Headlines for November 25 - December 1

A Stand For Justice


The Special Relationship with Israel: Is It Worth the Costs?
When Benjamin Netanyahu was chosen as Israel’s prime minister in 1996, a handful of prominent American neoconservatives prepared for him a policy document entitled, “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm.” The authors, several of whom would obtain influential posts in the George W. Bush administration, recommended an aggressive stance towards Syria, confrontation with Arafat, an effort to “wean” the Lebanese Shia away from Hezbollah, and the removal of Saddam Hussein from power. In his recent book Israel and the Clash of Civilizations, Jonathan Cook traces these recommendations to themes worked up by several right-wing Israeli strategists in the 1980s. The Israelis were proposing that Jerusalem cement its status as the Mideast’s dominant power by fomenting sectarian and ethnic strife in the surrounding states.

.... American backing of Israel has been a major, if not the sole, factor in making the United States a target of Muslim terrorists. This is invariably what such terrorists say, whether in custody or at liberty, and no one has explained plausibly why they would misrepresent their motivations.

.... While America’s freely elected leaders bear the ultimate responsibility for the decision to invade Iraq, it should not be forgotten that Israeli officials were pressing for the invasion every step of the way, giving speeches before Congress, writing op-eds, appearing on television.

.....One important consequence of a “special relationship” with Israel is that Israel will work to ensure that its enemies become enemies of the United States. To the extent it succeeds, the United States will have fewer friends and more enemies.

...The affection implicit in the special relationship flows in one direction only. The Washington Post reported recently on a poll of CIA officers. They ranked Israel dead last among allies for intelligence cooperation with the United States. The same story noted that American counterintelligence officials, pointing to aggressive Israeli spy operations on U.S soil, ranked only Russia and China as more serious intelligence threats. Our 'special relationship' with Israel has cost us Americans dearly - in many ways. This piece is long, but a must read.


Saudi king urged U.S. to attack Iran, WikiLeaks shows



US Media Leaves Iranian Threat Narrative Unquestioned
The New York Times and Washington Post reported only that the United States believed Iran had acquired such missiles - supposedly called the BM-25 - from North Korea. Neither newspaper reported the detailed Russian refutation of the U.S. view on the issue or the lack of hard evidence for the BM-25 from the U.S. side.


UN slams US over 'espionage' revelations
The New York Times said that one cable signed by Clinton sought "biographic and biometric information on ranking North Korean diplomats" from US diplomats at the US mission to the United Nations in New York.



The Guardian said the directive also sought intelligence on Ban Ki-moon's "management and decision-making style and his influence on the secretariat."


America Considering Military Options Against Iran, Says Top US Military Officer



Israel primed to attack a nuclear Iran
US officials repeatedly expressed concern about conflicting assessments by their Israeli counterparts, some of whom admitted their own estimates should be treated with caution: one diplomat noted that Israeli assessments from 1993 onwards had predicted Iran would possess an atomic bomb by 1998 at the latest. Israel=Chicken Little. Our government finally wising up?


Exclusive: Leaked Cable Reveals US-Israeli Strategy for Regime Change in Iran
Philip Giraldi, a former counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer and the Central Intelligence Agency, who served for eighteen years in Turkey, believes Dagan's comment that Israel will have to "invest time and effort ourselves” in dealing with Iran was, in essence, a veiled threat.

"It is essentially setting up a situation in which the threat of Israel acting alone becomes a wedge issue to force the US to do something so that it will be able to manage the situation rather than respond to Israeli initiatives," Giraldi told Raw Story on Sunday. "It pushes Washington into planning a military strike to force the Israelis to stand down on their own plans."


Who Voted for More War? by Philip Giraldi
as it is Thanksgiving, it is perhaps appropriate to ditch the gloom for just one day and look on the bright side. There has been no war against Iran in spite of the best efforts of Graham, McCain, Lieberman, Palin, the Israel Lobby, and the mainstream media. That is largely due to the intelligence community’s having developed a backbone in its 2007 Iran NIE, but it is also the product of alternative media sites like Antiwar.com that make sure that the downside of yet another military adventure is made clear to an increasingly well informed and vocal public. Antiwar has a stable of staff and contributors who put in long hours to produce unique content for the site, reflecting a wide range of viewpoints even if neocons are not generally welcome, thank you very much. On Thanksgiving I personally want to thank the many contributors whom I read and listen to every week: Justin Raimondo, Kelley Vlahos, Scott Horton, Ivan Eland, Chuck Pena, Jeff Huber, Jim Lobe, Gareth Porter, Paul Craig Roberts, and so many others. And I particularly will drink a toast later today to my fellow former spooks who have done so much to rip the veil of secrecy that surrounds the National Security State and its bankrupt policies: Ray McGovern, Michael Scheuer, and the Christisons. Floreat in aeternum! Thank you too, Mr. Giraldi, for your tireless efforts to protect America!! God love ya.


