Obama Camp Responds to Jesse Jackson's Comments on ‘Zionists’

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"In yesterday's New York Post, conservative columnist Amir Taheri reported on an interview with Rev. Jesse Jackson in Evian, France, at the World Policy Forum.

Taheri wrote that Jackson "promised 'fundamental changes' in US foreign policy - saying America must 'heal wounds' it has caused to other nations, revive its alliances and apologize for the 'arrogance of the Bush administration.' The most important change would occur in the Middle East, where 'decades of putting Israel's interests first' would end.

"Jackson believes that, although 'Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades' remain strong, they'll lose a great deal of their clout when Barack Obama enters the White House."

The Obama campaign's response to these vague quotes -- recorded by a columnist it considers hostile in a tabloid newspaper it considers biased against them -- from an interview with a man last publicly seen threatening to castrate Sen. Obama, is as follows, from Obama campaign national security spokesperson Wendy Morigi:

“Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. is not an adviser to the Obama campaign and is therefore in no position to interpret or share Barack Obama's views on Israel and foreign policy. As he has made clear throughout his career and throughout this campaign, Barack Obama has a fundamental commitment to a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, and he is advised by people like Dennis Ross, Daniel Kurtzer, Rep. Robert Wexler, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Senator Joe Biden who share that commitment. As President, he will ensure that Israel can defend itself from every threat it faces, stand with Israel in its quest for a secure peace with its neighbors, and use all elements of American power to end Iran’s illicit nuclear program. No false charges can change Barack Obama’s unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/obama-camp-resp.html


From last month:

Iraq Scholar: Amir Taheri, the man behind the latest Obama smear, has "no credibility"

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"Since yesterday, the right-wing blogosphere has been all aflutter over a report in the New York Post , written by the Iraqi journalist Amir Taheri, that Barack Obama has privately tried to delay an agreement between the Iraqi government and the Bush administration on a draw-down of American forces from Iraq.

However, according to at least one Iraqi scholar, Taher - who has spread lies in the past - has no credibility.

Taheri doesn't exactly have a reputation for care and precision in his work. In May 2006, he published an explosive story in the Post (since removed from the paper's site), as well as Canada's National Post, about an Iranian law that forced Jews to wear a yellow stripe, stoking fears of a second Nazi Germany. Only problem: it turned out to be a complete fabrication.

That turned out to be typical of Taheri's work. A 1989 review of Taheri's book, Nest of Spies: America's Journey to Disaster in Iran, written for The New Republic by noted Iranian scholar Shaul Bakhash and unearthed by TPMmuckraker in 2006, noted that Taheri "repeatedly refers us to books where the information cited does not exist," and is "capable of generalizations of breathtaking sweep and inaccuracy." According to Bakhash, " interpretations of the documents are often egregiously inaccurate," and he "has trouble transcribing even the simplest information."

One Iraq scholar told TPMmuckraker after the false yellow-star report, referring to Taheri: "This is a person who doesn't have any credibility."

Doesn't exactly sound like a reliable source."

http://www.propeller.com/story/2008/09/16/iraq-scholar-amir-taheri-the-man-behind-the-latest-obama-smear-has-quotno-credibilityquot/


Jackson denies 'Zionist' remarks, says report a 'Swift Boat' tactic

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"The Rev. Jesse Jackson this morning vehemently denied saying that Jews living in Israel will lose power under Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.

"That is not true," Jackson told XM radio talk show host Joe Madison. "That's a fabrication."

Amir Taheri, an Iranian columnist working at the New York Post, yesterday reported that Jackson told an audience at the World Policy Forum in France last week that the "Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades" will lose influence if Obama is elected.

Jackson said the author has no credibility - he pointed to inaccuracies in the writer's previous Obama-related reports.

"My sense is that to drop this article the day before the debate, to be the news of the debate, is a Swift Boat tactic and we refute it, we reject it," he said. "The writer choose to distort and fabricate and we are now pursing vigorously the guy."

http://www.reddingnewsreview.com/newspages/2008newspages/jackson_denies_zionist_remarks_08_091000206.htm

this is a new variant,

I am told that Obama did not actually refute the comment, merely commented that Jackson is not an official adviser, so I would guess that we are supposed to believe it if Obama does not bang his fist and scream it is not true:sarcasm:

I sense a very subtle anti-Obama under current on this forum.

This is clearly an idiot provocation, based on little or nothing.
:hi:

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