Certainly in their organization and method, they are much like other interest groups. I am not disputing that. The structure of the group is not the cause for concern.
As I said in the OP, what bothers me is the possibility that US policy will ultimately be influenced or even determined by an idea that has no grounding in a factual understanding of the Middle East or the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but rather is entirely pulled from a scriptural ether in which Christians are commanded by God to defend their "older brothers", or worse, to support the Jewish state so as to help bring about the apocalypse.
If these kinds of ideas as sources of policy don't bother you, I'm not sure what you and I would be able to discuss.
I also take exception to this little tidbit of non-thought:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by jorgelito
This is an American interest group that supports Israel (our ally)
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Israel is our ally; therefore Israel is right and ought to be supported.
(i.e. Nations allied with the US are right and ought to be supported.)
Since Israel is the victim in the right and ought to be supported, the US is allied with Israel.
This linguistic game completely separates the question of supporting Israel from any examination of what is actually going on in the Mideast, and what actual effect is has on American interests.
Incidentally, do you actually believe that unqualified support for Israel, ally or not, has any sort of potential to lead to a peace agreement? Was it that kind of support that led to successful peace deals in the past?