Iran blames Israel after nuclear scientist killed
Iran's president accused Israel and the West of being behind a pair of daring bomb attacks that killed one nuclear scientist and wounded another in their cars on the streets of Tehran on Monday. He also admitted for the first time that a computer worm had affected centrifuges in Iran's uranium enrichment program.




Clinton calls new Iran nuclear talks encouraging
Clinton said a uranium–exchange agreement that was announced following talks with Iran in October 2009 – but which later unraveled – would have to be modified to take into account the fact that Iran has since produced more enriched uranium.




WikiLeaks Israel's Security Concerns Often Clash With U.S. Interests
Gilad's "typically frank" remarks lend credence to the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus, then CENTCOM Commander, before the Senate Armed Service Committee in March. Petraeus articulated several reasons why U.S. and Israeli interests did not necessarily coincide. The Arab-Israeli conflict, according to Petraeus, "present[s] distinct challenges to our ability to advance our interests," and "foments anti-American sentiment, due to a perception of U.S. favoritism for Israel." Petraeus went on to describe how Israel's ongoing conflicts spurred recruitment efforts for al-Qaeda and increased Iranian influence in the region.


Russians Refuted US Claim of Iranian Missile Threat to Europe by Gareth Porter
The Russians maintained that even assuming favorable conditions, Iran would be able to begin a program to develop ballistic missiles that could reach Central Europe or Moscow only after 2015 at the earliest.

The Russians denied, however, that Iran has such an intention, arguing that its ballistic missile program continues to be directed toward “regional concerns” – meaning deterring an attack on Iran by Israel.


Iran's military looks to the sky as new priority
Still, Iran clearly is trying to close security gaps around nuclear sites – including Iran's main uranium enrichment lab – and blunt the edge that the Pentagon and Israel gain from drone technology. Iranian commanders now view drones as a critical tool, including to monitor the U.S. 5th Fleet based across the Gulf in Bahrain.




WikiLeaks Israel warned U.S. not to arm Arab states against Iran
Netanyahu is quoted as warning that should Iran get the bomb despite U.S.-led efforts to curb its uranium enrichment, Arab powers could shift loyalties from Washington to Tehran.


WikiLeaks Lesson: Deception Part of Middle East Diplomacy
then there's the revelation, from Israeli officials, that a number of U.S. allies in the Gulf feel that their views are so routinely ignored by Washington that they have taken to relaying messages via Israel, which they know has the ear of those in power in the U.S. But any sense of strategic intimacy between Israel and even these most conservative Arab regimes is undercut by the cables' revelation that Israeli officials have constantly questioned some of the goodies included in U.S. arms sales to those regimes, making clear their suspicion that such weapons could one day be turned against Israel.


“There is no anti-Semitic sentiment in Iran”
If you don’t believe in Moses and Jesus, you are not Muslim

Islamic theologian Mohsen Rabbani, director of “Fundacion Cultural Oriente”, describes religious similarities between Jews and Muslims.

“We believe that Moses and Jesus are great prophets. If you don’t believe that, you are not Muslim. We believe in Abrahamic religions. We view them as brothers. We as Muslims believe in Prophet Moses. The Islamic Republic of Iran is the only country where religious minorities have the same freedoms, occupy high positions, are free to operate on the market, in the economy, and have their representatives in the parliament. We consider ourselves first Jews, then Christians, and only after that, Muslims.” Great article.


Israel, U.S. tense as WikiLeaks set to release classified bilateral communiques
According to the senior Israeli official, the U.S. Embassy said that the documents were not highly classified, but the administration did not know the precise content of the cables.


If we aren’t going to bomb, we have to deter
The only way to prevent this scenario is through a sweeping military operation. Only one country has the power to take on an operation of this scale; it is the country with the most at stake and the greatest interest in preventing this new world disorder. That country is the United States. Israel wants us to attack Iran for them, like we did with Iraq.


WikiLeaks Files Threaten Egypt's Role as Mideast Mediator



Israeli firms see a global market for their anti-terrorism know-how
"We might be a small country, but we're not small in this business," said Hefetz, director of the Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute, a quasi-government business promotion group that this month organized the Homeland Security Conference, Israel's first expo for domestic security providers.

