drbrumley
Well-known member
The President may surprise everyone – again
by Justin Raimondo
Posted on
May 03, 2018
The Israeli propaganda machine is working overtime in the run-up to the May deadline for Trump’s decision on recertifying the Iran deal. So what did all that buildup to Netanyahu’s big announcement amount to? Less than nothing, i.e., documents that prove what we already knew – that Iran did have a nuclear program prior to 2003. As our own intelligence agencies long ago concluded, they discontinued it and haven’t restarted it since then. Oh, but then why did the Iranians keep all these thousands of documents, the Israelis ask. Doesn’t this in itself portend a future weaponization program?
Bibi’s performance, complete with the usual dorky visual aids, may not have been all that effective as hasbara, but then again it was really aimed at an audience of one: Donald J. Trump. Which makes one wonder….
While everyone is assuming Trump has decided to nix the Iran deal, do the Israelis have some inside knowledge that this assumption may be unwarranted? If the decision not to recertify is in the bag, then why the elaborate propaganda campaign seemingly aimed at a single person?
The administration has successfully straddled the fence on this issue so far, and despite appearances the Israel lobby is not pleased with the one American politician who’s wildly popular in Israel. Moving the US embassy to Jerusalem is a symbolic gesture that ultimately means nothing: what has the lobby hopping mad, however, is the President’s extreme reluctance to get dragged into Syria. The recent Israeli air strikes against Syrian targets are a provocation designed to accomplish precisely that: Bibi knows that any war between Israel and Iran will see the Americans involved after the first few hours. They may start the war, but we’ll be the ones to finish it – or so the Israelis would like to believe.
While every alliance is a tripwire, our “special relationship” with Israel is indeed a unique case in that a relatively weak protectorate is issuing the global hegemon its marching orders. Historically and logically it’s supposed to be the other way around. This odd geopolitical malady showed its first symptoms during the Reagan administration, and really metastasized in the Bush II era. Whether Trump’s “America First” brand of rather inconsistent “isolationism” is the right medicine to cure or even ameliorate the more obnoxious symptoms remains to be seen: count me as skeptical. However, the last thing this administration needs is another war in the Middle East, and of that I’m sure the President and his political advisors are well aware. And so the surface appearances of a White House in perfect lockstep with the Israelis are belied by the fundamental conflict at the base of the relationship.
Entire article HERE, if so inclined.
by Justin Raimondo
Posted on
May 03, 2018
The Israeli propaganda machine is working overtime in the run-up to the May deadline for Trump’s decision on recertifying the Iran deal. So what did all that buildup to Netanyahu’s big announcement amount to? Less than nothing, i.e., documents that prove what we already knew – that Iran did have a nuclear program prior to 2003. As our own intelligence agencies long ago concluded, they discontinued it and haven’t restarted it since then. Oh, but then why did the Iranians keep all these thousands of documents, the Israelis ask. Doesn’t this in itself portend a future weaponization program?
Bibi’s performance, complete with the usual dorky visual aids, may not have been all that effective as hasbara, but then again it was really aimed at an audience of one: Donald J. Trump. Which makes one wonder….
While everyone is assuming Trump has decided to nix the Iran deal, do the Israelis have some inside knowledge that this assumption may be unwarranted? If the decision not to recertify is in the bag, then why the elaborate propaganda campaign seemingly aimed at a single person?
The administration has successfully straddled the fence on this issue so far, and despite appearances the Israel lobby is not pleased with the one American politician who’s wildly popular in Israel. Moving the US embassy to Jerusalem is a symbolic gesture that ultimately means nothing: what has the lobby hopping mad, however, is the President’s extreme reluctance to get dragged into Syria. The recent Israeli air strikes against Syrian targets are a provocation designed to accomplish precisely that: Bibi knows that any war between Israel and Iran will see the Americans involved after the first few hours. They may start the war, but we’ll be the ones to finish it – or so the Israelis would like to believe.
While every alliance is a tripwire, our “special relationship” with Israel is indeed a unique case in that a relatively weak protectorate is issuing the global hegemon its marching orders. Historically and logically it’s supposed to be the other way around. This odd geopolitical malady showed its first symptoms during the Reagan administration, and really metastasized in the Bush II era. Whether Trump’s “America First” brand of rather inconsistent “isolationism” is the right medicine to cure or even ameliorate the more obnoxious symptoms remains to be seen: count me as skeptical. However, the last thing this administration needs is another war in the Middle East, and of that I’m sure the President and his political advisors are well aware. And so the surface appearances of a White House in perfect lockstep with the Israelis are belied by the fundamental conflict at the base of the relationship.
Entire article HERE, if so inclined.
