Headlines for March 4 - March 10

A Stand For Justice


Many Voices Calling for War with Iran by Philip Giraldi
Sarah Palin is on the Pipes bandwagon, showing up at the mid-February Nashville Tea Party convention sporting an Israeli flag lapel pin and subsequently urging the president to do the right thing in supporting Israel by attacking Iran. .... As Israel knows its air force cannot cripple Iran, its government has had to devise a scheme to get the US to do it instead, which is precisely what is being promoted by Anne Applebaum, Daniel Pipes, and all the other usual suspects who have already brought America fun and games in Iraq and Afghanistan....Cohen and Applebaum together make the case that preemptive war against Iran is somehow both justifiable and inevitable, ignoring the fact that Iran has never threatened the United States. Their Israel-centric view makes it appear completely acceptable for Washington to yet again go to war on behalf of Tel Aviv.
Excellent article.


Mullen Wary of Israeli Attack on Iran
Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, came home with sweaty palms from his mid-February visit to Israel. He has been worrying aloud that Israel will mousetrap the U.S. into war with Iran.....Mullen, for his part, seems acutely aware that the Constitution he has sworn to defend makes no provision for the kind of war he might be sucked into in order to defend Israel. God bless you, Admiral Mullen. Bless your heart.


Officers: Pakistan arrests American-born al-Qaida
The American-born spokesman for al-Qaida has been arrested by Pakistani intelligence officers in the southern city of Karachi, two officers and a government official said Sunday, the same day Adam Gadahn appeared in a video urging U.S. Muslims to attack their own country.


US lawmakers push for tougher Iran sanctions
Massa Israel pleased!


What’s In a Name by Philip Giraldi
The Mossad assassination could also result in real consequences from the European governments whose passports were cloned or stolen, though the French and Germans are unlikely to make waves and the British are already backpedalling to make sure they do not offend Israel.


Biden to try to boost Middle East peace prospects
An Israeli cabinet minister, commenting on Joe Biden's visit, pointed to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's description of the September 11 attacks in the United States as a "big fabrication" as cause for concern. "What we have here is a madman, and crazy people can do only crazy things," Industry and Trade Minister Binyamin Ben–Eliezer told Israel Radio. "The Americans ... must see how they can create a reality in which they stop the madman." An Israeli political source said Israel expected Biden's main message would be "Don't bomb Iran," a cautionary note Washington has sounded before in contacts with Israeli leaders.......The Israeli official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will meet Biden, was "disappointed" by sanctions proposed thus far by the United States. "This is not what we've been promised," he said.



West softens stance on Iran nuclear sanctions
Another diplomat said urging vigilance about Iran's central bank in the U.S.-drafted proposal should be more acceptable to Russia and China than blacklisting it, which would have made it difficult for anyone to invest in Iran.


U.S. criticized on Iran sanctions
China has balked at supporting a fourth round of U.N. sanctions on Iran. That has emboldened countries on the council, such as Brazil, Turkey and Lebanon, to also express opposition.


Iran vents frustration with Moscow, expels Russian pilots
The move is a further sign of strains between Iran and Russia, which has indicated it could back new sanctions against Tehran over its disputed nuclear work. For its part, Iran has voiced frustration over Moscow's failure to deliver a defense missile system.



China wants more diplomacy before Iran sanctions



Clinton fails to win over Brazil on Iran
While most attention is focused on Russia and China, which hold veto power over any U.N. resolution, the United States had hoped to win over key nonpermanent Security Council members such as Brazil and Turkey to present a united front on the Iran nuclear standoff.



Gates appeals to Saudis to back sanctions on Iran
Washington hopes the Saudis could guarantee China stable oil supplies in the event of disruption from Iran


Iran's Ahmadinejad Sept. 11 attacks a 'big lie'
"September 11 was a big lie and a pretext for the war on terror and a prelude to invading Afghanistan," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by state TV. He called the attacks a "complicated intelligence scenario and act."



