That RT clip is an object lesson in how obtuse our MSM FP press and/or Think Tank advisers are…!
Consider Judith Kipper‘s bio… Judith Kipper is the adviser for Middle East Programs and director of the Energy Security Group at the Council on Foreign Relations(CFR) and a longtime consultant on international affairs for ABC News… Then, on the other hand you have Flynt Leverett(and Hillary)…!

From their most recent post…

“Iran and American Foreign Policy: Where Did the US Go Wrong?”— Noam Chomsky and The Leveretts at MIT…

…It was in this critical spirit that we came to MIT. We left deeply inspired by Prof. Chomsky, an incarnation of that spirit, whose comments were simultaneously powerful, profound, and delightful. One example:

“It’s now sixty years since the U.S. overthrew the parliamentary government in Iran. And since that time, not a single day has passed in which the U.S. hasn’t been torturing Iran, constantly. Jimmy Carter was asked about this, and he said, ‘Well, it didn’t really matter, it’s ancient history.’ Obama’s standard line is, ‘Let’s not look to the past; let’s look to the future.’

That’s a very convenient position for criminals. ‘Let’s forget everything that happened.’ Somehow, victims don’t feel that way. They have memories. You see this all over the world. The victims have memories which the perpetrators don’t know about, or like to forget: ‘It’s all in the past; let’s forget it.’ I think it’s useful to remember a quip of William Faulkner’s, who said, ‘The past is never dead. It’s not even past.’ And that’s true in this case. For victims, the past isn’t past.”

But, while deeply appreciating the past, Prof. Chomsky is also very much forward looking, telling his audience that Americans have the power to demand different policies from their government. In that regard, we will always treasure Chomsky’s verdict on our book, Going to Tehran, offered at the beginning of his remarks:

“The most important thing I can say tonight is actually very brief. Three words: Read this book. That’s good advice. You’ll find a lot of information that’s not generally available, some that’s not available at all, also very valuable insights and understanding which is sharply different from views in the United States, attitudes in the United States that are so conventional and unchallenged they can fairly be called a ‘party line.’ [You’ll also find] perspectives that may help, if they’re widely enough understood, to halt a very clear drift towards what could be a terrible war.”

To rebut some of Kipper’s obtuseness…Lavrov Discussed Iranian Role in Syria Peace Talks

…The Russians and Americans agreed during Kerry’s visit to Moscow to set up a conference of international players to end the war in Syria. Moscow wants to involve all the nations which took part in the Geneva conference on Syria last summer, and says without Iran’s participation the conference cannot succeed.

Saudi Arabia and Iran were not involved in the Geneva talks, Lavrov recalled.

“Our American partners blocked Iran, and the Saudis were not invited as ‘compensation’ for the absence of Iran,” Lavrov said in an interview with Rossiiskaya Gazeta to be published on Monday.

“If we admit that Iran has a very solid influence on what is going on, then it is obliged to be represented in the negotiations as a participant in the ‘external ring’ [of neighboring states],” Lavrov said. “I said this to John Kerry. He kind of agreed with this, but said that a number of states in the region were categorically opposed to this.”

All the Syrian opposition groups should be represented in the talks, Lavrov said, including those struggling for a division of Syria.

As Assad stated yesterday…

US-Russia-led meet welcomed by Assad…

Syrian president says he welcomed a US-Russian peace initiative to end the civil war. However, it won’t end up in success because of the fragmented opposition, according to the embattled leader…

U.S.-Russian peace initiative to end Syria’s civil war is welcome but not likely to actually succeed, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said May 18, while ruling out any resignation from his post in an interview with an Argentine newspaper.

