Jewish groups push for US war on Iran, after pushing for war in Iraq.

American Jewish groups now openly boast of pushing for sanctions on Iran, which they consider to be a first step towards a build-up to the war they've always longed for:   

A day of advocacy in Washington last week and a rally in New York next week mark major efforts by the American Jewish community to push the issue of Iran’s nuclear program to the forefront and increase the general sense of urgency to end it. (See page 29.)

Members of the northern New Jersey Jewish community joined more than 300 other Jewish leaders from around the country who met with legislators in Washington Sept. 10 to thank them for supporting the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act of 2009 and drum up support among those who had not yet signed on. The measure would penalize companies that help Right Iran import or produce refined petroleum.

There was a time, when the Iraq war had turned sour, that pro-Israeli and Jewish groups in the US showed some shame and tried to pretend like they weren't the ones pushing hard for a war in Iraq. They made a point of trying to hide their faces while also pushing their unmitigated desire for a US-Iran war.

Writing in the Forward, Ori Nir reported that Jewish community leaders have urged the White House to refrain from publicly pledging to defend Israel against Iran because:

"Jewish activists are concerned that 'there would be [a scenario] just like with Iraq: the idea that somehow the Jewish community and the neoconservatives have dragged the United States into a conflict with Iran,' said Martin Raffel, associate executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs...'And if things go badly and our people are killed, then who is to blame?'' " (emphasis mine)

Yes, "somehow" they're to blame for the consequences of their own lobbying. "Somehow" the pro-Israeli lobbyists and NeoCons, who made it their single-minded obsession to push the US into invading Iraq, were accused of dragging the US into that war. God forbid that the same people somehow be accused of the doing the same thing with respect to Iran, even when they're pushing for a war on Iran with similar maniacal vehemence, because naturally that would be an "anti-Semitic" thing so say...but in the meantime, they'll keep campaiging for a war on Iran anyway

I think Walt-Mearsheimer put it best in their book, The Israel Lobby:

Although it makes good strategic sense for the United States and Iran to pursue a grand bargain, and although there is plenty of suport for that policy inside and outside of America, it is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Israel and the lobby will almost certainly try to thwart any efforts to seriously engage Iran before they get started, as they have consistently done since 1993...If the United States does launch an attack, it wll be doing so in part on Israel's behalf, and the lobby will bear significant responsibility for having pushed this dangerous policy. And it would not be in America's national interest.

Comments

[Pirouz]

Well Cyrus, the "Jewish groups" got a boost today. Ahmadinejad didn't disappoint them with his talk of the holocaust on Quds Day. Sure, it was nothing new. Sure, the translations were imperfect. Still, Western media had a field day with it. What a gift Ahmadinejad is to these "Jewish groups". The Zionists couldn't ask for a better poster boy.

Something you haven't picked up on- the recent failure of the Iran initiative at the UN to prevent attacks on nuclear sites. Seems that Iran failed to persuade the NAM. Just another sign of election fallout discrediting Iran on the international stage.

Did you see the pics posted today of Ahmadinejad at the ISNA web site? His confidence appears to be visibly slipping. In contrast, look at the opposition figures in today's MEHR pics. They've taken to the street and are smiling.

The upcoming scene in New York is going to be a "springtime" for American "Jewish groups" and Iranian exiles, "winter" for Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

[Cy adds: Just to clarify things, "Jewish Groups" is what they call themselves so I'm not sure what the purpose of the repeated use of quotes you use are. In fact, more and more American Jews are no longer identifying with Israel, and are becoming actively opposed. Iguess ordinary people like us have to walk a thin line between extremists on all sides who are trying to radicalize the situation. And Oh, Ahmadinejad's audience isn't in Israel or the US -- it is the Arab street, which adores him.]