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Neocons: We expected Israel to attack Syria
Yitzhak Benhorin
Published: 16.12.06, 16:07
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31. 14 It would be much simpler if the people
freedom ,   canada   (12.16.06)
in Syria stop being hellbent on violence and terrorism. Then the world would be a better place.
32. Neocons are Problem..Israelis are not
gentile USA ,   Virginia   (12.16.06)
The one thing that this article shows is that the israeli press is pretty fair and certainly open. I am glad to see open and honest debate, both for the sake of amercians and isrealis. The US media is so controlled you will never hear mention of NEOCON agenda, which is what has allowed these well connected think tank hacks to get their claws on such uninhibited power in the 1st place. We have a similar Judeo-Christian tradition with Jews and I do not wish any ill to a free and fair israel, but I fear that Neocon scheming nnow and in the years to come will eventually blow up into something ugly if it is not exposed and outed. Thank you Ynet and thank you for a Israeli media that is not towing the party line ans we are stuck with in the US.
33. Israel lost the war....Yet Israel is a free country!
Steven Wilson ,   Anchorage, Alaska   (12.16.06)
The USA is in a quagmire in Iraq...up to its neck in what?...........Mud.........fecal material.....what are they up to their neck into exactly..............maybe its time. Israel is a free country----huge news moment-----they did not lose their freedom-----so they couldn't of lost a war. Now they don't own Lebanon and Syria......this is very true. But who decided winning a war was about owning all the other countries assets? Is that the definition of winning a war? The US has been in Iraq for three and a half years. Does the amount of time in a country mean a lost cause.....a Quagmire.....up to your neck in who knows what? I never really got what we were up to our neck in. These newsmen....who paint with the broad brush on every story, have forgotten how to win a war. They are to busy telling everyone that they have lost the war. The army that gives up, and is conquered, is the one that lost the war. The time line of a war is infinite....it can last forever. Does a football game end at halftime? The news media thinks the game has lasted to long....obviously it must be over...the losing team is in a quagmire, up to their neck. Let's end it now. These writers need to report news from the perspective of a winner. Why help your country lose wars through negativity and brow beating every day of the week? You can't win....It's taking to long...the Neo-Cons had to much power in the government. The war would of never happened without the neo-cons. We lost because of the neo-cons. Is the war over??????????????? How have we lost a war....when we are still free....and it is still ongoing? This guy is writing opinion-----his own opinion. We are still fighting....and in his mind we have already surrendered. Is he the elected president? I don't recall electing him!
34. Coalition should have entered Iraq thru SYRIA,not from South
Alan ,   SA   (12.16.06)
Syria should have been smashed on DAY 1 and the entry to Iraq made thru Syria BYPASSING Damascus. Instead ,US left this Syrian front festering sore. (remember how the syrians were crapping themselves that they would be next) . Also Iran was worried+++ Also entry from Med side would have been easier (remember how Turkey refused transit rights ) USA showed that it couldnt organise a party in a brewery once it entered Iraq. A total news blackout with Al Jazeera or any other TV station being bombed if it showed one clip of the war.( If Bin Laden &co didnt have the Media they would have just been Gooks in a cave) Before the War some people thought the US was inept -now after the War ALL KNOW the US is inept . The US &Europeans always micromanage Israel's Wars ,telling Israel what they can and cant do . Also how many nano seconds they have to complete any task till the UN calls a Ceasefire . Who expected Israel to attack Syria on behalf of anyone else. Did the USA give Israel a Court Warrant of Execution to carry out an invasion of Syria??? Should Israel have gone in on a wink and a nod?? Does any sane person believe things will go better or worseWHEN the Democrats take over . All politicians are Whores in Snakes Clothing .Nothing will change except that there will be different US politicians pockets to fill ! Who expects this Islamofascism to change by end of Jan because Democrats are coming to town!
35. The NEOCONS are brilliant but intelligence is not enough
Melamie ,   USA   (12.16.06)
One has to translate their brilliance into practice. They obviously did not have enough power to go far enough as the obsructionists like Powell played a very negative role. Iran, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Yemen, Somalia, etc are the pariah states based on evil. They have their own set of objectives that are contrary to the American or Israeli interests. When America is acting indecisively it gives them power. You cannot apply a band-aid to the Middle Eastern wound. America has to treat the Middle Eastern disease aggressively. The American involvement in Iraq has not been agressive enough. Why was the terrorist Syria allowed to play a negative role without any consequences? Why has Iran been allowed to play a negative role in Lebanon, Afghanistan and Iraq without consequences? These are the questions we must ask the USA and not Israel.
