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Israel vs. Iran: The Truth Slips Out
Just days after the New York Times Magazine’s lurid cover story, “Israel Vs. Iran,” the Washington Post struck back with a two-fisted effort to win the “most dire prediction” contest. The Post’s foreign policy pundit David Ignatius wrote a widely-circulated column claiming inside information: U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta “believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June.” The next day the Post’s front page headline warned ominously, “Israel: Iran Must Be Stopped Soon.”
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Both stories reported that the Obama administration opposes any Israeli action, just like the Bush administration before it. The risks to U.S. interests are incalculable, as the Pentagon and State Department have been telling us for years.
Yet both stories added a new note: Israel might strike without U.S. support or permission. “The administration appears to favor staying out of the conflict unless Iran hits U.S. assets,” Ignatius wrote.
Of course the U.S. is already in the conflict, as the Iranians know perfectly well. Israel’s ability to strike depends largely on its high-tech weaponry, paid for by the $3 billion a year coming from Washington. With that kind of money flowing -- plus U.S. diplomatic support, which many in Israel see as their last barrier against international isolation -- the Obama administration has powerful leverage to stop any Israeli action that threatens U.S. interests.
When the administration tells the Washington Post that the U.S. is unhappy but helpless, it’s obviously looking for deniability if the attack occurs. But it’s also a clear signal to the Israelis: Though we could stop you, so far we have not decided that we will. This is a major shift in the message coming from Washington.
Why now? Ignatius put it delicately: “Complicating matters is the 2012 presidential campaign, which has Republicans candidates clamoring for stronger U.S. support of Israel.” Obama, the Republicans, and the mass media all assume that a red light from the White House to the Israelis would hurt the president on Election Day.
Why should the voters punish a president for insisting that U.S. interests must come first and for preventing an attack that would probably cause a spike in gas prices?
The two WaPo articles offered an important clue. One mentioned Israeli warnings about “an existential threat to Israel.” the other called this “a time when their security is undermined by the Arab Spring.”
For decades, American voters have been inundated with news stories reporting supposed threats to Israel’s security as if they were objective fact. Rarely do our mass media allow any questions about, much less objections to, the myth of Israel’s insecurity. At least two questions are urgent now:
Even if the Iranians did manage to make a handful of nuclear weapons, why should we believe they would ever use them against Israel? They know that Israel already has 100 to 200 nukes of its own, enough to destroy every major city in Iran, and is perfectly prepared to use them. Iranian leaders have not given any evidence that they’re interested in committing national suicide.
And why should we believe Israel was better off before the Arab Spring, when its neighbors were all dictatorships, breeding grounds for popular anger that could easily turn (or be manipulated) against outside enemies? Governments that better reflect public sentiment are more stable and reliable for their neighbors to deal with. In fact, the Arab Spring movement is having a moderating effect on Islamist politics, as both the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas are now demonstrating.
Read the references to Israel’s insecurity in the two WaPo articles more closely, and a third question arises: Do Israelis leaders seriously believe that their national existence is threatened?
The front-pager says: “Israeli officials warn that beyond posing an existential threat to Israel, Iran’s possession of a nuclear weapon could trigger a regional nuclear arms race in the volatile Middle East and alter Israel’s strategic position in the region.”
Since Israel brought nukes into the Middle East decades ago, its concern about a “regional nuclear arms race” is code for other Mideast nations getting nuclear capability. “Strategic position” is code for Israel’s current absolute military domination of the greater Middle East, symbolized by its sole possession of nukes. It’s that symbolic as well as very real domination, not its national existence, that Israel is at risk of losing.
“Symbolic” is the right word when it comes to nuclear weapons because Israel’s nukes don’t have any practical value. Israel doesn’t need to use its nukes; it has shown itself more than capable of winning any conventional war against its neighbors. And the U.S. has guaranteed that Israel will stay far ahead in the high-tech conventional arms race.
If Israel did use even one nuke against a conventional attack it would probably lose the last shred of its dwindling support around the world, including most of its support in the U.S., and end up isolated, a pariah in the international community. That’s the greatest nightmare for most Israelis.
The Israelis are considering an attack on Iran, fraught with immense dangers, so the Jewish state can keep its symbolic status as the region’s only superpower.
David Ignatius confirms this view in his reference to Israel’s supposed insecurity: “Israeli leaders are said to accept, and even welcome, the prospect of going it alone and demonstrating their resolve at a time when their security is undermined by the Arab Spring.”
Resolve to do what? To do whatever it takes to maintain military superiority. But superiority is useful only if it’s publicly demonstrated from time to time. Symbolism is the key to a sense of national power.
If these WaPo journalists are right -- and my forty years of studying the issue tells me they are -- what really makes Israeli leaders feel insecure is their fear of not having their power respected. To gain that respect, they’ll talk endlessly about their planning to attack Iran. Perhaps one day they’ll do it, as long as Obama doesn’t raise the red light.
The main thing holding him back is election-year anxiety of his own, fueled by the millions of voters who honestly believe that Israel’s existence is constantly in peril. Why shouldn’t they believe it, when the journalists they depend on for their information repeat that myth endlessly, while they hint at the full truth only in rare sentences that get lost amid the flood of words that evoke fear.
But how tragic that a president has to worry about voters punishing him if he puts U.S. interests above Israel’s desire to symbolize its military strength and resolve.
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102 Comments so far
Show AllIt's great to see a logical, more concise article about this subject. For that matter any subject, especially when we are talking about war. The American Corporate Media Machine completely abandoned our Democracy leading up to the war in Iraq. It was apparent to me then my fellow citizens wanted revenge so bad for 9/11 that none of us held the "Machine" to any standard. Now the middle class is being chiseled away with outrageous food costs, and building material costs. IMO as long as the "Machine" can instill fear in the population, they will continue to reap record profits while the rest of us suffer.
