's a  <br>  <br> real concern for me as a Jewish member of Congress.\"......  <br><br> <a href=\"http:\/\/forward.com\/main\/article.php?ref=eden200405271245\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/forward.com\/main\/article.php?ref=eden200405271245<\/a> \n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"&quot;pushing the war for Israel's benefit was 'the worst-kept secret in Washington' &quot; \r\n\r\n","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2004\/05\/111545.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}