This column was written for the Unz Review:
http://www.unz.com/tsaker/so-what-is-the-real-deal-with-iran/
I have to begin this column with a mea culpa: I have been predicting a US attack on Iran since at least 2007 and so far, I have been completely wrong. The attack never happened. What I did get right, at least I hope so, are the reasons why this attack has failed to materialize, at least so far. In purely military terms, an attack on Iran could not succeed because Iran had too many asymmetrical counter-attack options . But the real reason behind the failure of a US attack on Iran are buried in a mountain of myths surrounding the Iranian nuclear issue. What I propose to do today is to take a look at the biggest one of these myths.
The Myth: Iran was working on a military nuclear program
This, of course, is the main myth, the cornerstone of all the other nonsense written about Iran. The resilience of this myth is based on a simple factor – it is impossible to prove a negative. Just as Iraq could not prove that it had no WMD, Iran cannot prove that it does not have a military nuclear program. The US intelligence community showed a rather amazing level of courage when in spite of the immense Neocon pressure to endorse this myth it concluded in the 2007 NIE that Iran had had a nuclear program in the past, but stopped working on it. Still, common sense provides us with what I would call “overwhelming circumstantial evidence” that Iran has no intentions to develop a nuclear weapon.
For one thing, actually developing a nuclear weapon would not allow Iran to use it, least of all against Israel. Besides the actual nuke, a nuclear weapons capability implies having all of the following:
- The possibility to test the nuclear weapon (untested it is useless)
- A delivery system (missile, aircraft)
- The ability to protect the nuclear weapon and the delivery system from a preemptive disarming attack
- Most importantly – a warfighting strategy, a military doctrine on how to use such a capability.
The fact is that Iran could not test a nuke without the rest of the planet knowing about it. Iran does not have a reliable and survivable delivery system and, most importantly, Iran cannot hope to use a nuclear weapon against the USA or Israel without suffering a devastating retaliatory strike. Keep in mind that if the Israel military does not have the means to significantly hurt Iran with conventional weapons, it most definitely does have the means to do so with the large and sophisticated Israeli nuclear capability. In other words, to use nukes for Iran would be suicidal.
Supporters of the Iranian nuclear weapons myth often point out at the DPRK as the “proof” that nukes can protect against Uncle Sam. The problem is that these people overlook a crucial difference: the capital of South Korea – Seoul – is within artillery range of the DPRK’s military and the DPRK has a huge conventional military which, while aging and relatively unsophisticated, can inflict terrible damage on South Korea and the US forces deployed there. According to Wikipedia , the DPRK has 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel ( including 180’000 special forces ) making it the largest military organization on Earth. And this force is literally within walking distance to Seoul! In contrast, Iran has absolutely no power projection capabilities which would make it possible to attack Israel.
When cornered with logical arguments, the supporters of the Iranian military nuclear program myth with fall back on the over-used cliché about “Muslims being fanatics”, willing to “die for Allah” and all the rest of the Islam-bashing idiocy fed by the corporate media. The problem with that is that there is exactly zero evidence showing the putative “insanity” of the Iranian leaders (no, Ahmadinejad never said that Iran would wipe Israel off the map ). In fact, considering that since 1979 the USA has done everything imaginable to overthrow the Islamic Republic or, at least, creating a pretext to attack it, I would argue that the Iranians are extremely sophisticated and highly intelligent people. The way Iran used the US Neocons to get the USA to attack Iraq (the worst enemy of Iran) instead of Iran is nothing short of brilliant. No, the Iranians are not crazy at all, they know that having a nuclear weapon would do nothing to protect Iran and they know that they could never use it without facing the end of the Islamic Republic. Besides, those who believe that Muslims are somehow prone to suicidal insanity did not propose to bomb Pakistan when it acquired the first “Islamic bomb” – so why is Iran singled out?
The reality: Iran is a civilizational threat to the Hegemony of the USA, to Israel and to the KSA
This is the real reason for all the tensions, saber-rattling and hysteria: Iran represents a huge political, social, economic, religious and even civilizational threat to the USA, Israel and the Saudis. Unlike the obscurantist and totalitarian Saudi regime, the Islamic Republic is a democracy, albeit an Islamic one, which is socially progressive and which has achieved tremendous economic, scientific and social successes in extremely hard circumstances ranging from US economic and political sanctions to an devastating seven year long war against Iraq (which was fully backed and armed to the teeth by the USA, the Soviet Union and France). Oh sure, Iran is hardly a prefect society, but compared to the rest of the Middle-East it is truly a heaven on earth. The fact that Iran could achieve this in open and total defiance of both the USA and Israel is absolutely unacceptable for the AngloZionist Empire. That alone is a reason to want to do to Iran what was recently done to Libya and Syria. As for the Saudis, not only does their medieval Wahabi kingdom look outright barbaric when compared to Iran, they also have a seizable Shia minority living almost exactly where the largest Saudi oil fields are. In fact, by some irony of fate, if you look at a map of the KSA or Iraq you will see that the Shias almost always live right over the richest oil fields in the region. Finally, Iran is a natural ally of the Alawi regime in Syria and, especially, of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
One aspect of the successes of the Islamic Republic is that Iran was, and still is, working on a civilian nuclear program. First, Iran has always needed an alternative source of energy and this is why, as early as in the 1950s, the USA provided Iran with civilian nuclear technologies under the Atoms for Peace program . Second, Iran is also engaged in nuclear research, including medical, and having a civilian nuclear research program is an immense source of prestige. But even more importantly, the Iranian nuclear program has become a symbol of sovereignty. Uncle Sam says “no, you cannot” and Iran replies “yes we can, and we will”. This is the real “crime” Iran is truly guilty of: defying the AngloZionist hegemony over the Middle-East.
There could be many reasons why the USA has signed on on this P5+1 deal with Iran. They range from simple “imperial fatigue” to a desire by Obama to have something to show for his (otherwise absolutely catastrophic) Presidency. It could also be the case that the US security establishment simply made the (correct) call and concluded that the USA cannot afford to have a war with Iran. Whatever may be the case, the fact that this deal was inked at all is an extremely good, if provisional, outcome.
Potentially, Iran could play a crucial and highly beneficial role in the Middle-East, first and foremost, as the only country capable of seriously taking on Daesh (aka IS/ISIS) and stabilizing Iraq. True, as long as the US continues to support al-Qaeda in Syria, the horrors will continue. In fact, some particularly devious CIA analyst might argue that empowering Iran might make the overthrow of Syrian regime less dangerous because even if Damascus falls to al-Qaeda Iran would have the power to contain it. Whatever may be the case, currently only Iran and Hezbollah are preventing Daesh from overrunning the rest of the region. Thus I would not put it past the CIA & Co. to ease the pressure on Iran, even temporarily, to “squeeze” a Daesh clearly run amok (helping both sides in a conflict is a time-honored Anglo tradition).
Here I can to come back to my opening mea culpa. I have been predicting a US attack on Iran for years and instead of an attack we now have a Joint Comprehensive Action Plan between the Iran and the P5+1 . I will gladly admit that I am as delighted as I am skeptical about this. I am delighted because if the deal holds, it would actually make sense and defuses a needlessly dangerous situation. But I am also very, very skeptical. When I look at the hysterical reaction of the Israel Lobby in the USA I have a hard time imagining this deal being upheld by the USA. After all, if the Neocons do not currently have a full control of the White House, they most definitely control Congress the the US corporate media. And the fact that most US Jews do, in reality, support the deal with Iran will not stop them. As I have said it many times, Zionism is not an ethnicity, it is an ideology , and American Jews have no more influence over the 1%er regime in power than American non-Jews. As for the 1%ers – they are loyal only to themselves. So will the Ziocrazies succeed in derailing the deal with Iran? I honestly don’t know, but I have to confess that I am not an optimist by nature.
The Saker
Ziocrazies. Good ring!
Except they want us to think they are crazy. ‘America’ is the same.
Well they are all crazy but only just crazy enough to want to win to everyone else’s disadvantage.
Time to call their bluff:
Dear Israeli and ‘American’,
Nuclear disarm now!
Or all on your borders will have nuclear arms.
You have to think now. You may then be able to see you are crazier than you pretend to be.
If you cannot do this you will be surrounded by A bombs. You see, Dear Original Fat Boy, you are the threat. As long as you control by means of nuclear threat there is not future for our world.
Yours Sincerely
World
The USA is incapable of doing this. It is totally incapable. Everyone knows this. Yes, it is crazy but never crazy enough to nuke our planet. And if it is, well there is no future anyway for it is proven now that in their kind of future any who bend to them will be invaded from the rear.
Then the Zionists and the US’ns are incapable. They are crazy too. I think Putin and Xi Jinping are telling them this.
History shows that Anglo/Zionist understandings are defective; that they are an ignoble rot. The English language is now infested with the spore. We have to get this rot out of the woodwork of meaning. If it is allowed to remain there is no future for anyone; even for the Anglo/Ziocrazy..
Excellent analysis. Trashing Iran is pivotal to zionazi/nazi goals, so there wont be much change in Israeli-American policy on Iran. But a major part of their zio-propaganda has now been legally defused.
Bot tak, as numerous people have observed, ‘reconciliation’ with the Real Evil Empire is very dangerous, as the Libyans and Syrians learned. The Exceptionalists, driven on by the neo-conservatives ie the Israeli Fifth Columnists who control US strategy, NEVER cease preparations for regime change EVERYWHERE on Earth that is not controlled by 100% loyal and obedient stooges. If the Iranians are mad enough to forget that dictum, either their country will be infested with Western ‘NGO’ subversives and emigre Imperial lickspittles, and a new ‘Green Revolution’ bring the country down, or the US and Israel will find an excuse for aggression. They would prefer the latter, to slake their bottomless blood-lust for a little while, and for the profits for the military equipment corporations.