.....More than 400 Israeli companies export about $1.5 billion annually in domestic security goods and technology, including biometric devices, tear gas canisters, anti-intrusion systems, airport screening machines, explosives detectors and remote-controlled vehicles. How much terror is manufactured by Israel to further its massive anti-terrorism business?


Is Israel's Mossad Targeting Iran's Nuclear Scientists?
This is why it's likely it was the Israelis behind the Hariri assasination. The Israelis were the first terrorists in the Middle East (Irgun and Stern gangs) and the Arabs simply have learned from them.


If WikiLeaks Is a PsyOp, Whose PsyOp Is It?
Selective disclosure and cherry-picking intelligence can be even more useful than simply fabricating evidence. The authenticity of the diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks hasn’t been challenged. But one might wonder whether there’s a particular spin that the disclosures are meant to convey. Could be why Israel is so pleased at the latest Wikileaks release.


Iran condemns leaks on Arab calls for attack
"We don't give any value to these documents," Ahmadinejad told a news conference "It's without legal value. Iran and regional states are friends. Such acts of mischief have no impact on relations between nations." Wikileaks = psyops?


Hariri visits Iran to lobby for stability
Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al–Hariri visits Iran on Saturday, seeking its help to prevent political tensions turning violent if a U.N.–backed tribunal indicts Hezbollah members for killing his father.




GORDON DUFF “WIKI-MURDERS” IN IRAN, SIGNAL “FALSE FLAG” TERROR Veterans Today
Iran is being “set up” through terrorist attacks timed to make any military action in the region immediately look like Iran “out of control.” More attacks on scientists and their families are planned until international tensions are high enough for a “false flag” terror attack on the United States to seem plausible.........There is now little doubt that Wikileaks is an intelligence operation managed from Tel Aviv, carrying out Israeli foreign policy. The most recent “leaks” have successfully reset the diplomatic stage in the Middle East, exposing undercurrents of animosity against Iran while destroying American diplomatic credibility. Very interesting, if true.


Turkish foreign minister to hold talks in US
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu starts a four–day visit to the United States Saturday for talks on bilateral ties and regional issues, the foreign ministry said Friday.




Turkey 'won't be silent' if Israel strikes Lebanon
"Does (Israel) think it can enter Lebanon with the most modern aircraft and tanks to kill women and children, and destroy schools and hospitals, and then expect us to remain silent?" Erdogan said at a conference organised by the Union of Arab Banks.

"Does it think it can use the most modern weapons, phosphorus munitions and cluster bombs to kill children in Gaza and then expect us to remain silent?

"We will not be silent and we will support justice by all means available to us."




Israel says WikiLeaks shows 'consistency' on Iran
Israel expressed satisfaction on Monday after the mass release of US diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks, saying it proved the Jewish state's position on Iran was consistent –– in public and in private.

Cui bono - who benefits?


Iran 'smuggled arms' to Hezbollah on ambulances
I wonder if this is one of those planted cables discussed in other articles of this news batch? Cui bono - who benefits?


Israel torn on U.S. arming Arabs against Iran: WikiLeaks
Shapiro declines an Israeli request to review the U.S. report on planned Middle East arms sales before its submission to Congress, as it contained secret intelligence assessments.

The Obama administration announced last month it would go ahead with the $60 billion deal with Saudi Arabia. A Pentagon official, Alexander Vershbow, told reporters at the time: "Israel does not object to this sale."



Israeli Airport Security
Steve Clemons has a useful post about GOP demands for Israeli-style airport security in place of the TSA’s strip-’n'-grope regime. Not only would it be more expensive than TARP, and quite probably impractical, but as Stephen Walt writes to Clemons, there’s a bigger question going unaddressed here:

Am I the only person who sees the irony in the recommendation that the US adopt the Israeli approach to airline security? The proper question to ask is: why do we suddenly need greater airport security?

Could it be because we’ve gradually adopted Israel’s approach to the Middle East too? Our support for Israel is the reason we were attacked on 911 in the first place.


NYT Oversells WikiLeaks/Iranian Missiles Story
Of course it's possible that the North Koreans actually sold Iran missiles that they can use to strike Europe. Or they didn't do any such thing. Or that they sold them missiles that don't actually work. But the Times seems to be going with the first story, based on secret documents that, when you actually read them, suggest strongly that the other two possibilities might be correct. In light of this, the decision not to publish the cable makes a lot more sense: You can make strong allegations about an official enemy without letting your readers see the less than overwhelming evidence.


How 250,000 US embassy cables were leaked



UK fears for citizens in Muslim countries over WikiLeaks



U.S. Expands Role of Diplomats in Spying
The United States has expanded the role of American diplomats in collecting intelligence overseas and at the United Nations, ordering State Department personnel to gather the credit card and frequent-flier numbers, work schedules and other personal information of foreign dignitaries.



