AIPAC members met with a Democratic congressman who blamed the lobbying group for the Iraq war. Six members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee met for two hours with U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) on Sept. 20, The Washington Post reported on Sept. 27. Five members of the delegation were also constituents of Moran in his northern Virginia district, the Post reported. Moran had told Tikkun magazine that AIPAC “has pushed this war from the beginning” and that “they are so well organized, and their members are extraordinarily powerful — most of them are quite wealthy — they have been able to exert power.” The delegation told Moran his comments were “false and offensive,” but the meeting ended without Moran promising a retraction. Top Democrats in Congress have repudiated Moran for the remarks, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. In a statement last week, Pelosi said, “I disagree and reject Congressman Moran’s characterization of AIPAC. AIPAC did not lead us into this disastrous war in Iraq. President Bush and Vice President Cheney did.”
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