Gaza has no air defenses
Hamas was provoked to shoot rockets into Israel. In 2005, as soon as the settlers were out of Gaza, Israel sent jets to do low-level sonic booms over Gaza every night, sometime two or three times a night - FOR MONTHS. A terrible experience. It was mental torture for the Gazans.
The western media blackout of this nefarious tactic (punishing them with sonic booms), allowed the right wing regime in Israel to propagate the lie in the news media, that the bottle rockets were the way the Gazans "thanked" Israel for removing the Jewish settlements from Gaza..
Smitty88. The delicious irony of your comment has been lost on your readers.Ironic humour is not the American strong point, otherwise the American administration would die laughing at itself for its sheer stupidity. One has to play cricket to understand irony. Baseball is simply about hitting things with blunt objects, as is American "football".
In another CD article today, Robert Scheer reports that Obama started his own superpac, primarily to snag Haim Saban, multi-billionaire Likudnik, probably Mossad agent, almost certainly weapons runner, and producer of the Mutant Ninja Turtles, from which he made untold millions. Is he American, is he Israeli, is he both, where does he live (mostly LA, USA), where do his loyalties lie? who knows, but we do know he is fanatically "pro-Israel" and supported HRC vs. Obama in 2008, because Obama was seen as insufficiently savage in his promises to attack the Palestinians or support Israeli attacks. Saban could be Obama's Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire, Likudnik, reactionary LVNV casino owner, without whose $$$ Newt Gingrich would have flamed out a year ago. Note the background and sympathies of both moneybags.
Meanwhile in the West Bank, Israel, with $3 bil/yr from the US, is paying 1000s of ultra-orthodox, ultra rightwing "settlers", not to work but to stay "home" and "study the Torah". It must be a difficult subject because these people take regular breaks to attack Palestinians and their own IDF. Yes, that's right. They stone the IDF when the IDF's strongly pro-settler and anti-Palestinian actions are not strong enough. These same people also say they do not recognize the authority of the govt of Israel, only Yahweh's mandate to conquer and "settle" all of "Eretz Israel", which includes almost everything up to the border of Jordan. Many of these people are actually US citizens from Brooklyn or West LA. They grew up here, became fanatics and moved there (without giving up their US citizenship, just in case). They view Palestinians as "animals"; their word not mine.
So, to summarize, we (the US) materially subsidize armed fanatics who do not even recognize their own govt, who are seizing somebody else's land, who expect the IDF to defend them, even as they attack the IDF and who recieve a paycheck from the Israeli gov NOT to work. In addition, these armed fanatics have built small but militant political parties without whose votes Likud/Kadima would not be able to govern Israel. Thus Likud/Kadima must do essentially whatever the "settler's" parties want, like make racist fanatic Avigdor Lieberman, Secty of Defense (or whatever they call it in Israel).
And all this because the Saban's and Adelson's in the US have piles of money, no shame and a choke chain around the necks of essentially every major figure in American politics. The only President who ever publicly went against them was Bush Sr. He lasted one term, even after driving Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait (largely at Israel's pleasure). Perot didn't help Bush much, but you really have to wonder what else was going on.
As far as Israel's 200 nukes and whether use of any of them in an attack on Iran or somebody else would isolate Israel, think about it: Israel may have the capability to detonate those nukes elsewhere in the world, much farther away than Tehran. What threats, veiled or otherwise have been made? What the Israeli's call the "Samson option" (if we go down, we take the building with us) has already been made public.
However ugly all this is, the real story is almost certainly far uglier.
Good comment and true.
Tragically funny! I laughed through tears.
This shit is getting way out of hand. This unholy alliance between The US MIC turning Israel into a US military base, Right Wing big money from US billionaires, Right Wing religious nuts in the US, and the State of Israel---this whole cabal is headed for a train wreck. The whole mess will explode in the faces of all the parties involved.
You are so right. It is out of hand and will end up bad no matter what. I am wondering why the good jewish people here in the states don't start raising hell about it. It could come down on their necks. If I was jewish I would be feeling the intensity of the lies and distortion. This can only turn the camera on them regardless of what power they have over the media. The rest of the world knows. Europe certainly has no kindness for them anymore. The muslims (2 billion people) want their asses cooking over a fire. Israel has lost the war in the bedroom and lost the war to Hezbollah last go round. What are they thinking?? They can blackmail our country only so long and that worm will turn.
Religious nuts here and there are in for a rude awakening.
And us.
How even more tragic that a president would consider his hold on the presidency as being more important than preventing yet another war and the potential deaths of millions!
Reading your comments I can't understand how N gets standing ovation in a congress representing sensible people? But the prairies are full folks believing the childish myth of rapture. What can you do against that ... US wants him to stay and live well where it is.
Why on earth Uganda (or any county aside the Amish land) wasn't chosen as J's landing place after WWII?
Isreal attacked in the 7 day war and did not ask Pres Johnson. Didn't ask before attacking the USS Liberty and never seems too ask whenever.. So much for partnership. Plus the UN is totally ignored. Our foreign policy on Isreal needs to be reviewed.
They keep up the threat over and over and we keep objecting over and over for years now so what are you waiting for Israel, if your window of opportunity is running out... Jump before it is too late.
Why won’t you do it already, is the Bully afraid to jump out the window?
'Wiped off the Map' - Rumor of the Century
by Arash Norouzi
Across the world, a dangerous rumor has spread that could have catastrophic implications.
