“If I were an Iranian, I would be very fearful of the next 12 weeks.”
"US and Israel intensify talks on Iran options" by Elisabeth Bumiller and Jodi Rudoren | New York Times, August 02, 2012
ASHKELON, Israel — After a flurry of high-level visits, including one by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta to Israel on Wednesday, administration officials say they remain hopeful that Israel has no imminent plans to attack and may be willing to let the United States take the lead in any future military strike, which they say would not occur until next year at the earliest....
Look, as an American citizen, I DON'T WANT MY GOVERNMENT TO DO THIS under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!
Forget for one moment all the Zionist war propaganda and lies we call media over here; I simply NO LONGER WANT my country and nation TO BE ISRAEL'S BUTCHER!
Administration officials say that Israeli officials are less confrontational in private and that Netanyahu understands the consequences of military action for Israel, the United States, and the region. They say they know he has to maintain the credibility of his threat to keep up pressure on the United States....
Okay, let me ask a question: WHAT kind of FRIEND THREATENS and PRESSURES YOU, people? Is that a FRIEND at all? Seems more like a self-centered, self-serving, manipulating a**hole to me!
Related: US Senate Cares More About Israel Than America
And now gas prices are on the rise?
And what kind of friend spies on you anyway?
“The more the Israelis threaten, the more we respond by showing them that we will take care of the problem if it comes to that,” said Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel and director of foreign policy at the Brookings Institution....
If I didn't know better I'd say Israel is a bully!
In Israel there remains feverish speculation that Netanyahu will act in September or early October. Besides the prime minister’s fear that Israel’s window of opportunity will close soon, analysts cite several reasons for the potential timing: Israel does not like to fight wars in winter. Netanyahu feels that he will have less leverage if Obama is reelected, and that if Romney were to win, the new president would be unlikely to want to take on a big military action early in his term.
You know, I have two qualifications for president: will he stand up to Israel, and will he.... okay, I have one qualification for president.
Related: Romney Would Go to the Wall For Israel
Also see: Racist Romney is Prejudiced Against Palestinians
Looks like Mitt is their man.
“If I were an Iranian, I would be very fearful of the next 12 weeks,” said Efraim Halevy, a former chief of Israel’s intelligence agency and national security adviser.
The Israeli news media has been filled in recent days with speculation about a strike. One article said the Obama administration had vowed to strike within 18 months, another reported ongoing concerns in the security establishment here about the effectiveness of an Israeli strike, and a third said Thomas E. Donilon, Obama’s national security adviser, had revealed details of the US attack plans during his visit.
Also see: Sunday Globe Special: Israeli Invasion of Syria Imminent
Any day now -- so you might want to keep checking that mail.
The articles did not make clear where those accounts came from, but they contributed to a growing atmosphere of expectation.
“Everybody’s leaking like crazy right now — that doesn’t mean there will be a strike, but it means we’re closer to a decision,” said Amos Harel, defense correspondent for the left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz, who estimated the chance of an attack before November at 50 percent. “It’s probably a more crucial junction than it was ever before.”
Well, I guess there are good leaks and bad leaks, right?
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Newspaper specializes in lying leaks that will get us into wars.
"House vote nears on added sanctions against Iran" by Donna Cassata | Associated Press, July 31, 2012
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta called Monday for more time to allow the sanctions against Iran to work and disputed statements by top Israeli officials that the sanctions were doing nothing to stop Iran’s nuclear program.
Panetta, who is making a five-day trip through the Middle East and North Africa, said that although the effect of the sanctions ‘‘may not be obvious at the moment,’’ they are hurting Iran’s economy and forcing the country’s leadership to look for a diplomatic solution.
Sure looks like terrorism to me.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Sunday that the sanctions and diplomacy ‘‘so far have not set back the Iranian program by one iota.’’
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The House Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican, and Senator Tim Johnson, a South Dakota Democrat and chairman of the Banking Committee, have been negotiating for weeks to reconcile a bill the House passed in December and one the Senate backed in May.
Some members of Congress have said the compromise sanctions legislation does not go far enough....
Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, [said] the legislation ‘‘could be a lot tougher’’ if Congress understood as much about the psychology as legality. Dubowitz said Iran often figures out ways to get around the penalties.
Especially when it comes to shipping oil to Europe for delivery to Israel!
Isn't the FDD a neo-con outfit and successor to PNAC?!?!
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You KNOW WHO is behind the PUSH for SANCTIONS in CONGRESS, right?
"New round of sanctions on Iran gains strong support
WASHINGTON — In an election year, US lawmakers were determined to punish Iran while sending a strong signal of support to Israel....