36. Opportunities lost by Israel and US
Bernard Ross ,   St. Anns Bay Jamaica   (12.16.06)
the US lost the opportunity resulting from a quick win in Iraq to ally with Israel and the Kurds to bring down Syria. this would have really changed the mid east picture and ended the iraq insurgency from the sunnis side. Israel might not have attacked Syria and Lebanon fully because the US always speaks with a forked tongue confusing all.
37. #9..to John
Edithann ,   Maimi   (12.17.06)
Is it anti-semitism to tell the truth? We're in Iraq because of the Neocons, and they're pushing us into Iran.. Do hate America so much you'd want to see us in a worse mess?
38. The little problem
TC ,   Haifa   (12.17.06)
Sooner or later we will attack Syria (a long time we should have done it) but I don't believe that Iran will stay quietly in the background without doing nothing...
39. Jewish Neo-Cons Got Exactly What They Wanted
World Citizen ,   the world   (12.17.06)
And that was a destabilised Iraq without Saddam. Getting your enemies to fight among themselves is the game zionists have been perfecting for years. They want the same thing for Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Saudia Arabia and Iran. Wurmser's self-serving lies are a cover. They are leaving the Bush administration because they have accomplished their mission for Israel.
40. Syria should have been attacked
Ricardo Kolbe ,   Cologne, Germany   (12.17.06)
If this story is true it simply demonstrates that Israel is only the 51st state of the USA., and that Iran has to develop a sophisticated defence system and that the Arab League/ Mr. Amr Moussa has to get united in order to resist USrael aggression. At the same time it indicates that Seymour Hersh is right when saying that the Israeli war against Lebanon had nothing to do with this small country, however was a trial campaign (Isr. Air Force) to threaten Iran.
41. america will face the fate of Rome
USA gentile ,   virginia   (12.17.06)
Controlled by others who manipulate and use it for their own purposes, bogged down in fighting territorial wars on behalf of primitive insignificants who want to own the same plot of scubbrush. Wake up americans- settling the disputes of others and establishing an empire that originally was designed to serve YOU, ends up only with the originator state serving IT. This brought on the collapse of rome the french revolution, the russian revolution, all the large scale calamities of modern man. America will only be safe when it 1)vigorously protects it own borders, 2)deports illegals, 3)refuses to be a international welfare donor for those seek to leach off of us, 4)withdraws from international aid treaties that have us doing the bidding, paying the bills, and taking the casualties of others. 5) If war is to come, let the primary parties involved take massive casualties and damage from each other, to the point of near collapse, before we become involved. This will ensure that if the primitives wish to battle each other ever again, they will lose all taste for it, and like WW1 and WW2 we will minmize our casualties and cost, and let the primary instigators and beneficiariespay the bills destroy their own economies, and suffer the deaths. The biggest element of keeping the Israeli Arab conflict going on so long, is US guaratees and bribes that give both sides an incentive to not settle..why settle when it would stop the free US taxpayer dollars flowing in? Wake up americans, we are being used like sheep by these people, we must rout them AT ALL COSTS
42. neo-cons
Chris ,   Corpus Christi USA   (12.17.06)
No amount of lying will get the neocons out of this, because of them and their stupidity, neocon and Jew have become synonomous.
43. They play Jews, Muslims and Christians against each other
Cadavre ,   US   (12.17.06)
I use to blame the Jew. Then I got sophisticated, and I blamed Israel, Then I got more sophisticated and blamed Zionist. Eventually I arrived at a level of sophistication where I blamed Olmert, Sharon, Blair and Bush! And then I realized these guys are just clerks for entities I am having troubles being sophisticated enough to spot. Who are they? Are any of you west bank settlers (squatters?) happy and rich. Are you relatives in Israeli Northern Iraq dressing in ski masked ministry police costumes providing fodder for the medias so called ghettoesque "Shia on Sunni" Violence. Any of you guys in Israel having a good time and raking in the gold from the phony globalony war on terror? Jes, Israeli - Americans - we are being played by empty dark souls that don't care about any of us. I am not provoking Jew-nonJew distrusrt. I don't know any Jews or Muslims that are? Why do we distrust each other - it's certainly not pofitting us?
44. You must be insane.
ljp ,   USA   (12.17.06)
There is no such thing as a sane neo-con. They are all psychotic.