Pretty much agree with your view, MM, but I think the Iranians know who they are dealing with and have gone the “legal route”, much like Novorussia has. These people are not stupid, neither are they suicidal. The reasoning being that no matter what agreement is reached with the zionazis, the subhuman things wont observe it. They never do, neither do their fascist quislings. So get the legal stuff spelled out and wait for the zios, and their pet nazis, to show their hands and condemn themselves. Then act.
Nothing Russia/China (any non zionazi colonised country) can do will stop the zionazi horseshit. Wait the queens out, let them blow their viagra induced wads publicly, exposing themselves for what they are.
Interesting, reading a very recent Inc magazine, essentially a sales rag for what would be in a normal world as criminals, the most prominent advert in that rag was for viagra. :D Capitalist exploitation – viagra, I mean, what’s not to understand there?
Bot Tak, the Viagra reference reminds me both of the story of LBJ dropping his trousers in a Cabinet meeting, and grabbing his ‘membrum virile’ plus accoutrements in his hands, and crying, ‘No goddammed Vietcong son-of-a-bitch’ is getting their hands on these!’. And of the American Gorgon (one of many) Hillary Clinton fantasising about Gaddafi’s ‘container-loads of Viagra’. The really BIG thing to remember about the ‘Masters of the Universe’ is that they are truly sad, sick, puppies.
Hi Saker ! Good article about Iran…and what is really impressing to me is the time on your podcast where you said that Iran has the best political system in the world…I don’t think many of us here in the west have any idea about that…I mean when I think if Iran, its just black robes and stuff…so it really helps to get your opinion about it. Thanks so much….
On the subject of dress, the black chador is not mandatory. Even in the most fervent religious worship places, as the Mausoleum of Fatima in Qom, one can enter with white chador with flowers in fabric cotton similar to that of the bed sheets ( these are the best taking into account the heat during the summer ). There are people who make them at home and put a rubber band on the portion corresponding to the head to facilitate placement and take, which is not easy for beginners. If not, they lend you in the mausoleum itself, but that, yes, you can get one completely drenched in sweat.
To hold the chador inside the mausoleum with a hand that emerges from the inside to the outside, intended to fit it under the chin to not be seen even a female skin centímeter, with forty degrees in the midday, and considering that under the chador are your own clothes, your purse or backpack, your sandals in a bag given to you upon entering, and the camera to take any photo, is a real ordeal not to say the hell itself. Still and all, I do not know why, I took beautiful photos shot at fleeting shot ( surely divine intervention taking mercy on these poor foreign women… ). I would really like to see some male photographer of National Geographic in this situation, to see what photos he would bring. This complicated activity for women, taking pictures in a mausoleum, carries the risk of losing the chador in the attempt, which is virtually impossible to avoid if you want to have some vivid memory of the visit. Should this occur, the worst that can happen is that the guardians and custodians of the Holy places, armed with a coloured dusters, give you a “touch of care” in your legs.
The use of black chador is more than a religious mandate, a cultural issue, as I have seen. I met a person who not being religious preferred that his wife, in her forties, carried black chador. I got the impression that is considered elegant and respectable among people who are very conservative or traditional, which does not always mean being very religious.
Young girls do not wear chador, use jeans with long-sleeved shirts, to the hip, in different colors, and wear their hair up ( it is best to keep the scarf on the head and to get fresh ) with tweezers bearing a huge flower that keeps the scarf in the part of the crown of the head, which expose the front, fringes and other hairstyle. We foreigners were the most covered. In some cities I have seen very stylish and modern girls wearing leggings with a jacket over in light cloth, like a kimono, fastened by a belt with an enviable style. Yes, everything, including the implied scarf over the hair, very outfitted, in different colors, including bright ones, and some also wear heavy make up. In cities like Isfahan there are very trendy shops for young girls, with very nice clothes. I myself took one of these dresses / blouses to wear over leggings, in “green islam” with a thin golden chain belt at the waist.
The girls like to go pretty, like in everywhere.
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR6MTYGo1wXbrkaguIF9fctmhJrQfyICFAQvVg_K5mqCNoXfRKK
http://arabiangazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/iran-women-AFP.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/cv/f/fb/Iran_women.jpg
http://paredrocdnzone1.grupodecomunicac.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/mary.jpg
http://paredrocdnzone1.grupodecomunicac.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/leo.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/87/5b/88/875b887ca5cdc91d0a225258799479f6.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YqpuSeiiv4s/UtwiyOHbpjI/AAAAAAAAM0A/aeoMs3ULwgA/s1600/0.tiff
http://www.expofashionmagazine.com/uploads/fotos_noticias/5526-1397906583.jpg
Thank you, Elsi. Interesting.
Insofar as modesty is concerned it’s not so different than 19th Century Western wear, when women wore skirts to their shoetops, long-sleeves and bonnets in public. Except the bodice was tight-fitting. Or like the traditional nun’s costume.
A woman’s hair is considered too great an enticement, but make-up is ok.
I actually adore those fashions…this is my favorite photo of those elsie : http://paredrocdnzone1.grupodecomunicac.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/mary.jpg
nice shoes.
And I love those shawls around their heads…I want one.
Wait… the Saker has a podcast?
https://sites.google.com/site/sakerpodcast/home
Oops — should also link to /category/podcasts/ where comments and posts are.
Dear Saker
With all sincerity, I would like to say that you were completely correct abt the attack on Iran in your analysis. It was suppose to happen but didn’t. It doesn’t mean you were wrong. It didn’t happen due to followings:
1. The Divine Intervention
2. Due to the (1) the emergence of Russia.
In future it would be very-very difficult for US/WEST to do IRAQ or Yugoslavia to any other country unless the country is screwed in itself like Ukraine for example. However even with Ukraine the US/WEST is not able to do Iraq.
As a matter of fact after IRAQ, Iran was in line, and then Saudi-Arabia, and then Syria and then their ultimate prize was Egypt. That was the plan of PNAC provided they could get 100% success in IRAQ. But the IRAQ was the devine intervention for the comeback of Russia and rest of the world… They got into the Quagmire of IRAQ and Afganistan for many many decades to come….
These are my views….
Divine is the most powerful thing. Being an Atheist is just a fashion and devoid of everything….
Regds
Sanjay
Sanjay, the real reason Iran was not attacked right after Iraq was the Iraqi resistance. Both Sunni and Shia. Once the Iraqi people fought back after the 2003 invasion, it became impossible to attack Iran. The US military simply could not handle both Iran and Iraq especially since the Shia would then have rebelled as well.
Good analysis, but a few loose ends in the inferences. Firstly, Iran will need nuclear energy. The reason being that the fundamental edifice of economic advancement is energy. Petroleum resources are available only for a limited period of time based on export requirements and domestic consumption. Iranians clearly recognise it and would need to advance into other areas of agriculture, industry and services as they pursue economic standards of their population. They also have little potential for hydro energy or coal based energy. The option is nuclear in view of the cost effectiveness. Of course there are long term costs in nuclear power. These are in the form of plant decommissioning and waste disposal. If the nuclear waste is exported to the U S or other P5+1, this is the best deal. It takes care of one element of the long term high cost of nuclear energy. So instead of the West dumping waste in the East, it will be the reverse !
Second there is a political cost that Iran pays for the agreement. Israel and the U S unleashed the ISIS (aka Daesh) genie from the bottle to take out Bashar Assad and Syria for an ill concieved gas pipeline. After all the ISIS was supposed to be a puppet on a chain for creating the groundwork for the pipeline from Iran after the U S takes over the Iranian gas fiields on a phoney claim of Irainian WMD. Bashi Azaad has outmaneauvred the combined intelligence of the West with help from Russia and Iran. And for the P5+1, the genie is no longer controllable. Instead the West faces a potentially explosive blow back. So the obvious cannon fodder to push the genie back into the bottle is Iran and its allies. Israel despite all its bluster of air power and nuclear weapons is far too incompetent for those kinds of high casualty jobs. It requires superior minds and men for those kinds of jobs. Iran is the only country in the West Asia that possesses that resource.
Poovizhi Arasan, would not Iran, with its massive insolation and wind resources in its mountainous regions, be better off going down those roads? They could get the wherewithal from the Chinese, and develop their own systems as well, rooftop solar would provide security when the Western aggression comes (nuclear power plants will be prime targets in what will be, like Iraq and Syria, basically a genocidal campaign, as dictated by the need, as outlined by Satan-yahoo at the UN, for a new Purim)and nuclear power, as Fukushima shows, is a deadly menace, hyper-expensive and takes decades to bring on stream.
Mulga, Usually the reason countries w lots of oil go to nuclear power is because they lack sufficient refining capacity. Also I know Iran wants to produce extra electricity to sell to neighbors.
It used to be the case that both solar and wind power were more expensive than petrochemical, coal or nuclear. This wasn’t obvious because of govt subsidies. I don’t know if that is still the case. Has anyone here actually done the research? Can you give us the data or links? Thanks.
Penelope, I Googled ‘Solar Cheaper than Coal’, and I got an interesting article in Oil Price by Colin Chilcoat, February 2015, so up to date. It confirmed what I’ve read in many places. Moreover, I’ve read the opposite in the Murdoch MSM cancer, who lie about EVERYTHING, which is further confirmation. Chilcoat says that solar cost is rapidly falling thanks to China, which is aiming to install 70 GW of solar by 2017,and installed 10.6 GW last year. China’s production capacity is 25 GW pa, a 2000% increase since 2007. The Chinese expect solar PV to be cheaper than coal by 2017, minus the ecological carnage. And, the IMF recently estimated annual subsidies for fossil fuels at 5.6 trillion.
