Gen. George S. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in his fourth public statement of “concern” over his slurring remarks about American Jews and Israel, apologized today for “having unintentionally offended my fellow Americans, not merely Americans of the Jewish faith.” Addressing the Comstock Club in Sacramento, California, a prestigious business group, Brown referred to the allegations he made in reply to questions at Duke University Law School Oct. 10 that American Jews owned most of the banks and newspapers in this country and that Israel had an undue influence on Congress.
“More than anything else. I am both awed and appalled by the divisiveness this incident has caused,” Brown told his audience today. “I understand the upset and dismay that has been expressed. I have received some letters of support of a type I totally reject as alien to America and alien to me. Polarization of our society is contrary to our traditions and clearly not in the best interests of our nation,” Brown said.
Meanwhile a closed-door session of the Senate Armed Services Committee was being conducted in Washington today to consider lingering questions about the Brown incident at Duke University. Several members of the committee were expected to recommend a full-scale hearing to which Brown may be summoned to testify.
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