It's Started

This was an ominous Sunday morning (4/18/10) with a sinister echo of the events which led to the horrific Iraq War. On the front page of The New York Times was a misleading warmongering article conveniently coordinated with Sunday morning talk shows.

Bill Moyers' excellent PBS DVD "Buying the War" documents over and over the way false front-page New York Times articles were planted by neocon warmongers and then further publicized on Sunday TV talk shows in the push to war.

Anonymous sources continue to predominate. Today's article quotes a "senior official" describing a January memo by Defense Secretary Gates as a "wake-up call" regarding the administration's need for planning a war with Iran. Later today, Secretary Gates called this article a mischaracterization of the memo which was in no way such a "wake-up call."

The Israel Lobby neocons' main message is that "diplomacy has failed," so we must precede to crippling sanctions and/or war. The truth is, however, that diplomacy has barely been given a chance.

For instance, as reported by Iranian expert Hooman Majd on Politico 4/13/10, there has been little notice of Iran's many diplomatic offers "including the most recent, last week, from Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki. Mottaki said Iran would put most of its enriched uranium stockpile under 24-hour IAEA supervision until it was removed from the country simultaneously with the West's delivery of fuel rods with higher-enriched uranium."

Unfortunately, we won't be seeing articles about these Iranian offers on the front pages of our major newspapers, just as we never saw the important pre-Iraq War articles by Knight Ridder reporters Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay. Their work refuted the neocons' pro-war propaganda and should have served to save us from the unnecessary Iraq War.

How To Spot An Israel-Firster

Israel-firsters are Americans who put the interests of Israel ahead of the interests of America. Here's how to spot them:

1. Their conditioned response to any criticism of Israeli policies is to cry out "anti-Semite!" or "self-hating Jew!"
2. They have an abject hatred for the United Nations because of such resolutions as UN Security Council Resolution 242, which calls for Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories.
3. They hate the "O" word altogether, instead offering up such euphemistic pleasantries as "disputed" territories or even "war-won" territories.
4. They particularly avoid mentioning the Occupation when decrying actions by resistance groups such as Hamas, thus obscuring exactly what it is Hamas is resisting.
5. They shun international law, preferring Biblical law, as in "this land is our land because the Bible says so."
6. They allege we were hit on 9/11 because "Islamists want to spread their religion," hiding the fact that 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said he hates us because of our foreign policy bias towards Israel. (See The 9/11 Commission Report page 147).
7. They insist Middle East peace is impossible, so don't bother trying. They enjoy the status quo.
8. But if we do try to make peace, we must not be even-handed, because that would be "anti-Israel."
9. They specialize in re-writing history. (See previous blog "The Israel Lobby's Devious Myths" 1/17/10).
10. When confronted by proof of Israeli atrocities and war crimes, such as ethnic cleansing, apartheid conditions, collective punishment with white phosphorous, etc, they reflexively bellow "Remember the Holocaust!"
11. They are horrified at the concept of diplomacy and thus parrot their assertion that Muslims only respond to "shock and awe."
12. They are pushing America to go to war with the 57 nations that do not recognize Israel (because of Israel's illegal occupations). We are already fighting in five of them: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen. Iran is next on their wish list. They have no interest in preserving American blood or treasure: all must be sacrificed for Greater Israel (ie settlement expansion).

Because of our Invasion: An Opium Plague

The US has long stressed to President Karzai the importance of combating corruption in Afghanistan, but of course corruption is inevitable in a narcostate. Although the Taliban had successfully banned opium production in 2000, our invasion, aided by Northern Alliance drug lords, brought it back with a vengeance. Afghanistan now supplies most of the world's opium. (See previous blog "Out of Afghanistan" September 10, 2009.)

Along with opium production comes opium and heroin addiction, not only in Afghanistan, but also in its neighbors and in the West. Due to its proximity to Afghanistan, heroin addiction is rampant in Russia, for instance. The BBC World News April 1, 2010 reported that 30,000 heroin addicts die in Russia each year. The New York Times (10/23/09) noted that the annual toll in NATO countries is estimated to be greater than 10,000. An AP report by Rukmini Callimachi (8/9/09) describes the consequences of opium in rural Afghanistan. In the town of Sarab, population 1850, half the town are now opium addicts, up from just one family years ago. A once well-to-do farmer becomes penniless, selling everything he has to buy opium, even sacrificing the children's food money and blowing opium smoke in the children's mouths instead.