According to legend, Iran's president has threatened to destroy Israel, or, to quote the misquote, "Israel must be wiped off the map."
Contrary to popular belief, THIS STATEMENT WAS NEVER MADE.
On October 25th, 2005 at the Ministry of Interior conference hall in Tehran, newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a speech at a program, reportedly attended by thousands, titled "The World Without Zionism."
Large posters surrounding him displayed this title prominently in English, obviously for the benefit of the international press. Below the poster's title was a slick graphic depicting an hour glass containing planet Earth at its top. Two small round orbs representing the United States and Israel are shown falling through the hour glass' narrow neck and crashing to the bottom.
Before we get to the infamous remark, it's important to note that the "quote" in question was itself a quote – they are the words of the late Ayatollah Khomenei, the father of the Islamic Revolution. Although he quoted Khomeini to affirm his own position on ZIONISM, the actual words belong to Khomeini and not Ahmadinejad. Thus, Ahmadinejad has essentially been credited (or blamed) for a quote that is not only unoriginal, but represents a viewpoint already in place well before he ever took office.
The Actual Quote:
So what did Ahmadinejad actually say? To quote his exact words in Farsi:
"Imam ghoft een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad."
That passage will mean nothing to most people, but one word might ring a bell: rezhim-e. It is the word "regime" - pronounced just like the English word with an extra "eh" sound at the end.
Ahmadinejad did NOT refer to Israel the country nor Israel the land mass, but the Israeli REGIME. This is a vastly significant distinction, as one cannot wipe a regime off the map. Ahmadinejad does not even refer to Israel by name, he instead uses the specific phrase "rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods" (regime occupying Jerusalem).
So this raises the question... what exactly did he want "wiped from the map"?
NOTHING.... because the word "map" was never used. The Persian word for map, "nagsheh" is not contained anywhere in his original Farsi quote, or, for that matter, anywhere in his entire speech. Nor was the western phrase "wipe out" ever said. Yet we are led to believe that Iran's president threatened to "wipe Israel off the map," despite never having uttered the words "map" "wipe out" or even "Israel"
read more:
'Wiped off the Map' - Rumor of the Century
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/norouzi.php?articleid=11025
http://www.mohammadmossadegh.com/news/rumor-of-the-century/
Lost in Translation
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/jun/14/post155
Thank you, techcafe, for that complete examination for the Lie told by Israel and the Obama Administration.
The world is still threatened by these lie's.
You are absolutely right, but you are pissing up a rope when it comes to stating facts, and speaking the truth to people, that do want to know the truth. Our media has printed and reported so much disinformation about Iran, until the truth has no chance in getting through to us. You see, we need a boogey man constantly, in order to keep the us stirred up and scared. Think about that, America has the largest military on the planet, and its' people are always scared, imagine that? We fight wars that last for 10 years or more, against countries that are smaller than many of our states, with the world's, so called, greatest military ever assembled. And our people stand for it, hook, line and sinker. And there are those that will tell you that we are A Christian Nation... Our church leaders are afraid to say anything, they know can lose their Tax Exemtion Status, and in turn their livelihood. Therefore, they stay in line and keep their congregations in check. Propaganda is considered headline news here, we have all forms of media dedicated to spinning Lies, on a 24-hour basis... Your article is spot on. I pray that Iran is not the next ten, fifteen, or twenty year war America will embark on, because, Israel is afraid that Iran will commit suicide by attacking them with a nuclear weapon or delivery system, that does not exist. Absolute Madness!!!
Ira's point is massively supported by what Ronen Bergman said on NPR on Monday. He's the author of the opening salvo in this round: the New York Times magazine article "Will Israel Attack Iran." The man who says, yes, absolutely it will.
Seconds after telling NPR that Israeli leaders mean to attack Iran because it is an existential threat, the likes of which Israel has never faced before, he blandly stated that based on his extensive contacts with them, he's sure that "no Israeli leader thinks Iran is going to use a nuclear bomb against Israel."
The real reason to attack Iran, he went on to say, is that a nuclear-capable Iran would make Israeli leaders have to think twice before invading Lebanon or bombarding Gaza.
It's really too bad the NPR interviewer didn't follow up with him and ask the obvious question: "So you're telling me that all these Israeli leaders are lying?"
More evidence that the Israelis themselves don't believe this nonsense they're peddling.
First, whether or not Iran wants a nuclear weapon, there are only two predominant nuclear powers in the Mideast:
1. there is American and her NATO allies, which insist on bombing independent countries which have absolutely nothing to do with terrorism, in the hopes of making them terrorist countries against which American entrepreneurial weapons manufacturers can profit. You could bomb France and eventually the people there would there would start a guerrilla/terrorist war against America and be labeled terrorist. That is what America is doing in the middle east. And there is Israel, which insists on absolute dominance of the region for the betterment of a country organized and controlled by a people of the Jewish religion whose ancestors never lived there. Thank Christ they gave us Christ on a Cross, or we would think them absolutely bereft of reason.
2. There is Russia, which like China has defense commitments to Iran. As both Russia and China have recently vetoed UN commitments to further sanctions of Iran and the resulting starvation of women and children and men. Has it been so long ago in history that we can forget that American sanctions in Iraq resulted in 500 thousand Iraqi children being starved to death? Where will it end?
I don't think Iran; which has zero nuclear weapons and no territorial imperatives, is the power which must be stopped in the Mideast. It is Israel with their hundreds of nuclear weapons and religious ambitions to control ever more land.. But of course to say so is tantamount to suggesting to the Inquisition that perhaps the world wasn't flat after all.