See:
New Solar Cells Use Perovskite to Turn Water into Energy
Probably the next level.
AFAIK Iran now has sufficient refining capacity(or will very soon, they have developed the capability to build their own refineries). Sanctions have been very good for Iran in terms of developing their industry. One reason the Iranians gave for the nuclear program was to preserve their oil for export and hard currency earnings.
Thanks Mulga ! Point taken ? But the fundamental question, how much energy will be available from wind turbines. Wind turbines at best can operate only at about 30 per cent capacities. that would mean the available from one MW of capacity would just be about 7200 kilowatt hours per day. Iranian citizens also aspire for minimum western standards of living? Is it wrong to have such minimum aspirations? Sunni neighbour Saudi Arabia has a per capita consumption of 4400 kilo watt hours (https://www.wec-indicators.enerdata.eu/electricity-use-per-capita.html). So the capital costs would undoubtedly be huge. Nuclear plants operate at higher capacities closer to 80 per cent. Till such time wind and solar power technologies evolve to reach those capacities are there any alternatives? Does it mean that countries like Iran would have to compromise with lower living standards just to satisfy the Western countries irrational and unjust demands?
Anonymous, wind might be intermittent, but it will need to be used along with solar, PV, solar-thermal and solar hot-water systems. Then there is battery storage for off-peak insolation periods, geothermal, wave, tide and other developments. None of these produce radioactive waste, and all are cheaper and quicker than nukes. Most of all, a nuclear power plant is CERTAIN to be targeted by the racist genocidists in Israel and the USA when the inevitable attack occurs. When one looks at the radioactive wasteland imposed on Iraq by the Exceptionalist Reich, through depleted uranium, you can see what they are capable of. Iran can get all the solar they need from China, with whom they will soon be allied in fighting Daash in Central Asia.
Iran is developing other energy sources.
Iran has 30 hydropower stations producing 10,000MW of Hydro power, over 200MW of wind power and is developing solar thermal power. They also have a 250MW Geothermal power station.
In response to Poovizhi Arasan‘s post:
“[..] If the nuclear waste is exported to the U S or other P5+1, this is the best deal. It takes care of one element of the long term high cost of nuclear energy. So instead of the West dumping waste in the East, it will be the reverse!”
Yeah, right… tell that to the Iraqis dyeing of assorted cancers (and birth malformations) courtesy of the Yanks dropping their nuclear waste a.k.a: Depleted Uranium bombs on their heads. So much for the hopes about the East dumping their nuclear waste on the West…
“They [Iran] also have little potential for hydro energy or coal based energy. The option is nuclear in view of the cost effectiveness.”
How about gas? Doesn’t Iran have gas? After hydro energy, gas is the less polluting one. “Green” energy (which is often not as ‘green’ as their advocates like to say it is) is grossly inefficient and a waste of time. And nuclear, in a depraved world like ours?!? If Chernobyl wasn’t enough, Fukushima should have put a final nail on that coffin, quite frankly.
I’m now wondering if the whole Western hysteria about: ‘don’t allow Iran to go nuclear’ (‘Nutter-yahoo’ cartoon bomb and all), has more to do with them not wanting Iran to develop depleted uranium weapons out of spent nuclear fuel – DU weapons that all the P5 member states have, btw. Hence; if Iran was allowed to have nuclear power plants, they would have access to a steady supply of spent nuclear fuel, plenty of raw material to “dump,” as you put it, on the West in the form of DU munitions.
–
Trying to answer my own question… I googled around and to my surprise; I did find something in connection to this, plus it’s also related to the recent P5+1 negotiations… [* now: how credible this article is? Is for you folks to judge. I didn‘t have the time to research the site/organization properly]
–
No, Iran probably isn’t developing depleted uranium weapons – Suggestions that Iran’s plans to develop DU weapons had become a sticking point in the Vienna nuclear talks surfaced yesterday, which was news to us
“[..] on the 6th July, Bloomberg reported that it was not only an issue of ballistic missiles but also Iran’s plans to develop DU anti-tank ammunition, like those stockpiled and occasionally used by the militaries of the P5 negotiators,”
“ICBUW has long wondered whether Iran might be tempted to develop DU weapons, given that it has an expanding stockpile of DU tails from its uranium enrichment facilities. However, this has always seemed unlikely, given its long-running and vociferous condemnation of the US’s use of DU, support for UN resolutions via its membership of the Non-Aligned Movement and its official statements over the threats from the DU travelling across the border from Iraq [..]”
“Is it all about DU tank ammunition? Probably unlikely as there are far greater concerns over ballistic missile delivery systems that could present a regional strategic threat, ditto the advanced Russian air defence systems that could inhibit a future strike by the US or Israel on Iran’s nuclear facilities [..]”
Link> http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/en/no-iran-probably-isnt-developing-depleted-uranium
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PS; as a side note; I don’t see DU weapons as any different from dirty bombs or chemical weapons. They’re just as nasty as cluster bombs and should be banned internationally.
But are they?
-TL2Q
Thanks Mulga, Bot Tak & TL2Q for your input. I wrote a really long response but when I posted it got “You are posting too fast” so it probably won’t appear. Too tired to do it over.
So just thanks. Goodnight.
Penelope…just hit the back arrow…go back…..and your comment will re-appear.
Thanks, Ann
Yeah, I tried that. Not this time. I figured I could at least copy it & repost later, but no luck.
@ Penelope:
That is a shame :(
Over the years, I lost so many long comments due to glitches or site’s restrictions, that now I tend to write them first in a text program, that way, at least if something happens I don’t have to re-type everything again.
Hope the tip helps :)
-TL2Q
As a fun fact to know and tell…
as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium#Production_and_availability explains, depleted uranium is mostly not spent fuel but the result of refining ore to produce the U-235 for use.
If Iran bought nuclear fuel from elsewhere it would still have the spent fuel to deal with, but not depleted uranium.
Nuclear energy is a dead end. Countries all over the world are phasing it out. Aside from the dangers, which one can argue over until the end of time (is it superduper safe? Is it ludicrously dangerous? Seems to depend who’s holding the geiger counters), nuclear power is revoltingly expensive. This is the real dirty secret of nuclear power: It could never compete with coal, but at this point it can no longer compete on price with wind or, in the last year or so, even solar. Nuclear power has always required huge subsidies to survive–massive loan guarantees, public insurance (because the private sector refuses to insure nuclear plants), guaranteed rates, the public picking up the tab for storage of waste, and simple direct monetary subsidies. Without all these crutches no nuclear power plant might ever have been built. Now, I’m actually a proponent of public power, but the same principle holds: Build the power that best serves the public, financially and in its other consequences. That isn’t nuclear.
Iran would be far better off going big for solar. It’s a great country for solar energy, both in terms of sunlight being available and in terms of having the social resources to mount a widespread training effort and so forth to put all the pieces in place. The cost of solar power has been falling at a ridiculous rate, it’s like 30% as much as it was a decade ago. All assumptions from back in 2001 about what kind of power is practical are going out the window.
Purple, you have it exactly. A country like Iran where temperatures reach 50 degrees Celsius, has a massive solar resource. Wide-spread on rooftops with battery storage, it also gives the country resilience from genocidal regimes like Israel and the USA which will definitely target and destroy large power plants when the inevitable attack comes.
That resilience is a real thing. I read an article about Yemen recently and the author quoted a local talking about the destruction of infrastructure saying “The only people making any money right now are donkey breeders and solar panel dealers.”
Solar cells are an environmental nightmare, research the Silicon refining process.
The solar thermal power stations that Iran is developing are much kinder to the environment.
Oh and high temperatures are actually detrimental to silicon based solar cells.
@ Sinbad
I’ve been meaning to research the downside of Solar Energy for ages. I’ve always ended-up leaving it in the back burner in favor of more pressing issues.
So, thanks for the heads up.
Maybe you could explain, then why the Koreans, who are no dummies, having gained market share from the Japanese in high tech manufacturing ranging from electronics to autos, are on a fast track to expand their nuclear industry.
Palestinian Baby Dies in West Bank Fire Started by Jewish Extremists
A one-and-a-half-year-old Palestinian child was killed and three others were gravely injured after settlers in the West Bank threw firebombs into a house in the village of Douma, the Haaretz newspaper reports.
Hebrew graffiti reading “revenge” and “long live the Messiah” was spray-painted on the walls of the house, the newspaper cited Ghassan Douglas, the Palestinian Authority official in charge of monitoring settlement activity, as saying on Friday.
Subhuman scum.
Israel is a cesspool.
OT, but perhaps not, given how zionazia operates:
FBI: Sexual Abuse of US Children Close to ‘Epidemic Level’
The United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation says despite their best efforts [ahem, cough], huge numbers of children across the US are being sexually exploited. The rate of abuse is reaching “epidemic” proportions.
Tens of thousands of kids across the United States are being sexually exploited every year, and “the level of pedophilia is unprecedented right now,” Joseph Campbell of the FBI’s Criminal Investigation Division revealed to BBC News.
Only six hundred abused children were rescued by the Bureau last year. [out of hundreds of thousands]
Most of children cited in these numbers are American citizens, but there is also a large number of minors illegally transported to the territory of the US from Latin- and Central America, the BBC investigation revealed.
Hundreds of American children are also being sold into sex, with poverty and neglect believed to be some of the key reasons why children become vulnerable to sex trafficking.
Campbell pointed out that the stories of these children are often pretty similar: they generally come from unprivileged backgrounds and are sold into slavery by those who are supposed to take care of them.
