America/Conor O'Clery: A remark by Congressman James Moran of Virginia about alleged Jewish influence on US foreign policy has ignited a smouldering debate between establishment Republicans and the neo-conservatives who are especially influential in the Pentagon.
Congressman Moran, a Democrat, told an anti-war forum in an Episcopal Church: "If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this."
He was widely criticised and apologised. Polls show that in fact 52 per cent of Jews in the US support war against Iraq compared to 73 per cent of Evangelical Protestants. But the Internet is awash with allegations that pro-Israeli Jews and like-minded neo-conservatives in the administration are pushing the war with Iraq. Critics among establishment Republicans refer to neo-conservatives as "American Likudniks", after the Israeli party led by Ariel Sharon, and maintain they virtually control Washington's agenda on the Middle East.
Isolationist Republicans like 2000 presidential candidate Pat Buchanan claim that neo-conservatives seek "to conscript American blood to make the world safer for Israel". The "neocons" - many of them former leftist/liberals who converted to conservatism during the Reagan era and who enjoy the support of key leaders of the Christian religious right - have defenders in influential publications like New Republic.
Senior editor Lawrence Kaplan accused critics on the right, including commentators like Robert Novak, Chris Matthews and Georgie Anne Geyer, of making "toxic" claims implying that "members of the Bush team have been doing Israel's bidding and, by extension, exhibiting dual loyalties".
The debate has become intense and personal, with accounts of resentments expressed by generals about neo-conservative "Chicken Hawks" with little military experience leading the charge to war.
A senior State Department official once generated "riotous applause" when he told a room full of senior military officers, "there's more combat experience on the 7th floor of the State Department than in the entire Office of the Secretary of Defence", according to Chris Nelson, publisher of the influential Nelson Report that circulates to embassies and Capitol Hill offices.
Tim Russert, presenter of NBC's Meet the Press, put the issue on the table in an interview with Richard Perle, the influential Pentagon adviser and a leading neo-conservative. Russert referred to a paper drafted by Perle, A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm, which argued that an American invasion of Iraq would be the first step in reshaping the Middle East to Israel's benefit, as it would destabilise regimes hostile to Israel.
"Senior members of the Bush administration participated in the discussions and the drafting" of the paper, said Russert, referring to Perle himself, Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Undersecretary of Defence Douglas Feith.
"Can you assure American viewers across our country that we're in this situation against Saddam Hussein and his removal for American security interests? And what would be the link in terms of Israel?"
Perle replied: "I don't see what would be wrong with surrounding Israel with democracies."
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Claims that American foreign policy has been hijacked by "Likudniks" have gained such traction that Colin Powell - not a neo-conservative - was questioned on Capitol Hill on Thursday about suggestions that American supporters of Israel were driving US strategy. "It is driven by our own national interest," Mr Powell said.
"It is not driven by any small cabal that is buried away somewhere that is telling President Bush or me or Vice President Cheney or Condi Rice or other members of our administration what our policies should be."
Nevertheless the charge has rattled the State Department which has lost control of US Middle East policy. Neo-conservatives won a major battle in December with the appointment of Elliott Abrams, a veteran of Iran-Contra once indicted for false testimony, to head up Middle East policy on the President's National Security Council.
His job is to prepare policy papers for national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. A protégé of Perle, Abrams is a critic of the Oslo peace accords, and once reportedly assailed Binyamin Netanyahu for succumbing to American pressure to go along with the Oslo process.
The neo-conservatives have taken the lead in delaying the road map to peace being developed by the "Quartet" of the US, the EU, Russia and the UN. Tony Blair felt betrayed at the delay.Yesterday's exercise in the Rose Garden when Bush said he would restart the process reflects belated recognition by the President of the need for concessions as his closest ally faces political extinction.
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Colin Powell is said to be absolutely livid with Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for alienating countries Powell is trying to mollify. "Diplomacy is slipping away and Rumsfeld needs some duct tape put over his mouth," a friend of Powell told the New York Times. Rumsfeld's assertion that the US didn't really need the UK to fight Iraq was greeted with incredulity in London, implying that Blair was sending British soldiers into harm's way when they weren't needed.
Powell was also blindsided by President Bush's comment at his March 6th press conference that "no matter what the whip count is, we're calling for a vote" at the UN. Powell contradicted that two days ago, saying the resolution might in the end be withdrawn. He faces a huge setback to his prestige in the event of a defeat. Things are bad enough. Another senior US diplomat resigned this week.
The Nelson Report said: "It would be difficult to exaggerate the growing mixture of anger, despair, disgust, and fear actuating the foreign policy community in Washington as the attack on Iraq moves closer, and the North Korea crisis festers with no coherent US policy."
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Pre-war tensions were put aside for the dinner last Saturday of the Gridiron Club, a Washington group of elite journalists that exists only to stage the annual event, where top officials and columnists make fun of themselves and each other.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a heart surgeon, compared the legislative journey with the human digestive system - starting at the mouth, and ending at the other end.
One skit by journalists had Powell crooning that Kim Jong Il "has a nuclear bomba . . . what if he sells it to Osama?"
Another had the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Richard Myers, singing "Yakety yak, attack Iraq."
All good fun . . .