If Israel wants to be the stand alone power in the ME, I say let them. Cut off all US funding. Stop selling weapons and parts. Force them into weapons inspections and to come clean about their nuclear arsenal. Force them out of the territories they have seized illegally from the Palestinians. Force them to pay reparations for war crimes and charge those guilty of war crimes. Those leading the charge for war and to nuke Iran are no better than the Nazis were in WW2. Actually, they are worse. The US is so good at deciding about regime change, deciding the fate of other countries whether they like it or not, it's way past time to do that with this fascist totalitarian state.
Nietzsche: Yep - the "train wreck" nails it. This lunacy is an overdose looking for a junkie...
Iran is as much an 'existential threat' to America & Co., as John Paul Sartre. Are there ANY (non dual-passport holding) adults left, who might actually consider discussing the 'pocket money thing' with Benjamin?
Netanyahu might not care about U.S. public opinion but the Palestinians might.
It used to be that Israel was the fifty-first state of the US, now the US is the second state of Israel. Israel runs the US using a bronze age text book and Americans, sadly, fall for all the religioparadoid propaganda.
Iranians have as much right to nuclear energy as anyone else, and like anyone else they can do with the residue as they will. Before anyone says they don't need atomic power because of all the oil, well, nobody ever said that about the US, did they.
Iran is downwind from Israel. Israelis believe Iranians don't know this?
So once again Israel is in dire jeopardy and threatens to preemptively attack Iran. The Republicans clamor for strong support of Israel with some of them advocating an American preemptive attack of our own. My unlettered opinion on the matter is based solely on observation for over fifty years and it is that this is all, pure and clearly, political bullshit. The President’s posture is the same as Bush’s but now they speechify for greater support for Israeli defense. I do note, in passing, that Republican support for Israel is strongest when a Democrat is in the White House. This is likely so they can keep as far from the fan as possible. Aside from the financial and political support the Republicans want serious saber rattling while the administration is adopting a posture of “We have no control here”. This stance is much like the stance of HW Bush in August 1990 when we stood aside and let Iraq invade Kuwait by not indicating our true position. We have given Israel strong support in arms and money for over sixty years. It is time that they paid some attention to our position and realized that their uncle is no longer the only one with a big stick anymore. This must become the century of diplomacy. There really is no choice. Wars have now reached the level of genocide to be effective foreign policy and only the sociopathic would follow this path. A war with Iraq would be as stupid as???? Sorry I am lost for an analogy. This is too uniquely stupid to even consider. Talk about fighting a tar baby! The growing Republican uproar is simply one more example of Republican lust for political power and lack of concern for the nation they profess to love.
Yup, them AIPAC shekel's make (((bumbling))) thieves out of most all of our pro-Israel US Congressional harlots and pimps and a few 'wanna fly to Israel free and be submursed in Jewish propaganda caca for 10 dayze at the Jews expense. (Actually misguided US dollars).
{The two WaPo articles offered an important clue. One mentioned Israeli warnings about “an existential threat to Israel.” the other called this “a time when their security is undermined by the Arab Spring.”}
Here is the central issue: the "Arab Spring" could expand to become an "Israeli Spring." The good citizens of Israel do NOT support the position of their own government and is actively working to change it. Unfortunately, the far right wing is still firmly in control, but a movement is building and the government knows it. They are desperately trying to distract the multitudes from their internal problems by creating an external enemy. And American politicians in their pocket are going along with it.
Israel and America know perfectly well that even if Iran acquired a nuclear bomb it would never use it on Israel because it would itself be obliterated. The real fear haunting Israel is that the day Iran conducts its first test, the citizens of Israel with dual nationality will decide that life in the leafy suburbs of London, New York and other western cities is far more desirable and will make a bee line for the airport.
Ahmedinijad said numerous times that israel should be wiped of the map, and so did numerous imams and mullahs in the entire Muslim world, including those in the Gaza and West Bank! The leaders of Arabs often whip the mobs into frenzy of shouts Death to the Jews, Death to America!
Muslim Brotherhood is talking war against Israel again, and so are many Muslim countries who refuse the sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights because Islam and sharia are incompatible with human rights and US Constitution. Yet those countries are allowed to defame Israel at the UN, the ONLY TRUE democracy in the Middle East while calling for the second Holocaust.
The vile forgery of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a best seller in most Muslim countries and is used as a "proof" that Jews are guilty of all the problems of humanity. The blood libel (claim that Jews use Arab blood to make matzos for Passover is shown on TV to prove how vile the Jews are).
There were more Jewish refugees, who had to flee with their lives from the Arab countries and who were settled in Israel and now form more than 50% of Jewish population of Israel. There are 20% of non-Jews (Muslim, Christians and Bahai's who have their headquarters in Haifa) whose human rights are protected. Arab countries are Juden-frei (except Morocco) and now Christians are leaving in droves since Muslims do not let them live in peace.
In contrast, the Arab refugees from Israel in 1948 were never allowed by the Arabs to settle in their midst, in the properties vacated by the Jews, and have been used in their political games. UN keeps them on the dole for now 5 generations, unlike with any other refugees from conflicts in the world. The Arabs attacked Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 and were whipped.
Therefore, they had decided to follow the Nazi Mufti idea of propaganda, which he learned from Goebbels, and pretend to just want democracy and equal rights, which their own countries under sharia do not recognize. Fools in the West are duped into belief that Arabs are poor people oppressed by the vile Zionists, totally oblivious that those Jews in Israel who are working hard on creating good country for all, while surrounding countries want to annihilate it, loot what Jews had built there, and "push all the Jews into the sea".
