Netanyahu on "Atrocious Massacres" of Trapped Citizens

The Jerusalem Post reported on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's upcoming meeting with President Obama:

Speaking at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said, "Our region is volatile and quickly changing in the North, South and East, including the atrocious massacre we are seeing in Syria against innocent civilians. All of these subjects will be raised at the meeting, but one issue will be central: the increasing power of Iran."

After Israel pummeled Gaza and its one million citizens, most of whom were innocents, Netanyahu offered:

"I'm sorry to say we haven't gotten the job done," the former prime minister, known for his hawkish views on peace talks, said in a radio interview Thursday. "It is clear that Hamas is rearming, clearly it is hitting us, clearly it is testing us. The next government will have no choice but to finish the job and uproot ... the Iranian terror base."

President-elect Obama sat on his hands while Israel killed scores of innocents between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009.  Here's the official U.S. position on civilian deaths from Secretary of State Condi Rice:

"It is very difficult in a circumstance like Gaza, which is a very densely populated area," to protect civilians.

Obama and Netanyahu will meet on March 5. 

Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to the United States next week, where he will address the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC's annual policy conference, which will be held from March 4-6.

Watch for a string of U.S. politicians talking tough on Iran at AIPAC.The official list includes:

• President of the United States Barack Obama
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
• Israeli President Shimon Peres
• Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta
• Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
• House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
• Senator Carl Levin (D-MI)
• Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT)
• Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
• CNN Contributor Paul Begala
• Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile  
• Fox News Contributor Liz Cheney
• President of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and Former Member of Congress Jane Harman
• Founding Editor, The Times of Israel David Horovitz
• CEO, Kathy Ireland Worldwide Kathy Ireland
• Editor of The Weekly Standard William Kristol
• Political Analyst for NBC News Mike Murphy
• Director, George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs; Former Anchor and Washington Bureau Chief, CNN Frank Sesno
• Middle East Commentator for Channel 2 Television, Israel Ehud Yaari

President Obama has requested $3.1 billion in military aid to Israel as part of his budget for fiscal year 2013.

Israel spends more on defense as a percentage of GDP than any Western country and nearly double that of the United States.

The public must be moved to war and any method is O.K..

Pentagon Shifts $100 Million to Iran

WSJ reported:

The Pentagon is beefing up U.S. sea- and land-based defenses in the Persian Gulf.

YNET added:

The readiness push, lead by the military's Central Command, indicates the extent to which war planners are taking tangible steps to prepare for a possible conflict with Iran, even as top White House and defense leaders try to emphasize other options over war. 

Officials said that the Pentagon submitted a request to Congress on February 7 on behalf of Central Command seeking to reallocate $100 million in defense funding to "bridge near-term capability gaps" in the Persian Gulf.

It's a global affair...

"(British) MoD planners went into overdrive at the start of the year. Conflict is seen as inevitable as long as the regime pursue their nuclear ambitions."

Haaretz reported:

A United Nations report on Iran's nuclear program proves that Israeli estimates concerning Tehran's progress were accurate, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday, adding that Iran was continuing to advance their efforts "uninterrupted."  

Spending as to war, which includes graphics like The Sun's.  The case for war may be more important than its conduct.  No support, no youth to sacrifice.

Which Middle East Nuclear Arms Race?

Haaretz reported

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Saturday a nuclear-armed Iran would trigger an arms race in the Middle East and nations should impose "crippling" sanctions on Iran to force it to give up its atomic program.

"A nuclear Iran is a threat to the whole world, not just to Israel ... Other major powers in the Middle East will have to try to reach nuclear capability, probably Saudi Arabia, probably Turkey, probably even Egypt," Barak told reporters in Tokyo.

The same article characterized Israel's nuclear weapons capabilities as:

Israel, widely believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear power, has said a nuclear-armed Iran would be a threat to its existence. 

And what role does Israel's possession of several hundred nuclear weapons have on any Middle East nuclear arms race?

Consider the vectoring on the Iranian threat:

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in an interview published on Saturday Iran was trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability and if it succeeded it would set off a dangerous round of nuclear proliferation across the Middle East.

United Nations Chief Ban Ki-Moon kept the theme going.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said today in Vienna that Iranian assertions that its nuclear program is peaceful are unconvincing and that it is up to the government in Tehran to dispel suspicions about its atomic work.

While “the onus is on the Iranian side to convince the international community that their nuclear program is genuinely peaceful,” Ban said

Contrasting this line of thought was U.S. General Martin Dempsey, currently visiting Israel:

Gen. Dempsey said that Iran is a "rational actor" and that the U.S. thinks that Iran has not yet decided whether to make a nuclear weapon.