For instance, BBC reported one Minnesota resident sold her 14-year-old daughter for $900 to her sister, who allegedly brought the teenager to drug dealers, with whom the girl was forced to take drugs and have sex.
“It’s just a big circle, you get high, you get tricked, you get the money and you just keep going around and going around, and you have to break off all of them to even be doing okay,” an unnamed woman, who was first sold into prostitution at the age of 14, told BBC.
According to official US data, over three million cases of abuse involving six million children across the country have been reported to police. Roughly 20 percent of these cases are sexual abuse cases.
These numbers give the US the grim distinction of having the highest rate of child abuse among developed economies, according to the Child Maltreatment study, conducted by US researchers.</cite.
But the zionazi/Jewish run media isn't interested… they're only "darkies" to these modern day nazis.
It begins with the abortion mill business, Planned Baby Parts. It continues with organ trafficking of baby and adult parts.
There is a continuum of the evil that includes trafficking children into the US. We saw Obama encouraging tens of thousands of lone children coming from Mexico and Central America this past year. Where are they going? How are they living now? Why were 50-60,000 children sent into the USA, alone, no sponsor, no guardian, no relatives to go to?
The horrors of pedophilia are glossed over, but anyone who knows the music, film or TV industry well understands the barter in children.
Now, like in Britain, the government is the promoter of this abomination.
Look at the entire West’s Liberalism and you see clearly the degeneracy toward children.
As soon as Gay Marriage was formalized by the freakoids on the Supreme Court the gays began their next level of depravity–legalizing pedophilia (It’s about Love, not perversion, they say.) And who will sanctify this first? The American Psychological Association, who already worked well with the CIA on the subject of torture. Quid pro quo? It was the APA that opened the door by reversing its definition of the disorder of homosexuality years ago. From that flows all this disgusting perversion.
The governments of the West are all part of the Cult of Liberalism and in cults all species of degeneracy are possible.
Now the court has stopped the publication of more videos from the scandal of Planned Baby Parts.
Imagine: doctors carving up babies and selling the organs and tissues like they were gold fish.
And no Federal investigation. The House of Corruption (Congress) went home instead of voting on cutting off funding for Planned Baby Parts.
There is no sanctity of life, no sense of awe at the creation of another human, only perverse ways to make money.
“Whenever a doctor cannot do good, he must be kept from doing harm.”
—Hippocrates
Hippocrates, speaking of doctors:
Is the Medical-Pharmaceutical-Regulatory-Cartel Assassinating Physicians successfully treating cancer and autism? 7 deaths in a few weeks. Video & brief article.
http://memoryholeblog.com/2015/07/25/is-the-medical-pharmaceutical-regulatory-cartel-assassinating-physicians/
And here is an article confirming destruction of documents showing autism-vaccination link as stated by a doctor-witness who became a whistleblower.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-centers-for-disease-control-cdc-scientist-we-scheduled-meeting-to-destroy-vaccine-autism-study-documents/5465966
Hippocrates on July 31, 2015 · at 11:59 am UTC
You cant be serious. :D
Well, if you’re going to go that route I’d like to point out a correlation: As well as the most pedophilia, among developed countries the US also has by far the most fundamentalist Christians. And it seems to me that culturally, the parts of the US that are the most bible-thumpy are also the parts that get into those horrific child beauty pageants. Then there’s those creepy Christian “promise keepers” who always strike me as a bunch of dads perving on their daughters.
Civilized countries without a bunch of fundamentalists, with no manufactured abortion controversies (let alone contraception–what is with some of these religions?) also apparently have less pedophilia. Doesn’t surprise me a bit. Fundamentalism is not the primary disease of the US, but it’s certainly along for the ride, allied with the major disease of the US which is domination by the superwealthy. The terrorists murdering abortion providers are, whether they realize it or not, on the same team as hit men whacking doctors for pharmaceutical companies. The fundamentalist preacherboys with their lucrative TV networks and high-tech begging and hyperpseudopatriotism espouse an ideology of unbridled capitalism where money is a sign of virtue, plus an ideology of hatred, the better to let the billionaires and their bought and paid for politicians point at enemies inside and out. They help enable the US invasions of whoever is convenient today and the US internal suppression of anyone telling the truth.
Bot Tak, the WSWS has an excellent article covering the drop in US home ownership to levels not seen since 1967, with much information concerning poverty and inequality in the USA. The first commenter got it right-‘Walmart Nation is circling the drain’. A country where this sort of depravity is rife, and growing, is morally and spiritually defunct, yet they still parade, all the florid psychopaths, ‘charming’ like Obama, or hideously charmless like the Samantha Powers Gorgon, lecturing the planet about ‘Our Moral Values’ and ‘Human Rights’.
I wouldn’t believe anything they say. Kiddie porn is their raison d’être, now that their imported marathon bombers have reached their expiration date. They are the best at installing kiddie porn on computers.
There is that. There are elements of “moral panic” about this. The US always needs more moral panics–anything for a distraction.
Purple, the US elite has long fancied itself the New Chosen People, inheriting that xenophobic lunacy from the Jews. The English similarly fancied themselves ‘Chosen’ during the hey-day of the Anglo Empire, even imagining themselves a ‘Lost Tribe of Israel’. And the salient feature of all these ‘Chosen’ peoples is extreme antipathy towards the Other, the non-Chosen masses of humanity. US xenophobia and hatred is expressed in all their innumerable wars of aggression, sanctions regimes, blockades etc, in a bloodlust and drive to mass murder and genocide without equal in history. From the millions of exterminated Native Americans, through the charnel-houses of Latin America, Korea, Indochina, Iraq etc, let alone the tens of millions more slaughtered by US stooges and proxies, it has been and remains the greatest, religiously and pathopsychologically sanctified slaughter ever, and shows NO sign of ever being slaked.
I keep reading, all over the alternative media, how;
The Dollar is going to collapse imminently,
The USA will attack Iran,
The BRICS will save the world,
Etcetera, und so wieter, ad infinitum…
What I would like explaining is; if one’s predictions are unfailingly proven wildly inaccurate. How can one have any faith in one’s current predictions?
The failure lies in believing that by observing the past one can predict the future. Tell that to the Christmas turkey.
Scotland is going independent.
Greece will leave the EU.
Ukraine will fall tomorrow morning.
Houthis will prevail.
The Fifth Column will undermine Putin.
Serbia + Russia
Turkey is secular.
The militia can take Mariupol.
Russia has the goods on MH-17, they’ll use it later.
India can act independent of the West.
TPP and TPIP will fail.
Obama is beatable.
All wishful thinking that got ahead of the reality. Heart over Mind.
Exactly!
And the alternative media keeps falling in the same traps time and again.
This deal with Iran… it is the best deal the U.S. and Israel could ever hope for. Now they are playing good cop/bad cop again… and “alternative” analysts fall for it… (again!), saying the Republicans (and Netanyahu) will derail the deal, blah, blah, blah…
It’s all theater… they rule through deception.
But don’t worry… the U.S. is about to collapse… it’s been about to collapse for what? 40 years now?
Collapse should be thought of as a process rather than an event. This process is already well underway. I think we’re rapidly headed towards the next leg down.
Mr. Roboto, the USA has collapsed. It’s like the coyote, run off the edge of the cliff, but too dumb to notice. Gravity has been suspended for tragi-comic effect. The nasty effects of collapse have the huge US under-class already in their grip, and the rot is spreading. Sorry to demonstrate low levels of empathy, but after what the US has inflicted on humanity over the last two hundred years or so…well it’ll be a treat to watch. Unbelievably dangerous, too. But don’t worry-I’ll be punished for my lack of compassion, because Australia is for the knackers’-yard too.
Well, Heffens to Murgatroyd. Is that the self same Mungo I used to meet up with on JTI at the The Australian??
Yes, I agree Mungo. Australia, NZ and even I think the UK and Europe, are indeed headed for the same collapse. Wherever I look through Russia, Asia and here where I now live (S. America) I see growth, hope, honesty and and total rejection of “Western” (whatever that is, but I think we all mostly agree) values. A rejection of the British/American Empire and it’s foul psychopathy.
And I too will cheering when it goes down the drain, if I’m still around in this incarnation!
Good to see you in there and fighting MM
Not 40 years — more like 10, and it nearly did in 2008, although it’s been getting in deeper trouble for 45 because of bad policies (look at the graphs of production, wages, wealth transfer, breakdown of regulations, etc.)
From the time it hit the iceberg it took about 3 hours for the Titanic to sink — the US is much bigger than the Titanic. It’s a useful metaphor in various ways.
@II Boverino 22.22
It is absolutely perfect even you don’t want to see it and hear it.
All of the predictions are heading in a right way, even some of the predictions are NOT going immediately happened as they are presented, but they are heading as supposed to be.
It is very simple, it is the energy what makes them happen and the politicians can only watch even they think they have a power over all of us. Who is digging the hole for somebody else will fall into this hole even he likes it or not.
Hitler also thought for a very long time that he will enslave the all world and it went well for a very long time, till the energy has proven that he was mistaken
As a general culture, in case of someone interested and for to have another source than Wikipedia, with the help of a real expert and inveterate traveler in Iran:
“Composition of the Iranian government” ( according to the guide in Spanish by Toni Vives. Ed Laertes ):
* Suprem Spiritual Lider: Highest authority of the Islamic Republic. Exerts a combination of political and religious power. Elected by the Assembly of Experts, it can also be demoted if does not meet their duties properly.