Read Koran and Hadith and see for yourself that it is a supremacist ideology of hate of non-Muslims similar to Nazi Jew-hating ideology that led to Holocaust. If Arabs could, they would have no problem perpetuating another Holocaust. Make no mistake, Islamism is the main cause of terrorism around the world and Islam itself is incompatible either with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of with the US Constitution. Only ignorant fools do not recognize it.
Whata bunch of crap.
Perfect specimen of delusion. What's the Apartheid Wall around the Palestinians for then, Democracy? The leading positions on this, unequivocally contend that if there were no wall and a True Democracy existed in Israel, it would not be able to sustain a Jewish State identity ...A State for the Jews which has killed and indirectly contributed to the killing of hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of innocent people. Is [the wall] it to protect the indigenous people, or those that think 2000 years of untraceable ancestry entitles them to pretend they are from planet Bible? Brings back memories of the segregated South doesn't it; Jews Only Drink Here. Laughable. His arguments originated from the gutter/street and should be given the same respect, or lack thereof. This nut would have you believe his propagation of myths consist of literal translations and that they are the positions of Governments; yes, Arabs and non Arabs(not original Yahudis), such as Iranians, have governments with explicit positions to prevent this sort of mutilated construing, including a history of trying to negotiate with this sort of psychosis; commendable.
Pal, keep the WWII propaganda to yourself and implode with your hate. That rant is psychotic.
This author might do a bit of justice by mentioning the religious fanaticism that compels Israelis and their government to be belligerent, explicitly threatening it's neighbors. Really, the advent (for lack of better word) of Israeli identity consciousness and writing/literacy in and after the Roman period doesn't do justice to their familial relationship to Arabs(older in both regards). This type of thing is obfuscated under the a-historical, contrived racial designation, Semite(name designed in hindsight from Bible interpretation).
Iranians/non-Semites and historical societal development from East to West is obvious in the earliest and continuous archaeological record, and handling deluded ideologies that return West to East (to include Islam) is in there too. The Bible is not historically valid, although contains many cherry-picked stories from around the area and other cultures. Don't bother arguing with cherry-picked positions about Egypt(thousands of years removed from these contentions and origins obscure, for all a guy like this might know). Is it safe to say he's a guy? ...Plenty of war mongering women out there these days too. That's all.
Great write Pilgrim. But, be careful 'Jealousy' on this site and renegade ZioNazi Jews could cost ya your site 'drivers' license....
Better check your facts with 'facts checker' dah-ling. Messer Ahmadinejas never said such a thing. Oh yeah, the US Jewish 'owned and opiniated' media has played with the minds of people like you to 'run cover' for that 1/2 acre of 'eternal victim' Zionist-landia hell, but it ain't so. As for your 'rendition' of the Nakba, try Google or Bing. Sorry to take away your thunder Mamacita but, you go with the 'truth' or you go through hell dodging beer bottlers and empty pizza cartons from the 'experts.' As for the Nazi jew hating 'idealogy.' Just think, the Rothchilds were raping the German people out of house and home (Remind you of Palestine?) and the German people (1933) woke up one day and decided to recruit a little short-sh*t from Austria, Senor 'Adolfous Hitler' and said: "Save us from the Jewish parasites - and lo and behold, here comes this little sh*t with that infamous funny mustache and accepts the challenge. You gotta admit, he gave it a hell of a try (But, unfortunately he ran out of time and financing). With the Jews on NYC's Wall Street doing the exact thing to the 'Goyim' of America right now. Can you understand why #OccupyWallStreet has the Jews all shook up? NYC Michel Bloomberg (Powerful Jew worth $2b 'heisted' US smackeroo's and Eric Cantor (another 'over-the-top' Jewish 'cabrone' porting millions in 'heisted' US dollars) has used the NYC police department, weaponized' tear gas - and 'yes' he is concerned that 'Kristallnacht' may be on the way. Of course that would be anti-semitic and the accomodating American 'sheeple' would never be accepting to be called that 'ah-so horrible name!' They's rather lose their homes to the 'derivative mafia' and retire on instant Campbell soups than to insult the Wall Street 'bandidos' with curse words and innuendo's. But, hey Spring is right around the corner and as soon as cock Robin starts chirping indicating that spring is here - Look our bandit MFer's!
"Another holocuast? You seem to 'also' believe (Oh my gawd!) that the Arabs perpetuated the original Holocuast, right? WRONG! Hey, I'm running out of 'computer ink' so I'll say arrivaderche Fraulein - So, I gotta say, Hasta la Vista Baby!
PS: As for being 'On the Dole." Israel has collected over $250 billion smakaroos for the US tax-payer and 722 Holocaust memorials have been built at US tax-payers expense to accomodate these serial 'moocher' rats all over America for something that happened in Europe, oh no! Nope, no Holocaust memorials in America for the 9m indigenous people your anscestors murdered - ever think of that?" Not a single American Indian holocaust memorial!!! Why? Because they were not Jewish, of course! Bye....
