Stephen J. Sniegoski on the godfather of war

www.thornwalker.com/ditch/offsite_snieg_godfather.htm

Direct to Thompson's article.
Direct to the Christisons' article.
Direct to Zacharia's article.

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Godfather of war

By STEPHEN J. SNIEGOSKI

Usually the mainstream media shy away from admitting that the neoconservatives were the driving force for the war on Iraq; it is taboo to say that advancing the interests of Israel was a major goal of the war. But Time magazine's Mark Thompson now refers to Wolfowitz as the "intellectual godfather" of the Iraq war. He writes: "If Rumsfeld is the face, mouth, and strong right arm of the war in Iraq, Wolfowitz — the intellectual godfather of the war — is its heart and soul."

And he writes:

Rumsfeld offered Wolfowitz his current post with an invitation to serve as his intellectual alter ego, a senior aide says. Their offices are a short walk apart along the Pentagon's E-Ring. Wolfowitz frequently slips down a back hallway, peers through a peephole into his boss's suite and, if Rumsfeld is alone, walks right in. "He's got great power of concentration," says Wolfowitz, "so you can open the door — it doesn't disturb him — until he pauses, and I ask, 'Can you take a minute?' "

Thompson does not characterize Wolfowitz as a neocon or mention his connection to Israel. That lapse is redressed by a 2002 piece at CounterPunch by Kathleen and Bill Christison, "A Rose by Another Other Name":

But [Wolfowitz's] interest in Israel always crops up. Even profiles that downplay his attachment to Israel nonetheless always mention the influence the Holocaust, in which several of his family perished, has had on his thinking. One source inside the administration has described him frankly as "over-the-top crazy when it comes to Israel." Although this probably accurately describes most of the rest of the neocon coterie, and Wolfowitz is guilty at least by association, he is actually more complex and nuanced than this. A recent New York Times Magazine profile by the Times' Bill Keller cites critics who say that "Israel exercises a powerful gravitational pull on the man" and notes that as a teenager Wolfowitz lived in Israel during his mathematician father's sabbatical semester there. His sister is married to an Israeli. Keller even somewhat reluctantly acknowledges the accuracy of one characterization of Wolfowitz as "Israel-centric." But Keller goes through considerable contortions to shun what he calls "the offensive suggestion of dual loyalty" and in the process makes one wonder if he is protesting too much.

Also note Janine Zacharia's 2001 piece in the Jerusalem Post, "All the president's Middle East men":

The Jewish and pro-Israel communities are jumping for joy. While skeptical regarding the Oslo Accords, Wolfowitz is considered a strong supporter of Israel. He has been one of the loudest proponents of a tough policy toward Iraq focused on finding a way to bring down Saddam Hussein's regime.

December 24, 2003

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