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The Administration's rebuke of Israel
The Asia Times is running two articles about the flap with Israel over settlements in East Jerusalem. The first, by Spengler, suggests that the real issue is the desire of Israel to strike Iran's nuclear facilities:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East...
While the second simply takes the flap at face value an discusses the Administration's Israel policy:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East...
While some plauseable reasons for the harsh reaction are given - mainly that security problems in the region are heightened by the settlement policy - it doesn't explain why the Israelis chose this moment to jerk Obama's chain in this fashion. Spengler's article has the feel of a better/fuller explanation of why Obama would feel required to pick a fight right now, although just how Israel would carry out a strike without American support is not entirely clear - were those bunker-buster bombs delivered to Israel yet?
His article begins:
Iran has sufficient assets in the territory of its troubled neighbors to make a shambles of America's Potemkin village. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki may be able to govern Iraq with a third of the seats contested in the March 7 parliamentary elections, provided that Iran's allies such as Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr permit him to do so. And the appearance of Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad in Kabul on March 10 to declare hissolidarity with Afghanistan's beleaguered President Hamid Karzai planted Iran's flag in the midst of Afghan politics.
Iran will succeed, unless another player kicks over the chessboard. Israeli officials report that American officials are visiting Jerusalem - including Vice President Joseph Biden last week - to warn Israel against launching an attack on Iran. "They're not talking about the Palestinians, they're only talking about Iran," commented the head of one Israeli political party.
That explains the exceptionally harsh, even adversarial tone that Washington has taken towards Israel, supposedly in response to last week's go-ahead for 1,600 apartments in East Jerusalem, but evidently in anticipation of an Israeli attack on Iran.
The author refers to a Feb article he wrote on the subject that is worth reading to get a sense of his position - one that may well have considerble sympathy within the Israeli government:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East...
During a February 16 visit to Saudi Arabia, Clinton talked about responses to Iran as if America had already decided that Iran was developing nuclear weapons, something Tehran vigorously denies. Clinton was quoted as saying that the "evidence doesn't support" Iran's claim it is pursuing a peaceful nuclear program.
Israel has a strategic problem broader than the immediate issue of Iran's possible acquisition of nuclear weapons: it is an American ally at a moment when America has effectively withdrawn from strategic leadership. That leaves Israel at a crossroads. It can act like an American client state, or a regional superpower. Either decision would have substantial costs. To remain in Washington's pocket is to show weakness and invite the contempt of its adversaries; to ignore Washington's demands would incur the wrath of its most important financier and arms suppliers and possibly result in a reduction of aid.
Without inside knowledge I can't pass judgment on Spengler's assertion about the settlement flap, but if it is correct it suggests a dangerous and volatile situation is developing - a crazy wildcard.
The Bush administration's failure to quickly finish the two (ill advised IMO) wars it started has left the US with few options, all of them shades of bad - stuck on a tarbaby - particularly given the world financial situation.
history rhymes
Print
The Petraeus briefing: Biden’s embarrassment is not the whole story - On Jan. 16, two days after a killer earthquake hit Haiti, a team of senior military officers from the U.S. Central Command (responsible for overseeing American security interests in the Middle East), arrived at the Pentagon to brief Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The team had been dispatched by CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus to underline his growing worries at the lack of progress in resolving the issue. The 33-slide, 45-minute PowerPoint briefing stunned Mullen. The briefers reported that there was a growing perception among Arab leaders that the U.S. was incapable of standing up to Israel, that CENTCOM's mostly Arab constituency was losing faith in American promises, that Israeli intransigence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was jeopardizing U.S. standing in the region...
"This is starting to get dangerous for us," Biden reportedly told Netanyahu. "What you're doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace." Yedioth Ahronoth went on to report: "The vice president told his Israeli hosts that since many people in the Muslim world perceived a connection between Israel's actions and US policy, any decision about construction that undermines Palestinian rights in East Jerusalem could have an impact on the personal safety of American troops fighting against Islamic terrorism." The message couldn't be plainer: Israel's intransigence could cost American lives.
Israel does not want a peace settlement, they want to drive off the remaining Palestinians. It is long past time for the United States to untangle itself from the middle east by removing our troops from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. We are there to protect Israeli interests - not to protect our own interests. American soldiers are being killed, wounded and sickened physically and mentally in wars that are illegal and without any justification.
With "allies" like Israel, we don't need any enemies. Our nation is totally bankrupt but yet we continue these expensive and inhumane occupations while giving Israel billions in foreign aid. When is it enough?
Larry
END the FED before it ENDS US
Ominous signs plague Biden's Middle East visit - complete Reuters article
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - In the region where symbolism may matter most, the signs for U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit were inauspicious.
The first sign of trouble in Israel came when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented Biden with a glass-framed gift honouring his mother. I have one thing to offer you right now and it's broken glass," Netanyahu said at discovering the shards he was holding. Biden cautioned: "Don't cut yourself." The prime minister inadvertently shattered the glass when he put his elbows down on the podium, spokesman Mark Regev said.