Please do not misinform about German history. The Rothschild dynasty of banking has been the target of many wrong theories spawned to justify hate against Jews in general. They did business in many European countries and not just in Germany. There were other large banks and business led by people at that time as well. Picking out and blaming one family for imagined wrongs in Germany is an attempt to discredit millions of people by wrongly accusing a few of crimes that they did not commit. This method of preaching hatred is despicable. It follows the same line of thought that was abused by the NSDAP to organize widespread hate against Jewish people in Germany. But Jews had been well integrated into Germany, taking part in science, medicine, business, education and police. It was the accomplishment of the Nazis to give Jews all the blame, steal their property, discredit their importance for Germanys economic strength, abuse them and murder them, ultimately throughout Europe with the help of other willing smallminded people who can not distinguish between a human person and the generalized all-important object of their hate. And this built on a hatred against all that appears foreign that you can already find documented at the time of Sigmund Freuds father. Germany did NOT ask Hitler to save them from the Jews. Adolf Hitler was an Austrian who had accomplished nothing in his entire life until he learned to direct his hate against those he blamed for his lack of success. He spent time in jail. He repeated the racial ideology of the times, that one race could be supreme over another and expounded on that. Foremost, he came to power the same way these modern day and age politicians come to power: by building on the discontendness of the people that rather see themselves as victims instead of part of the problem, by promising them economic wealth and national pride and providing them with an enemy. He was surrounded by quite a few of crazy people. These people were evil. Not the Jews they murdered. Hitler did not run out of time and financing. He lost the world war that he had started. He killed himself rather than stand trial for his crimes. If you try to justify hatred aigainst the actions of the Israel government by lying about the history of Germany, you will end up in jail or at least fined if you ever visit Germany. Here, the only breach to free speech is the denial of the historical fact of the Holocaust. So, please stop such fanatic hatred driven slurs and please stop spreading lies about Germanys history.
"Ahmedinijad said numerous times that israel should be wiped of the map"
Keep repeating this crap often enough and it becomes real? Do I really need to repost for the millionth time what Ahmedinijad actually said and its correct translation?? Even the media is complicit in this propaganda, and Dr. Ron Paul was asked a question with exactly this translation. Of course, Ron Paul being the true statesman that he is, was quick to point out the lie of this translation and provide the correct one.
Put a fork in it. This one is done.
Dear Gea,
You’re one hell of an historian and a scholar of religions!
You’re right: Those damned Palestinians came from all over Europe to force the Jews out of their “homeland” by mass-murdering the villagers of Dair Yasin (mainly Women and children) and the residents of King David Hotel, just to mention two of their horrible terroristic actions.
You are also right about Koran. Why does that remind me of the Old Testament –which is an offshoot of Koran—which has separate laws for “chosen People” and Gentiles? (I’m just kidding, dear Gea, don’t get mad, Old Testament was much older than Koran.)
Oops! Am I misplacing Jews for Palestinians and Koran for Old Testament in the above sentences? Well, you, dear Gea, correct them for me—and your entire post as well—please!
Yada, yada, yada, Israel knows that it stands to loose 200,000 people in Tel Aviv, Haifa and probably have such a mess at their Dimona nuclear plant that will spread radioactivity throughout Israel proper through an armageddon Hezbollah has been 'quietly' developing since their last bloody 'incounter' in Lebanon, summer of 2006. So, let's not get carried away by that 1/2 acre of Zionist hell's 'bluster.' The 100,000 (Israel says 200,000) missiles, rockets and a handful of Scud-C's with sarin, white phosphorus and anthrax filled warheads will make for a noisy 'Pinata' party inside of Israel. Hey, dah-ling, this is serious sh*t. and the Jews know it. Why do you think Israel's hasn't gone chasing after Hezbollah in years, now!
Two sentences struck me on the side of the head: "...for preventing an attack that would probably cause a spike in gas prices?.." WHAT? A spike in GAS PRICES? Are you kidding me? Is this what we've come down to? We'll go anywhere and commit any crime against humanity, kill thousands if not millions of people who are no threat to us at all, destroy their country and send an entire generation into miserable poverty and strife as long as it doesn't affect our stupid GAS PRICES? Does the writer think we are a nation of sociopaths? Do our petty comforts and conveniences outweigh the unjust death and destruction inflicted on the hapless and innocent Iranians? -- And-- "...and end up isolated, a pariah in the international community. That’s the greatest nightmare for most Israelis..." B******T. Most Israelis support their government. I'm afraid that the good ship "Pariah" has already sailed, Israel. Maybe you can book passage on the "USS Liberty". Oh, wait....Never mind.
“In fact, the Arab Spring movement is having a moderating effect on Islamist politics, as both the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas are now demonstrating.”
Moderating??? Either you’re a fool … or you’re a class con-man.
In a post-Mubarak Egypt under the governance of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the Muslim Brotherhood and their even more extreme Salafist allies have been joined by the military and police in attacks on women and on the Coptic Christian minority, which constitutes some ten percent of the population.
On October 9, protesters rallying against the burning of Coptic churches outside the Maspero state television studio in Cairo were attacked by uniformed military forces and Islamist mobs. In collusion with the army and riot police, armed bands roamed the streets seeking out Christians, including women and children, killing more than twenty and maiming hundreds.
Women were targeted soon after the military takeover. Thugs who were mobilized around slogans such as “the people want women to step down” and “the Koran is our ruler” violently attacked an International Women’s Day demonstration in Cairo. In an act of calculated humiliation, women arrested at a protest the next day were forced to undergo ‘virginity’ tests.
And Hamas is *still* a reactionary fundamentalist rabble that preaches social segregation of women, ‘recommends’ the wearing of hijab and is vehemently homophobic.
Still, to even such a minor member of the US ruling class such as yourself, ‘stability,’ even under a cabal of clerical-fascists, comes before the rights and even the lives of women and minorities.
But maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree. Maybe you’re talking of the ‘moderating effect’ that the Muslim Brotherhood had in Libya, where they helped CIA-backed exiles, atavistic monarchists and tribalists get rid of the ‘evil dictator’ Muammar al-Qadaffi, ‘free’ Libyan oil from the greedy Libyans and open the Libyan economy up to imperialist exploitation.
If you look at the maps of the countries surrounding Israel, Egypt notwithstanding, you’d notice they’re all small countries. This means that the explosion of a nuclear bomb will make the area uninhabitable for quite a long time—this includes Israel itself.
