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The Transparent Cabal: The Neoconservative Agenda, War in the Middle East, and the National Interest of Israel

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Stephen Sniegoski's book, The Transparent Cabal, is a great gift to us all. A scholar of history, almost nothing he asserts is undocumented. In this shocking expose of events and actions that may turn out to be the undoing of America, he shows, among other things:
1. How a "figurehead" leader who is not really a leader and his administration, can be taken over by other interests, to our own detriment.
2. How not everyone in high office has the best interest of the USA at heart.
3. How a political party can be inflitrated and taken over so that its foundational viewpoints are not heard or listened to
4. How name-calling and smear can be very effective at stifling honest debate and the truth
5. How taking sides with other countries, surrendering our neutrality in world affairs is not a good idea
6. How national security has been threatened by the takeover.
This book should be read by every American. We cannot afford not to know what is in its pages.

Stephen Sniegoski, a diplomatic historian, is uniquely qualified to write about the neoconservatives' involvement in the prolonged Iraq War originating in 2003. He accurately predicted their activities and allegiance in this entanglement in 1998, three years before the acts of 9-11 and two additional years before a traumatized nation yielded to a nescient, misdirected President, his Vice President/administration, and an ostensibly compliant bi-partisan House and Senate.

The author presents a tight outline which he cogently expands in intelligible detail, maintaining that the origins of the American war on Iraq revolve around the adoption of a war agenda whose basic structure was conceived in Israel to advance Israel's interests. The pro-Israel neoconservatives and a powerful Israel lobby in the United States fervently pushed its agenda. Ironically, he extracts his most persuasive evidence from an extensive neoconservative paper trail that's been clearly recognized by a discreet cadre of vigilant Americans for years. Thus the title, "The Transparent Cabal."

Dr. Sniegoski asks the appropriate question: "Who are the neoconservatives?" He provides insightful answers on their pertinent activities since 1972, those who shaped and mentored them, their immediate family/interconnected family networks, their prominent periodical publications, their past and present leadership, non-Jewish minority members, their persistent rise to positions of political influence and authority, their embrace of Christian Zionists, and their close ties to the extremely conservative Likud Party in Israel. He reveals their tactical affiliations with key, heavily endowed influential think tanks, and a vast number of powerful Israel-centric lobbying organizations that reactively finance and nurture their continued success.

Many readers will recognize his references to writers of previous books, articles and columns -- many of Jewish heritage -- who bravely fight against well financed, mainstream media-dominant opponents and their psychological surrogates active on the Internet. These opponents perniciously engage in personal attacks and retribution, indiscriminately applying irrelevant anti-semitic labels. They persist at attempting to sway public discourse by spreading misinformation, disinformation, and mostly NO RELEVANT INFORMATION to the public.

In various places throughout the book, the author notes curious relationships with current and former elected and appointed officials. He writes about the ongoing 2008 presidential campaign in a postscript, citing past and existing direct influences on specific candidates by the neoconservatives, the Israel Lobby and its supporters.

The book concludes with a summary of the paucity of benefits compared to the predictable losses of the American people over recent years. These are the real consequences of the Israel-inspired plan to "drain the swamp" (a euphemism for destabilizing perceived enemies then establishing precarious nominal democracies) that began with our misadventure in Iraq and was to proceed with subsequent U.S. military interventions in Iran and Syria. The few meager benefits and the enormous losses to the United States are compared to the strategic advantages that the State of Israel derives directly from our five-year induced military involvement in Iraq and our concomitant departure from past, longstanding policies of diplomacy and stability in the Middle East.

Sniegoski counsels, "it is hardly controversial to propose that elites, rather than the people as a whole, determine government policies, even in democracies."

Yet this war has a supporting cast of middle Americans. Many of them were traumatized by the events of 9-11 and reactively saw an act of patriotism in supporting retaliation against a falsely perceived enemy in Iraq. It's time to reconsider false arguments preceding the Iraq War that have only been cosmetically modified until the present day. It's time to dismiss incongruous ideas formed in the cauldron of confusion after 9-11.

Given today's realities, it DOES take patriotism and courage to insist on formally normalizing an entangled, unreciprocated military alliance with an Israeli government that burdens the taxpayers of the United States, promotes angst among its people, and imperils its military forces worldwide.

