Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) sent out an email on Thursday seeking to raise money off the anti-Semitism scandal that has engulfed the Democratic Party, claiming that a pro-Israel group was “coming after” her, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).
“It’s official — AIPAC is coming after Alexandria, Ilhan, and Rashida,” the email said. “Rashida, Ilhan, and Alexandria have at times dared to question our foreign policy, and the influence of money in our political system. And now, lobbying groups across the board are working to punish them for it.”
Ocasio-Cortez then compared the bipartisan consensus on the U.S.-Israel relationship to the Iraq War, as noted by The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs.
“Some members of Congress have even gone so far as to claim that ‘questioning support for the US-Israel relationship is unacceptable,'” the email continues. “But that’s not how our legislative process is supposed to work. Just a decade ago, it was ‘unquestionable’ to not support the war in Iraq. And we all saw what resulted from that lack of discussion and negotiation.”
On Monday night, Ocasio-Cortez made radical statements, “suggesting that the United States should not have authorized the use of force against those who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks — the deadliest terrorist attack in world history,” The Daily Wire reported.
Ocasio-Cortez made the remarks while calling out Democrat Rep. Juan Vargas (CA) for attacking Omar.
“It is disturbing that Rep. Omar continues to perpetuate hurtful anti-Semitic stereotypes that misrepresent our Jewish community. Additionally, questioning support for the U.S.-Israel relationship is unacceptable,” Vargas tweeted. “Israel has and remains a stalwart ally of the United States because of our countries’ shared interests and values. I condemn her remarks and believe she should apologize for her offensive comments.”
Ocasio-Cortez responded by shifting the conversation off of Omar’s anti-Semitism and onto foreign policy.
“I‘m curious if Rep. Vargas will further explain his stance here that it’s unacceptable to even *question* US foreign policy,” Ocasio-Cortez responded. “Plenty of Dem members have asserted that discussion + debate on this issue is fair and merited. Is this stance a departure from that?”
The Daily Wire noted that “Ocasio-Cortez continued with another tweet that contained some false information: ‘I remember a time when it was ‘unacceptable’ to question the Iraq War. All of Congress was wrong, including both GOP & Dem Party, and led my generation into a disastrous + wrong war that virtually all would come to regret, except for the one member who stood up: Barbara Lee.'”
Ocasio-Cortez later clarified her tweet after she was called out, noting that she was talking about Afghanistan. She also stated that the U.S. should not have have been in Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The “AUMF” that Ocasio-Cortez referenced in her tweet stands for the “Authorization to Use Military Force,” which was enacted three days after 9/11.
The Hill noted that the AUMF “authorizes the president ‘to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons’— in other words, al Qaeda and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.”
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