They are more concerned about them than they are you, American voter.
In a separate move, President Obama used his executive authority to impose fresh sanctions on foreign banks in China and Iraq that the United States says helps Iran evade the penalties.
China and Iraq now official enemies.
The Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate said Tuesday they expect swift passage of the latest package of sanctions....
Yeah, EVER NOTICE ISRAEL ALWAYS GETS WHAT IT WANTS RIGHT AWAY while you Amurkns must wait forever for what they want only to be denied in the end.
The measure has one crucial backer — the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying group....
But if you point out their vise-grip on U.S. foreign policy you are an anti-Semite.
‘‘That will go a long way,’’ Senator Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, said of the group’s support....
In a statement, Obama says the sanctions make clear that the United States will expose any financial institution that assists ‘‘the increasingly desperate Iranian regime’’ to access the international financial system.
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And now Iran is being sucked into Syria:
"Iran envoy’s visit to Syria a bid to solidify mutual backing" by Damien Cave | New York Times, August 08, 2012
BEIRUT — Iran moved on Tuesday to reframe the Syrian conflict as part of a wider battle with the United States and other hostile world powers....
Who is trying to reframe it that way?
The backdrop of the meeting was a serious escalation in the war....
Saeed Jalili, the personal representative of its paramount leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei [and] a top diplomat who is also the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Iran would not accept any interference from outside powers in the 17-month-old conflict in Syria, a country that has been a vital piece of Iran’s power projection in the Middle East since the Islamic Revolution three decades ago.
With Assad’s hold on power appearing more tenuous by the day, the visit underscored Iran’s increasingly dogmatic view of the conflict....
I really can't read these insulting lies anymore, readers.
uncompromising rhetoric....
It is on the news rack every damn morning.
Iran’s leaders appear to have bundled Syria’s fight with their own....
And CUI BONO? Who WANTED THAT?
See: Syria NATO's Next Target
PNAC plan a little behind schedule, but....
Iranian political analysts in the West said Iran’s leaders, having aligned themselves with the Syrian government for so long, also feel more than ever that they have no other recourse but to stick with Assad, even if his government has committed harsh abuses.
His adversaries, both in and out of Syria, have expressed deep antipathy for Iran. If they took power, they would most likely move to undo an alliance that has been a fundamental piece of Iranian foreign policy.
Just like the plan says.
‘‘Iran, in a lot of ways, has no Plan B,’’ said Alireza Nader, a specialist on Iran at the Washington offices of the RAND Corp., a research group.
‘‘I think the main issue is that Iranian foreign policy has become so rigid that it’s hard to come up with a Plan B. They’ve built this framework of resistance that’s hard to escape.’’
You reach a point where you realize the opposite of everything my war paper is the truth. It's USraeli policy that has become rigid, and we all know why. The fanciful dreams of world domination.
Jalili’s visit was also an attempt to secure the release of 45 Iranian hostages held by Syrian rebels....
Oh, yeah, the HOSTAGES being HELD by the WESTERN-BACKED TERRORISTS!
Where's the OUTRAGE, 'eh?
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Related:
[The following article is total bullshit. Part of the govt. says that Al-Q is on the rise, while another faction says the opposite (SEE: Al Qaeda decline hard to reverse after Bin Laden killing: U.S.). Once again, the minions of the American puppet-masters are hyping the fear index, hoping to rally support for the next idiotic foreign policy move that they have planned. The next generation of militants have proven themselves to be a bunch of incompetents and half-wits, most of them inexperienced and untrained. These are not the arch-terrorists which "al-Qaeda" was alleged to be; these are poor men looking for paychecks, or illiterate followers of illiterate "Mullahs," who have no desire to lie down and die for anyone. The rare instances of suspected Iranian "terror" have usually been counter-ops run by a few Iranian intelligence agents, who are professionals, performing tasks, while maintaining mission integrity, just like our spooks. The "terror war" is actually the Spy War. Portraying every encounter between agencies as "terrorism" is a Bush/Cheney invention. It feels like we are a bunch of helpless bugs trapped in a bottle. That is just exactly how they want us to feel. The American war machine is a runaway locomotive barreling down upon the innocent. The easiest thing for most people would be to simply get out of the way, but it surely wouldn't be the right thing.]-- US warns Al-Qaeda branches on rise, as Iran stirs terror
And in the end the assassinations, the bombings, and the missiles won''t stop Iran from developing their legal right.