Know and embrace Thomas Jefferson's ideal of 'eternal vigilance' as citizens of the United States.
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Facts in this book are reinforced in adjacent paragraphs and referenced in nearly 50 pages of notes. Readers are encouraged to read: The Neoconservative Revolution: Jewish Intellectuals and the Shaping of Public Policy by Murray Friedman -- Spy Trade: How Israel's Lobby Undermines America's Economy by Grant F. Smith -- The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal & American Foreign Policy -- The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy by Mearsheimer and Walt -- World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability by Amy Chua -- "Israeli Surveillance of the Future Hijackers and FBI Suspects in the September 11 Attacks and Their Failure to Give Us Adequate Warning: The Need for a Public Inquiry" **a 166 PAGE LEAKED REPORT** documenting foreign espionage activities surrounding 9-11, available on the Internet (although rarely in COMPLETE UNEDITED FORM **WITH 5 EXHIBITS AND 4 MAPS**).
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Over the past 12 years, I have been the primary Net publisher of Dr. Sniegoski's extensive writings on foreign and war policy, posting them at my Website, The Last Ditch. I celebrate the appearance of his masterwork, THE TRANSPARENT CABAL, on the Bush-neocon adventure in Iraq and its historical and political background. (I am not connected with the print publisher in any way.)

Dr. Sniegoski has relentlessly mined public sources to make his case, and I urge the reader to focus on two words I've just used: "relentlessly" and "public." If he were investigating, for example, the causes of the Second Punic War, much less evidence would be expected; but in light of the taboos, doublethink, and nonthink deployed to hamper analysis of the Bush War, he has had to be relentless in marshaling his evidence. The result is a case that is armor-plated and triple-riveted. As for the "public" part, it is fascinating that the neocons were able to manipulate and maneuver their way to war in plain sight -- but largely unseen, because so many people found it convenient (or just safer) to look the other way. Nevertheless, the war partisans established an immense public record of their motives, ambitions, and tactics. Rarely has a title succeeded so brilliantly in conveying the thesis of a book; it was, indeed, a transparent cabal.

Dr. Sniegoski, for his part, is a transparent scholar, telling the story of the cabal calmly, methodically, with restraint -- and with devastating effect. My advice: Buy it (many copies), read it, give it, quote it, and talk it up.

Sniegoski's achievement in writing this book is to show how the neocons left the Democratic Party, which of course was mother's milk to all Zionists, and joined the Republicans over the issue of an aggressive foreign policy in the Middle East!

I like how straightforward Sniegoski is about the neocons' Jewishness and Israel-centric agenda. Most non-Jews won't be able to stretch their ego to accept the power Jewish groups have over their lives and who calls the shots in the United States in the political arena.

The fact is that 40% of the billionaires in the United States are Jewish or come from interfaith backgrounds where one side of the family is Jewish. This in a nation that represents 25-30% of the global economy.

According to J. J. Goldberg (the former editor of the Forward) in his book Jewish Power he boasts that 45% of the fundraising for the Democratic party and 25% of the funding for the Republican party come from Jewish funded Political Action Committees. Richard Cohen of the Washington Post has recently updated this data to read 60% for democrats and 35% for republicans fundraising come from Jewish funded Political Action Committees.

Since the 1930s according to Forbes business magazine, 25%-30% of the
wealthiest families in America have been Jewish.

In Canada the sixth biggest economy in the world, Jewish-Canadian billionaires represent 49% of the Canadian stock market. And Jewish-Canadians of wealth are notorious heavyweights for political donations in U.S. politics, in effect helping the cause for the Zionist entity, through the military might of the U.S.

The U.S. Jewish population is only 1.8%, less than 2%. BUT who REALLY knows? The Jewish lobby is so powerful, that they are the only group to have successfully petitioned the U.S. Census Bureau not to be counted in their compilation!

Historically, Jews wherever they have resided have always wanted and have been officially undercounted for political purposes.

It is my contention they are one of the most powerful groups in the world. And should be studied and understood by books such as this one. BUY IT NOW.

Barak Obama's appointment of Rahm Emanuel as White House Chief of Staff underscores the urgency of understanding the operation of pro-Israel influence in the formulation of U.S. foreign policy. Sniegoski's Transparent Cabal is the best guide toward an objective view of this critical issue that lies at the epicenter of international political tension. His explanation of the "neo-conservative" role in the Bush administration is vital for those who wish to rebuild the Republican Party and for all who wish to protect our nation from perpetual foreign military conflict.

