Paul writes that Walt and Mearshimer are “no longer willing to defend” the idea that the Israeli lobby pushed the U.S. into the Iraq war. The link that he provides does not support this claim, however. I was expecting some sort of mea culpa or some “backing down” on the part of Walt and Mearshimer, but in fact all they do is accuse others of mischaracterizing and overstating their claims and then restate the idea that the lobby was significant in the leadup to the war. They say that others are “accusing us of ... suggesting that the lobby bears sole responsibility for the Bush administration’s decision to invade Iraq. But that is not what we said”. They finish that same paragraph by saying “there is abundant evidence that the neo-conservatives and other groups within the lobby played a central role in making the case for war”.
If you read Paul’s post without clicking the link you get the impression that they have somehow rethought or changed their position, but the link does not demonstrate this in the least.