45. Snipper
Chumster ,   London   (12.17.06)
It's a matter of very public record that Tony Bliar is a murderer and a liar, sustained by a risible collection of career liars, faceless yes-people and obsequious sycophants similar to himself. The deceit and elitism in British political and media life has become even more repugnant than it was two decades ago and hope of any return to a semblance of decency and integrity is fading. These people are sewer rats and the first step towards recovering this situation is to deliver these war criminals unto short, sharp, unbiased justice at The Hague court for war-mongering savages to face charges of treason and genocide.
46. Shocking, evil
David ,   Perth, Australia   (12.18.06)
Thanks for exposing the underside of the beast. This interview does a couple of things. It shows CLEARLY that the "war on terror" was manufactured to suit Israeli needs and there's alone, there is nothing that is in the interests of Americans in the "war". It also shows clearly the complete lack of understanding of what it going on in Iraq. Anyone who can read knows that the Ba'ath resistance (Saddam's Army) is the moving force, not Syrians and other "foreigners". It also shows and completetly confirms the existence of a mole network working inside the USA administration to farther the goals of another nation, not the goals of the USA. In any man's plain english, those are spies and traitors. I can not understand how the USA allows traitors to have access to the levers of government. Finally, it demonstrates that the concept of "freedom" has become so debased as to be useless. Who is free now? Not American citizens, that's for sure. What on earth are the "core freedoms" that this madman talks about imposing on other countries and societies by force? Oxymoronic.
47. #42...lets be fair
USA gentile ,   virginia   (12.18.06)
lets not blame wildly or suggest that jewish equates to neocon. This article was obviously written by jews aand published by a courageous jewish media source..that is more than we can say by the controlled agit-prop foisted on us in the western media. Give credit where its due. Israel is no different than any other nation in that it is entitled to its territory as long as it can hold it..just like us. The west is rapidly cowering as our controlled `elites` in all parties give away our birthright for the advantage and profit of their cabals. The israelis arent stupid enough to be cowed by such propoganda. We must not fight israel battles nor finance them, but we should not deter their ability to protect their own ...just as we should be doing. attacking all `jews` is unjustified, especially when their media is telling the truth here, and OURS is feeding us stories about britney spears domestic disputes with no mention of the topics that really matter.
48. NEOCONS ARE NOT THE BLAME !
RCA ,   USA   (12.18.06)
It should be obvious to every one that there is a complexity of factors and influences that have been at play. In America, and Israel, where everyone is an armchair general, and where so many are against war in principle, the NEOCONS are worthy of some praise for the full effect of their limited input and influence. The "ISOLATIONIST" PALEOCONS were not without their influence. The wacky anti-semitic far-left has always been vocaly in the mix also. NEOCONS helped open the door to the mission in which it was expected that Israel would perform. Israel didn't. The NEOCONS carried the ball for America and Israel as far as their influence would go. Lets face it, for whatever reason, Israel dropped the ball. Myself and everyone else believed that the Israeli leadership was up to the strategic challenge. We were dirt wrong ! The IDF performed superbly under the circumstances, but their leadership let them down. A shark is an animal that has to keep moving through the ocean in order to survive. Regarding Israels current leadership, its easy to see that Israel has a dead shark on its hands. It's not funny either.
49. #42, nice generalization...
DR ,   Florida, USA   (12.18.06)
I say, all people from Corpus Chisti are on drugs. How about that? People like you seem to be so hateful towards your leaders, its almost an obsession, isn't it? No matter who runs this country, half the people are not happy. Maybe this is why the outside world sees the US as kind of a dumb nation? How do you think Democrats would have handled the intel about Saddama and WMD's? How do you think they would handle the Middle East conflict? Do you really think they would have all this under control? I voted for Clinton and then Gore, but I don't think you can blame Bush for everything that's wrong in the world.
50. #48 could not be more wrong
USA gentile ,   virginia   (12.19.06)
Neocons- i.e. those of whatever persuasion who wish to marshall the resources and tax dollars and military casualties of americans to do the bidding of other nations ARE most certainly not only a problem, they are a disaster of the greatest magnitude. The paleocons, such as myself, were entirely excluded from the Bush 2 regime, they had no say. Are plaeocons good for Israelis who want to see the US fight and/or finance their fights with their regional enemies?..NO, thats because Paleocons are only interested in protecting their own nation not involving ourselves in others conflicts which causes most of the problems we currently `enjoy`. We do need any `dual-citizens` dragging us into the conflicts of their nations of origin under fabricated pretense. I still have sympathy for Isrealis, but ,even those of us who still feel so, find that sympathy dissipate when we are played for fools by a cabal with hidden agendas and prepackaged media schemes to drum up fear and compliance.
