Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Economic and political sanctions against Iran must be "dramatically increased" if the international community hopes to stop the Iranian regime from obtaining nuclear weapons, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday.

The issue of Iran is expected to top the agenda of talks between Olmert and President Bush when they meet on Wednesday.

Both Olmert and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice used their speeches to the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) -- the largest pro-Israel lobby in the U.S. -- to urge the international community to do more to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power.

More... 

TVNL Comment: Normally, lobbying groups try to influence politicians.  Where AIPAC is concerned, every politico must grovel for its approval.  Anyone seeking or holding a top public office in the US is required to pledge unconditional support to everything Israel does... including amass nuclear weapons to the exclusion of any other nation in the Middle East.  When will anyone question Israel's role in causing so much of the unrest and frustration in the region?  Probably, never. 

AIPAC maintains a virtual stranglehold over the US Congress. Critics of the Israel lobby other than Walt and Mearsheimer also contend that AIPAC essentially prevents any possibility of open debate on US policy towards Israel.

AIPAC should not be crossed. It rewards those who support its agenda, and punishes those who don't. In the end, it's all about money - specifically campaign contributions. From 2000 to 2004, according to the Washington Post, AIPAC honchos contributed an average of $72,000 each to campaigns and political committees. For pro-AIPAC politicians, money simply pours from all over the US.

Every member of the US Congress receives AIPAC's bi-weekly newsletter, the Near East Report. Walt and Mearsheimer stress that Congressmen and their staff "usually turn to AIPAC when they need info; AIPAC is called upon to draft speeches, work on legislation, advise on tactics, research, collect co-sponsors and marshal votes".

More... 

Though Bush’s White House and his Republican allies may stand out as the principal villains in this tragic story, a large share of the blame also must fall on accommodating Democrats and careerists in the Washington press corps. They protected their political flanks and their nice salaries by playing along.

Indeed, McClellan calls the U.S. news media “complicit enablers” in the White House’s “carefully orchestrated campaign to shape and manipulate sources of public approval” for invading Iraq, according to a New York Times preview of McClellan’s book, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception.

More... 

Former California prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi wants President Bush charged with murder.

“George Bush has gotten away with murder – thousands of murders,” Bugliosi says. “And no one is doing anything about it. The American people can’t let him do this.”

Bugliosi argues that Bush misled the nation into a war that has killed more than 4,000 Americans.

“We know that Bush was telling millions upon millions of unsuspecting Americans exactly the opposite of what his own CIA was telling him,” Bugliosi said. “We know that George Bush took this nation to war on a lie. Who is going to pay for all of this? Someone has to pay. And the person who has to pay obviously is directly responsible for all of the death horror and suffering. And that person is George W. Bush.”

More...