Reports of Iran-North Korea cooperation may be flawed
Obviously this is a complicated issue, and the American assessment could be correct. But it's hard to see how the Times served its readers by simply not including relevant information that potentially casts doubt on a big story.

We reached out to the authors of the story to ask what the thinking was on not including the Russian dissent, and we'll update this post if we hear back.


report WikiLeaks Docs to Show US Military Supporting PKK in Turkey’s Civil War



Iran nabs would-be hijacker on Syria-bound plane



A Look at the Franken Files
On the Senate floor, however, Franken has been less active on issues relating to the Jewish community and Israel. He did not co-sponsor any of six recent bills in support of Israel, including one “calling for the immediate and unconditional release” of Gilad Shalit (Resolution 571) and another opposing the Arab League trade boycott of Israel (Bill 1671). He also did not cosponsor Bill 3821, protecting Jewish students from discrimination on the ground of religion under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act — which has not yet come to a vote. Franken’s official website also does not mention Israel or anti-Jewish discrimination, and does not include a section on Israel or anti-Semitism. This may be because most of his focus in his first two years has been directed toward issues relating directly to Minnesotans. Franken, for example, lists “Agriculture and Rural Issues” at the top of his agenda on his official website.

Oh dear, how dare Franken put the interests of his constituents over the interests of a foreign nation! The nerve.


Oceans of Blood and Profits for the Mongers of War
Total losses for Lebanon in 2006 came to an estimated $3.6bn, for Israel $1.6bn - so Israel won hands down in terms of money, even if its rabble of an army screwed everything up on the ground. But among those who paid for this were American taxpayers (funding the Israelis) and European taxpayers, Arab potentates and the crackpot of Iran (funding Lebanon). So the American taxpayer destroys what the European taxpayer rebuilds. It's the same in Gaza; Washington funds the weapons to blow up EU-funded projects and the EU rebuilds them in time for them to be destroyed again. But boy oh boy, in the Lebanese war, US arms manufacturers make a packet - and so, to a lesser extent do the Iranian and Chinese missile dealers. The cost of Israel to the American taxpayers, and that includes all peripheral costs including continued aid to Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan for keeping peace treaties with Israel or because of the damage Israel has wrought upon them, and the costs of the Iraq war - all of this money has been drained out of the US economy, could have fed and housed millions of Americans many times over, could have provided free health care many times over. Instead, thanks to the overwhelming influence of the Israeli lobby on our government, we are going broke. America is becoming a third world nation in order to prop up a nation based on religious supremacism, one that routinely violates international and humanitarian law, and one that practices a form of apartheid. And given that, the Israelis are starting to seed a new host: China. This doesn't begin to address the political ramifications our support for Israel has cost us. It was the main reason given by the 911 mastermind, Khaled Shaikh Mohammed.


The Democracy Agenda is Over
One other notable aspect of these stories has been the reaction of neoconservatives. I mentioned Jennifer Rubin and David Frum in the piece. But The Washington Times‘ Eli Lake and The Atlantic‘s Jeffrey Goldberg have also rushed to point out that Wikileaks proves “that it is not just Israel that seeks to pull America into a fight with Teheran.” This is a red herring. No one with any familiarity with the region would doubt that other Arab nations are uncomfortable with Iran’s ascendency. The problem with an American strike on Iran isn’t that it would be in Israel’s interest, it is that it is not in the American interest. Adding King Abdullah doesn’t make a hill of difference. Why should Uncle Sam muscle up on his behalf?


Iran Scientist Killed by Bomb Worked on Atomic Project
Shahriari was a member of a regional scientific program known as Sesame, which includes Israel as a member, according to the project’s website. He succeeded Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, an Iranian scientist who also died in an attack, the Tehran-based Asre-Iran website, which is close to the government, said today. Ali-Mohammadi, a professor of elementary particle physics, was killed in January by a bomb planted outside his home in Tehran.


Why Are We Still in Korea? by Patrick J. Buchanan
To broker peace in Palestine, Obama began his presidency with a demand that Israel halt all new construction of settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Today, as his price for a one-time-only 90-day freeze on new construction on the West Bank, but not East Jerusalem, “Bibi” Netanyahu is demanding 20 F-35 strike fighters, a U.S. commitment to a Security Council veto of any Palestinian declaration of independence, and assurances the U.S. will support a permanent Israeli presence on the Jordan river. And the Israelis want it all in writing.

This, from a client state upon which we have lavished a hundred billion dollars in military aid and defended diplomatically for decades.