"Sanctions won’t stop Iran’s nuclear work, top cleric says" by Ali Akbar Dareini | Associated Press, July 26, 2012
TEHRAN — Western-led sanctions and diplomatic pressure will not force Iran to halt its nuclear program, Iran’s supreme leader said Wednesday.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran, voiced confidence that the Islamic Republic can beat the latest punitive measures aimed at blocking the country’s vital oil and banking industries over the disputed program.
‘‘They [the West] explicitly say they need to increase pressures, tighten sanctions to force Iranian authorities to reconsider their calculations,’’ Khamenei said in comments broadcast on state television. ‘‘But a look at the facts leads us not only to avoid reconsidering our calculations, but to move on our intended path with greater confidence.’’
The latest European Union sanctions against Iran’s vital oil industry came into effect on July 1, three days after the US tightened measures that prohibit international banks from completing oil transactions with Iranian banks. The moves, a response to Iran’s refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, further complicate the country’s ability to conduct trade abroad.
To me that is an act of war.
The West suspects Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon. Iran says the program is for peaceful purposes such as power generation and medical treatment.
Israel has indicated it might attack Iran if sanctions fail to rein in the nuclear program. On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel might have to make ‘‘tough and crucial decisions’’ about its security.
He warned that if Iran were allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, dealing with the matter then ‘‘will be far more complicated, far more dangerous, and far more costly in resources and human life.’’
In his remarks, Khamenei said he felt that some countries partaking in the US-led sanctions will not continue them during the long term because of economic drawbacks, calling the sanctions a challenge that could be overcome.
‘‘Although there are challenges in the path of the Iranian nation, there is no dead-end,’’ he said.
Khamenei said Iran has offered some concessions in the past, but he argued the West is unwilling to allow what Iran calls a peaceful nuclear program.
He was referring to a period between 2003 and 2005 when Iran, under former reformist president Mohammad Khatami, agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and all related activities as part of confidence building measures to dispel fears that Tehran was not seeking nuclear weapons.
‘‘The West became so arrogant during that period that they opposed possession of three centrifuges which our officials had agreed. But now there are 11,000 centrifuges operating in the country,’’ he said.
Centrifuges are machines that spin at supersonic speed to purify uranium. Uranium enriched to low level is used to fuel a nuclear reactor. Higher enrichment makes it suitable for building a nuclear weapon.
Iran’s suspension of nuclear advancements coincided with a period of small steps toward easing the diplomatic freeze between Tehran and Washington, but tensions quickly returned following the election in 2005 of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and moves to restart Iran’s nuclear efforts.
The United States and its allies accuse Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop an atomic bomb; Iran says its nuclear program aims at producing electricity.
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Okay, the Iran has nukes isn't getting it done. What if they had a nuclear bomb on a ship or had a new missile? Would that convince you war-weary, sick-of-the-lies public?
Speaking of nuclear stockpiles:
"US general asks cut in nuclear stockpile; Says arsenal is too large, costly" by Bryan Bender | Globe Staff, August 06, 2012
WASHINGTON — The nation’s backup supply of nuclear weapons may be next up for major cuts.
For the first time a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is suggesting the United States’ nuclear weapons reserve is too large and becoming too expensive to maintain.
Our reserves?
What, after we've made the planet a lifeless ball of radiation and ash the computers can do it all over again?
“We have more backup systems in terms of weapons systems than we actually have deployed,” General Norton A. Schwartz, chief of staff of the Air Force, told the Globe in a recent interview. “Some of that is a reasonable hedge [but] there is probably room for reductions.’’
Wait a minute. It's OKAY for nuclear weapons to be PART of OUR DETERRENT and DEFENSE STRATEGY, but for certain others?
Yeah, HYPOCRISY in the form of a H-BOMB!!!
And need I remind you that the AmeriKa is the ONLY NATION to have ACTUALLY USED the monstrous weapons, and word is we are going to officially begin WWIII with them.
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Any move to substantially cut the US nuclear reserves probably will bring strong opposition from members of Congress with nuclear weapons contractors in their districts. Opposition is also expected from some national security experts who think the United States must maintain overwhelming nuclear superiority to deter nations like Iran believed to be seeking nuclear weapons, and ensure smaller nuclear powers like China do not try to reach parity.
It's our THREAT GUARANTOR of EMPIRE, folks!
A third group has argued that the large US arsenal is also needed to guarantee the security of dozens of US allies without nuclear arms....
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And when all else falls, cite their treatment of women.
Let's bomb 'em then. Won't have to worry about what they are wearing. Heck, the black chador will go well with the funerals of their men.
Update: The impending Israeli and US war on Iran