THE TRANSPARENT CABAL is the best book yet on the people responsible for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is exhaustively researched and beautifully written. When it arrived one Saturday afternoon, I decided to sit down for a few minutes and glance at it. After a few pages, I was hooked. I finished it around midnight, but could not fall asleep for hours, because the book is profoundly disturbing. It chronicles the hijacking of the American government by a network of Israeli agents and their non-Jewish allies and dupes, with the intent of spending American lives and money to destroy the enemies of Israel.

Those who read this book can only conclude that it is a mistake to accuse Jews like the leaders of the neoconservative movement of "dual loyalties"--loyalty to the US and to Israel. It is a mistake, not because it is a vile "anti-Semitic" libel, as we are constantly told, but because it is an undeserved compliment. The neoconservatives are deeply contemptuous of the United States and the people who founded it. They feel no loyalty to this country whatsoever. Faced with a choice between the interests of the US and Israel, they would not hesitate to choose Israel's interest every time. It beggars the imagination that non-Jewish conservatives have allowed their movement to be hijacked by people who hold them and this nation in contempt.

But the neoconservatives are practiced hijackers. First they hijacked the conservative movement, then the Republican party, then US foreign policy. When they have used them up and wrecked them, I wonder what they will do. Will they stick around and try to pick up the pieces and rebuild what they have destroyed? Or will they reinvent themselves again (many neoconservatives were leftists who reinvented themselves) and try to take over and subvert some other movement, party, or nation?

If you find Sniegoski's work valuable, I urge you to read the chapters on "Neonconservatism as a Jewish Movement" and "Neoconservative Portraits" in Kevin MacDonald's Cultural Insurrections: Essays on Western Civilization, Jewish Influence, & Anti-Semitism. MacDonald's work on Jewish intellectual movements provides the necessary historical and sociological context for understanding neoconservatism.

The Transparent Cabal: The Neoconservative Agenda, War in the Middle East, and the National Interest of Israel

Stephen Sniegoski does not proceed to simply give us his opinion. He does that, for sure. But he also backs it up with sound reasoning as to why he has come to the conclusions he has and quotes every possible source of information, from speeches and/or books by David Ben Gurion to Ariel Sharon, from Harry Truman to John McCain and from just about every notable military leader, neocon and Israeli/American lobby hawk.

Not an easy read, but it is never the less absolutely fascinating to read in great detail how the American public has been frightened, cajoled and hood-winked into supporting the goals of Israel, at great costs to them and their country. And this in the "Land of the free and the home of the brave"! Not a pretty picture, America.

Should be compulsory reading to anyone wishing to vote, not just in the United States but in any other country as well.

_The Transparent Cabal: The Neoconservative Agenda, War in the Middle East, And the National Interest of Israel_, published in 2008 by Enigma Editions of IHS Press, by scholar Stephen J. Sniegoski is a thorough examination of the role of the neoconservatives in pushing for war in the Middle East (beginning with the war in Iraq and pushing onwards towards Iran) in order to protect the national interests of Israel. Sniegoski makes the claim that the neoconservatives have been the fundamental force behind the war efforts of the United States and have played a particularly prominent role in the Bush administration. While these claims have now become common knowledge, Sniegoski makes an important contribution by tracing the history of the neoconservative movement and its links to prominent pro-Jewish and pro-Israel groups. In particular, Sniegoski claims that neoconservativism is a tool of Zionism and the Likudniks of Israel. Sniegoski traces out how following the attacks of September 11, the neoconservative war hawks had a profound influence on the thinking of President Bush and offered him a ready made solution to his foreign policy agenda. In this book, Sniegoski also considers and refutes other theories as to the root causes behind America's intervention in Iraq (such as the role of oil and war profiteering) but explains how these theories lack the validity of that which lays the blame on the neoconservatives and their goals for Israeli dominance in the Middle East. In a recently written best-seller two political scientists at the University of Chicago and Harvard (John Meirsheimer and Stephen J. Walt _The Israeli Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy_) broke a long-standing taboo in the United States and risked charges of anti-Semitism by exposing the role of the powerful Israeli Lobby (AIPAC) in the United States and its push for war against Iraq and with its future sights on Iran. This book echoes many of the claims made by Meirsheimer and Walt and further shows the agenda of the small circle of neoconservatives in directing American foreign policy. The author maintains that the neoconservatives are a "transparent cabal", in that they have operated as a tight-knit secret group but their actions remain transparent.

