The "O" Word and the "L" Word

Our country is Occupied by Lobbyists. The health industry lobbyists make sure the greedy health insurance executives continue to make obscene profits by preventing Americans from obtaining the health care they need. The banking/finance industry lobbyists make sure there are no meaningful regulations which might prevent their greedy executives from making even more obscene profits to be paid for by yet unborn taxpayers who must fund the bailouts. The Israel Lobby, in happy collaboration with the Military Industrial Complex Lobby, makes sure America wages never-ending wars against those Muslim nations who object to Israel's greedy illegal occupations.

Israel Lobby neocons are thus currently pushing for an escalation to our occupation of Afghanistan and an escalation of crippling sanctions against Iran, which they hope will lead to yet another war on behalf of Israel. The Israel Lobby-dominated Congress and the Israel Lobby-dominated media avoid the "O" word, so that in discussions of Palestinian resistance groups, for instance, such as Hamas, it is never mentioned that it is Israel's illegal occupation which is the violence motivator. We only hear about this from bin Laden who keeps telling us that this is why we have to fight al Qaeda to begin with.

Meanwhile our Secretary of State arrogantly lectures other countries: "In Moscow, Clinton Urges Russia to Open Its Political System" (The New York Times 10/15/09) Our political system is indeed open, ie open to entrenched occupation by lobbyists to the detriment of the American people. Other countries would be wise not to follow suit.

The Afghan Strategy

We suppose it is too much to hope that the administration's anti-al Qaeda Afghanistan strategy analysis includes an analysis of why we are targeted by al Qaeda to begin with. Although the counterproductive effect of civilian bombings and other intrusive aspects of our "military footprint" have been duly noted, the rabid rhinoceros in the room, which is the Israeli occupation, continues to be blithely ignored.

For decades, the Israel Lobby-dominated media has made sure that Americans never connect these dots. How many Americans are aware that the Arab oil embargo in the 70's was because of our support of Israel's illegal occupations? Al Qaeda's leader bin Laden keeps trying to wake Americans up, as in his 9/14/09 audiotape, when he reiterated the fact that al Qaeda hates us because we subsidize Israeli atrocities and war crimes.

Israel's military footprint is more ghastly than ours. During their recent scorched-earth invasion of Gaza, besides massacring 1400 and wounding God-knows-how many more, Israel has made sure that all survivors keep suffering, by bulldozing their farmlands, bombing their one operational flour factory, their chicken farms, etc. They might have considered salting Palestinian fields, but their modern equivalent is military uranium residue.

Meanwhile al Qaeda continues to spread around the world. Will the Israel Lobby neocons next be instructing us to occupy Somalia in order to prevent an al Qaeda base there? Americans would like to end our occupations but we are told we must stay indefinitely because of al Qaeda. Yet bin Laden informs us that it is because of our occupations and support of Israel's occupations that we are under attack. It is time to sever relations with the War Crimes State of Israel and bring our troops home.