Targeting Iran

Targeting Iran

by Stephen Lendman

Hostile US/Israeli rhetoric is longstanding. Obama and Netanyahu consider Iran an existential threat. Claiming it turns truth on its head.

AIPAC's no better. It calls Iran "the world’s leading state sponsor of terror and is racing toward a nuclear weapons capability." 

"Through its proxy armies of Hizballah in southern Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Iranian regime is supporting terrorists that have carried out attacks on American troops and Israeli civilians."

Fact check: America and Israel are the world's most egregious human rights abusers and sponsors of state-sponsored terrorism.

On March, the Foreign Policy Initiative (formerly the Project for the New American Century - PNAC) headlined "FPI: As Obama visits Israel, Iran's Nuclear Threat Grows," saying:

Iran's "technical potential (can) produce nuclear explosive material for its first nuclear weapon in a matter of a few months." If "undeclared" uranium sites exist, its timeline "could further shorten."

"(A)s the window rapidly closes for the United States, Israel, and other responsible members of the international community to halt Iran's destabilizing nuclear ambitions, it's urgent that Mr. Obama not give up his end to obtain his means."

PNAC/now FPI promotes US global military dominance. It opposes governments against American interests. It urges replacing them with pro-Western ones. It considers war a way to achieve it.

On April 13, Israel National News headlined "Peres: Obama Will Attack Iran if Diplomacy Fails," saying:

He believes it, he said. "I have no doubt that if diplomatic talks fail with Iran and Tehran doesn't stop accelerating its nuclear development - US President Barack Obama will conduct a military attack against Iran."

"Preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon isn't only an Israeli interest, but a global and an American interest. As long as the US is in the lead - why shouldn't we use its assistance?" 

Secretary of State John Kerry told Peres that "Obama is not bluffing when he says he will stop Iran's nuclear program." 

"We understand the nature of the threat of Iran. And as the President has said many times, he doesn't bluff. He is serious." 

"We will stand with Israel against this threat and with the rest of the world, who have underscored that all we are looking for is Iran to live up to its international obligations. No option is off the table. No option will be taken off the table."

Kerry, Obama, other US officials, and Israeli ones know Iran's nuclear program is peaceful. False accusations persist. War may follow. The threat is real.

Permanent war is US policy. America and Israel are modern-day Spartas. Saber-rattling and hostile rhetoric continue. Anything ahead is possible.

The American Enterprise (AEI) Institute exerts enormous influence on US policy. Ronald Reagan once called it "a revolution in ideas of which I, too, have been a part." 

"(Its) remarkably distinguished body of work is testimony to the triumph of the think tank. For today the most important American scholarship comes out of our think tanks - and none has been more influential than the American Enterprise Institute."

Post-9/11, AEI was one of the Bush administration's leading foreign policy architects. It was influential in promoting regime change in Iraq. It urged war. Perhaps it wants one on Iran.

On April 17, it headlined "Africa: Iran's final frontier?"

"….Tehran sees many of Africa's 54 countries as easy pickings in a zero-sum game for influence."

It's "forging ties….to leverage aid and soft power in exchange for diplomatic favors and to use Africa as cover for military or nuclear objectives."

Its outreach "will increasingly challenge US aims across Africa and in its surrounding waters." AEI suggested the importance of US intervention. It stopped short of urging war. Doing so may follow.

On April 23, AEI headlined "Iran unveiled: How the Revolutionary Guards is turning theocracy into military dictatorship." 

It's the title of AEI resident fellow Ali Alfoneh's new book. He asks:

"Is Washington prepared to tailor its strategy based on an evolving Iranian power structure?"

"The rise of the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp) is bound to challenge the interests of the United States in the Middle East and beyond."

He falsely claims Iran attacked US regional diplomats. It supports Iraqi and Afghan "armed insurgents," he added. Doing so, he claims, reflects "the IRGC's increasing adventurism and risk taking."

AEI calls his book "essential" to "understand the inner workings of the regime in Tehran if they are to effectively counter the threats it poses."

None exist. America, Israel, the Israeli Lobby, and right-wing think tanks invent one. What follows bears close scrutiny. Hostile rhetoric remains ongoing.

On April 18, the Jerusalem Post headlined "PM: Israel's self-defense not open for debate," saying:

Netanyahu told the BBC that "Israel’s right to defend its existence is not subject to a traffic light. We don’t need anyone to give us the right to prevent a new holocaust."

"Without a direct military threat, Iran will not stop." He added that Iran approaches crossing his red line. "They have sort of crept up, but not crossed it," he said.

He falsely claimed Iran's determined to build a bomb. He knows no such intention exists.

"The threat of Iran’s getting nuclear weapons is a direct threat to the existence of Israel," he added, "but I think that it is a supreme pivot of history. It threatens the peace of the world."

He repeats what he knows is false. What follows remains to be seen.

Moshe Arens is a former Israeli defense minister and US ambassador. On April 21, he headlined "As North Korea blusters, the Iranian nuclear clock ticks away," saying:

"It's only a small mental leap from the current crisis with nuclear North Korea to a potential future crisis with a nuclear Iran." 

"In this scenario, Iran - after having achieved nuclear weapon capability, and in possession of medium and long-range ballistic missiles - issues threats against Israel and the US."

"In Jerusalem, no one is going to just shrug off the threat."

"It is a real, present danger, and it will be weighing the advantages and disadvantages of a first strike against Israel."

"The threat will be taken seriously, as it should be. And the world will be looking into the face of a nuclear catastrophe."

"It's clear now that economic sanctions aren't hindering the Iranian race for the bomb. The Iranian nuclear clock keeps ticking. How much time is left before it's too late?"

Netanyahu often threatens war on Iran. Arens barely stopped short of urging it. Inventing an Iranian threat advances the possibility. Doing so threatens the region and humanity.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

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