Middle Eastern countries may have noticed President Obama's appointment of neocon and Israel lover Dennis Ross to manage the Iranian problem in 2009.  Oddly, White House retiree Dennis Ross wrote three days ago:

Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have consistently called for “crippling sanctions,” reflecting a belief that Iran’s behavior could be changed with sufficient pressure. The fact that crippling sanctions have finally been applied means that Israel is more likely to give these sanctions and the related diplomatic offensive a chance to work. And it should.

Ehud Barak's comments weren't for giving already imposed, crippling sanctions time to work.  Does this mean "crippling sanctions" is just a meme, repeatedly stated no matter how high or costly sanctions become for the Iranian people?

A meme in the opposite direction is the U.S. call for Israel to "stop building settlements."  Frankly, the words have no meaning after decades of use. 

Did Middle East countries watch the West turn its back on Libya's Gadhafi?  This occurred despite Gadhafi's renouncing nuclear weapons, investing heavily in Western private equity firms and opening Libya to foreign corporations, albeit not fast enough.

The common denominator for U.S. led Western intervention is a Project for New American Century piece, "Rebuilding America's Defenses."  Neocons, including the aforementioned Dennis Ross, called for Iraq, Libya, Syria and Iran to fall under American influence.  Two down, two in play.

As for the Middle East arms race, what role did Israel play with its deep nuclear weapons capability and razing of Gaza and Southern Lebanon?  'How does $2.5 billion a year in American military aid factor in?

Update:  Tom Donilon (of Fannie Mae fame) visited Israel in his role of National Security Czar.  Israel's desire to strike Iran is growing   Netanyahu will tell Donilon the only test of sanctions is a positive outcome. "Any measure that doesn't stop Iran's nuclear program is inadequate."  Western banks in Iran won't stop any attack.

Update 2-19-12:  British Foreign Secretary Hague said if Iran succeeds in developing nuclear weapons, there will either be a war or a cold war.  "Either way, [Iran] will be attacked and there will be a war."

Update 2-22-12:  The U.S. State Department said it is closely consulting Israel in regard to Iran's nuclear program.  Obama spokesman Jay Carney's Iran language sounds like Ari Fleischer on Iraq.  Should I change the name of this blog to Carney's Freedom Switch?  Nah...

Update 2-23-12:  Iranian missiles could hit U.S. East Coast in 2-3 years, according to an Israeli official.  Another tooth in the cog of war.

Switch is On

The switch is nearly complete. Democracy is "out of date" and needs to be replaced by totalitarianism so the greedy can make more money.

The Carlyle Group closed its Cairo office last year in response to the political turmoil (call for democracy) in Egypt, re-locating personnel from there to its Dubai operation. 

State capitalism ensures greater returns for the purveyors of the Government-Corporate Monstrosity (GCM), Eisenhower's Military Industrial Complex (MIC) on trillions in federal budget steroids.

The last task will be to round up the un-American, who have no rights to privacy or a trial in front of their peers.  How long before the U.S. re-imports summary execution at the hands of those charged with protecting?

Mindless drones are coming.

Drone Lobby Presentation

Update 2-12-12:  Middle East private equity deals were down due to "last year's Arab Spring uprisings introduced political uncertainty into the equation."  How long before the new totalitarians, wielding State Capitalism, replace messy democracy?

Update 2-28-12:  Congress passed a bill making public protests illegal at events with a Secret Service presence.  It's Obama-Bush's to sign.  Will a Jeffersonian figure rise as a result?

44% of Americans support strike against Iran

The Jerusalem Post reported:

In the United States, 44 percent of those polled supported bombing Iran's nuclear facilities, whereas only 23% of British, 20% of Middle Easterners, and 18% of Germans supported such a move.

It seems those who've had war at their doorstep the last century aren't excited for it to return. 

In the Middle East - defined as the Gulf states, North Africa and the Levant - Iran sanctions enjoyed the support of 44% of the population, still only a fraction of the 70% support seen in the United States.

It's a Red/Blue PNAC'ers dream.  Iraq?  Check.  Libya?  Check, despite Gadhafi's dropping nuclear weapons and offering to play with Western corporation.  Syria?  In play.  Iran?  Up next.

With its ability to use a small fleet of frigates and fast patrol craft, along with submarines, mines, and advanced anti-ship cruise missiles, Iran also represents a hybrid threat. Iran’s coastline and 17 islands in the Persian Gulf are a strategic choke point in the maritime commons and a potential challenge to the U.S. military. Iranian military doctrine suggests that it will employ asymmetric tactics that exploit the constricted geographic character of the gulf and the advanced systems that it has acquired

The Center for New American Security reported:

Natural gas from Turkmenistan may one day flow through Afghanistan, for example, en route to Pakistani and Indian cities and ports, one of several possible energy links between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Both the Chinese port in Gwadar, Pakistan, and the Indian port in Chah Bahar, Iran, may eventually be connected to oil- and natural-gas-rich Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and other former Soviet republics.

