Despite disingenuous claims to the contrary, the only reason the U.S. is even talking about war with Iran is Israel. As the invaluable M.J. Rosenberg, who knows the working of the Israel lobby as only a former card-carrying member can, notes, “It is impossible to find a single politician or journalist advocating war with Iran who is not a neocon or an AIPAC cutout. (They’re often both.)”...these incompetent militarists are still taken seriously. And the reason is simple: They purport to be supporters of Israel. In American politics, you can get away with even the most cracked war-mongering as long as you claim to be “pro-Israel.” And the ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card for anything having to do with Israel is the Holocaust...
...daring to stand up to Israel in an election year is another.
And then he misleads:
The key element is the Israeli-Palestinian issue. If Israel makes a just peace with the Palestinians and the Arab League recognizes Israel, the entire raison d’etre of Iran’s rejectionist position would be removed. Israel and Iran would then just be neighbors squabbling over their turf, along with the rest of the countries in the rapidly transforming Middle East.
Israel stands at a crossroads — and time is not on its side. Netanyahu is a disciple of the father of Revisionist Zionism, Ze’ev Jabotinsky, who argued that the Arabs, understandably in his view, would never voluntarily accept Zionist colonization, and could only be controlled by an “Iron Wall the native population cannot break through.”
Netanyahu lacks Jabotinsky’s intellectual integrity, but shares his belief that brute force is Israel’s only recourse. For him, it is always 1938, the Palestinians are terrorists, Israel’s enemies are murderous anti-Semites and the Jewish state must exist in a constant state of war.
Always? Or just when Arabs kill Jews?
Must Israel exist in a state of war or is it our enemies who seem to prefer violence over negotiations, coexistence and compromise?
Here is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today at his joint press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc:
"The goal of Iran's nuclear program had been the subject of controversy but it is no longer such. Iran is vigorously working to achieve a nuclear weapon. This is the threat against Israel, against the region and against the entire world. While it is very important that significant economic sanctions have been imposed, it is insufficient. Effective sanctions must continue to be imposed on its petrochemical industries and on the Iranian central bank as well, and soon."
And also misrepresents:
Obama’s Middle East policies have been hugely disappointing, but he is not a fool. He knows that Iran — which has not started a war in modern history — poses no conceivable military threat to the United States. He also knows that the Arab Spring and the crisis in Syria have weakened Tehran’s geo-strategic position...
...Contrary to the ignorant claims made by Islamophobic hawks like Goldberg, Iran is not run by madmen bent on committing national suicide...
No?
He challenges the largest superpower on earth, threatens a regional superpower with annihilation, and mocks international efforts to keep tabs on his nuclear program. Where does the unswerving confidence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad come from?
...According to Shiite Islam, the twelfth Imam, named Mahdi, is the awaited messiah who will establish the rule of Islam around the world – following a massive war during which Islam's enemies are expected to be decimated. Iran's official state websites are filled with information about the Islamic Republic's messiah.
And consider this letter:
...there is a large difference between the North Korean and Iranian regimes. The North Korean regime's sole aim is to stay in power. Kim Jong-Il's brand of fascism has limited global appeal, unfortunately, Iran's does not. Iran's rulers' aim is to bring their strain of Islamic revolution to the world at any cost. As the Ayatollah Khomeini said in 1980: "We do not worship Iran, we worship Allah. -. I say let this land (Iran) go up in smoke, provided Islam emerges triumphant in the rest of the world."
Iran's tyrants don't care if Israel retaliates against a nuclear attack because Israel will be annihilated due to its minute dimensions, yet the Islamic world will continue because of its great acreage.
Iran will attack when it has the capability; that may even herald the "return of the Mahdi" as per Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's doomsday fantasies. The attack will probably be through Hezbollah, who already possess short range delivery systems, as this allows Iran plausible deniability.
Michael N.W. Baigel, Toronto.
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