* Executive power: Second authority, after the leader is the president of the nation. Elected every four years in popular elections and may be reelected only once. Its functions are to lead the Executive and coordinate the three branches of the state. He is the one who enforces the laws passed by the Majlis, signes international treaties and agreements, heads the National Security Council, administers the national budget and is the highest authority in the development plans. All its actions must be previously ratified by the Majlis. The Cabinet reports directly to the president, he is the one who forms the government, by selecting the different ministers. Besides the president also is responsible for the planning and organization of the budget, the organization of Management and employment issues, organization of atomic energy, civil service and social security, the organization of environmental issues, the organization of the executive affairs, the organization of physical training, and under him are the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution.
* Legislative branch: The legislature comprises two institutions: Parliament or Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis-e Shora-ye Islamí) and the Guardian Council of the Constitution (Shora-ye Negahban-e Qanun-e Assassí). All laws passed must be approved first by the Majlis and then ratified by the Guardian Council.
* Majlis : headed by the president of the Executive. The 270 deputies are elected by universal suffrage, can be men or women and elections are held every four years. To get a seat in the elections is needed to be a fervent believer of Islam. This obligation does not prevent access to Parliament to members of religious minorities protected by the Constitution. Zoroastrians, Jews and Assyrians each have a representative in the Majlis. Armenian Christians have two seats. The deliberations of the Majlis must be open, transmitted by the media and published in the Official Gazette.
* Guardian Council of the Constitution: The resolutions taken by the Majlis translate into laws when they are ratified by this institution of a mixed nature. Its function is to ensure that all law conform to the Constitution and turn to Islamic canon. After studying the laws they are returned to parliament ratified or to be amended. Another task is to monitor the presidential elections, general elections and referendums. The council consists of 12 members, six belong to Islamic clerics and six are civilian jurists. The religious group is chosen by the spiritual leader and the civil group is appointed by the Majlis from among a shortlist nominated by the Supreme Judicial Council. Guardian Council members remain in the institution for six years.
* Judiciary: The judiciary is an independent power. Its powers are specified in applying justice in government bodies and protect the rights and individual and public freedoms. They should also ensure the operation of the laws themselves. They must investigate, prosecute and punish crime according to Islamic code and also rehabilitate offenders.
The highest judicial authority is chosen by the leader for a period of 5 years.
The courts are divided into civil and criminal. Among the civilians there is one specializing in family matters, where divorces and child custody are resolved. Other courts are clerical, revolutionary, and administrative justice. The clerical has jurisdiction over cases in which are involved people with religious offices. The revolutionaries are responsible for judging acts against the state, such as terrorism or actions that may put national security at risk. Administrative justice takes care of the claims against the government dependent agencies.
* Experts Assembly ( Majlis-e Khobregan ): This organization’s mission is to choose the spiritual leader upon the death of the current. Another of its duties is to study and determine if the maximum figure of state or senior government officials act according to law; They enjoy being able to resign offenders.
It consists of 83 members elected through public elections. Only theologians can be elected as members of the Assembly. Expert office is for 8 years. The Secretary of the Assembly of Experts lies in Qom and organizes compulsory annual session.
* Supreme National Security Council: Its purpose is to ensure the Islamic Revolution, the defense of national interests and sovereignty and territorial integrity. Members who make up the Council are the Prime Minister, the heads of the legislative and judicial power, and the most senior members of the Armed Forces, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Intelligence.
* Council of Discernment and Expediency of the System ( Majma-e Tashkhis-e Maslahat-e Nezam ): The Council was established to agree on the different views between the Majlis and the Guardian Council of the Constitution. The council meets under the auspices of the spiritual leader. There is an ongoing reporting to the leader when it is necessary that the Council meets. Board members are appointed by the leader.
* Institutions that are not the responsibility of the State: There are a number of institutions and foundations that are independent of any branch of government. This group supervision depends on the spiritual leader through their representatives.
Among these are: Panzdah Khordad Foundation, Foundation of the Martyrs, Housing Foundation, Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, The Islamic Propaganda Organization, Land Allocation Committee and Foundation of the Oppressed.
Salam Sister Elsi,
Excellent and very informative post!
Best regards,
Mohamed
I don’t believe that any U.S. withdrawal from the agreement will circumvent more than temporarily Iran’s reintegration into the world’s economy. I see a trap built into the agreement that will backfire on the Ziocrazies if they stage a coup on their ‘own’ government.
U.S. allies are on the brink of rebelling due to many issues, damage to their economies via the Russian sanctions being one of the largest of many issue that are stressing the hegemony. This dynamic and the BRICs constituency poised for access to Iran’s markets will cause the entire ‘UN sanctions’ fiasco to dissolve.
This is why we have members of the Neocon faction in U.S. actively stumping for the ‘agreement’ ; they’ve been ‘checkmated’ by Obama (for whatever reason) and when this has been adequately explained to these retarded ingrates, they’ll move to recoup their losses. Lord knows what caused the powers-that-be in Ziocrazystan to release their grip on the Iranian (and Cuban!) people. Perhaps there’s a rift within the establishment. It’s certainly possible that the Zios have pushed it too far and have ignited the spark of national pride that does exist within the U.S.. In any case, they’re Checkmated and the die is cast – their new world order is not going to return to the status quo.
I agree strongly with pretty much everything you say here, Saker. But here’s one minor cavil:
“Iran does not have a reliable and survivable delivery system…”
Actually, Iran for some time now has had some fairly sophisticated domestic rocket and missile design and production capability. While they don’t have any ICBMs that could hit N. America, they do have some fairly good intermediate-range missiles that could (theoretically) hit lots of targets in Eurasia.
Of course, I don’t for a minute assume they would launch a first-strike any more than you do. But this is probably another reason why the AZ Empire has decided (despite heavy pressure from The Lobby) not to attack Iran. That’s certainly one reason why Bibi the Coward would never do it himself. Hitting Iran would be way more dangerous to Israel than ‘mowing the grass’ over in Gaza.
In general, we see stuff saying that ‘the evil orcs were predicted to ‘blow up the dam’, but it never happened so the predictors were just alarmists’. What is missing is that when it was predicted the warnings were heeded by many people who worked real hard to stop the dam being blown up and that’s why the orcs’ plans were foiled. It doesn’t mean the orcs didn’t try and that other warnings can be disregarded.
The US economy really is a house of cards on a foundation of sand right now, so I think that has a lot to do with why the idea of attacking Iran was scuttled.
Salam dearest brother Saker,
Remember all my predictions, they are all coming true. Netanyahu is already history and within 2 months the weak AIPAC will be history too.
Only thing that I didn’t predict that Oil prices dropping to between $50 to $80 per barrel. What a pleasant surprise, the world should rejoice. It is the People Power and Poor People Power. Imagine, everything is produced with Oil even the Food, and the prices of everything are finally coming down.
And, even We, The Oil Producing Countries are happy too! The Poor of the World Rejoice, including in The Oil Producing Countries!
Amen.
Mo:
“within 2 months the weak AIPAC will be history too.”
Can you please explain why this will happen in two months? Is it part of the US election cycle? A scandal?
Iran deal will be passed by the USA Congress!
The biggest loser will be AIPAC, the writing is on the Wall.
Best regards,
Mohamed
Iran Nuclear program: Good analysis and it is so true that iran is probably being played for the advantage of the moment. They still need that long overdue missile defense system from Russia–the non-obsolete-by-now one.
Why the deal? A close look will show that despite its massive Propaganda System, the Outlaw Empire is losing hearts and minds within the Metropole and globally at a terrific rate requiring the abandonment of its longstanding untenable Cuba and Iran policies, plus the absolute need for the imposition of its economic enslavement “treaties”: TTIP, TTP. As Putin says, they’re pursuing their own interests as they see them. Thus, it’s about cinching up the Imperial belt in order to effectively combat rising Russia and China–an attempt to make the Outlaw Empire seem more “kinder & gentler” a la GHW Bush.
As for Daesh, imagine Iran combining with Iraqi, Kurdish, Sryian, and Hezbollah forces to roll back the head choppers to the Palestine border and into the Zionist entity where they belong. Wouldn’t that then force the Zionists to drop their pretentions, openly ally with Daesh and counterattack? Perhaps the Iranians, Russians and Chinese could assemble their own Coalition of the Willing to destroy the Empire’s creation; that would be a tremendous coup and entirely feasible. And such a coalition would likely deter the Zionist counterattack. Defeating the Empire’s terrorist forces would greatly help secure the emerging BRICS/SCO/EEAU projects and advance the solution of Palestine favorably for its original inhabitants.
“As for Daesh, imagine Iran combining with Iraqi, Kurdish, Sryian, and Hezbollah forces to roll back the head choppers to the Palestine border and into the Zionist entity where they belong. Wouldn’t that then force the Zionists to drop their pretentions, openly ally with Daesh and counterattack? Perhaps the Iranians, Russians and Chinese could assemble their own Coalition of the Willing to destroy the Empire’s creation; that would be a tremendous coup and entirely feasible. And such a coalition would likely deter the Zionist counterattack. Defeating the Empire’s terrorist forces would greatly help secure the emerging BRICS/SCO/EEAU projects and advance the solution of Palestine favorably for its original inhabitants.”
That i sincerely would like to see. Destroying Daesh/ISIS,exposing Zionists,stabilize the region and further unite those involved. Four worthy causes rolled into one.
And so it begins: Zarif challenges nuclear weapons states to disarm, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/31/iran-nuclear-deal-israel-vienna-treaty-middle-east-wmd
Not much will happen with his challenge I’m afraid, although it makes excellent sense. I especially liked his comment about the Zionist entity’s hysterics while being outside the NPT.