Unexpectedly, Israel Welcomes WikiLeaks Revelations



Is Wikileaks being manipulated by an intelligence service?
There are a number of bloggers – some of them informed writers with credibility, some of them uninformed, anti-Semitic conspiracy theory nutters – who think the answer is “Yes”. More to the point is that no less a figure than Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter’s National Security Advisor, thinks the answer could be “Yes”. He said so in an interview with PBS’s Judy Woodruff and also in a subsequent BBC World Service (Radio) interview. To Judy Woodruff he said:

“The real issue is, who is feeding Wikileaks? They’re getting a lot of information which seems trivial, inconsequential, but some of it seems surprisingly pointed… The very pointed references to Arab leaders could have as their objective undermining their political credibility at home, because this kind of public identification of their hostility towards Iran could actually play against them at home…It’s a question of whether Wikileaks are being manipulated by interested parties that want to either complicate our relationship with other governments or want to undermine some governments… I have no doubt that Wikileaks is getting a lot of the stuff from sort of relatively unimportant sources, like the one that perhaps is identified on the air. But it may be getting stuff at the same time from interested intelligence parties who want to manipulate the process and achieve certain very specific objectives.” Interesting.


WikiLeaks cables: Qatar okays use of airbase for U.S. attack on Iran
Qatar agreed to allow the United States to use a base on Qatari soil to bomb Iran, according to a report in the newspaper Al-Arabiya based on secret diplomatic cables published by the website WikiLeaks.


Now We Know. America Really Doesn't Care About Injustice in the Middle East
It's not that US diplomats don't understand the Middle East; it's just that they've lost all sight of injustice. Vast amounts of diplomatic literature prove that the mainstay of Washington's Middle East policy is alignment with Israel, that its principal aim is to encourage the Arabs to join the American-Israeli alliance against Iran, that the compass point of US policy over years and years is the need to tame/bully/crush/oppress/ ultimately destroy the power of Iran.

There is virtually no talk (so far, at least) of illegal Jewish colonial settlements on the West Bank, of Israeli "outposts", of extremist Israeli "settlers" whose homes now smallpox the occupied Palestinian West Bank – of the vast illegal system of land theft which lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian war. And incredibly, all kinds of worthy US diplomats grovel and kneel before Israel's demands – many of them apparently fervent supporters of Israel – as Mossad bosses and Israel military intelligence agents read their wish-list to their benefactors.
A good read.


WikiLeaks Cable Reveals Secret Pledge to Protect US at Iraq Inquiry:
The British government promised to protect America's interests during the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war, according to a secret cable sent from the US embassy in London.


Der Spiegel: US officials called Ahmadinejad 'Hitler'



Noodging and Good Timing Are Behind New Push for Release of Pollard
Nyer, working under the auspices of the National Council of Young Israel and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, repeatedly called dozens of congressional offices and pressed Jewish groups asking for a leader to take on the case of Pollard, the former U.S. Navy analyst who has spent 25 years in prison, part of a life sentence, the longest ever for spying for an ally.

Congressional staffers described Nyer as “relentless,” and he eventually struck gold: Massachusetts Democratic congressman Barney Frank, who chairs the U.S. House of Representatives Banking Committee, agreed to sign on. That prompted a total of 39 signatures, all by Democrats, on the letter sent to Obama.


I wonder if Mr. Frank realizes just how severe the damage was that Jonathan Pollard's treason caused.


WikiLeaks: Netanyahu Warned U.S. Iran 'Months Away' From Nuclear Bomb
the U.S. diplomat quoted in the classified cable said in response to the premier's warning that Netanyahu's estimate was likely unfounded and meant to pressure Washington into action against the Islamic Republic.


A Dangerous Link
There are safer ways for the Obama administration to prove its unquestioned support for Israel’s security.

Really? And why should he have to do that at all? He was elected to serve the AMERICAN PEOPLE.


Is Glenn Beck After the Wrong Billionaire?
It’s kindly old Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp. He has six channels on my cable system alone. He actually pays Republican presidential contenders to pontificate on air. He owns The Wall Street Journal, The Times of London and a major Hollywood movie studio. But he doesn’t pull anyone’s strings, does he? Nah.




Israel approves detention center for migrants
other officials said authorities cannot let thousands of economic migrants enter illegally each year, take jobs from Israelis and dilute the country's Jewish character.

The supreme irony here is that it is the Jewish groups here in America that are squarely behind the effort to grant amnesty to illegals in America, by their own admission. Yet, it's another standard for Israel. Ironically, many of these immigants are from Sudan, another celebrated cause of American Jews.

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