51. #50- USA gentile
RCA ,   USA   (12.19.06)
Having tred myself the path from isolationism to internationalism during the course of many years from college as a young political science major to my later doctorate in health care I find it easy to respect your position, though I disagree with your characterizations which have led you to your understandable conclusions. Though I disagree with those also. Your voiced opinion is quite Buchannonesque, ( if my memory serves me correctly ) and has fallen somewhat out of favor in these times lacking traction after the fact of American involvements... Alas, our great nation has forged ahead against the wishes of our founding fathers and engaged and involved itself in the labrynth and quagmire of international treatys, deals and involvements leading to international entanglements. As to doing the bidding of other nations, I must take with a grain of salt. Though there are existing pressures abounding. It's no secret , that the PALEOCONS in some quarters, have had the taint of anti-semitism , as a historical footnote, so I can understand your position, even though you may not hold to that position, and yourself wishing only to be a loyal and true Americanist. Though I would hope that you had researched Paleo-Conservatism if you identify with the label. I disagree with you because your position no longer fits the reality of our already deep involvement with Israel and other nations and international situations. Unfortunately American Political Theory has sometimes taken a back seat along with strict Constitutionalism through the years, and we find that WE MUST BECOME INVOLVED FOR OUR OWN FUTURE SURVIVAL . You could say, this is one reason of many, why we have PALEOCONS and NEOCONS. I myself am no longer neither liberal nor conservative, but have evolved to the position of MODERATE because our time requires MODERATION in the face of EXTREME-ISM. The advice of Washington himself still stands true and I would not wish to argue with it based on its great merits. The fact remains, that as an American, and as a Jew, my only hope is total victory for America(BECAUSE WE ARE INVOLVED) and our Israeli allies and kinspeople. I appreciate your concern and your talkback. SHALOM !
52. The first thing we do is hang the neo-cons
cato89925 ,   L.A. USA   (12.19.06)
You reap what you sow. The neo-con's influence and objective is crystallized in Messr. Douglas Feith and his Office of Special Plans. Lies and more lies from a commited Zionist costing us US blood. Not solely dictated by Israeli interests--but certainly their influence was outcome detrminative. Now the slander, fears, prejudices and demagougery they used to manipulate us into this war, will come back to haunt them. The worm has turned and investigations/prison are the least these traitiors deserve. My fear though is that Israel--rightly or wrongly yoked to the neo-cons and AIPAC will be harmed too severely--but alas not so severe as Iraq et al. The tail wagged another dog--and that dog is now rabid
53. Ma'shlomcha, Israelis
Cat ,   London, UK   (12.19.06)
Please don't listen to those Neo-con warmongers anymore. Make peace with your neighbours, ignore the U.S. demands to martyr your sons and daughters for their corporate cause, sort out your boundaries, practice equal rights for all citizens, and live a life worth living. Help your neighbours to rebuild - remember A.H.Gordon? Remember what plans you had for the land before American-sponsored real-estate deals and tasteless themepark deals came along? Take a trip back 100 years and rediscover your values. I was truly horrified to see the arrogant Wurmser squirm in her Ivory Tower as she scapegoats Israel. Olmert is not so bad, when you consider the alternative is Netanyahu/Liberman and the Libermen and their fear/security propaganda. The only way to having lasting security is to be good to yourselves and your neighbours. All life is precious. Yisrael Am Chai!
54. neocons/syria
geoffrey burnet ,   hamilton nz   (12.20.06)
The point remains that beause the neo- consevatives are to a large extent Jewish does not make them a Jewish lobby , if their ideas did not fit with a wider geopolitical set of agendas they would never have had a hearing . This however does not excuse them for the damage they have done .