This book begins with a Foreword by Congressman Paul Findley (famous author of _They Dare to Speak Out_ and longtime opponent of the Israeli Lobby) in which he explains the importance of Sniegoski's book and deflects the spurious charge of anti-Semitism. Following this, appears an Introduction by noted paleoconservative Paul Gottfried who explains his admiration for Sniegoski's book, offers some comparisons between Sniegoski's claims and those of other individuals, and contrasts the old non-interventionist limited government form of conservativism with that of the neoconservatives.

The first chapter of Sniegoski's book is entitled "The Transparent Cabal" and notes the disastrous consequences that have followed upon the Iraq war spurred on by the neoconservatives. The author explains what he means in calling the neoconservatives a "transparent cabal" and notes the importance of their Middle East, pro-Israeli agenda. The author explains how following the events of September 11, they came to take on a prominent role in influencing the thinking of the president (who had previously shown little interest in the Middle East). The second chapter is entitled "The "Neocon-Israel" Claim: Bits and Pieces" and exposes the role of Israel's Likudnik party behind the neoconservatives. The author deflects claims of "anti-Semitism" which are frequently hurled at those who make these charges by showing that even many prominent Jews agree with this. Following this appears a chapter entitled "Who are the Neocons?" which shows how the neocons emigrated from their original home in the Democratic party of the McGovernite left into the Republican party as the New Left began to voice criticisms of Israel. The author shows that many of the neocons are actually socialists and Trotskyites parading under the label of "conservative". Further, the author shows the role of various intellectuals centering around New York City in creating the neoconservative movement. Next, appears a chapter entitled "The Israeli Origins of the Middle East War Agenda" which shows how the goal of Middle East war to further the interests of Israel has been supported extensively by hawkish groups in Israel. The author explains how these groups came to have such a prominent role in influencing the policy of the United States and in suppressing the native population of Palestinians in Israel. Following, appears a chapter entitled "Stability and the Gulf War of 1991: Prefigurement and Prelude to the 2003 Iraq War" in which the author explains the importance of the first Gulf War of Bush I in prefiguring the Iraq War of Bush II. After this, appears a chapter entitled "During the Clinton Years" in which the author shows the continuing role of the neocons during the Clinton years. Following this, appears a chapter entitled "Serbian Interlude and the 2000 Elections" in which the author explains how the war in Yugoslavia paved the way for the coming Iraq War of President Bush. This also explains the split that occurred among conservatives between those traditional conservatives who opposed the war and the neocons who firmly supported it. Following this appears a chapter entitled "George W. Bush Administration: The Beginning" in which the author explains the role that the neocons came to take in the Bush administration mentioning in particular the role of such figures as Wolfowitz and Cheney and the role of the Project for a New American Century (PNAC). Following this appears a chapter entitled "September 11", showing how the events of Sept. 11 allowed the neocon agenda to gain prominence in the mind of President Bush. Next, appears a chapter entitled "Move to War" explaining how the neocons pushed for war against Sadaam Hussein presenting their case to the American people by claiming that Hussein was in possession of WMDs which could be used against America. Following this appears a chapter entitled "World War IV" explaining how the conflict in the Middle East came to be dubbed World War IV by certain intellectuals among the neocons. Next, appears a chapter entitled "Democracy for the Middle East" showing the role of the neocons in foisting "democracy" onto various nations and their goal of global democratic revolution. The author also explains the role of the thinking of political philosopher Leo Strauss behind many of the neocons and his profoundly anti-democratic philosophy. Following this, appears a chapter entitled "Neocons' Post-Invasion Difficulties" showing how the invasion of Iraq turned out to be more serious and difficult than originally anticipated by the neocons. Next, appears a chapter entitled "Beginning of the Second Administration" showing the continuing role of the neocons under the second Bush administration. Then, appears a chapter entitled "Israel, Lebanon, and the 2006 Election" showing the role of Lebanon and Syria in relationship to Israel and that of the 2006 election. Next, appears a chapter entitled "2007: On to Iran" showing how the neocons continued to press for further wars in particular against Iran by alleging among other things that Ahmedinejad was a mad man with possible access to nuclear weapons. Following, appears a chapter entitled "The Supporting Cast for War" noting the role of Christian Zionists (which includes the beliefs of President Bush, although not his father), former Cold Warriors, and even prominent establishment liberals in supporting the Iraq war. The author notes however that the traditional foreign policy establishment elites and many in the intelligence agencies did not support the war, but were disregarded to further the neocon agenda. The author also contrasts the difference between the liberal elites who frequently were pro-war and the popular anti-war movement which had very little power. Following this, the author turns to a chapter entitled "Oil and Other Arguments" in which the author considers the claims that the war was fought to obtain access to oil or for the interests of war profiteers and shows that while both groups certainly benefited they are not the real reason for the war. The book ends with a "Conclusion" in which the author expounds upon the continuing role of the neocons in influencing American foreign policy and a "Postscript" in which the author notes that no matter who wins the 2008 election that the neocon agenda will likely continue and is not likely to go away anytime soon.