Biden's Israel visit is a year too late
Biden's visit is designed to open a new chapter in relations between Netanyahu and the U.S. administration, with a two-fold message: recognition of the political importance of Israel and its supporters in America in advance of the November Congressional elections; and giving Netanyahu the credit he's not yet earned for his statement in support of "two states for two peoples" and his settlement construction freeze. He will get it now under the threat of a preemptive war against Iran. Israel has our officials alarmed. Israel is threatening to attack Iran. Such an attack would automatically implicate us, Israel's big brother. Our troops in the region would come under attack. Israel knows this, and is hanging this threat of an attack on Iran over our heads. It's blackmail.


Barak: Iran not currently posing existential threat to Israel



Bolton: Israel's Options – Attack Iran or Accept Nuclear Power
Neocon John Bolton back making the rounds. His American citizenship should be stripped from him. He works for Israel, not us.


Israel to unveil plans to create nuclear generated power
Israel will unveil this week plans to produce nuclear-generated electricity, officials said on Monday, a move that could draw fresh international attention towards its assumed atomic arsenal.....Unlike other countries in the region, Israel has not signed the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which curbs the spread of nuclear technologies with bomb-making potential. Yet Israel does have a delegation at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a UN watchdog. Yeh, that makes sense.


Syria hints Israel planted nuclear traces on its territory
In a closed-door debate by the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors, Syria reiterated its assertion that the uranium traces came with munitions Israel used to destroy the complex.


'4-8 Weeks Left for Diplomacy on Iran'
Four to eight weeks remain to test the option of diplomatic engagement as means of stopping Iran’s nuclear program before sanctions will likely be imposed, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told an audience of foreign military officers and government officials in Herzliya on Monday.


Iranian missiles pose no threat to U.S. and Europe - Lavrov
"It is evident that Iran currently poses no threat to the U.S. and European countries... At the moment, Iran has no missiles capable of striking Europe, let alone the U.S., and is unlikely to develop [such missiles] in the foreseeable future," Lavrov said.


AIPAC calls for swift action to block U.S. companies supporting Iran
To which Congress will respond, 'Yes Massa!'


Commentary: Move over Dubai
The worst case scenario came up at the Club of Monaco (retired senior statesmen and women from Europe, the Middle East, including Israel, and the United States) in Doha last week. Diplomatic code was "detonator," which was designed to conjure up an Israeli airstrike against an Iranian nuclear facility that would automatically unleash Iran's asymmetrical retaliatory capabilities against U.S. and pro-U.S. targets up and down the Persian Gulf. Most world governments would assume the United States had given Israel the green light, and Iran, in turn, would feel justified in "counterattacking" throughout the Gulf. Thus, Israel becomes the "detonator."


Israel: Did the Alleged Mossad Hit in Dubai Really Help?
If Netanyahu authorized the hit, though, the real question is whether he really considered the strategic implications. Look at the map. If Israel goes ahead and bombs Iran's nuclear facilities, it will need over–flight clearances from the Gulf Arabs. Antagonizing the U.A.E. in this way, leaving almost no doubt Israel was behind Mabhouh's assassination, does not seem the best way to facilitate such clearances. Nor does it help build an Arab Sunni coalition against Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hizballah.



Israel, Syria announce nuclear energy ambitions
Both countries laid out their hopes at an international conference on civilian nuclear energy at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.


Bunning’s Best Game
In George W. Bush’s last full year in office, we spent $29 billion for “international affairs.” The lion’s share of that was foreign aid. In FY 2011, the year for which Congress has begun to budget, spending for international affairs and foreign aid is to jump to $54 billion and continue to surge through the Obama years.
What is the rationale for the United States, the world’s greatest debtor nation, putting itself deeper in debt to China to send foreign aid to nations that will never repay us and that vote habitually with China and against us in the United Nations?
America cannot afford to keep sending foreign aid to countries such as Israel, especially at a time when American Jews are moving to Israel because of a better economy there.


New FBI Files Alleging AIPAC Theft of Government Property and Israeli Espionage Released
Declassified files detailing an FBI investigation targeting the American Israel Public Affairs Committee are now available on the Internet

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