“To resign would be to flee,” he told daily Clarin when asked if he would consider stepping aside as called for by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. “I don’t know if Kerry or anyone else has received the power of the Syrian people to talk in their name about who should go and who should stay. That will be determined by the Syrian people in the 2014 presidential elections,” al-Assad said…

Funny thing about those 2014 elections… CIA: Assad to Get 75% of Votes in Next Term, Syrian Gov’t in Advance…

Anyways, the foreign f*ckery continues apace…

Read the rest of this entry →

Get a load of this crapola… Israel could send Iran ‘back to the stone age’ with electromagnetic bomb…

Detonation would disrupt all the enemy’s technological devices, Sunday Times reports…

Israel could destroy Iran’s electric network with a specially designed electromagnetic bomb in the event of a military conflict between the countries, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday.

An electromagnetic bomb of this sort would be detonated above the ground, creating an electromagnetic pulse that would “disrupt all the technological devices working on the ground,” an American expert was quoted as saying to the London paper.

The use of the new technology by Israel was brought up in discussions regarding a possible attack on Tehran’s nuclear facilities, the report claimed. Such a move would send Iran “back to the stone age,” the British paper said.

This kind of bomb would operate based on the nonlethal technology of gamma rays, the report explained. The outburst of energy would “fry” electric devices and currents around the source of the explosion.

First of all, the Electromagnetic Pulse necessary to ‘knock Iran into the stone age’ would require a nuclear device detonated hundreds of kilometers above Iran, considering that there are no other means of delivering such a blow…! So, in essence, Bibi will preemptively Nuke Iran, so Israel won’t be Nuked some time down the line…?

Now, I do like the fact that there is indeed some Western pushback surfacing…

In secret visit to Israel, U.K. officials warn Netanyahu against unilateral attack on Iran

A high-ranking visitor delivered a stern message from British PM David Cameron against an uncoordinated Israeli strike on Iran at this time.

Even Shrillary and her spokespuppet, Victoria Nuland, had rebuffed Bibi’s latest buffoonery…

Israel Presses U.S. Over Setting ‘Red Lines’ for Iran

The U.S. and Israel are disagreeing publicly over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s push to set “red lines” and deadlines for dealing with Iran’s nuclear activities.

An Israeli government official said yesterday that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s comment in an interview Sept. 9 with Bloomberg Radio that the U.S. is “not setting deadlines” for Iran won’t help deter its nuclear program, and may even put the Iranians at ease. {…}

…In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said yesterday that it’s “not useful” to be setting deadlines for negotiations or red lines. President Barack Obama previously has said that Iran won’t be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, she said, declining to elaborate.

Clinton said in the interview that economic sanctions are building pressure on Iran, and the U.S. still considers negotiations as “by far the best approach” to prevent the Islamic Republic from developing nuclear weapons.

Asked if the Obama administration will lay out sharper “red lines” for Iran or state explicitly the consequences of failing to negotiate a deal with world powers by a certain date, Clinton said, “We’re not setting deadlines.” {…}

…Clinton has said that Iran, which depends on oil for more than half of its government revenue, is losing billions of dollars from lost oil sales due to sanctions. {…}

The U.S., European allies and Israel accuse Iran of seeking an atomic bomb capability. In its report last month, the IAEA said it “is unable to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities.” The IAEA said it hadn’t detected any material being diverted from Iran’s 16 declared nuclear facilities.

Interestingly, despite the fact that the IAEA can’t verify the diversion of nuclear material, the Neo/Ziocons must press on…

Analysts press IAEA after nuke talks stall with Iran

The United Nations nuclear watchdog needs to admit that it cannot determine whether Iran is building an atomic weapon and that the U.N. Security Council must take stronger action, analysts say. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) board of governors’ meeting could result in escalating the conflict with Iran, said David Albright, an arms-control expert at the Institute for Science and International Security.

“The IAEA has a job to do, and they need to worry about their credibility as an institution,” Albright said. “So they have to move this forward and that means escalate it. And unfortunately that increases the risk of military action.”

Yukiya Amano, director general of the IAEA, expressed frustration with Iran on Monday, saying that months of delays have stymied inspectors’ efforts to visit the Parchin military complex southeast of Tehran.

The IAEA believes Iran may have experimented there with blast tests used to trigger a nuclear charge. Meanwhile, Israel has said time is running out for diplomatic efforts to verify Iran’s nuclear intentions.

