M.J. Rosenberg writes: AIPAC is taking an incredible risk by making an unprecedented full court press to pass the bomb Syria resolution.
Never in its history has it gone all out to achieve passage or defeat for anything not directly related to Israel. And, because Congress is snugly in its pocket on Israel issues, it rarely needs to fight.
AIPAC’s last big battle was in 1991 when it tried to get extra aid to support Soviet Jewish refugees in Israel. President George H. W. Bush said the extra aid (in the form of loan guarantees) would only be provided if Israel froze West Bank settlement construction. Prime Minister Shamir said no and Bush said: no extra aid for you.
AIPAC descended on the Hill as they now are over Syria, leading Bush to publicly say “I am one lonely little guy” up against “some powerful political forces” made up of “a thousand lobbyists on the Hill.” [Continue reading…]
It would be great to see them humiliated, but the scenario which is developing is similar to the one which preceded the bombing of Kosovo. There is already talk of the House vote being delayed. Obama will probably win a narrow vote in the Democrat controlled Senate, and then he will just go ahead and do it and present the House a fait accompli. The House may not even vote at all, and he can claim that he had an authorization of sorts and that he didn’t have any more time to waste waiting for the ineffective and irrelevant Republican House.