Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, has unveiled his new foreign policy team, stacked with some of the most aggressive hawks imaginable, saying they are a group of his “trusted friends” who believe in a “strong America.”
At the center of his team is neoconservative ultra-hawk Frank Gaffney, a loudly anti-Muslim figure who believes in a wild array of conspiracies, including that a number of top political figures from both parties of being part of a secret Muslim cabal plotting the conquest of America.
Gaffney had previously been speculated to be a Trump adviser, as his dubious work has been cited by that candidate repeatedly in trying to back up his proposals to ban Muslim immigration. Gaffney’s overt hostility toward Muslims in general made him a virtual pariah during the 2012 campaign. Incredibly, a number of Republican hopefuls have courted him this time around, with Cruz declaring him “clear-eyed” and “a patriot.”
Also featuring prominently in the Cruz team is Michael Ledeen, the man at the center of the yellowcake uranium forgeries, among the pretexts for the 2003 US invasion and occupation of Iraq. Ledeen has been involved in a litany of scandals, dating all the way back to Iran-Contra. He was also, notably, the man who got Israeli spy Jonathon Pollard his job at the US Navy.
Of course speaking of Iran-Contra, one must inevitably discuss Elliott Abrams, who famously pled guilty to two charges of withholding information related to the scandal from Congress, and is likewise a central player in the new Cruz team. In addition to the Contra scandal, Abrams was involved in myriad ugly Reagan-era operations, and was a close ally of both former presidents Bush, receiving a pardon for his Reagan-era crimes by George H.W. Bush, and being appointed as a special adviser to George W.
During his tenure with the later Bush, Abrams was accused by The Guardian of being at the center of a failed 2002 US-backed coup attempt against Venezuela, and was said to have personally given the go-ahead for the effort.
Abram’s most recent media comments, interestingly enough, were railing against Cruz, accusing him of being anti-semitic for even using the term “neocon.” Now that Cruz is establishing himself as the neocon candidate of choice, that allegation has been quickly brushed aside.
With this team and more, Cruz is surrounding himself with warmongers and criminals of the highest caliber. While the attempt appears to center on making him a more straightforward Republican insider, to serve as a counter to Trump, the jingoist and xenophobic policies these advisers portend also threatens to sabotage any hope he has of presenting himself as a safer alternative.
And there you have it. So much for Cruz outing the neocons and criticizing them. Just another calculated political move by foreign-born harvard lawyer scum who will say whatever it takes to gain money and power. Oh, but he’s not a racist, not angry, nor violent so that instantly qualifies him for president.
But that is what make a great US president
Like any good tent preacher, this guy knows where the money is.
It is getting more putrid decayed wretched that lays bare what America is.
Cruz is just another empty-suit flunky on the payroll of
war profiteers and AIPAC.
This clown’s answer to the almost 700 billion the Pentagon
has already boondoggled from the taxpayers is simple:
more military spending.
America will be in a lot of trouble, if Donald T happens to have an accident and out of the race,
Teddy Cruzer will rule America. Forget about Hillary and Bernie—8 year cycle is mostly repetitive- in/out
I think the likelihood of Trump having an “accident” is growing by the day.
HIlary is bound to get hit by scandal after scandal during the general election sh must have a ton more skeletons in the closet (that is if the MSM actually report on them) so if Trump is put out of commission via an “accident” cruz could waltz into the white house with a gaggle of neocon retreads in tow :- / that is a genuinely scary thought.
except maybe then more Americans would learn about the neocons. The public’s ignorance about them is what they thrive on.
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition! Time to make that sand glow in the middle east and Cruz is just the man to do it. I see another born again Bush the Idiot in the making and the NEOCONS couldn’t be happier….well maybe more happy with a President Palin…;but Cruz will have to do.