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, such as energy production.

“We need to stop going around in circles,” Amano said of months-long fruitless talk between the IAEA and Iran. “This is frustrating.” {…}

…”The IAEA’s job is to warn the Security Council of threats to peace,” Jeffrey said. If the IAEA’s report “is strong and damning, the Security Council will be under pressure to implement actions or sanctions against Iran.”

“This is headed for another serious debate and another serious and agonizing negotiation in the Security Council about what further serious steps and sanctions to impose on Iran,” Jeffrey said.

Albright said there is little choice now but to move the matter to a higher level.

“The IAEA has done everything it can, and it should wash its hands of the whole thing,” Albright said.

Now, to say that Yukiya Amano and David Albright are acting in everybody’s best interests would be a stretch…!

All this bluster by Bibi is designed to distract from what’s really happening in the West Bank…

Palestinians Borrow Chant From Syria to Vent Rage at Their Leaders

During protests in the West Bank on Monday, Palestinians adapted a protest anthem made popular by their neighbors in Syria last year to call for their president and prime minister to step down.

The original song, “Yalla Erhal Ya Bashar,” or “Come on Bashar, Leave,” calling for the departure of President Bashar al-Assad, was written last year in Syria. At a protest in the West Bank on Monday, protesters changed the words of the tune, to focus on President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

As Yousef Munayyer, the director of The Palestine Center in Washington, observed on Twitter, the borrowing completed a circle in a way.

Palestinians have long taught other Arabs art of protest. W/ adaptation of #Syria protest chant, we’ve come full circle…

What’s funny is that Abu Mazen, who has long since been exposed as a corrupt Israeli tool, and most of Fatah for that matter, whom all are living on borrowed time, is starting to feel the sting…

Fatah officials angry at PA’s delay of statehood bid

Senior Fatah official says Abbas decision not to present UN membership request during GA “harmful” to PA credibility.

Why can’t Palestine be admitted as a ‘Nation-State’ at the UN…?

One final note on Iran, Flynt Leverett lays it out…

…If the United States insists on micromanaging Iran’s domestic politics to produce exactly the kind of interlocutor it wants to deal with, it will fail. In the process, Washington will continue to miss opportunities to do what it so manifestly needs to do, for America’s own interests—to come to terms with the Islamic Republic as it is, not as those radically disconnected from Iranian reality might wish it to be.

Amen, Flynt, Amen…!

Will Sanity ever prevail…?

*gah*

As Niles had equivocated in that great RT clip, the ball is squarely in the West’s ballcourt, and, the Oily Bomber, along with all of our AIPAC bought-off Congress Critters, are the sick individuals that are failing us miserably…

…the Obama Administration seems no more prepared to deal with the big issues that will determine diplomatic success or failure—namely, accepting the principle and the reality of internationally safeguarded enrichment in Iran and recognizing that a negotiated solution will necessarily entail significant sanctions relief—than it was during its initial experience in multilateral negotiations with the Islamic Republic during 2009-2010. Until that changes, the chance for anything other than failure or, at best, an extremely narrow deal of little strategic significance—is negligible…

…the Iranians assess that the Obama Administration has an interest in keeping the negotiations going at least through the U.S. presidential election in November. As Flynt points out, they have been using the talks as a way of probing Western seriousness about a potential deal…

…But the talks are not going to produce anything of strategic significance unless the United States substantially alters its approach…

Just to be sure…

No gaps exist between the U.S. and Israel on Iran nuclear program, says official…

Senior official involved in Baghdad talks says U.S. is pressuring Iran because it perceives it as a real threat to world security, not because of Israeli pressure…

…The U.S. official, who is intimately acquainted with the P5 + 1 talks which took place in Baghdad last week, asked to remain anonymous owing to the sensitive nature of the issue.

According to the official, the U.S. government does not feel that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to pressure it over negotiations with Iran.

