While you never really know when an Obama Administration official is talking to the Israeli press if they’re making statements of policy or just saying what they figure Israeli hawks want to hear, the latest Jerusalem Post interview with State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf very much plays up the idea of a war with Iran at some point fairly soon after the “interim” nuclear deal expires in July.
“I’m not predicting that we would take military action right away,” Harf said, adding that the US is “committed to resolving it” whether that means diplomacy or war with Iran.
Talks on a permanent Iran nuclear deal haven’t even begun (but are expected within the next week or two), but US officials have already repeatedly downplayed the prospect of them working, particularly when talking to Israeli officials, and played up the idea of starting a war soon thereafter once that happens.
Israeli officials reacted to the interim deal with anger and have been overtly trying to sabotage a permanent nuclear deal with Iran, with officials suggesting they might unilaterally start a war with Iran themselves if a deal was close to being finalized. Assuring Israel and its powerful lobby of America’s comparable bellicosity seems to be job one for US diplomats, though again it is unclear if that march to war is sincere or just something to keep Israel’s far-right government from flying off the handle.
US politicians and government employees' fear of upsetting Israelis seems to outweigh any obligation to do what is best for the United States. There is not even a pretense of balance in this relationship. It's really gotten ridiculous.
US politicians and government employees' fear of upsetting Israelis seems to outweigh any obligation to do what is best for the United States. There is not even a pretense of balance in this relationship. It's really gotten ridiculous.
Anti_Govt–Sure the Israelis have a big influence, but they are dwarfed by the American, and Arab, oil money.
Ha ha ha.
Crap.
Just keeping the zio tamped down.
This is wretched negotiating policy, especially since the Administration's narrative of a nuclear weapons threat has been manufactured. Furthermore, placing U.S. policy at the disposal or whim of Israeli military policy objectives is unpatriotic and insane if not treasonous. And who, if not Netanyahu and his closest advisors are not the existential threats to the region and the rest of the world.
Jeff Blankfort in a new article in the email edition of Counterpunch uses FOI findings to recount so many of the US/Israel/AIPAC dealings over the years where the USA's interests,and of course the rights of US citizens to be represented in their parliament, are completely abandoned. There is no known case since Eisenhower of an even mildly fair lawmaker surviving coments or actions deemed "anti-Israel" by the lords of AIPAC and its kin. The fate of the wonderful Sen. Fulbright, who did so much for the benefit of his country then tried to push Israeli lobbies to be focred to register as foreign agents (which they are) is a sad case in point. Nobody has tried since, allowing the present huge power to be entrenched.
There was never a point when the USA didn’t want to wage war against Iran after 1979. They are just setting the stage now. Political theater. They already have their plans.
Heh, we Iranians stopped worrying about the barking of the little coward chihuahua Israel and the equally coward Americans.
We know the Americans have more military capability than any other nation to kill civilians and destroy undefended infrastructure. But we also know the Americans have lost every single war they started, and there are many, since WWII. Notwithstanding that WWII was mostly won by the Russians and the Americans managed to claim victory by murdering a few hundred thousand Japs. Then again Americans are good at claiming false glory and blowing own trumpet.
Some Iranians are in fact itching for a war with the US and Israel, where the latter will be wiped off the map. Then, the planet can breath a sigh of relief and a better place for humanity.
#1 its AIPAC money that is pushing the USA into yet another misadventure with Iran who has not done anything to the USA or to any other country. also it was the USA who paid and armed Sadam of Iraq to annhialate these people..when we grew tired of him….we hung em.
#2 it was the Jerusalem post who deliberately mis quoted Irans leader with that wipe thing…It was correctly reported by Juan Cole to read that Iran would like to send Israel into the pages of time.
#3 Japan twice asked for armistice and truce in ww2 but we had to make them pay a terrible price by dropping two nukes on major cities. A War Crime.. I should also mention that it was the USA and Britain who with prcision bombing blew up all of the food trucks going to the German work camps and was responsible for all of the deaths there by starvation.I have a 800 page report from the European Red Cross title NO Genocide found… Again it was the USA who caused much needless death among the German people…Dresden was fire bombed….killing hundreds of thousands of civilians…. a war crime.
As a US Vet I have done considerable reading why we did what we did…today it would appear the the USA-Britain, Israel, Federal Reserve want to CONTROL the World.
The US will not invade. Iraq and Afghanistan taught them not to. They will bomb and destroy infrastructure including water sanitation and the elecric grid causing a mass humanitarian catastrophe like they did in Iraq during the Clinton years. You sound like an Israeli btw.
