Israel's Influence Of US Policy & The Israeli Lobby

Scott Ritter Describes Israel's Role In Shaping U.S. Foreign Policy

"One of the big problems is, ah, Israel, The second you mention Israel, The nation Israel, The concept Israel, here goes the grenade, the minute you mention Israel, the concept Israel, many in the American press become defensive.

We're not allowed to be highly critical of the state of Israel.

The other thing we're not allowed to do is discuss the notion that Israel, and the notion of Israeli interests may in fact be dictating what America is doing. That what we're doing in the Middle East may not be to the benefit to America's national security, but to Israel's national security.

But we don't want to talk about that, because one of the great success stories is the Israel Lobby that has successfully enabled themselves to blend the two together, so that if we speak of Israeli interests, they say 'no, we're speaking of American interests.'

It's interesting that AIPAC and other elements of the Israel Lobby don't have to register as agents of a foreign government. It would be nice if they did, because we'd know if they're advocating on behalf of Israel or they're advocating on behalf of the United States of America.

I would challenge the New York Times to sit down and do a story on Israel; on the role Israel plays in influencing America's foreign policy.

There is nothing wrong with Israel trying to influence America's foreign policy. The British seek to influence our foreign policy; the French seek to influence our foreign policy; the Saudi's seek to influence our foreign policy. The difference is, when they do this and they bring American citizens into play, these American's once they take the money of a foreign government and they advocate on behalf of that foreign government, they register themselves as an agent of that foreign government so that we know where they're coming from.

That's all I ask the Israeli's to do. Let us know where you're coming from. Stop confusing the American public that Israel's interests are necissarily America's...

...As an American, I have to tell you that Hezbollah does NOT threaten the national security of the United States one iota. So we should not be talking about using American forces to deal with the Hezbollah issue; that's an Israeli problem. And yet you see the New York Times, the Washington Post and other media outlets confusing the issue. They want us to believe that Hezbollah is an American problem. It isn't ladies and gentlemen.

Hezbollah was created three years after Israel invaded Lebanon, not after the United States invaded Lebanon. And Hezbollah's sole purpose was to liberate Southern Lebanon from Israeli occupation.

...Hezbollah is not a terrorist organization that threatens the national security of the United States of America..."