“We are the ones who are pressuring ourselves because we see a nuclear Iran as a real danger to global security, and not because of Israel, ” the U.S. official said.

“Even if we do not have the patience, we need to give diplomacy a chance before military action…it is still not too late, and I think that Israel thinks that it is already too late,” the official added…

…On Friday, the head of the U.S. negotiation team, undersecretary of state for political affairs Wendy Sherman, arrived in Israel along with officials from the White House National Security Council working on the Iran nuclear issue – Gary Seymour and Puneet Talwar.

The American team had a three-hour meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, with National Security advisor Yaakov Amidror, and a number of other senior Israeli officials who deal with the Iran issue, in order to update them on the talks in Baghdad.

According to the U.S. official, the Israeli government was the first to be updated by them on what happened in Baghdad after the talks were over. “We updated the Israelis in detail before we updated our own government,” the official said.

“This shows how much trust and security we have in our ties with Israel.”

Former AIPAC employee, MJ Rosenberg, totally eviscerates that ‘anonymous’ US official’s foreign delusions…

Mainstream Media & Bloggers Are Too Scared To Mention AIPAC In Iran Coverage

…Every piece of legislation dealing with Iran, including all the sanctions bills, were written in AIPAC’s offices and then handed over to favored senators and representatives for introduction. For the last decade, every AIPAC annual conference, attended by the President and half the Congress, has had as its centerpiece the need to confront Iran. Just this week, as negotiations began in Baghdad, the Vice President met with the ultra-right Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, which is led by this guy. (Watch the youtube, you will fall off your chair laughing). And the next day the Senate Majority Leader met with the same group. The message to the Conference in both cases: trust us, we will not deviate from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s policy that sanctions not be lifted no matter what Iran offers. And we didn’t!

To put it simply, there would be no Iran hysteria was it not for the lobby. After all, was there hysteria over North Korean nuclear weapons? The North Korean regime is insane which the Iranian regime is not. And we have over 100,000 troops in South Korea, not to mention that Seoul, the South Korean capital, is virtually on the border with the crazy north.

But Iran is different. And that is because of the lobby. (If groups other than the lobby cared much about Iranian reprocessing, would not Biden and Harry Reid have met with them. Of course, they would have. But they know Iran is strictly an Israel lobby issue. And that means it is enmeshed in the question of who will or will not receive campaign contributions from PACs and individuals who take their marching orders from the lobby.

Imagine if there was no lobby. (Such a lovely thought)

…And that is among the many reasons that I wish the timid MSM and bloggers would start telling the truth to the American people. This whole issue is not about us. It’s about Netanyahu and AIPAC. And, largely due to them, we may never be able to resolve it.

George Washington is spinning in his grave, waiting for Rachel Maddow to address this issue. Fat chance.

Neither Maddow or the other “progressives” want to risk offending people who might slow their advance to the heights. That is why this is the ONLY issue that the wise don’t touch with a ten foot pole.

Career comes first. And last…

Now, I may not be paid for my I/P blogging, but, I have always soldiered on…!

God help us all…!

Hot on the heels of Benny Gantz’s recent statements, former Shin Bet head, Yuval Diskin, took it a step further today…

Israel’s former Shin Bet chief: I have no confidence in Netanyahu, Barak

“They are misleading the public on the Iran issue. They tell the public that if Israel acts, Iran won’t have a nuclear bomb. This is misleading. Actually, many experts say that an Israeli attack would accelerate the Iranian nuclear race,” said the former security chief…

*ouch* That had to have left a mark…!

To bring ya’ll up to date, the ever intrepid, Richard Silverstein, had wrote yesterday…

IDF Chief Calls Iran “Rational,” Barak Disagrees

Israel continued its self-portrait as a government in disarray as its military chief, Benny Gantz called Iran “rational” and said he believed that nation would not build a nuclear weapon (a position fully in accord with U.S. views). The next day, Ehud Barak took pains to divorce himself from his subordinate by saying of Iran:

Makes perfect sense to me if you’re as out of touch with Iran and reality in general as Gold is…

Ehud Barak even doubled down on his messianic lunacy, today… Ehud Barak says Iran seeks ‘apocalyptic’ policies…

As Phyllis Bennis wrote at Antiwar.com today…

Iran: New war looming?

