MJ Rosenberg: Who speaks for Iranian-Americans?
Al Jazeera
March 29, 2012
Washington, DC - The schedule for the American Jewish Committee (AJC) conference in Washington coming up in May highlights that Sohrab Ahmari, an Iranian-American, will be addressing the question: "Can Iran's nuclear programme be stopped?" Ahmari has been popping up more and more these days, especially at neo-conservative organisations like the AJC.
The AJC, established in 1906 to combat anti-Semitism and advance human rights both at home and abroad, is now obsessed with Iran. (Check out its website). In recent years, AJC has dumped much of its domestic agenda in favor of supporting right-wing policies on Israel and especially, to war monger on the issue of Iran.
Ahmari - the neo-cons' favourite Iranian - is very much in the mould of the neo-cons' favourite Iraqi. During the run-up to the 2003 invasion Ahmed Chalabi was their darling because, as an Iraqi émigré, he was thought to have unique credibility. Neo-cons loved hearing an Iraqi say that invading Iraq would not only prove successful, but would be welcomed by his fellow Iraqis. Unfortunately, he turned out to be a fake, whose agenda was almost entirely personal. The war he and his friends promoted was an infamous catastrophe. And, to put it mildly, the invasion he told us that Iraqis would welcome was not welcomed.
One difference between Chalabi and Ahmari is that Ahmari is a prominent neo-conservative, rather than someone who merely courts them. He is, in fact, a fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, a neo-con think-tank in London.
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