We created this Frankenstien monster and it is high time the citizens with pitchforks put a stop to them and their fifth column in Washington. We have armed them to the teeth – gratis, and before that allowed them covertly, and illegally I might add, to develop a nuclear weapons program/capability (The same type of program they are crying and whinning about Iran having). We further have nudged, nugded and winked, winked over and over the last 30 years as they have made preventive war on, and overtly assasinated neighboring political, scientfic and military figures in neighboring states. And let's not forget practicing ethnic cleansing and apartheid with their walls and separate transportation systems. Yet someone else are the terrorists and threat to regional peace here?
Funny how the US has to suck on Israel on top of being insulted daily by the neo nazi in charge there. A great country terrorized by a mouse.
This is ridiculous.
When will the US free itself from this deadly embrace. The world hates you since you sold your soul and all, to this tiny, horrible apartheid and neo-nazi country.
so when will we free ourselves from Israel…
ONLY when we demand that our legislators stopp taking AIPAC bribe money to pass all bills that enhance Israeils bottom line.
I believe that it is coming to an impasse – if and when, Kerry presents a peace plan which calls for Israel to quit colonizing the West Bank, the right-wing Israelis will throw a temper tantrum, and they will go too far. In America, the truly corrupt, bribed politicians and the deranged Christian Zionists will finally have to choose – between Israel or America.
They will chose Israel in heartbeat. Lost cause if you ask me, nothing short of a revolution that erects gallows will change things.
I have come to the conclusion that if the state of Israel failed, militarily or a economic collapse then the US will also fail to exist as a nation….. It's true.
Can citizens and the media in America work to expose the opinions of our legislative and executive candidates towards Israel – before they become puppets of AIPAC after being elected? It seems we rarely hear about our congressional representatives views on Israel until it is too late and they claim that racist Israel is our friend and closest ally. For starters, it seems that it could be simple to ask all candidates about their views on finally opening a truthful investigation into the brutal, 1967 Israeli attack on the U.S.S.Liberty before they become elected. If they don't think an investigation is necessary, then it should be clear that they don't support our U.S. servicemen and women (e.g., John Mccain, et al.). Meanwhile, our State Department is overrun with employees having too many questionable connections with Israel (e.g., dual citizenship, Israeli spouses, etc.). How can we weed them out so that we have a state department that more honestly represents American values and desires?
The obvious question which should be asked is 'under what legal pretense would the U.S. attack Iran?' Iran has attacked NO ONE. Iran has not declared war on ANYONE. If these peace talks "fail," fault can be laid directly at the feet of the U.S. government and its Israeli/Saudi fellow travelers for doing all they can to make SURE the negotiations fail.
THE same premise will be the one we used to attack Iraq at the direction of Perle and Wolfowitz…the NEOCONS
""""Iran sits on an ocean of OIL"""""
The US had no legal pretense to invade Iraq. It was claimed for WMD reasons. Looks to me like they will use the same excuse.
The obvious question which should be asked is 'under what legal pretense would the U.S. attack Iran?' Iran has attacked NO ONE. Iran has not declared war on ANYONE. If these peace talks "fail," fault can be laid directly at the feet of the U.S. government and its Israeli/Saudi fellow travelers for doing all they can to make SURE the negotiations fail.
Are they trying to set this up so that we are at war as elections come up in November and the "nation" unites behind Obama?
The United States constitution provides that an "Act of War" can only be declared by congress. Congress are the "peoples" duly elected representatives. We the people do not want another war. So stop with the impotent rhetoric, and get back to the business of strengthening this country.
I wondered how long it would take before the U.S. showed it was never really serious about diplomacy.
Maybe the US is trying to provoke Israel into attacking on its own. You gotta think in Machiavellian terms here.
Seriously, is there something wrong with Kerry? He seems strange and creepy. Remember “lurch” on the Adams family?
This is a manufactured crisis and threats of war are wildly irresponsible. As part of the final settlement, Iran has already agreed to adopt the additional protocol, and to the immediate conversion of any enriched uranium to a form that would only be useful for the generation of electricity or the practice of nuclear medicine. The combination of these two agreements should be enough to allay any reasonable person's fear that Iran might develop a nuclear weapon. Draft the language of the final settlement based upon the above two points and end all sanctions on Iran. The path to peace is open and obvious.
I am amazed that we are in negotiations with Iran and yet at the same time keep threatening them with war. How do you negotiate under these terms and how can you state that your are sincere?
You can look up that talk dennis ross with patrick clawson who was advocating a false flag attack. Essentially what Ross said was that they wanted to go through the motions of talks with iran and when that eventually failed they would be able to say "oh we tried" and have the political capital to go bomb iran…
In that way things like they are going to according to plan for the zionists. Ross is smarter then Clawson but probably alot more dangerous.