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The first Republican president once said, "While the people retain their virtue and their vigilance, no administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can seriously injure the government in the short space of four years." If Mr. Lincoln could see what's happened in these last three-and-a-half years, he might hedge a little on that statement. Blog critics Gryffindor House Slytherin House Ravenclaw House House Elves Beth Jacob Prisoners of Azkaban Muggles
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Thursday, September 04, 2003
Oy Canada The Clarksphere catches George Will repeating a fib made up by the Weekly Standard to smear General Clark. The post is a bit weaker than it might be; of the three groups described as 'Canadian mid-east think tanks', the Begin-Sadat Center, although founded by a wealthy Canadian businessman, Thomas Hecht, is actually an Israeli outfit that seems to have no offices or staff in Canada. And the Canadian-Arab Federation is an advocacy group that would take some straining to label as a think tank. The CIJR, however, does fit the bill and is very probably the source of the mysterious phone call. This CIJR editorial shortly after 9/11 says:
States like Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria and Afghanistan as well as the Palestinian territory, aid [bin Laden] and other terrorist operatives directly; groups in Egypt, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia support him indirectly.... We face today a mutually-reinforcing Terrorist International, the dismantling and destruction of which must be the overriding aim of the emerging American-led coalition. As former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu put it recently, "America didn't simply attack the Japanese kamikazi pilots at the Battle of Midway, she sank their aircraft carriers". Without its "carriers", Islamic terrorism cannot be sustained. A key technical term here is "regime-change". Diplomacy and the threat of force must be used either to push current rulers of Muslim states into active anti-terrorist measures, or to change those regimes should they refuse to cooperate.... Time is short, the terrorism will be ongoing, and experts fear not only more, and different, attacks, but the use of chemical and biological weapons. Fissile materials can be bought or stolen; Pakistan has nuclear weapons, and Iran and Iraq--thanks to UN incompetence and Chinese, French and Russian opportunism--are close to having them. This language, along with condemnation of "ineffectual Clintonesque masquerades " shows the author, Frederick Krantz, who is also the Director of CIJR, is certainly close to Bush philosophically and politically. The other publications on their web site, although focusing primarily on Israel and the Intifada, often praise Bush and call for regime change in Iraq. The Vice Chairman of CIJR's Board is Thomas Hecht, the same Dr Hecht who founded the Begin-Sadat Center. Dr Hecht has many other Jewish and philanthropic connections, including receiving awards from the Israeli government and sitting on an advisory board at Concordia University, whose faculty includes Dr Krantz. Dr Hecht, with his very close ties to Israel, almost certainly would qualify as "a fellow in Canada who is part of a Middle Eastern think tank who gets inside intelligence information" and "very well connected to Israeli intelligence", two descriptions Clark has used for the mystery caller. The Israeli think tank he founded employs several prominent Israeli scholars and at least one Israeli Major General. Its International Advisory Board includes Brian Mulroney, Alexander Haig (a former mentor to Wesley Clark), Moshe Arens, Yitzhak Shamir, Joe Lieberman, the late Daniel P Moynihan, 4 Israeli Generals and 3 Israeli Ambassadors. CIJR's International Board includes Alan Keyes and John Loftus, self-described as the man who "may know more intelligence secrets than anyone alive", and formerly included the late Menachem Begin. Its Academic Council includes Daniel Pipes and a former Knesset member. CIJR was the likely source of the call; it seems to be the only think tank in Canada focused exclusively on the Middle East, it supported regime change in Iraq from just after 9/11, and Dr Hecht, Dr Krantz, and probably some others associated with the organization would be in a position to have access to inside intelligence.
Addendum: OK, maybe it isn't the only Middle East think tank in Canada. |
