Sometimes you just cant keep a good bigot down. Merrill A. McPeak (pictured left), retired General and Barack Obama's Military adviser and campaign co-chair, "poo-pooed" calls for him to resign today. The anger against him was based on the fact that he said American Jews are the "problem" impeding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.McPeak said that the quote was old so he shouldn't be criticized for it. Notice that ee didn't say that he disagreed with it, but that it was old.
In related news the American Nazi party has also called for McPeak's resignation, saying that the Obama campaign is being unfair because they are hogging all the Anti-Semites.
Below is more on the McPeak story:
Top Obama adviser deflects 'Jewish problem' remarks
Retired general references wrong interview in response to calls for his resignation
Merrill A. McPeak, Sen. Barack Obama's military adviser and national campaign co-chairman, yesterday sought to deflect calls for his resignation over comments he made during an interview in which he implied U.S. politicians are afraid of Jewish voters in Miami and New York City and that American Jews are the "problem" impeding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
McPeak, a former Air Force chief of staff, also compared the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist organizations to what he described as religious radicals in Oregon and claimed "born-again [Christians]" supported the war in Iraq to help Israel.
But in his response yesterday, McPeak referred to the wrong interview and largely did not address the comments that prompted calls for his ouster.
"This all stems from an article I wrote in the mid-70s, (and) I urge you to get the article," McPeak said in an interview with Shalom TV, which bills itself as a "mainstream Jewish cable television network."
"The Council on Foreign Relations has published it again on their website. I will happily buy you dinner anywhere if you can find those words in that article. This is baloney," McPeak said in a phone interview with the Jewish network.
The article McPeak referred to is a lengthy piece he wrote in 1976 for Foreign Affairs magazine in which he questioned Israel's insistence on holding on to the Golan Heights and parts of the West Bank.
The Golan is strategic mountainous territory looking down on Israeli population centers that was twice used by Syria to mount ground invasions into the Jewish state. The West Bank borders Jerusalem and is within rocket-firing range of Tel Aviv and Israel's international airport.
McPeak's views at the time were in direct contradiction to a 1967 report by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, which argued in a memorandum to the Defense Department that Israel must retain control of much of the Golan and "the prominent high ground [of the West Bank] running north-south." The report has since been upheld by over 100 retired U.S. generals and admirals.
But the comments that landed McPeak in hot water stem from a 2003 interview with the Oregonian newspaper.
Discussing Middle East politics in the interview, McPeak stated, "We don't have a playbook for the Middle East. You know, for instance, obviously, a part of that long-term strategy would be getting the Israelis and the Palestinians together at … something other than a peace process. Process is not a substitute for achievement or settlement. And even so, the process has gone off the tracks, but the process isn't enough."
The Oregonian interviewer asked McPeak whether the problem in solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict originated with the White House or the State Department.
"So where's the problem?" the interviewer asked.
McPeak replied, "New York City. Miami. We have a large vote – vote, here in favor of Israel. And no politician wants to run against it."
McPeak went on to insist that to solve the conflict, Israelis must "stop settling the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and maybe even withdraw some of the settlements that've already been put there. And nobody wants to take on that problem. It's just too tough politically."
McPeak did not point to Palestinian terrorism as a problem impeding an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
As a follow-up question, the Oregonian interviewer asked McPeak whether "there's an element within Hamas, Hezbollah, that doesn't want Israel to exist at all and always will be there?"
McPeak responded by comparing the two terror groups to "radical" Oregonians.
"There's an element in Oregon, you know, that's always going to be radical in some pernicious way, and likely to clothe it in religious garments, so it makes it harder to attack. So there's craziness all over the place."
McPeak said there was "some" good will toward peace on the Israeli side, but he qualified, "that's maybe the more cosmopolitan, liberal version of the Israeli population – I think there's enough good will there.
"I don't know if there is still on the Palestinian side, because they've been radicalized pretty well," McPeak said.
Blaming Jews
As WND reported, McPeak's comments prompted the Republican Jewish Coalition this week to demand Obama immediately fire his military adviser and national campaign co-chairman.
"By choosing to have a military adviser and national campaign co-chairman like General McPeak, serious questions and doubts are once again being raised about Senator Obama's positions and judgment on Middle East issues," said Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, a lobbying group that advocates Jewish support for the Republican Party.
"Rather than putting the blame where it belongs – on the Palestinian leadership and their continued reliance on terror – General McPeak finds it more convenient to blame American Jewry and their perceived influence," said Brooks.
"Obama continues to surround himself with advisers holding troubling and disturbing anti-Israel bias," Brooks said. "We call on Senator Obama to immediately remove McPeak from his campaign leadership role and as a key adviser."
Speaking to Shalom TV, McPeak accused the Republican Jewish Coalition of partisan politics in calling for his ouster.
"You'll have to check with [the RJC] on what they're trying to do here. Or with the Clinton campaign. This has the smell of politics, doesn't it?" he said.
Although he referenced the wrong interview, McPeak did speak in general terms about American Jews.
"American Jewry has some influence, just like [American] Irish have influence about Ireland policy, just like the National Rifle Association has something to say about our arms policy," he said.
"I don't object to interest groups or lobbying groups exercising influence. I think our government takes account of the various kinds of competing interests that are represented in our country, and then acts in a way that is consistent with our own best interest."
The latest
McPeak is the latest Obama adviser to be highlighted for controversial views regarding Israel.
Anti-Israel and anti-America comments by Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor and spiritual adviser of more than 20 years, recently prompted the presidential candidate to deliver a major race policy speech.
Obama's church also printed an opinion piece by Hamas and published an open letter in which a Palestinian activist accuses Israel is constructing an "ethnic bomb" that "kills blacks and Arabs."
WND recently quoted Israeli security officials who expressed "concern" about Robert Malley, an adviser to Obama who has advocated negotiations with Hamas and providing international assistance to the terrorist group
Also Samantha Power, who was described as Obama's closest adviser until she resigned earlier this month after making strong remarks against Sen. Hillary Clinton, advocated in an interview investing "billions of dollars, not in servicing Israel's military, but actually investing in the state of Palestine."
Robert Goldberg, a doctor who first pointed out McPeak's controversial statements, wrote in a piece in the American Spectator online magazine: "Obama has a Jewish problem, and McPeak's bigoted views are emblematic of what they are. Obama can issue all the boilerplate statements supporting Israel's right to defend itself he wants. But until he accepts responsibility for allowing people like McPeak so close to his quest for the presidency, Obama's sincerity and judgment will remain open
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