And oh by the way. Does anyone really think that as long as Israel can play the “we face an existential danger” card, anyone in Washington is likely to even consider putting serious pressure on Tel Aviv to end its occupation and apartheid policies towards Palestinians? Let’s see hands…

Ironically, I have the very same sanity issues about our current Def. Sec., and, our own Prez…! In particular, by this recent nonsense, and then, with Leon(our ex-CIA Chief, too), serving up this NeoLib/AIPAC/Ziocon gobblety-gook, today…

Panetta: I hope that IDF chief is right on Iran nuclear program

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta says he has no specific information on whether Iran has decided to build a nuclear bomb…

Are you f*cking serious, Leon…!

Anyways, I still admire Christiane Amanpour’s efforts… Amanpour interviews former Iranian nuclear negotiation insider about weaponization plans…

Btw, Iran is bending over backwards to resolve the Nuke issues by agreeing to ‘snap’ IAEA inpections and even a full halt in reprocessing the heavy water to the IAEA’s acceptable level of 19.5%, by holding it at the 5% level…!

Now, just as an attack on Iran would embolden them to actually consider building a bomb, take a gander at what our current ‘Bipartisan’ Congress Critters are all up-in-arms about now…

U.S. Congress voices concern over Iran cyber-threat

“Stuxnet may be proof of Iran’s vulnerability and the effectiveness of other nation-states’ cyber-arsenals. However, it would also be possible for Iran to gain some knowledge for creating a Stuxnet-like virus from analyzing its effects,” Rep. Yvette Clarke (D) of New York said at the hearing of the Counterterrorism and Intelligence Subcommittee and the Cyber-security, Infrastructure Protection and Security Technologies Subcommittee, titled “Iranian Cyber Threat to the U.S. Homeland.”

Ain’t it ironic that Panetta scoffs at Iran’s ‘reverse-engineering’ of the downed stealth drone…?

*gah*

From the Grey Lady…

Iran: Ready to Resolve Dispute, and Eager to Ease Sanctions…

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Monday that Iran was prepared to resolve the nuclear dispute with world powers at their next meeting, in Baghdad on May 23, if the West showed some good will by easing the sanctions imposed on Iran. Mr. Salehi, above, also hinted that Iran might be willing to change its uranium enrichment policy, which is at the heart of foreign suspicions that the Iranians are secretly developing the capacity to make nuclear weapons…

However, Bibi took serious umbrage with the whole talks idea, thundering…

…Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has harshly criticized the talks on Saturday between Iran and six world powers, saying “my initial impression is that Iran has been given a freebie” to carry on with its nuclear program.

Netanyahu said the decision to continue the talks on May 23 gives Tehran five more weeks to enrich uranium as it likes.

Netanyahu’s statement came after he was briefed by the White House about Saturday’s talks in Istanbul…

DM Ehud Barak had more to add… Nuclear talks don’t exempt Iran from attack…

…Israel’s defense minister said on Tuesday that Israeli military action against Iran remains an option even while nuclear negotiations are under way, and voiced strong doubts whether the talks would succeed, Reuters reported.

Asked whether the negotiations, which began in Turkey on Saturday, could persuade Iran to halt uranium enrichment, Ehud Barak told Army Radio: “It does not look to me as if it is going to happen – not now, in the wake of Istanbul, and not … after the (Baghdad round of talks next month).”

“We are not committing to anything,” Barak said, when asked whether any such pledge had been made. “There is not, there has not been, there should not be and there cannot be (such a promise).”

To further emphasize the point… Israeli TV report shows air force gearing up for Iran attack, says moment of truth is near…

‘IAF expects losses, and knows it can’t destroy entire Iranian program’

…The report, screened on the main evening news of Channel 10, was remarkable both in terms of the access granted to the reporter, who said he had spent weeks with the pilots and other personnel he interviewed, and in the fact that his assessments on a strike were cleared by the military censor.

