Is It Time to Rein in AIPAC?

By William Hughes

"“All of these people [in the Israel Lobby] are pleading a special interest. I am an American.” -- President Harry S. Truman

Grant F. Smith’s latest book, “Foreign Agents: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee From The 1963 Fulbright Hearings to the 2005 Espionage Scandal,” reveals the controversial history of the influential lobbying organization, known as “AIPAC”. It comes on the heels of his insightful tome, “Deadly Dogma,” an expose’ of the Neocons, where he evidenced their lethal scheme, which they called “A Clean Break,” to destabilize Iraq. (1) In this new book, “Foreign Agents,” Mr. Smith argues that AIPAC, a corporation, should be required to register as a foreign agent for Israel. He accuses it of morphing into a “secretive political intelligence-gathering and covert operations powerhouse...and Israeli-controlled entity in America.” Naturally, AIPAC disagrees with him.

Mr. Smith begins building his case against AIPAC by referring to Capitol Hill hearings held by the Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. Senate. The probe, in 1963, was chaired by the late Democratic Senator from Arkansas, James William Fulbright. He suspected that the precursor to AIPAC, the American Zionist Council, (AZC), was given ”seed money,” via covert means, by “the Israeli government” to run a propaganda front for it in the U.S.......

Finally, the book, “Foreign Agents,” is a searing indictment of AIPAC in the Court of Public Opinion. It also exposes how its tentacles influence the Mass Media. Marylanders now know, too, that one of its U.S. Senators, Barbara Mikulski, receives “daily” phone calls from AIPAC honchos, as she persists in voting to fund the unjust and illegal Iraqi War. (8) Folks who wonder, too, why there has never been a full Congressional hearing on the Israelis’ vicious assault, in 1967, on the USS Liberty, will have to look no further then this treatise. (9) While, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (IND), two of AIPAC’s assets on Capitol Hill, are hawking for a U.S. led attack on Iran, the U.S.-subsidized-Apartheid state of Israel is crushing the life out of the Palestinians and making more enemies for us in the Islamic World. (10) I submit that this book should be read by every American who cares about the fate of the Republic. "