[NYTr] Dershowitz wants Obama to repudiate Brzezinski

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by Steven L. Robinson (activ-l) - Sep 16, 2007

[Dershowitz is not only upset about Zbigniew Brzezinski's stance on the
Mearsheimer and Walt book, but about the  alleged "anti-Israel" stance
of the former Carter advisor - and longtime anti-communist hawk.
Apparently meaning Brzezinski's criticism of last year's invasion of
Lebanon. SR]

The [ultra-reactionary right-wing New York Sun - Sep 12, 2007
http://www.nysun.com/article/62439

Dershowitz: Obama Should Repudiate Brzezinski

By Russell Berman, Staff
New York Sun

Washington - Senator Obama may have distanced himself from a book
criticizing the Israel lobby, but a prominent Harvard law professor -
and Senator Clinton ally - says the Illinois lawmaker needs to go a
step further and repudiate his newest foreign policy adviser, Zbigniew
Brzezinski.

The Harvard professor, Alan Dershowitz, has emerged as a chief critic of
"The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," a new book in which authors
John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt argue that a powerful coalition of
individuals and organizations has pushed America into supporting Israel
in ways that undermine its national interests.

The book has drawn widespread scorn from the pro- Israel community, and
it appears to have divided Mr. Obama and Mr. Brzezinski, a former
national security adviser to President Carter who recently joined the
Illinois senator's presidential campaign. Mr. Brzezinski will be with
Mr. Obama as the candidate delivers a major policy address on Iraq
today in Iowa.

Amid a firestorm over an initial working paper Messrs . Mearsheimer and
Walt published last year on the Israel lobby, Mr. Brzezinski rose to
their defense, even as he demurred on the question of whether he agreed
with their central arguments. The authors, he wrote in the journal
Foreign Policy, "have rendered a public service by initiating a
much-needed public debate on the role of the ' Israel lobby' in the
shaping of U.S. foreign policy."

Mr. Obama's campaign took the opposite route earlier this week when
notified that an ad for its Web site appeared on the Amazon.com page of
the Mearsheimer-Walt book. The campaign immediately removed the ad,
saying its placement was unintentional, and issued a statement saying
Mr. Obama believed the arguments in the book were "just wrong." "I'm
glad he's done that, but now he has to dissociate himself from
Brzezinski," Mr. Dershowitz said in an interview yesterday. He said the
Mearsheimer-Walt book was "a bigoted attack on the American Jewish
community" and that Mr. Brzezinski's comments in Foreign Policy last
year amounted to an endorsement.

Through an assistant, Mr. Brzezinski declined repeated requests to be
interviewed yesterday about his views on the book and Mr. Obama. He
endorsed the first-term senator last month, praising his long-running
opposition to the Iraq war and offering a high-profile boost to a
candidate who has struggled at times to combat the perception that he
is inexperienced in foreign policy.

Mr. Dershowitz, who has contributed $1,000 to Mrs. Clinton's campaign
and is supporting her candidacy, said his criticism of Mr. Brzezinski
extended beyond the Mearsheimer-Walt book to what he said was Mr.
Brzezinski's broader "anti- Israel" rhetoric in recent years. The
former Carter aide was highly critical of Israel during its war last
year with Hezbollah in Lebanon, at one point saying its actions
amounted to "the killing of hostages."

Mr. Dershowitz said that while Mr. Obama has been a strong supporter of
Israel, he "made a terrible mistake" by bringing on Mr. Brzezinski,
which he attributed to "naoveti."

In response, the Obama campaign released a statement from one of its top
supporters in the Jewish community, Rep. Robert Wexler of Florida. "
Barack Obama has been a consistent supporter of Israel and this is an
unfortunate case of a fabricated controversy for political reasons," he
said. "I speak with him often on Israel policy, and I can tell you
firsthand that Barack Obama is opposed to the arguments presented in
this book."