Last Updated: 2008/12/05 20:49

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Inside America

U.S. Political Report

(Return to Japanese translation.)

George R. Packard
President, International University of Japan;
Director of the Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University, President, U.S.-Japan Foundation

George R. Packard was dean of SAIS from 1979 to 1993 and is now director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies as well as professor of East Asian studies at the school. He is also president of the International University of Japan. From 1965 to 1967, he was chief diplomatic correspondent for Newsweek. Prior to that, he served as special assistant to U.S. Ambassador to Japan Edwin O. Reischauer. In March of 1998, he was appointed president of the U.S.-Japan Foundation.

Packard Report - Apr. 2006

An extraordinary report is shaking up the cozy world of Washington and New York journalism circles this week. Entitled "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," the report was authored by two respected scholars from Harvard and the University of Chicago.

The two authors are Stephen M. Walt, Dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government and John J. Mearsheimer from the Department of Political Science at Chicago University. Neither is Jewish. They have described in 81 pages, carefully sourced and footnoted, how the Israel Lobby and the "Neo-Cons" in the Bush Administration took the U.S. into the war in Iraq. Their words are explosive.

Most of the mainstream media in the U.S. have shied away from this topic until now, even though the charges are well known and often thought to be true. The reason reporters and editors are wary of getting into this topic is that they will be instantly charged with anti-Semitism (anti-Jewish bias) which can ruin their careers.

Many high officials in Washington, past and present, admit privately that the charges are true, but they quickly add, "we can't say that because the pro-Israel media will kill us!"

It appears that Walt and Mearsheimer had trouble finding a publisher for their article. It first appeared in London in The Times Literary Supplement and then on the Internet web page of the Social Science Research Network. It can be downloaded at http://ssrn.com/abstract=891198.

So far, the New York Times has completely ignored the report. The Washington Post treated it in a curious manner on March 26 in its "Outlook" or opinion section, printing excerpts but then deriding it by quoting favorable comments from David Duke, the American Nazi leader. A number of well-known pro-Israeli figures such as Marvin Kalb and Alan Dershowitz have called on Harvard to withdraw the paper. Harvard responded by removing its name and that of the Kennedy School from the cover page, and adding that "the views expressed in [this paper] are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the John F. Kennedy School of Government or Harvard University.

Here are some of the explosive charges in the paper:
  • The overall thrust of U.S. policy in the Middle East is due to the activities of the "Israel Lobby."
  • The Bush Administration's ambitious strategy to transform the Middle East - beginning with the invasion ofIraq - is at least partly intended to improve Israel's strategic situation.
  • The U.S. has a terrorism problem in good part because it is so closely allied with Israel, not the other way around.
  • Israel's nuclear arsenal is one reason why some of its neighbors want nuclear weapons.
  • Israel spies on the U.S., casting further doubt on its strategic value as an ally.
  • Israel is not a liberal democracy. Israel's conduct is not morally distinguishable from the actions of its opponents.
  • AIPAC (American-Israeli Political Action Committee), the most powerful of the pro-Israel lobbying groups, rewards Congressional candidates who support its agenda and punish those who challenge it.
  • Officials in the Bush Administration who consistently pushed for policies favored by Israel included Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, and "Scooter" Libby.
  • The Lobby "boasts of its own power and then attacks anyone who calls attention to it. This tactic is very effective because anti-Semitism is loathsome and no responsible person wants to be accused of it."
There is much much more that is explosive. The question today is whether and how these charges will seep into the mainstream press. Stay tuned.

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