CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Obama's chief a closet hawk?

Emanuel's support of Israel, Iraq war could generate White House tension

Posted: November 07, 2008
3:01 pm Easten


While President-elect Barack Obama and his pick for chief of staff see eye-to-eye on domestic policy, they may find themselves arguing over foreign policy, especially when it comes to Israel, Iraq and Iran.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., who served as a captain in the Israeli army, is surprisingly hawkish when it comes to fighting the war on Islamic terror.

And unlike his new boss, he supported the war in Iraq, although he criticized President Bush for missteps.

Asked in 2005 by late NBC host Tim Russert whether he would have voted to authorize the war knowing that there were no weapons of mass destruction, Emanuel replied yes. (Emanuel was elected to Congress after the authorization vote.)

"I still believe that getting rid of Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do, OK?" he added.

In contrast, Obama thinks the U.S. invasion of Iraq was wrong, and he has vowed to withdraw troops from the country within the first six months in office.

When outspoken war critic Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., proposed withdrawing precipitously from Iraq, Emanuel quickly distanced himself from his Democrat colleague.

"Jack Murtha went out and spoke for Jack Murtha," he said.

In his 2006 book, "The Plan," Emanuel devotes a whole chapter to "the War on Terror," in which he asserts that Democrats should not be afraid to "take the fight to the enemy."

"We need to use all the roots of American power to make our country safe," he added.

Among other things, he proposes creating a new domestic counter-terrorism force like Britain's MI5 to protect the homeland.

Emanuel also staunchly believes in Israel's right to exist and is not as conciliatory as Obama on the issue of Palestinian rights.

Both Emanuel's parents are citizens of Israel. His Jerusalem-born father, Benjamin Emanuel, fought for Israel's independence, even helping smuggle guns to the Israeli underground. He later served as a medic in the 1948 Israeli battle for independence.

Records show that a charity Rahm Emanuel and his wife set up in Chicago gave nearly $25,000 to the Anshe Emet synagogue and school attended by his children.

However, colleagues say Emanuel is still a liberal when it comes to domestic policy. He and Obama are in alignment on left-wing policy ideas, ranging from universal health care to mandatory youth service.

And not everyone believes Emanuel is as hawkish as he appears.

As a then-Clinton aide, "Emanuel is the one who forced Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin to shake terrorist Yasser Arafat's hand at the White House, a most disgusting moment," opined columnist Debbie Schlussel on her blog.

She also noted that Emanuel's mother, Marsha, is an anti-war protester.

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