Mehlman's Message On Iraq

This week was supposed to be one of the proudest for the American Jewish Committee. And indeed it largely was. The organization has been celebrating its 100th birthday, a celebration topped off last night with speeches from President Bush and Chancellor Merkel. But at a meeting with the chairman of the Republican Party, Kenneth Mehlman, some AJCommittee members made some surprising noises. The JTA reports that Mr. Mehlman was booed and hissed at for saying that Iraq is "less of a challenge than when Saddam Hussein was in power."

This exchange followed a question from an AJCommittee board member. Edith Everett, the JTA reports, was applauded after asking Mr. Mehlman to ask the president to stop linking Israel and Iran, because, she said, "it does not help Israel and it does not help American Jews to appear to be stimulators of any action against Iran." Ms. Everett then said that "it's easy to understand why Iran is not worried about us" because Iraq is taking up American resources. Mr. Mehlman replied that while Iraq is still a challenge, it poses less of a challenge now. In response, the JTA reports, "the room filled with boos and hisses."

If AJCommittee members are upset about links made between Iran and Israel, the place to direct complaints is to the theocrats themselves. As Mr. Mehlman noted in his speech, "Iranians were marching in the street just two months ago chanting 'Death to America and Death to Israel' ... Just two weeks ago, their President threatened Israel for the second time in less than a year, saying - quote - 'Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation' ... This is a man who denied that the Holocaust happened ... This is about a man who would like to see Jerusalem destroyed ... and who may soon have the power to do precisely that."

Nor are these threats by Iran to Israel anything new. After the Iranian revolution Ayatollah Khomeini promised to destroy the "cancerous growth" of Israel. A previous president, the "moderate" Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, has publicly mused about nuking the Jewish State.

Mr. Mehlman told the AJCommittee that "the President's commitment to stand with Israel also means that Iran cannot be allowed to threaten Israel with nuclear weapons ... period. The announcement that Iran has enriched uranium is a call to action for the allies of Israel ... and the allies of freedom." A standing ovation would have been an appropriate response from an organization claiming to represent the Jewish people. In response to the theocrats pledging to destroy Israel, President Bush promises to defend Israel, understanding that while Israel may be the first target, every other non-Islamic state will eventually be next. That was the lesson of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

As for the boos and hisses in response to Iraq being less of a challenge now, how short a memory do those AJCommittee members have? Have they forgotten that Iraq attacked Israel in 1948, in 1967, and in 1973? Have they forgotten that in the 1991 Gulf War, the Butcher of Baghdad fired 39 Scud missiles at the Jewish State? What about Saddam's constant pledges to destroy "the Zionist entity," pledges which were coupled with promises to accomplish this goal if the other Arab states allow him to move his troops to Israel's borders?

Or how about Saddam's support for terrorism against Israel? From his rhetoric praising suicide bombers to the $10,000 to $25,000 in "martyr money" he paid to the families of those suicide bombers, Saddam was the best friend of terrorists who murdered Jews. Saddam's sponsoring terrorist acts against Israel was a point Mr. Bush reminded the world of when he addressed the United Nations General Assembly in September 2002.

This is to say nothing about the murderous wars that Saddam waged against his neighbors. Nor of Saddam's oppressing the Iraqi people - from gassing Kurds to his notorious torture chambers. What American can forget Saddam's attempt to assassinate the President George H.W. Bush in 1993? The truth is that Mr. Mehlman's remarks were right on target, and there is no reason for anyone, leastwise one of the world's most distinguished Jewish defense organizations, to feel selfconscious.

Mr. Freedman is editor of the online edition of The New York Sun and blogs at www.itshinesforall.com.