The political foundation has been laid. It's up to war planners to deliver the New American Century, where America can project its power anywhere on the globe.

Update 2-11-12:  Even the neocons are back.

Whitewasher Cites Brushback to Confusion of Anderson Cooper

Former White House Homeland Security Adviser Frances Townsend blew Anderson Cooper's mind with a "brushback pitch" analogy regarding Israel's response to Iran and its suspected nuclear weapons program.

COOPER:  Let us dig deeper, though, with CNN national security analyst Fran Townsend. She's also a member of the CIA External Advisory Committee.

Fran, we should point out, along with more than 100 members of Congress and other former senior U.S. national security officials, has publicly advocated the U.S. take the Iran opposition group, MEK, off the U.S. State Department's list of terror groups, just as the European Union has already done.

So what do you make of this report that Secretary Panetta basically tipping Israeli's hand like this? Why would this be leaked?

FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, it's odd, Anderson. And this is one of the series. We talked last night. Leon Panetta has been out there talking about the drawing down of troops in Afghanistan. His views of Pakistan's counterterrorism relationship with us. All of this seemingly off message.

I mean, he's in a position to know. He's met with the Israelis. We know that there's robust intelligence exchanged. Most of which there's agreement on. There seems to be some conflict between the American and Israeli view about the ability of Iran and the intention of Iran to deliver a payload, that is the missile part of it. The delivery system. And so --

COOPER: Right. And that he was saying on "60 Minutes" that he thinks the actual development of a bomb could be a year or so off, but then the development of a missile that could actually deliver it could be another year.

TOWNSEND: That's right. That's right, and so when he describes that window, you understand why now he's talking about this three or four months, May, June, or July. The interesting thing, Anderson, is if he understands that from the Israelis, why would he signal that? Because of course he'll make it much more difficult for the Israelis if that's what they intend to do.

The answer to that may in fact be that it's a brushback pitch. It's a signal to the Israelis about just how strongly we don't want them to do this and pull us in with them.

COOPER: A brushback pitch.

TOWNSEND: Yes.

COOPER: So what? That's leaking something --

TOWNSEND: Well, it's making a public statement so the Israelis know very clearly, we're not just saying privately to them, we don't want them to do a bombing mission in Iran. We're saying, we're committing this publicly and we're making it much more difficult for them to do something we don't want them --

COOPER: How have I never heard that phrase? I like it. It's interesting.

This wasn't Panetta's first brushback pitch. It was nice of "whitewasher" Fran to toss it for Leon on international television. 

Two brushbacks?  Leon Panetta's halfway to walking Israel.  That is if they don't go for the home run first.

There's almost no way if there's a military action taken by Israel that the U.S. does not in some way get pulled into it.

Which is the plan.  Setup woman Townsend delivered the meme stream, once again.

Bipartisan March to War

Haaretz reported the position of The Bipartisan Policy Center, a D.C. based think tank:

The United States should deploy ships, step up covert activities and sharpen its rhetoric to make more credible the threat of a U.S. military strike to stop Iran's nuclear program, a bipartisan group said on Wednesday. :

Check, check, check.  All three are already in the works.  The BPC is selling the public for what's in play.  Here are the BPC's details:

The report calls for strengthening the United States "declaratory policy" to make clear its willingness to use force rather than permit Iran to acquire nuclear weapons; To intensify covert activities by U.S. and foreign intelligence agencies to disrupt Iran's nuclear program; To bolster the presence of the U.S. Fifth Fleet in the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman by deploying an additional carrier battle group and minesweepers off Iran, conducting broad military exercises in the region with allies, and prepositioning supplies for the possibility of military action against Iran; To strengthen the ability of U.S. allies such as Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, to ship oil out of the region without using the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has threatened to close in retaliation for Western sanctions, and to amplify U.S. efforts to strengthen the militaries of countries in the region such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates through arms sales.

Should these steps fail to dissuade Iran from its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons, the report urges the United States to consider a "quarantine" to block refined petroleum imports by Iran, which is heavily dependent on gasoline refined abroad.

As a last resort, the group asserts that the U.S. military has the ability to launch "an effective surgical strike against Iran's nuclear program."

It's American branded global hegemony at work.

The report acknowledged a strike would carry many risks, including higher oil prices, possible Iranian retaliation against U.S. military installations, support of "terrorist" operations against U.S. interests and potential attacks on Iraq.  

Remaking the world in America's image is a violent and greedy thing.