Why would, then, the Israelis have acquired nuclear bombs when they cannot use them against their Arab Neighbors, in the first place?
The answer is that the atomic bombs are not for local use, but rather for long range use. Israelis blackmail Europeans, Japanese and other nations that if they don’t go along with what they want, they’d nuke, Paris, London, Frankfort, Tokyo, etc. For the European countries that have the atomic bombs, it is much harder to nuke Israel, because it also destroys all the surrounding countries. I suppose they could use conventional bombs to retaliate against Israel, after, say, Paris is wiped out. But, even that has to be very limited, because they have to deal with the AIPAC, and consequently, the US, and they’re not willing to take that chance!
So stupid France helped Israel to acquire the atomic bombs, and now they and the rest of the industrial world are slaves to this crazy “master”, Israel.
Can anyone think of how this can be overcome?
The thing that strikes one in this article is the non sequiturs, the failure to argue in a sustained fashion. Reading it is like watching a man walk through a mine field using a map. He turns left and right, pauses and continues, without apparent reference to the facts on the ground: trees, brooks, boulders. My scan of the comments revealed nobody commenting on that meandering, and some comments praised the article without more, as a seeming coup of intelligibility.
If the Arab Spring is a threat to Israel, what does that make Israel? Your answer comes from watching the man in the mine field.
A couple of year ago my spouse bought for me a book entitled, The Chronicles of the World. When I was done reading the book she asked me what I thought of it. My response was that all that man has done for centuries is kill each other. Most of the killing has been done in the middle east, therefore, why have we, the alleged idealization of freedom and liberty, placed our military, our worthless paper and our insistent pressure on those nations when they appear to delight in killing each other? We should prosecute the imposter in the white house, prosecute each and every conspirator that lied and cheated him into the white house, remove all of the CAFR funds from each and every form of government, elect Ron Paul to protect our Rights and property, and then repair or rejuvenate all of the infrastructure of the nation and then limit elections to two terms and two terms only, and demand performance from the public servants or extreme punishment if they fail to honor their obligations and responsibilities of office! See, that wasn't too bad!
The true bottom line was correctly stated by Charlotte Iserbyt in her outstanding book entitled, The Deliberate Dumbing-Down of America, where she showed that we have been deliberately and intentionally dumbed-down to the extent that we are now what I call, the masses-r-asses. The totally controlled media, and the totally controlled alledged education system and the disgusting forms of government all over the corporate United States - we are no longer the united States of America - have been stealing from us for years - look up the CAFR fund(s) accumulations in CAFR1.com, and CAFR.com - and we have become totally, mentally acquiesced to whatever the government thieves want us to do; look at the "voluntary" income tax for example. The public is more enthralled with a sports venue than an adequately performing government, more enthralled with personal pleasure and satisfaction than obligation and responsibility.
In 1985, on the third page of the detroit news there was an article about think tanks. It stated that there were approximately 15,000 think tanks operating in the usa at any given time. When one discerns that a think tank produces mind control information it becomes relatively clear that only government and religion, 501(c)3 churches, ministries and synagogues, purchase that information so that they can maintain and produce mind-control in order to keep the public under their power: George Orwell clearly demonstrated that fact in his humorous satire, Animal Farm. Wake up people for it is better to know and understand your slavery than to just follow blindly; you little piggies-read the book!
A few thoughts:
I don't get the logic of the belief that the Arab Spring is a threat to Israel. Arab leaders with indefinite tenure have always used the Palestinian predicament to distract their people from their own predicaments. Now those leaders are being replaced. What's the problem with that, Israel?
Most of this article is informative and thoughtful, but Israel's nuclear capability is the elephant in the living room. Our other "allies" in the region are threatened by Iranian power, but not in the same way. The Israeli case is singular, since the deterrence afforded them by their nukes would be neutralized if Iran develops a similar deterrent. Once we recognize that fact, we can see that the biggest loser in that event would be Israel, therefore it will continue to be the most desperate player in the game.
I don't think Iran wants a war with the US, and I'm not convinced that the US wants to attack Iran. I certainly think a war would be a stupid idea, but I don't know what our leadership is really thinking. After Iraq II, going to war to preempt acquisition of WMD has become unappetizing to many Americans. American support would require some other justification. Sunk ships and Communist takeovers have been our government's favorite casus belli for over a century. The latter is all but dead. But if we indeed decide to attack, an incident can be arranged. Gulf of Tonkin anybody? Or is it "Remember the Maine"? We (our government, that is) threaten to send the fleet if Iran threatens closure of the Straits of Hormuz. Should this occur, our presence in the Gulf places us between a bogeyman and the fearful. What a golden opportunity! If and when we send in the fleet I will prepare myself for news of war.
The bottom line here is that the power mongers in israel are american sponsored, financed bullies who we have given billions of dollars of military weaponry since 1948. They are our ace in the whole in the middle east If anyone really gets out of hand in the middle east, israel can annihilate them and the us can appear not guilty though in reality we are. It's sad. and so many people believe that this is the jewish homeland because they say it is theirs. THEY SAY. Sounds like a rumor to me.
Israel - USA = 0
Articles arguing that Israel is forcing the US to oppose Hussein, Iran, al Qaeda, the Taliban, etc. are similar to one by a hunter swearing that he personally had nothing against ducks, but his dog hated them and was forcing him to go hunting.
Granted the US right wing gladly adopts and supports the philosophy of the Israeli right wing; much as how the British right wing adopts and supports the philosophy of the German right wing, the African-American right wing adopts and supports the philosophy of the Russian right wing, the gay right wing adopts and supports the philosophy of the Cuban right wing, etc. etc.