“Years of preparations are likely to come to realization,” he said, adding that “the moment of truth is near.”

Even Foggy Bottom wasn’t very helpful… U.S. rules out easing Iran sanctions…

…“No one’s talking about any sanctions being reversed or canceled at all,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters in response.

But Toner said that the United States, echoing a statement by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, was ready to look at incentives in return for progress from Iran.

Toner also denied any “freebie” for Iran, saying: “We’ve got the strongest sanctions in history against Iran right now, and they’re going to get stronger as we move into the summer.”

And to further add insult to injury, in true Bipartisan fashion too…Senators Reject Iran Talks, Demand More Sanctions…

Somebody, please tell me what ‘incentives’ are being proffered to Iran…! I can’t find hide nor hair of ‘em…!

*gah*

As a former Knesset Member wrote today…

…”Today is a black and shameful page in the history of the State of Israel. The massive aggressive play staged today at Ben Gurion Airport, the hundreds of police flooding the terminal, the systematic hunt for every traveler who dared to openly admit being headed to Bethlehem, as if this was the most horrible of crimes, the hysterical assault on a handful of Israeli peace activists who dared to express a dissident opinion, the worldwide campaign of pressures and threats to make airlines cancel the flights of hundreds of passengers. Had the government set out to exhibit to the world the image of an ugly Israel – oppressive, aggressive, nationalistic, tolerating no criticism – then today was a huge success. But if they had wanted to corroborate the assertion that Israel is “the only democracy in the Middle East”, the government’s conduct conveyed the very opposite message. The government’s “victory” over the the international activists was the very epitome of a pyrrhic victory…

What truly surprised me was the sheer extent of the collusion between the individual European Govt’s(local and federal), the Airlines, and, Israel…

‘Flytilla’ detentions spark fury

…But Israel vowed to prevent their entry, warning airlines they would be forced to foot the bill for the activists’ immediate return home in a move which saw many carriers toeing the line.

With airlines cancelling at least 300 passengers’ tickets, scores of activists staged angry demonstrations at airports in several European capitals. Read the rest of this entry →

From the accompanying YouTube blurb…

After more than a year of turbulence, Syria is still facing both a violent internal opposition uprising and the threat of external intervention. NATO and the Gulf Cooperation Council have backed the opposition, the Syrian Transitional Council, both politically and militarily. Calls for humanitarian intervention in the name of the “responsibility to protect” have been made by the same NGOs as those who acted over Libya last year. Russia and China have vetoed interventionist resolutions in the Security Council, backed by the US, France and the UK, and a chance for reconciliation has been offered with Kofi Annan’s mediation mission. But can it succeed? Will sovereignty remain respected, as provided for by the UN Charter? What are the real aims of NATO and the Gulf Cooperation Council in Syria? Do they want peace and reconciliation or regime change and chaos?

I’ve made my opinion well known, repeatedly, on the farcical R2P ‘humanitarian’ crusade directed at Syria…! Just like I did in the run up to Libya’s smashing success…!

Here’s some of the latest on Syria… From Non-Western Media… Syria to halt military actions as of Thursday… From the ‘Rebels’… Syria rebels set ultimatum, as peace deal falters…

Here’s some recent Western Leaders responses… David Cameron: Syria used ceasefire to kill civilians… Sarkozy: Syria blatantly lying about ceasefire…

What a clusterf*ck in the making, it’s truly a No-Win scenario for the Syrians, needless death and destruction for what exactly…? Reminds me of the age-old adage, that to ‘save’ the village we must bomb it into oblivion…!

Now, moving along… Read the rest of this entry →

Haaretz’s editor-in-chief, Aluf Benn, wrote recently…

Netanyahu is preparing Israeli public opinion for a war on Iran

In response to Netanyahu’s AIPAC speech, Haaretz’s editor-in-chief says that what looks like a preparation for war, acts like a preparation for war, and quacks like a preparation for war, is a preparation for war.