In Judaism, broken glass is often thought to be a reminder of an imperfect world, and many say the Jewish wedding tradition of stomping on a glass is an expression of sadness at the destruction of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem.
At a later tour of Israel's Holocaust memorial museum, Yad Vashem, the lights in the "Hall of Remembrance" unexpectedly went out as a prayer for those killed was chanted, catching Biden's security detail by surprise.
"It's the Middle East," said an unfazed senior White House adviser, a veteran of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. "It could mean anything." An Israeli expert of Jewish mysticism, known as Kabballah, said Biden's visit came at a time "when there is tremendous energy" before the Passover holiday that starts later this month, marking the biblical escape of the Jews from Egypt.
"It could be something negative, like what is referred to as the 'evil eye'," said the expert, who declined to be named. "But in Kabballah, we also believe that sometimes before a great light is revealed, there have to be a series of disturbances."
"When the United States doesn't play its cards right, it gets a gift of broken glass," he said, noting that "one of the plagues in Egypt was darkness.
This is getting way too crazy...here we are in the 21st century fighting religious wars. If my fellow Amnericans want to continue killing muslims they should do so at their own expense and danger and not under the U.S. flag.
END the FED before it ENDS US
Larry
Unfortunately it is a little more complex. Israel was established by the International banking cartel (ie. Rothschilds) which as you well know owns us.
The Knesset building and the Israeli Supreme Court building were built by the Rothschilds. No one gets elected president of the US without first genuflecting before AIPAC. US foreign policy is well out of the hands of the American people and has been for some time.
V
V, the issue for me is not affecting US foreign policy but trying to read the tea leaves. It may be that the US has told Israel that if they want US support for an attack on Iran they must make progress on the Palestinian issue - and the settlement policy now being pursued makes that impossible. Maybe the Saudis have pressed this point and the US military now agrees. Perhaps there is some sentiment building within Israel that they should just go it alone and expect that if they act the US will have to back them up. A significant change in the settlement policy might not be possible for the current Israeli government - any attempt to do so may cause its ruling coalition to fall apart.
The tension seems to have escalated over the past two days.
history rhymes
Larry
Unfortunately it is a little more complex. Israel was established by the International banking cartel (ie. Rothschilds) which as you well know owns us.
The Knesset building and the Israeli Supreme Court building were built by the Rothschilds. No one gets elected president of the US without first genuflecting before AIPAC. US foreign policy is well out of the hands of the American people and has been for some time.
V
Uggh. I was afraid somebody would say something like that. I don't know much of the history. But I'm not at all surprised about the connections.
S
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SJM I am sorry to bring this info to your attention. However what follows is the Readers Digest version of the Cliff notes on the Balfour Declaration. The Balfour Declaration was actually crafted by Lord Alfred Milner. It really matters little because they were both founding members of Cecil Rhodes' Round Table Group. That is the group which sired the Council of Foreign Relations. The CFR gives the marching orders to any American administration.
The Balfour Declaration of 1917 (dated 2 November 1917) was a formal statement of policy by theBritish government stating that
The declaration was made in a letter from Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Baron Rothschild(Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild), a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, a Zionist organization. The letter reflected the position of the British Cabinet, as agreed upon in a meeting on 31 October 1917. It further stated that the declaration is a sign of "sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations." The statement was issued through the efforts of Chaim Weizmann and Nahum Sokolow, the principal Zionist leaders based in London; as they had asked for the reconstitution of Palestine as “the” Jewishnational home the declaration fell short of Zionist expectations.[2] The "Balfour Declaration" was later incorporated into the Sèvres peace treaty with Turkey and the Mandate for Palestine. The original document is kept at the British Library. The anniversary of the declaration, 2 November, is widely commemorated in Israel and among Jews in the Jewish diaspora as Balfour Day.
CB Sorry but anything you see in the media in regards to Israel and US relations is nothing more than a dog and pony show. 62 years of US support of whatever Israel wants to do and the US supply of arms is just the past and current story of the relationship which will continue till Israel disappears from the pages of history. The capitol of the nation called the US is one of three city states under the control the international banking cartel. Washington is the military center of this empire. London is the financial center and the Vatican is the religious center. These three places are not a part of the countries which surround them. The US will play this role until it is no longer able to continue then another state will take it's place. V |
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...........and the Vatican is the religious center. V |
V,
I've never heard this before. Could you elaborate?
No need to be sorry V.
I appreciate the information.
Earthwise
In the interest of not hijacking this thread or at least taking it down the rabbit hole, I suggest you
search the internet for the three city states Washington, London and the Vatican. You will
find over 500k entries on Google. It is interesting reading. Of course this is coming from a conspiracy theorist. And a historian.
After that you may wish to investigate the Mall in Nashville Tn.
V
Bunker Busters are delivered. Time to distance ourselves for plausible deniability.