Barak vs The Neocons

The unhinged hysteria of Norman Podhoretz is not shared by Ehud Barak:

"I am not among those who believe Iran is an existential issue for Israel." Barak concluded: "Israel is strong, I don't see anyone who could pose an existential threat."

And yet the neocon chorus is now spinning that Obama is "pushing Israel to war." Why is anyone still listening to these fanatics?

Haven't they been proven wrong about almost everything in foreign policy in the last decade? And yet they still pontificate with the certainty of those whose ideology is impervious to empirical data or history. They were never wrong; they are always right; and Israel is always on the brink of extinction unless neoconservative Americans rush constantly to its rescue (and harm Israel deeply in the process).

Mercifully, their monopoly on media discourse has been broken by the blogosphere. But they still dictate the editorial position of the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, TNR, National Review and The Weekly Standard. These editorial platforms carry much less sway than they once did. But they could still help tilt the US into another unecessary and deeply destructive war.