This morning, the editor-in-chief of the Israel Hayom newspaper, Amos Regev, published on his front page an enthusiastic op-ed in support of a war against Iran. Regev writes what Netanyahu cannot say in his speeches: that we cannot rely on Obama – who wasn’t even a mechanic in the armored corps – but only on ourselves. “Difficult, daring, but possible,” Regev promised. We need not be alarmed by the Iranian response: the arrow would take down the Shahab missiles, and Hezbollah and Hamas would hesitate about entering a war. The damage would be reminiscent of the Iraqi scuds in the 1991 Gulf War – unpleasant, but definitely not too bad. The analysts are weak, but the soldiers and the residents of the Home Front have motivation. So onward, to battle!“

The rightwing rag, Washington Times, ran this agitprop… Netanyahu says Israel won’t need U.S. OK to hit Iran

Then, you have more DC agitprop, backing Bibi up… Panetta: US will ‘take action’ if Israel hits Iran

…Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that the United States would intervene if Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear facilities, although he did not indicate the extent of the possible military involvement.

“We think we have the room and the space to try to conduct diplomacy,” Panetta also said. “Military action should always be a last resort.”…

Now, do you suppose Bibi is a tad bit pissed…? I’d kidnap Israeli soldiers if I were Palestinian – Shalit

*gah*

Here’s the Jpost’s, Yaakov Katz, shortly after the initial ‘targeted assassination’…

Analysis: Easy to start, hard to end

Israel knew that it could expect rockets when it made the decision to assassinate the leader of the PRC.

So 12 year-old Ayoub Useila is not even an animal. He’s just part of a “lawn” of faceless nameless Palestinians, to be bombed into submission as routinely as an Israeli settler on stolen West Bank land maintains his suburban-style yard and swimming pool…

Here’s what Richard Silverstein wrote recently…

It’s no accident that as soon as Bibi Netanyahu returned from Washington DC, where he apparently was rebuffed yet again in his attempts to wage war on Iran, Israel decided to wage war on Gaza instead. Gaza serves as a punching bag for Israeli leaders when they need some two-bit country to beat the crap out of (to use Michael Ledeen’s memorable phrase).

Bibi said in today’s Haaretz that he’s prepared to escalate this latest round of mayhem. In fact, I’d imagine he’s eager to do so. If he’s made a deal with Obama that in return for Israel not attacking now the U.S. might or will join in an attack later, Bibi will feel he has to inoculate himself among his far-right voters for whom Arab blood is like red meat. If you can’t give ‘em Iranian blood, Gazan blood is a good substitute…

Asia Times Victor Kotsev adds an interesting wrinkle…

…Given that the Egyptian-controlled peninsula became the last stretch of a long arms-smuggling route that started in Libya and ended in Gaza, numerous Israeli officials have warned over the past month that more violence was to be expected in and near the strip.

…What we need to look out for is anything that is more serious than that. We can only hope that the luck which has prevented greater civilian casualties on either side does not run out, and that Israel and Hamas do not end up drawn into a bloody war that neither seems to want. In an ironic twist, the two finally seem to find themselves sharing a similar agenda.

Folks, enshrined in international law is the right to resist occupation…

In contrast, the targeted assassination of people not engaged in combat is forbidden under international law. Specifically:

Extrajudicial executions are gross violations of universally agreed human rights that enshrine the right to life in accordance with Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and further cemented in Article 6 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights. Extrajudicial executions are acts outside the realm of rule of law and hence deprive the targeted individual(s) of their right to life, as well as the right to defend themselves against charges against them.

“[t]he passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples” are prohibited at all times and in all circumstances. Civilians are moreover protected against acts that constitute collective punishment. Collective punishment, intentional attacks against civilians and extrajudicial executions constitute war crimes in IHL.