Such fun and telling stuff to illustrate our bought (with our own money) and sold predicament. Michael Chertov gushing about Obama’s SCOUS nomimee Merrick Garland interview saying how wonder he is and his personal but buddy too. ChertoV going on about how merrick big fan of rule of law, uh, unless it’s a three lettered government agency or the war party. What a green light he’d be on more murky events to foment more overseas liberation… and certainly a green light for certain “allies” to act badily. I certainly would not want this garland but buddy
of Chertov up there if any law making views that certain views of political history and events were a crime. JUST SHOWS HOW THE WAR PARTY IS BOTH PARTIES..
Yup. And they only need 1 more and they’ll have a majority in the Supreme Court. And then criticism of israel will be punishable by the death penalty to be delivered on the spot by “law enforcement.” With that precedent, criticism of the global establishment will be treated equally.
Thank god for Trump. No one else out there except “I love Israel better than sex” traitors .
What makes you think Trump is better?
I don’t know about the other states you mention, but no, it is not illegal in Florida to participate in the BDS movement. It is illegal for GOVERNMENTS in Florida to participate in the BDS movement by e.g. specifically refusing as a matter of policy to invest pension funds in Israeli companies or whatever. There’s a difference. I happen to oppose that law, and to consider it ridiculous for the governor to sign it and make a big speech about Israel being an “ally,” but let’s not pretend it is something other than what it is.
Knapp is Antiwar’s resident hasbara gatekeeper
Well, you’re entitled to your opinion. It’s entirely without basis in fact, but you’re entitled to it. So enjoy it, I guess.
BDS actions by individuals, groups, and governments are still legal in California, although a bill has been introduced in the state legislature to make it illegal.
Note that as of now, Bernie Sanders is NOT speaking at AIPAC, the only candidate who isn’t on the schedule. For those who think Trump is somehow the antiwar candidate. http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/18/politics/bernie-sanders-aipac-speaking/index.html
I assure you that if Sanders has a real chance, he too would have been invited and would have gladly accepted.
Somebconservative! Same old Trotskyite ideology of permanent revolutions and chaos to rule in. Same old beliefs in manipulating circumstances i gaining advatages –even when it becomes clear that the game is draining the nation, straining its resource, making populace poor. But the will never give up until we get broke or until they are stopped. With their queen Hillary ready for coronation, they are elated and mone no object.
He looks a lot like Cheny .Doesnt his hyena face remind the anger Cheney used to
carry around? Like Cheney this angel of death is also angel of the converted ( to neocon)
Neocohens.
So the media ask Trump about David Duke (a man who has never had any power in the US admin) and then smears him for not giving the right answer fast enuff. Meanwhile, Cruz names a bunch of criminal Muslim haters whose policies have killed millions and — not a peep from the media.
AF,
What’s your fascination with Jews in particular? Not all Jews are Zionists, and not all Zionists are Jews. In fact, there are probably a lot more non-Jewish Zionists than Jewish Zionists.
Or, to put it differently, why is your paranoia coupled with an ethnic obsession rather than a political one?
As the attorney Calhoun (of the old Amos and Andy show) used to say, “Your Honor, I represents your remark”. And very few Americans have more disgust for that evil, land-stealing, racist run, country of Israel, than I do. I even have relatives in Israel – loud, grabby people with no saving graces. And they have no shame in having hacks presenting them as “the Chosen People”. Here in West Virginia, you will see as many flagpoles with Israeli flags as Confederate flags. One has to wonder, who has misled these simple folk into worshipping these “goniffs and schnorrers?
I am less offended by the Confederate battle flags.
Chickenhawks tend to gravitate to other chickenhawks.
Ted Cruz has one more disadvantage not mentioned in this article. He is from Texas. The United States has had three presidents from Texas in its history, and all relatively recent. There are many Americans who can remember all three and know that all three were awful. Will Americans be willing to try a fourth?
Both Clinton and Cruz are bloodthirsty neocons and Trump the peacemaker.
I wish more people knew about the necons and their treachery. I think the anti war elites overestimate the knowledge level of Americans about these dreadful people.
That’s why nobody has ever had a problem at Antiwar.com for pointing it out. Or for criticizing Israel. That’s just a retroactive cover story the Jew-haters make up to shift the blame when they go off the rails from that stuff into actual Jew-hating and get busted for it.