This book offers a fascinating history and account of the role of the neoconservatives in pushing the United States into war. The author makes clear the influence of the Israeli Likudnik party behind the neocons and their goal of strengthening the position of Israel in the Middle East. It is important to understand the fundamental nature of the foreign policy elites who have been pushing us into war against Iraq and now with eyes towards Iran.

An undertaking like the Iraq war has a thousand authors, and its failure means a thousand attempts to revise and sanitize the story of how it came about. Going to war was the triumph of spin over the obvious, and it is essential to keep that process from distorting our understanding of how the decision was made. This book contributes to a post mortem by laying out things that are public knowledge. In present-day politics that's a big contribution.

In his account, Sniegoski emphasizes two points: the Administration's need for a forceful strategy, and the factors that shaped the views of influential neocons and enabled them to package and promote their longstanding goals in a way that made them seem the answer to that immediate need. Those factors include their persistence and energy, their skill in political, organizational, and ideological maneuvering, their fondness for transformative strategies backed by force, their strong ties to particular Israeli political groupings, and their treatment of American interests as identical to those of Israel.

The last two points upset some people but cannot be avoided. Big democratic government is pork barrel government, in which everybody gets something but the most effective interest groups end up with the most. In regulated industries that's a problem, but in foreign affairs, with war and peace at stake, it can be catastrophic. Sniegoski's claim is that such a process has resulted in an ill-advised and disastrous war. In view of the importance of the matter the claim needs to be discussed soberly however awkward it may be. This book should facilitate that a discussion.

On January 27, 2005, [...] posted the remarks of Seymour Hersh (The New Yorker contributor) at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York that a neoconservative cult had taken over the American government. Hersh hoped that future historians would document the fragility of American democracy by explaining how eight or nine neoconservatives were able to overcome easily the bureaucracy, the Congress, and the press. Stephen Sniegoski, in The Transparent Cabal, has provided a detailed history of how the neoconservative cult achieved the takeover.
Other books have stressed how the neoconservative ideology is contrary to traditional American values: Reclaiming the American Right (Justin Raimondo), America the Virtuous (Claes Ryn), Where the Right Went Wrong (Patrick Buchanan).
"Memoirs of a Trotskyist" in Neo-conservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea (Irving Kristol) provided a neoconservative account of the origins of neo-conservatism. Sniegoski noted correctly that the term neoconservative originated with leftists critical of their former comrades for attempting to infiltrate the Democratic and Republican parties. Thanks to leftists who call neoconservatives the ultra-right and to conservative dupes who think that anyone using a conservative label is a conservative, the neoconservative cancer has spread through the fragile American political body.
The neoconservatives do not represent the only case in American history of a small group attempting to take over America. The Plot to Seize the White House (Jules Archer) provided a detailed account of General Smedley Butler's testimony to Congress about a secret plot to overthrow President Franklin Roosevelt. Butler, a Republican, authored War is a Racket.
Unlike earlier secret plots to take over the American government, Sniegoski explained how it was possible for the neoconservatives to operate as a relatively transparent cabal. However, he observed that the neoconservatives used a Trojan horse technique to take over the American conservative movement. The goal of the neoconservatives is to promote endless wars regardless of whether the Democrats or the Republicans are in power.
The neoconservatives do not represent a popular mass movement in America. Instead, the neoconservatives rely upon the co-operation of other groups. Sniegoski provided extensive documentation of which groups enabled the neoconservatives. For example, the Christian Zionists duped their followers into sacrificing money and soldiers. Zionism originated with the writings of Moses Hess (who helped Karl Marx write The Communist Manifesto, was nicknamed the Communist Rabbi, and who is buried in Israel). In 1862, Moses Hess published Rome and Jerusalem. Moses Hess: Prophet of Communism and Zionism (Shlomo Avineri) provided a detailed explanation of the relationship between Communism and Zionism.
The reason for the fragility of American democracy is the failure of many Americans to understand the most basic aspects of the American political system and of their religions.
The Transparent Cabal is an important starting point for understanding how a neoconservative cult opposed to traditional American political and religious values is able to destroy America with endless wars.