Outlaw, the NPT, which Iran scrupulously observed, and which the IAEA, despite the US stooge Amano’s bad faith, reported was never breached, demands the de-nuclearisation of the nuclear powers. Naturally, the Real Evil Empire simply ignores its Treaty obligations, being ‘Chosen’ to be ‘Exceptional’ (as defined by Carl Schmitt)and is currently engaged in a trillion dollar nuclear modernisation program. Iran’s NPT rights to peaceful nuclear energy were unanimously endorsed by the 114 countries of the Non-Aligned Movement more than once, but they are not members of the ‘International Community’ in the racist discourse of the Western MSM and its verminous inhabitants.
Actually the reason why Israel never attacked Iran (with the intent of dragging a compliant US into the war to do the real heavy lifting) is why the Syrian crisis exists.
Back in 2006 Israel was being pushed by Dick Cheney to attack Iran. He got Israel another $30 billion in foreign aid as a bribe to do so.
However, Israel’s strategists were aware that an attack on Iran could bring in Hizballah in Lebanon with their – at the time – 15,000 rockets and missiles. It could also conceivably bring in Syria with its missiles. While neither was certain, no strategist could ignore the possibility. The effect of both Hizballah and Syria coming into the war would be that Israel’s citizens would be forced to live in bomb shelters for a good part of every day during the war. This would cause economic dislocations and possibly a bad outcome for the ruling party in the next elections.
So Israel in 2006 decided to take out Hizballah. As we all know, they failed miserably due to lack of commitment of ground troops and the extensive preparations Hizballah had made for such an attack. The reason for lack of ground troops was that Israel wanted a “cheap” war – exactly the same reason they attacked Hizballah – they wanted a “cheap” war with Iran.
Subsequently Hizballah, aided by Iran, built up its missile arsenal until it is now allegedly over 50,000 rockets and longer range missiles that allegedly can hit any part of Israel.
In addition, the 2007 Iran National Intelligence Estimate undercut Bush’s desire to attack Iran.
At the time, Colonel Pat Lang, a retired military expert on the Middle East, pointed out that the only way Israel could possibly successfully attack Hizballah would be through the Bekaa Valley, as this areas is Hizballah’s “defenses in depth.”
However, this would require Israeli forces crossing Syrian territory to make a flanking attack on the Bekaa Valley, rather than going through the heavily defended southern Lebanon. That would require Israeli forces to engage the Syrian military directly, probably resulting in a “two-front” war which is never a good idea, especially if you want a “cheap” military victory.
That’s where things stayed until the Libya crisis. At that point, someone in Israel and/or the US got the bright idea that if a civil war could be started in Syria, with the intent of dethroning Assad, then the US and NATO (and perhaps Israel and Turkey) could engage in an air campaign to destroy Syria’s missiles and degrade its military’s ability to engage Israel in an attack on Hizballah. This would allow Israel a fairly cheap corridor to attack Hizballah while simultaneously removing Syria as an effective actor in an Iran war.
And that’s why the Syria crisis exists. Unfortunately for the plan, Assad’s forces have been more effective than expected in keeping the West’s forces – Al Qaida and ISIS – at bay. In addition, attempts to justify a US/NATO attack on Syria have failed. First they had the insurgents fire at Turkey and Turkey firing back at Syria forces in order to provoke a Syria/Turkey war. That failed because Assad did not take the bait. Then they tried the same trick with Israel which also failed. Then came the “chemical weapons” false flag – which brought Obama to within 24 hours of attacking Syria. That failed when Russia’s Putin convinced Assad to get rid of his chemical weapons. (Although the US has repeatedly complained about “chlorine barrel bombs” and the like continuously since then.)
The proof that the US wants to attack Syria is that in every one of three UN Resolution drafts promoted by the US there was Chapter 7 language which could be used to authorize such an attack. Each Resolution was vetoed by Russia and China who saw how the same language used in the Libya crisis could be used to justify a war with Syria.
The stalemate in Syria is why there has been no Iran war. The rise of ISIS has been an attempt to break that stalemate.
The story isn’t over despite the Iran deal. Should Syria fall to Al Qaeda and ISIS, you can count on Israel immediately attacking Lebanon again. And after that, the US administration – whoever it may be, Democrat or Republican – will green light an Israeli attack on Iran. And the US will join that war.
And then we will have another decade-long war in the Middle East which will consume Lebanon, Syria, Iran at a cost of millions dead, thousands of US troops dead, and a cost that will be at least four times the cost of the Iraq-Afghanistan war – profits for the military-industrial complex.
Thank you for the analysis. Excellent.
Sounds very true.
Very logical explanation. When we understand who we are dealing with. Can you please provide some more info (links preferably) especially to these two points?
” The effect of both Hizballah and Syria coming into the war would be that Israel’s citizens would be forced to live in bomb shelters for a good part of every day during the war. This would cause economic dislocations and possibly a bad outcome for the ruling party in the next elections.”
Did anyone,and who,actually considered this as a reason to not go to war? “Cheap war”, how sick.
“And then we will have another decade-long war in the Middle East which will consume Lebanon, Syria, Iran at a cost of millions dead, thousands of US troops dead, and a cost that will be at least four times the cost of the Iraq-Afghanistan war – profits for the military-industrial complex.”
I would like to see who and how did the calculation.
I would add to your excellent analysis that Israel failed in Lebanon against Hezbollah because years of training by terrorising pregnant women and old people at check-points, killing children with sniper head shots for throwing stones and ‘mowing the grass’ of the Gaza Ghetto doesn’t prepare people, even ‘Chosen’ ones, for bloody fighting with real troops, well-trained ad equipped and highly motivated. The Israeli Right viscerally hate Hezbollah because they have, more than once, deflated the Zionazies’ self-deluding image of themselves as ‘Gods Upon the Earth’. They don’t like that.
The destruction of Syria, and all the states of the region, is very old Israeli policy, even older than its most infamous utterance in the Oded Yinon Plan of 1982, oft reiterated since. And Seymour Hersh showed in his report of 2007, ‘The Redirection’ that Israel’s defeat in the ‘best planned war in Israeli history’, as Israeli papers were boasting before their backsides were kicked, again, led to the policy to launch the Sunni/Shia internecine war, through the phony Arab Spring, the ultra-treacherous bombing of jihadists to power in Libya and the creation of Daash. A policy carried out by the USA, Israel, the Gulf despotisms and Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan.
I suggest you read the excellent analysis by Paul Craig Roberts on this subject, see “The Real Reasons for the Iran Agreement” at http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2015/07/18/real-reasons-iran-agreement-paul-craig-roberts/
The deal is all about getting Iranian oil to Europe to eliminate the need for Russian supplies, as well as freeing up military resources to attack Russia.. The day before the deal was announced, press TV ran a story that included this:
“Iranian companies signed a $2.3 billion agreement on Monday to build 1,300 kilometers of pipeline which the country sees as its most important conduit for future gas exports to Europe. The Iran Gas Trunkline-6 (IGAT-6), with the throughput from the massive South Pars field, will boost Iran’s exports through the neighboring Iraq.
Iran is expected to initially deliver 4 million cubic meters of gas per day (mcm/d) before raising it to 35 mcm/d later to feed three electricity generation plants in Iraq. Gharibi said final tests of the pipeline are underway and the gas flow is expected to begin in the next month.”
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/07/13/420068/iran-iraq-gas-pipeline-deal-gharibi
s–
If Turkstream eventually goes thru I guess Iranian gas will join the hub, too, but it’s not Iran’s first priority:
7/29/15 http://presstv.com/Detail/2015/07/29/422382/iran-oman-gas-pipeline-kameli
Hey, what’s this? If Iran is sending its gas to Oman’s port to be compressed into LNG & sold in Asia, that should reinvigorate Russia’s Turkstream., since the Iranian alternative pipeline to Europe will be “a lower priority” for Iran.
The United States government has not attacked Iran and has made this “treaty with Iran” because Russia along with other variables, some perhaps Providential, got the U.S. off its timetable in Syria and in the Ukraine. Had these “projects” gone as planned according to the timetable, the attack on Iran would have taken place. With the “snap-back” paragraphs in the “treaty,” the U.S. can resume its bellicose aims at will. Israel got Pollard out of prison in the deal. All of the negative rhetoric on the “treaty” between Israel and the U.S. and between the Obama administration and the Congress was and remains theater. If Israel really thought that the U.S. with this “treaty” were closing the door on an eventual attack on Iran, Israel would have taken action, perhaps even having someone assassinated. The U.S. Congress, Republican controlled in both houses, actually unconstitutionally amended the U.S. Constitution so that the “treaty” could not be challenged. The majority of Americans were against the “treaty” for the wrong reasons. Under the Constitution, the Senate would have needed 67 votes, a two-thirds majority, to approve the treaty. The chances were that Senators, fearing their constituencies, would not have gotten the necessary 67 votes. So the Congress, House and Senate, with the President’s signature, passed a bill into law, that with this document which the White House refused to call a treaty, the Senate would need a two-thirds majority to annul the document, just the opposite of what the Constitution demands. This means that at least the leadership in the Senate and in the House, a pro-Israel and anti-Iranian clique, were in on the deal from the start. These men would have never allowed a treaty which would limit future U.S. options, including war, against Iran. The Iranians have gotten something: some breathing room! Beyond that, nothing.
Robert, You say, “Congress, House and Senate, with the President’s signature, passed a bill into law, that with this document which the White House refused to call a treaty, the Senate would need a two-thirds majority to annul the document, just the opposite of what the Constitution demands.” Fascinating! You don’t happen to have a link or Bill number, do you? I’d like to make a note of it.
I agree w you that most of what goes on between US & Israel is just theatre– it’s a good-cop, bad-cop routine.