55. #51- RCA
USA gentile ,   virginia   (12.20.06)
I take the Buchananesque comment as a compliment and you have indeed percieved correctly my viewpoint. I disagree that Paleocons have any legitimate history of anti-semitism, or for that matter what could be more correctly and less flammably termed anti-zionism. Paleo concerns do not extend to what Israel or any other nation does within the boundaries of its state. If the israelis seek to carve out a homeland in the levant, which they have done quite well, I find them no less entitled to self determination than anyone else. I do not have any interest in interfering and I dont find it any more of an imposition on the islamic population than the force and abuse muslims exerted on the christians in what today passes for turkey...a whole nation, the birth place of the early christian churches, was stolen and raped, but no muslim seems to find this at all disconcerting. I think the rubicon crossed in the parting of our respective positions is the (paleo) concept of seperate nation states having mutually exclusive interests. I do not think that the US has any continuing, compelling, interest in common with Israel- that does not deny its right to exist or exert all appropriate influence within its `sphere`. It just mandates that the ones who must pay for, fight for, and plan for those needs are Israelis. Neocons have the opposite concept, in which the nation of Israel is all but entitled to a status of the 51st state in our union, and all american interests almost invariably intersect with those of Israel. This was never more clearly dispelled than the attempted sale of US military technology, supplied free of charge to Israel, to Red China. Had any other nation engaged in this they would be cast out as enemies, and rightly so. The israelis were doing what they felt was best for Israel. They saw profit and a potentially lucrative trade relationship with China, and misjudged that we were to timid to make so much as a protest. Our protests were muted and did not go far enough to punish a betrayal by a nation to which we have given more than Israel can ever repay. Our (the US ) threat is an internal one. We are not controlling our own borders and are infested with the refuse of the nations that are at best jealous of our success and at worst mean us harm. We need to exclude those who are potentially a threat to our nation and way of life. When we admit foreign nationals they need to be legal and they need to compete for the available slots, so that we take only the best, not the least cpable and educated. Islamic extremism is only a threat to us if we let it in. Fighting a war 7000 miles away under rationales developed by Neocons who always have the 51st state in the back of their minds, is an utter waste of resources that desperately need to be applied to our own internal concerns...the concerns that let 19 mulims on EXPIRED tourist and student visas plot against us from the comfort of Palm Beach Florida. I think Israel also has its own demographic matter that is far more pressing than any other. It needs to take and annex what land its people will require, just as was done in Europe after WW2 and its is entitled to it as reparations. Settle your people and stop apologizing over supposed west bank or Gaza border lines drawn before the arabs decided to try their luck at war instead of abide by diplomacy. The UN has no say over this, nor does the US..act effectively and if need be ruthlessly in your own peoples interest and you will prevail. But.. we all must do for ourselves, or risk alienating those who find themselves a pawn, as is now the case. best wishes and Shalom.
56. #55- USA gentile
RCA ,   USA   (12.20.06)
You raise some good points, that I dare not refute and maybe a few that I would. I think we may have arrived at our own perspectives through splitting some hairs along the way, something that is sometimes unavoidable in our own situations. A splendid exchange of perspective and ideas ! I recommend your comments for others to consider. Shalom, my friend.
57. The Bomb
David ,   Atlanta Georgia USA   (12.20.06)
Is it true that most of the readers here want the Bomb to remain ambiguous? Shades of Dr Strangelove. Besides, it is against international law. Why do you folks think the issue of Iran is so weighty? Granted, the law is not being applied equally to say India, but this is still no reason to avoid being accountable to the world community. A country that isn't accountable is by definition, a rogue State. So. lets us all be law abiding? It promotes PEACE.
58. Neocon & Jews are NOT related - where do that they are?
Sheri ,   rockville maryland   (01.24.07)
Jeez, have none of you been in the U.S. and talked with a Jew? Most Jews couldn't stand Bush and voted against him. During the build up to the Iraq war Jews were MIXED on whether we should go in! Polls of Jews reflected this at the time. You are an anti-semite if you think this war was caused by JEWS, or that Jews control American policy. If it sounds like an anti-semitic stereotype, it is one. Americans over all thought we SHOULD take care of the Iraqi threat of terrorism (which is how it was being sold to the Americans.) Congress members have said they voted for it, based not only on data, but on polls of AMERICANS that showed they wanted it. The Neocons like Bush sold it, but this was NOT a Jewish nor Israeli war. Most American Jews are still liberal democrates and so reflects AiPAC, so relating them to neocons is just hating one, the neocons, and finding it as a good excuse to hate Jews one more way, even though it doesn't make sense at all. What is different in the Jewish perspective is more knowledge of how dangerous some of these things and leaders in the Middle East are. There was no invitation for Israel to go into Syria, but Hizbelloh did cross the border first. The summer war brought attention to the Iranian situation. In hind sight, a larger war might make sense, but at the time just getting attention of the world on that matter was a big deal.
59. Crazy
Karim S ,   Paris, France   (06.28.07)
The crazy thing about this article is that this good Dr. Wurmser first says he and his Neocon friends had nothing to do with the war in Irak but finally admits that he would have liked Israel to do the dirty work in Syria. What makes these people think the only way of solvig problems is by waging war. These "Hawks" have the insight and understanding of "Pigeons" it seems. And the worst in this story is that if Israel had attacked: "No one would have stopped you"
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