Meanwhile, hot off the presses… Shaky truce appears to end along Gaza-Israel border…

…Israeli aircraft targeted two “terror activity sites” in northern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said early Wednesday, in another round of tit-for-tat that appeared to end a shaky truce.

“The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli civilians or IDF soldiers, and will continue to operate with determination at any given time against anyone who uses terror against the State of Israel,” the statement said. “The Hamas terror organization is solely responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip.”

*gah*

Haaretz published a blistering critique of Bibi’s performance at this year’s AIPAC/DC three-ring Circus show…

Israel must remember U.S. is part of its ‘right to defense’

Netanyahu is puffing up his chest with his own rhetoric. That’s a common syndrome among our friends on the right – to strike without considering the consequences.

…Security experts say the government is playing with fire. Anyone who thinks we can solve the Iranian threat by ourselves is mistaken and misleading others. What we need to neutralize the threat entirely – including protecting our home front against a missile barrage – is the action of a great power. Samson’s last words, “Let me die with the Philistines,” is not what Israelis have in mind during these times of war over the price of a Pesek Zman candy bar…

Speaking of that Bipartisan push for War on Iran, check out this Dim-witted response…

‘Naval blockade of Iran should be considered’…

…An international naval blockade of Iranian oil exports should be considered before any resort to air strikes against the country’s disputed nuclear program, the chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee said on Friday.

Levin said US President Barack Obama should seek congressional authorization before any US resort to military action against Iran. But he noted that presidents from both parties had maintained they were not bound to do so as commander in chief of US armed forces…

Funny thing about that Carl, ain’t it interesting, that it would be a Repugnant to cry ‘foul’ on Executive Branch overeach, and on Syria even…? Obama Admin Cites ‘Int’l Permission,’ Not Congress, As ‘Legal Basis’ For Action In Syria…

It ain’t just Carl, beating those Iranian war drums, check out Difi’s response… “Israel will Attack Iran”

…Chairperson of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Diane Feinstein, said Israel would attack Iran based on the decisiveness of PM Netanyahu on the subject.

Speaking to CNN she said, “Israel believes it can carry out the attack, but the question remains, what will happen afterwards. She added that it was important to give diplomacy, sanctions and negotiations a chance to influence Tehran.

And, here we are questioning the Rationality of the ‘Mad Mullahs‘ in Tehran…?

Even, Israeli-Firster, former IDF jailor, Jeffery Goldberg, raised some serious doubts…

…Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited President Obama in the White House. Many words were exchanged, but they all might have been superfluous.

Before the summit between the two leaders, I thought Netanyahu would probably agree to delay an Israeli attack against Iran’s nuclear program in order to let the sanctions imposed by Obama — in concert with much of the world — work to convince Tehran that the nuclear path is a foolish one.

But watching Netanyahu’s actions this week, and listening to his rhetoric, particularly before the annual meeting of the lobbying group AIPAC, I’m more convinced that his timetable for action against Iran doesn’t align at all with Obama’s…

Maybe, the Oily Bomber did delay Bibi til after the November, ’12 elections, however, what about shortly afterwards…?

Will Netanyahu Defy Obama on Iran?

Here’s a recent Repugnant letter personally addressed to Obummer… (PDF! 9pgs)

Ongoing nuclear advances and developments in Iran pose a growing serious threat to the existence of the state of Israel, our most critical ally.

We call upon you to unequivocally support Israel in this time of great upheaval and uncertainty. Since first recognizing Israel as a state in 1948, America has resolutely stood by the Israeli people. Despite this rich and storied friendship, recent events have given detractors an apparent reason to call that relationship into question. Your perceived wavering and equivocal support, coupled with anti-Israel developments in Iran and countries that have experienced Islamist and Salafist upheavals in government related to “arab spring” have left many in Israel feeling isolated and abandoned…

My favorite anti-war activist, David Swanson, really laid it out in no uncertain terms… Evidence of War Lies Is Public Pre-War This Time…

I’m in the streets fighting this sh*t, will you join me…?