In our recent Afghanistan "surge," we have "turned a blind eye" to opium cultivation. (The New York Times 3/21/10). In fact, a recent report by the State Department inspector general is highly critical of our anti-drug efforts in Afghanistan (The New York Times 12/24/09).

It is often observed that there is no military solution in Afghanistan, and President Karzai recently complained that left alone he could strike a peace deal with the Taliban, but the United States refuses to allow him. (The New York Times 3/30/10) Obviously the best thing for Afghanistan and the world is peace leading to a re-banning of the opium crop.

Netanyahu's Private Meeting with the President

President Obama: "It was most rude and insulting of you to announce more settlement expansion during Vice President Biden's visit."

Prime Minister Netanyahu: "Sorry! Now about Iran..."

Obama: "But if you would make peace with the Palestinians, and thus the entire Arab/Muslim world, Iran would no longer be a concern!"

Netanyahu: "Peace would mean giving up land the Bible says is ours. Now about Iran..."

Obama: "But international law and UN Security Council resolutions say you must withdraw from the occupied territories, including occupied Arab East Jerusalem."

Netanayahu: "The Bible says we are God's chosen people and thus above the law. Now about Iran, if you don't strike, we will."

Obama: "For one thing, Iran is not close to having a bomb. For another, Americans are aware that Israel Lobby neocons lied them into a costly unnecessary war with Iraq, and Americans do not want a war with Iran, also on behalf of Israel."

Netanyahu: "No problem. We control your media so we can sell this war just as easily as we sold the last one. Your Congress is also bought and paid for. Our Speaker "Madame" easily gets the other harlots to pass any bill the Israel Lobby writes up."

Obama: "But opinion is changing. Your civilian massacres in Gaza resulted in bad publicity. And it's becoming clear that your endless persecution of the Palestinians is what inspires anti-American terrorism, as on 9/11."

Netanyahu: "Again, we are a very religious people. Our God instructs us to commit religious genocide: 'Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.' Samuel I 15:3."

Obama: "57 countries in the world do not recognize Israel because of your illegal occupations and persecutions. Already you've gotten us fighting in five of them, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, in one way or another, and that's enough. We're going bankrupt. Our US Treasury bonds are in danger of losing their triple-A rating. And if you strike Iran, there will be retaliation against our many troops in the area, dragging us into another war. Iran will surely block oil shipping in the Persian Gulf, driving up oil prices sky-high, the last thing our economy needs."

Netanyahu: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

Being An American

America has opened her arms to people of all races, religions, and nationalities, asking merely that they pledge their loyalty to America first and foremost. America's interests, including national security interests and economic interests, should take priority.

Currently, America faces an existential threat from some of its own citizens whose loyalty to Israel is above else. Many of these Israel-firsters serve in the Israeli military but don't bother to serve in the US military. They urge Israel to continue violating international law and UN Security Council resolutions which call for Israel's withdrawal from occupied Muslim lands, even though Israel's illegal occupations inspire anti-American terrorism as on 9/11.

Israel-firsters lie America into unnecessary wars with Israel's enemies even though this bankrupts our country. Due to Israel's illegal occupations, war crimes, and other atrocities, 57 countries do not recognize Israel. The Israel-firsters want America to fight all of them. Iran is next on their wish list.

Israel-firsters control our politicians and media so that Americans are kept in the dark. To Israel-firsters, assimilation is a bad word because their allegiance is to their "birthright" Israel and not to our country. They do not deserve to be Americans.

Warmongering

Just as the Israel Lobby neocons used scare tactics to lie us into the unnecessary war with Iraq, they are undertaking a repeat performance with regard to Iran. The Israel Lobby's stranglehold on the media is most useful in selling wars. On Bill Moyers' PBS documentary "Buying the War," Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz pointed out that between August 2002 and March 2003, there were 140 front page Washington Post articles promoting the war as opposed to only a handful of articles with questions or an opposing view.

A UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report was hyped recently by the media in an attempt at fear-mongering: "IAEA Suspects Iran Seeks Nuclear Arms" The Wall Street Journal 2/19/10; "IAEA fears Iran making a warhead" The Boston Globe 2/19/10; etc. Yet if one reads the fine print, the IAEA report actually states that there are "concerns about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile." (The New York Times 2/19/10) This is nothing new. Our own intelligence assessment concludes that in the past there had been work on a bomb but this was suspended in 2003. Speaking on the PBS McLaughlin Group 2/19/10, Pat Buchanan observed that the issuing of this report merely shows that "the IAEA is now in the pocket of the US and Israel." "ElBaradei [recently retired IAEA chief] was an honest guy." "Iran is no threat whatsoever to the USA."

The IAEA reported concerns that the Iranians were loath to disclose the whereabouts of their nuclear scientists. This is hardly surprising since the Mossad loves to murder them. In a 5/16-17/09 Wall Street Journal op-ed, Israeli journalist and author Ronen Bergman notes that under the current leadership of Meir Dagan, who was head of a secret Israeli assassinations unit in the 70's, the Mossad has focused on sabotaging the Iranian nuclear program, including crashing planes, setting labs ablaze, removing nuclear scientists, etc. On 11/24/09, the BBC reported the arrest of an Israeli in Tel Aviv for planting a bomb under a vehicle. Turns out the bomb was a fake, and the man was a Mossad agent-in-training. On January 12, 2010, an Iranian nuclear physicist was blown up by means of a motorcycle bomb. The Mossad operates ostentatiously above the law as seen with their recent Dubai murder. Talking heads in the media merely chuckle.

Similarly, the Israeli nuclear weapons program never submits to UN inspections whereas the Iranian peaceful program is heavily inspected. If there is to be a nuclear arms race in the region it will be due to the presence of Israel's nukes, since it is Israel who is the world's expansionist occupying invader, not Iran. As reported by Ronen Bergman in Newsweek 12/21/09, Dagan himself said that Iran could not have nuclear weapons before 2014.

The media in the push to war claim that diplomacy has "failed." Yet as reported by George Jahn (AP) 2/24/10, the Iranians, in an official letter, accepted the West's offer to trade its enriched uranium for nuclear fuel rods. Their stipulation is that the exchange take place simultaneously and on Iranian territory. This is not an unreasonable request considering that Iran has zero reason to trust the West which demands that Iran ship out its uranium and wait a year for fuel rods. After all, the US funds anti-Iranian terror groups, as reported by Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker 7/07/08, including the Sunni group Jundallah, said to be linked to al Qaeda. Iran's security forces recently captured a Jundallah leader whom they say has ties to the CIA and the Mossad and who was carrying a US-arranged Afghan passport. Jundallah has taken responsibility for terror attacks killing numerous Iranians, including civilians. (The New York Times 2/24/10) This is where our taxpayer dollars go: fomenting wars for Israel.

Machinations of the Israel Lobby Neocons

It seems Israel has launched a massive PR campaign attempting to beautify its ugly global image. (See The New York Times 2/18/2010) At the same time, however, Israel's well-deserved reputation as Murder, Inc. is reinforced by all the recent videos of its henchmen carrying out yet another targeted assassination in a foreign country. Israel will remain better known for its blood-thirsty policy of extrajudicial murders and other crimes than for its invention of the cherry tomato.

President Obama drew intense hatred from the war-mongering Israel lobby neocons when he took a well-publicized stand against illegal Israeli settlement expansionism. He has been in trouble ever since. At a NYU debate on US/Israeli relations, (See Newsweek 2/22/2010), Roger Cohen, former New York Times foreign editor, pointed out that Obama "has been told by some Jewish congressmen, if you want your health bill, step back on Israel."

Dominated by the powerful Israel Lobby, Congress is blatantly dysfunctional. with many members rooting for the failure of all Obama's initiatives, including the financial regulation so necessary to prevent a repeat of last year's costly catastrophe. A Gallop poll shows Congress' job approval in February 2010 to be only 18%.

The Israel Lobby neocons who lied us into war with Iraq are now determined to lie us into war with Iran, also designed to serve the interests of Israeli expansionism. All these unnecessary and unfunded wars are bankrupting our country, and now the Chinese are selling our bonds. There are worries about a run on the dollar, massive inflation, and high interest rates. Like rats leaving a sinking ship, Congressmen are retiring in droves. It is high time to expose the treasonous Israel-firsters.