Robert, regarding “snap-back” provisions in the US-Iran nuclear treaty, Joaquin Flores says there are none.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5WdALk2_ZNRTN8uFY-adsDaQ2XeRKJgV It’s the number 4 video titled “Iran Prevails in Nuke Deal Will It Hold?”
He’s generally well-informed. Personally, I have no data on which to form an opinion.
Penelope,
Here is one of several articles on the “snap-back clause” in the “treaty.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/07/21/do-the-iran-deals-snapback-sanctions-have-teeth/
Here is the act as law:
https://www.congress.gov/114/plaws/publ17/PLAW-114publ17.pdf
Under the Constitution, the Senate would have to approve at treaty with a two-thirds majority. In the current Senate, given the sentiments of the constituents, Senators would have been hard put to make that vote. However, the legislation supra gives them a way around this dilemma. Such “treaties” would be submitted to Congress for review. Congress could vote the “treaty” up or down with a mere sixty votes; however, the President is given the power to veto; and to override the veto, they would need sixty-seven votes. So, technically a majority of the Senate could vote against the “treaty” and tell their constituents that they had done their “duty.” The President would then veto it; and they would not be able to come up with the necessary 67 votes. They could then tell their constituents that they tried. They have effectively amended the U.S. Constitution on treaty ratification.
Thank you Robert for doing the legwork on this. Sneaky congress; I just wanted to make a record of it.
I’ll read snap-back tomorrow when I’m awake.
Thanks again.
Regards, Penelope
Thanks for the explanation about legal “technicalities” bypassing Constitution. We in Serbia should read this and be prepared when our puppets try to hand Kosovo over. After all, puppets learn from their masters.
Exactly, Robert. The dimension of Zionazi aggression that is little understood is the religious. As the Yesha Council of Rabbis and Torah Sages, a highly influential group associated with the Right in Israel and the Judaic Taliban ‘settlers’ in the Occupied Territories (an increasingly deranged group of hate-crazed fanatics)declared as Lebanon was being bombed to rubble in 2006, killing civilians in not just permissible under Judaic Law, but is, in fact, a mitzvah, or religiously sanctioned good deed. International Humanitarian Law to the contrary was explicitly and contemptuously rejected as ‘Christian morality’.
These religious lunatics and the secular fascist allies now dominate Israel, and the political, military and intelligence elites as well. That makes the destruction of Iran and the millions of mitzvot that would follow, a religious obligation. Moreover, if you understand the real meaning of the Purim genocidal fantasy tale, you can see that Satan-yahoo’s most recent UN speech was a direct threat to launch a new Purim against Iran. The 75,000 dead ‘followers of Haman’ that the Jews celebrate every Purim, would translate into millions in today’s Iranian population, all to Yahweh’s no doubt great satisfaction.
when have nuclear weapons ever “ended” a country???
When have they been used on a country? Only relatively small ones on Japan, excpet for some tactical maybe, and radioactive weapons — we never had a significnt nuclear war.
Since there has never been a “nuclear war”.We have no point of comparison.We do know what horrible destruction two small (by today’s weapons) nuclear attacks caused in Japan.And that right after that Japan surrendered.
I don’t insist that any of my following opinion is correct, but note it cuz I can’t find any countervailing evidence & wd be pleased if someone wd supply me w it.
I don’t think that the Iranians caused US to attack Iraq by supplying them w false intell that Iraqis had WMD. I don’t believe US ever thought Saddam had chemical weapons, except those supplied earlier by themselves. “Weapons of Mass Destruction” was just a pretext, like Amb April Gillespie’s trap when she informed Saddam that US wdn’t care if he took Kuwait, then attacked when he did. There’s repeated insider statements that Bush insisted on intell confirming WMD while CIA denied their presence.
US has not managed to sufficiently contain Iran w sanctions, war is unwinnable, therefore they’ve gone to their third tool of destruction: investment and trade. These “gifts” have destroyed many nations. Iran has just applied to join the WTO which opens up the country to Western investment, banking, and competition.
IS ISIS out of the control of its creators/backers? Seems to be a widespread opinion, but I still haven’t seen evidence to support this. And since the Saudis/Qataris continue to pay them, and US thru Turkey & Jordan continues to supply them, how are we to believe that their paymasters & suppliers have no power of ultimatum over them?
Has this story been spread by the US & allies themselves so that even those who are awake as to the creators of ISIS will hold them innocent of whatever “ISIS” is supposed to do next? Major mayhem in the Ukraine & the Caucasus? A truly major false flag like something nuclear? I saw an idiotic article claiming they have the ability to make a dirty bomb.
Not only is there a joint plan for Iran to act w US against ISIS, but Russia is pressuring Syria to join it. Syria & Iran to join the creators and suppliers of ISIS against ISIS?! I guess I just don’t have a sufficiently nuanced mind. That seems absolutely crazy to me. If US & allies want to defeat ISIS, they cd stop supplying them.
Russia pressuring Syria: http://www.voltairenet.org/article188124.html In a June 29th Press conference w Syrian Foreign Minister, Putin said Syria must join with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey to eliminate Daesh.
Dearest Sister Penelope,
It all makes sense. The Daesh (ISIS) is dream come true for Muslims and Islam. Muslims are not bad guys, just those Liver Eaters of ISIS.
Last year when I used the term both Obama and Putin are in cahoot. Most people thought that I don’t know the meaning of Cahoot. Others told me that I have lost my marbles.
Both Netanyahu and AIPAC are history. And, if Netanyahu don’t behave any more, than he will find these ISIS on his doorsteps, as he wished for through his ex-ambassador to USA, Michael Oven.
Mr. Oven in his latest books seems to be really mad at Obama, like he has been used.
Mr. Obama is The President of the USA, no matter the color of his skin. He is The President, chosen twice by The People. Netanyahu thinks that he has the right to lecture our own President, in our own Country, in our own White House. The man has lost his marbles, not me!
Best regards,
Mohamed
Your initial point about WMD is very true. The rest of what you’re saying I can’t rule out, certainly. I tend to think that one reason nobody seems to be able to figure out what’s what with ISIS is simply that there is a genuine split in elite US decision-maker opinion about ISIS. Some still back it, some don’t, some who have decided they don’t like ISIS have gone all the way to doing some rethinking about just how much use certain “allies” still are and some are still trying to compartmentalize the question. We don’t know what the US stance on ISIS is because the US have not figured what to do about ISIS.
One thing I will say: ISIS for its part may take American money and whatever, but they do not like the United States, are very much set on their own goals and will not alter them for US pay. Pity they’re such complete bastards; I would dearly love to see a Sunni movement that was more like Hezbollah rising up to challenge the corrupt Sunni states.
I certainly agree that Obama at least has decided that the better way to re-dominating Iran is now commercial. But again, there still seems to be a split about that. Some have really decided that buddying up to Iran and co-opting it economically via “free trade” and investment and such is the way to go. Others hate the idea.
Good analysis, Saker. I, too, agree that the Iranians do not (now) have a bomb-making program. However, a couple of quibbles in detail:
As to “untested it is useless,” this is only true of a plutonium-based weapon. That is a complex, implosion-based affair that truly needs testing. However, uranium-based weapons need only slam two sub-critical pieces of U-235 together at high speed for a ‘boom’. The ‘gun’ design dating from WWII is still valid in this regard. Simple and proven. No testing would be needed. A ‘sure thing’, if you have weapons-grade uranium…
Also, “Most importantly – a warfighting strategy,” is almost irrelevant. As you pointed out, this weapon would never actually be used in combat. It is a ‘psychological’ weapon. To demonstrate: First, think of North Korea, Pakistan, or India without a few nukes. Now, think of them with a few nukes. Deep down, it changes the equation – even if the results of using them would be counterproductive. I believe Iran is playing this ‘card’, simply by having uranium-enrichment facilities. Brilliant…
@ Robert M. Peters
It’s a 5+1 deal – backed by the UNSC.
The aim for the Iranians is the lifting of sanctions – period.
They know perfectly well any treaty signed by the US isn’t worth the paper it’s written on – an attack is always on the cards. I doubt they would be foolish enough to let their guard down. Certainly , the recent speech by the Supreme Leader in Iran is no indicator that they trust Washington post-deal any more than previously.
But they went with the deal because it is worth it: trade relations (thanks to the UNSC resolution) with the rest of the world can now commence: those relations would not be possible without the Vienna deal.
What they do need to be alert to, is the Zionist ‘subversion’ approach: this is likely to activate via banking and media (aimed at creating discontent, especially targeting youth), as well as through the education system (bankrolling the university s system and so creating a class of fifth columnists – social, political, economic to eat like termites at the fundamentals of Iranian social and political structures). A complex ‘dance’ of social controls and freedoms is required.
So the Revolutionary Guard needs to be kept in tip-top condition, both to protect the Islamic Republic from existential as well as ideological /financial threat. I suspect the Iranians – heirs to an ancient civilization – understand that. Making it a desirable national aspiration to join – for both male and female in their respective strengths – would help underscore Iranian identity and autonomy.
No future can be fully predicted: but awareness of the shape-shifting aspects of threat will go a long way to securing the revolution for many generations to come.
First there are a agrement that there should be an agrement that Obama can’t control. We have to wait for the congress to say yes to the Iran agrement (plus negotiating ,2016?). Next there are rules in the agrement that force the Iranan to comply in short time and the judge is USA. This imply that USA will keep pooking on Iran and will never be satisfied. Obama will have a nice agrement but Iran will at most have the same sanctions or worse. But if Iran (the priests) for instance give some oil to the nice west for exchange of some BMW and iphone like all other civilaised countries then Obama will go along. And that is exactly what is happening the west are now invited to explore Iran. Soo here we have another country in the long list of USA shoe lickering countries (not te..ist anymore).