Noam Chomsky discusses the demonization of an "Israel Lobby" in Z-gram:
"But recognizing that M-W took a courageous stand, which merits praise, we still have to ask how convincing their thesis is. Not very, in my opinion. I've reviewed elsewhere what the record (historical and documentary) seems to me to show about the main sources of US ME policy, in books and articles for the past 40 years, and can't try to repeat here. M-W make as good a case as one can, I suppose, for the power of the Lobby, but I don't think it provides any reason to modify what has always seemed to me a more plausible interpretation.
...
As ME scholar Stephen Zunes has rightly pointed out, "there are far more powerful interests that have a stake in what happens in the Persian Gulf region than does AIPAC [or the Lobby generally], such as the oil companies, the arms industry and other special interests whose lobbying influence and campaign contributions far surpass that of the much-vaunted Zionist lobby and its allied donors to congressional races."
...
The thesis M-W propose does however have plenty of appeal. The reason, I think, is that it leaves the US government untouched on its high pinnacle of nobility, "Wilsonian idealism," etc., merely in the grip of an all-powerful force that it cannot escape. It's rather like attributing the crimes of the past 60 years to "exaggerated Cold War illusions," etc. Convenient, but not too convincing. In either case."
Indeed. The postulate that Israel has some sort of disproportionate control of the US ignores the presence of a lively left wing peace-oriented pro-Israel movement, in the US and even more prominently in Israel itself (and just as emasculated as any other group which seriously opposes the concentration of wealth and power anywhere else in the world), and undercuts that movement in the same way that letting the right wing proclaim itself during the Vietnam War as the side that was patriotic America seriously hurt the left; appeals to the traditional libel of "secret Jewish control" of everything from international banking to mystical Oriental mind control; and, of course, allows us to abdicate our own responsibility for such crimes as the devastation of Iraq, an adventure supported by an astoundingly high proportion of the American people, not because of some concern about Iraq's transparently fictitious danger to Israel, but because of an unholy mix of irrational post 9/11 panic and inchoate lust for some sort of payback by striking out at somebody. And until Americans can stare that stark fact in the face and digest its meaning, then we will never change our predictable patterns of behavior, and we will inevitably end up at war with Iran, all the while claiming the Israelis made us do it.
Yours is an excellent, thought provoking post. Perhaps Israel does not wag America's tail. But there remains an inexorable causal link between the actions of the more powerful (than AIPAC) American arms and oil industries and our military/political pandering to Israel. What is particularly troubling is the involvement of NATO, Russia, and China, creating the potential for a global conflagration.
This article made a whole lot more sense than anything I have heard on the German mainstream news during the last year.
I would like to add two points of thought: First, if Iran wants to research, develop and produce atomic bombs, it will do so eventually. It is only a matter of time. Pakistan, India and Israel have succeeded as well. It is technically and politically impossible to prevent Iran from attaining the capability to build a nuclear bomb. To make us believe otherwise is propaganda that wants us to believe that nuclear weapons are controllable. They are not. They are not safe, not for the US, not for Russia, not for anyone. Of course, I will not be happy if another nation, if Iran gets the bomb. But let us face the facts: It is a sovereign state and we are powerless to make it do as we like. We are even powerless to prevent the worlds strongest military power, the democratic state USA, from researching more specialized nuclear weapons. You end up in jail if you try to do so. To get to my second point: If we want peace with Iran, then we should start behaving that way. And Israel should stop trying to provoke a war. A war that may very likely end us all up in the 3rd world war much sooner than we like. Iran has many borders, probably the highest oil reserves worldwide (saudis are exaggerated to keep prices stable), has an unstable hitler-like president, a lot of its elite has fled the country, its very powerful, its internal powerstructure is divided, it has many enemies nearby, it makes a big show of making Israel its prime enemy and to top all of this the worlds biggest military powers are all equally interested in taking control of the oil reserves: the US, Russia, China. Israel may feel threatened now, but it will really be in trouble if it keeps up the highly damaging public relations, specifically towards its OWN citizens in the occupied territories. The only sane way out for Israel, for the entire world, is to NOT attack Iran. And Iran should stop causing trouble for the palestinians by giving them a bad name. They do not need false friends, who are only interested in their own agendas. I really do NOT know if Iran is developing nuclear weapons technology, because our leaders have lied to us about Iraq previously. One thing is for sure though: no good will come of dropping bombs on Iran. We do not want more radioactive fallout world-wide. We do not need a another pointless war. We need to stop listening to the propaganda of warmongering states. Political leaders speak and the mass media cover their speeches. But the mass media do not investigate, do not know history, do not know the political issues at at hand in foreign countries, are not interested in taking the time to think for themselves. We are being handfed by a few elitist leaders. And these leaders are being handfed by the lobbyist, with nice charts, tables, graphs and lots of data that seems to suggest there is no choice. Fools we are if we believe that we have no choice. If we believe we are sheep and need the shepherd dogs to bark us our truths. Will Iran threaten Europe with its rockets? Will Iran attack Israel with nuclear rockets? Will Israel be able to prevent Iran from developing any technology? Will the world look on if Israel and Iran go to war? Think!
A great article, with facts that the American people will eventually have to wake up to! Israel would sacrifice all US interests and even the US people in order to maintain superiority and continue its territorial expansion. We all should wake up and smell the coffee!
"But how tragic that a president has to worry about voters punishing him if he puts U.S. interests above Israel’s desire to symbolize its military strength and resolve."
How tragic that we still have this idea in our head that Israel has a right to anything over anyone in this country. Israel is a pissant piece of shit bully.