AIPAC - What really happened?

[Qacer]

I found this link: AIPAC lobbies US Government to grant Israel's wishes.

It got me wondering. How much money actually flows in from lobbyist groups? Where can I get this data? Is it even public?

AIPAC is an existing pro-Israeli lobbying group. Most of its issues involves current Middle East events. On their website they do encourage sanctions against Iran and an increase military aid to Israel. They also encourage peace talks between the Israelis and the other Arab nations.

I'd like to read up more about this because the article seems to bring up an interesting perspective despite it having a conspiracy theorist tone.

 

[jagec]

It doesn't take a conspiracy theorist to see that Israel has way too much say in where the US focuses its money and attention.

 

[preslove]

AIPAC is an extremely influential DEMOCRATIC lobbying organization that had nothing to do with the REPUBLICAN G. W. Bush's idiotic decision to go to war in Iraq. Anyone who thinks that AIPAC is responsible is an anti-semitic idiot with no clue about Washington power circles.

AIPAC is made up mostly of wealthy American Jews, who happen to mostly be Democrats, which naturally means that their contacts tend to concentrate in the Democratic party. The consequences of this are pretty much only that Democrats will have a hard time leaning on Israel with threats of withdrawal of Israeli aid. Republicans support Israel for other reasons: Southern Protestant Evangelicals identify with Israel because of their reliance on the Old Testament and, some of them, believe that the Jews reclaiming Palestine is a harbinger of the Apocalypse (Many southern conservative Senators and House members have met with ultraconservative Israeli politicians who are to politically hot for Democrats to talk to); and Israel is the strongest military power in the region, and therefore an important ally.

So, when a Democratic President is in office, AIPAC is influential, but when a Republican is in power they are pretty weak on National Security issues. We went into Iraq for many different reasons: Neocon ideology, corrupt ties to military and oil services companies (Haliburton is only the tip of the ice berg), George W. Bush's stupidity, a general poor understanding of the demographic pressures a post Saddam Iraq would suffer, the list fucking goes on. Wars like this never start for a single reason.