And wy USA haven’t invaded are because Irans multithreat. They have no notch capability instead they have more. Usa did simulations of a fight against a country similar to Iran and they lost. Plus Usa have to factor in that Iran can stop the oil fraights. But as you implay that the Iranian are the most advanced country there (nbr 17 in released scintific papper ) ,they wouldn’t be unprepared if they got bombs during a month.
What confuses me is why Iran is sticking with a Uranium cycle? There is a Thorium cycle which is (theoretically) much cheaper and more controllable, but it can’t be used for weapons. Is Iran trying to develop this? I understand that the agreement concerns Uranium fuel, but I think it’s silly to rely on a Uranium future for atomic energy
Thank you Saker, as always very good analysis. Yes, it is true that these Empire psychopaths are always going to try the most canny way to treat the world with the most parasitic methods.
Iran was always threat to them because of the high quality education starting in the very early age when the kid is like a sponge and able to adopt as much knowledge as possible.
Now we are in the world stage when US citizens are shopping in Canada for the t – shirts – “I’m a proud Canadian” because they are afraid to show to the world they are proud Americans.
They are afraid because they are going to be attacked in the world even they are just simple innocent American tourists.
American’s are started to dig more and more why they were force to go into those non-sense wars creating just a hatred against the population of USA.
Most of the people around the world after the 1989 year experience when the communist wall was demolished and the true color of the neocons and the Empire ambitions came out from this point, everything has changed.
Empire now hopes that they will do the same slimy tactics in Iran what they have done in the former Eastern European communist countries, well too bad, it is too late, they were already exposed around the world who they are.
New technologies will prove, that not just by hacking of these paranoid psychopaths, but the new generation is very tired of these satanic bullies and wars.
Yes, they are the masters in these sadistic actions, but nothing can last forever, their time is measured by the population of this beautiful earth.
http://www.keshefoundation.com
The way things are going in the US and Canada both,they’ll both need to buy the “I’m a proud Kiwi” pretty soon.So far New Zealand seems to be the only 5 Eye country not causing mayhem around the World.
Hmmm, what an interesting perspective: The United States cannot afford to go to war with Iran. If that is true – and I suspect it is – then the USA knows it also cannot go to war with Russia.
The problem is with the training and arming of what is left of the Ukrainian military as a provocation to Russia. As the US sinks into its fiscal morass, it still may make an effort to send a lot of troops as to appear to be doing a “Vietnam”. As Stephen F. Cohen stated, the White House may wish to “colonize” Ukraine at some point, and given the questionable mental state of the White House (as repeatedly shown) it may not understand why suddenly Putin is actually sending tanks in to counter what to Russia has become a major existential threat.
Excellent price of work, Saker.
L.
While I agree that the Iranians are not and at a minimum have not for a long time been developing a nuclear weapon, I do somewhat disagree about its potential utility.
Certainly it would be pointless, even crazy, for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons for first strike capability. But I can see some use to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons for second strike capability. At the moment, as the Saker points out, Israel can threaten Iran with a nuclear first strike, and Iran cannot threaten Israel either with nuclear or conventional counterattack. Thus, there is nothing really to stop Israel (and the US) from engaging in nuclear-based blackmail of Iran: Do whatever we want or we wipe you from the map. Well, the optics would be really bad, but there’s nothing military to stop them. Iran have no answer to such, and lest we forget US military doctrine explicitly includes first nuclear strike as an option, and not even just for cases of self defence. Even just a couple of nukes, if protected or hidden well (mobile and so forth) would allow Iran to say “Nuke us and Tel Aviv is gone”. Israel is a very small country in simple geographic expanse. Just one big dirty nuke and half the place would be uninhabitable. So I can certainly see a rationale. If anything, the distinction the Saker draws between North Korea and Iran points ironically in the reverse direction: North Korea didn’t really need a nuclear deterrent, because they have a conventional one, while Iran doesn’t have a conventional deterrent so a nuclear one would be useful.
Iran seems to have decided this wasn’t worth the downside, whether political, financial, or, if you believe what they say, in cost to Islamic principles. Or maybe they decided it just wouldn’t be practical because of all the requirements the Saker outlines. But it wouldn’t have been pointless if they could have done it.
Is there any reason why you called the Syrian government “Syrian regime”? Isn’t that an MSM vocabulary?
One can, I suppose, enter into heated discourse as to whether “sovereignty” exists or does not exist, i.e. in the negative, less powerful political entities must yield, even against their wills and their own interests, to more powerful entities such as in our current case the U.S. Empire with all of its assets – unlimited “money” supply, dominating military presence -conventional and nuclear – world wide, vassal states at its biding, etc. Let us, however, suppose for discussion that the notion of sovereignty memorialized in the Treaty of Westphalia is valid today; then, the sovereign state of Iran can build and use any weapons system it pleases, the opinion of the “international community” not withstanding. The only limitation on its sovereignty would be what it willfully gave up pursuant to its own interest for the duration of said treaty. We would indeed have a somewhat better world if there were no atomic/nuclear weapons, and we would certainly be better off if there were states and coalitions willing to make first use of such weapons with aggressive bellicosity. I have been opposed to the sanctions on Iran because they were and remain an affront to the sovereignty of Iran, the “alleged” “moral and security” reasons for the sanctions not withstanding.
If Iran some day “gets the bomb,” its only useful use will be for defensive posturing. For Iran, using the bomb or allowing a bomb which it developed to be used by others would invite utter destruction. The Iranian leadership is not irrational, nor is there likelihood for such a leadership to emerge.
The empire must know this as well, so one is compelled to conclude that the reasons for the sanctions and the reasons the empire might go to war with Iran rest on the following:
Israel does not want an alternative player in the Near East and Middle East which can bring military, economic and “religious” pressure against its interest.
The empire does not want an alternative player in the Near East and the Middle East which can thwart its designs.
The empire sees the neutralization of Iran as a stepping stone to surrounding and destroying Russia.
This treaty, whatever the intent of the empire is, does give Iran and Russia some breathing room. How much room and how long the room will last until the next imperial move is the question.
Netanyahi, the Bete-Noir, may be the unwinding of Israel. The stumbling West, split apart about the uni-lateral empire raping everyone. The supreme symbol of this is the man who is 100% hysterical over Israeli Zionism being the Jewish saviour…no-one else understands. So he has to forever shout and threaten and humiliate the rest of the globe.
The only reason the US does not drop him and Israel is because Israel knows every single US secret. So supine to Israel has the US become, the tiny nation could bring down America.
“Iran represents a huge political, social, economic, religious and even civilizational threat to the USA, Israel and the Saudis.”
No, you have it backwards like most Euro-American shills.
The United Snakes, Europe, and their stooges are a huge political, social, economic, and civilizational threat to not only Iran but another other nation that refuses to bow to Western barbarism (aka Western “civilization”),
The thing about these Western wolves in general–including the phony alternative media–is that they project their own predatory nature onto other nations, cultures, or religious–while desperately denying that their own warped nations are the true threat on this planet.
@ Anonymous on August 02, 2015 · at 5:15 pm
You must be a newbie. Or you didn’t read the full post.
The ‘threat’ refers to Israeli perception of a rival, superior (particularly in terms of civilization and probably economic in the future) power – the writer was not projecting at all.
The pretext for the sanctions was always hollow: the Islamic Revolution of Iran is religiously and philosophically opposed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Why do you think the Zionists have been so enthusiastic in promoting the perversion of Wahaabism (and the Saudis have jumped on the bandwagon for exactly the same reasons – Iran is also a civilizational/culture threat to their fanatical, brutal regime.)? To many around the globe, Islam *is* Wahaabism.
There is nothing ‘phony’ about opposition to the Hegemon in all it’s ugly dimensions on this blog I assure you.
II call them ZioNazis (and it hurts) but Ziocrazies is brilliant. Once again Dear Saker, you have the facts spot on and I share your pessimism, or shall I say skepticism, it is also spot-on in my mind. We have an expression in South Africa: Daar is ‘n slang in die gras! There is a snake in the grass)…
Quoting John Helmer
“For the second time, the EU court has ruled that (Iranian) sanctions are illegal if they are based on allegations which cannot stand up in court. With an irony yet to be tested in the US, the EU court has also ruled that state organizations and companies targeted by sanctions have the same human right to due process, as human beings, Russian dissidents, and Americans.
The ruling ends two years of proceedings in Luxembourg. The Iranian central bank’s case was that EU sanctions were unlawful because they were based on evidence which was in error; because they violated the EU’s obligation to give defensible reasons for its action; because the EU had violated fundamental human rights, including the protection of property, the right of defence, the right to effective judicial protection, and the right to proportionality between act and penalty.”
I surmise that this is the reason the US decided to negotiate with Iran, as the EU sanctions could not be sustained in light of the EU Court decision.
The same arguments will apply to the curret EU Russian sanctions. Refer http://johnhelmer.net/?p=13316
A generally good article badly marred by this:
This is absurd. It is also zio/zamerican disinformation. By the early 2000s, Iraq was hardly a threat to Iran, Saddam had been badly weakened and so had the iraqi military. Not even when Iraq was at its strongest and Iran at its weakest in 1980, as it was coming out of a revolution, and even though Iraq received massive military and financial aid, with Iran pretty much isolated, could iraq defeat Iran. Not even close.
Iran would never have worked to get the zamericans to invade Iraq, thus completing Irans encirclement( lets not forget about the us invasion of Afghanistan in 01 as well as its military bases in the Gulf).