EDITOR: Obama’s problem
Dear Barack has a massive problem. No way can he say NO to Israel’s coming attack on Iran, even if he wanted to; he obviously hopes to get elected, and with the Zionist AIPAC ranged against if he does so, he does not stand a chance. Currently, he and the Republican candidates are all try to outdo each other in supporting Israel’s aggression, and some seem to be even more keen than the Israelis… in this game, he is a dead duck if he says publicly that Israel cannot attack Iran. No doubt this is what the CIA tells him to do, but he cannot do so.
Not only that. Israel has whipped this storm up with their many supporters in the west, and are now ready to attack, though they probably have not got the bombs which can destroy the deep-seated, hidden facilities of Iran. They obviously need the US technology to do so with certainty, but the US is dithering about that; If Israel starts without their go-ahead, they may find themselves moved into taking a part once it starts, and missiles start flying from both sides. So the only proper and legal position – to say no to Israel, is not a practical choice for an American president during an election year. While it is useful for the US to have Israel as a stick to frighten the locals with, it is less than useful when the stick is uncontrollable. So, the US has chosen to put on a show – more American generals and diplomats now visit Israel every week, than in a normal year… whom is going to be fooled by this is unclear.
The Israelis know that after November, Obama will be able to refuse, so must attack before, if they are to satisfy their own madness about this. This means an attack is due any moment, as to wait much longer will be folly, from their point of view, allowing the Iranians more protection. For all these reasons, the world is about to see yet another Israeli-sponsored illegal, immoral and unjustified war, and do nothing about it, like it did nothing when it attacked Lebanon in summer 2006, and Gaza in December 2008, as well as so many times before. Israel is the only country which can and does attack whenever and whoever it chooses, with total impunity. For those in the west who think this is right and justified, there is not much one can say – these are the kind of people who would have justified any colonial and imperialist war in the past. For the rest of us, this is a nightmare waiting to happen.
The blame for this mad war will not reside only with Israel and the US, but with the many western supporters who not in agreement at any atrocity by the deadly duo.This time, Israel is biting more than it can chew. Barak and Barack will bring us all a disaster which can still be stopped, but no one is trying to stop.
U.S. concerned that Barak is pushing for Israeli attack on Iran: Haaretz
The Obama administration believes Netanyahu is still sitting on the fence over a future military strike on Iran.
By Amos Harel
Visits to Jerusalem by senior U.S. officials this week reflect a growing concern in Washington over the possibility that Israel will decide to attack nuclear sites in Iran. The Americans are particularly worried about the hawkish line that Defense Minister Ehud Barak has adopted on the matter. They apparently have the impression, however, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to come to a final stance on the dispute.
The number of visits that have been made here by senior members of President Barack Obama’s administration in recent months is unusual. A delegation headed by U.S. National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon arrived Saturday evening; and later this week, Israel will host James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence. On separate visits this past fall, the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency, David Petraeus, paid a visit to Israel, as did U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, whose trip here came shortly after a visit to the United States by Barak.
Last month, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, came to Israel, not long after taking office. In another two weeks, Netanyahu will be in Washington to deliver an address before the policy conference of the pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The Israeli premier is also expected to meet with Obama in the course of the visit. Even prior to that, next week, Defense Minister Barak will apparently make his own trip to the U.S. capital to meet with senior administration officials.
This air bridge between Israel and the United States has one primary purpose − to make clear to Israel that the time has not yet come for military action against Iran’s nuclear program, and that any premature assault would disrupt the increasingly stringent process of international sanctions against Iran that Obama has been leading.
In discussions with their Israeli counterparts, senior U.S. administration officials have said the sanctions regime that the Americans have spearheaded is unprecedented in its severity and more time is needed to gauge its impact on the regime in Tehran. Within the Israeli cabinet, there are also ministers who acknowledge that the sanctions exceeded most of the expectations Israel held until a few months ago.
On Saturday, Iran announced an immediate halt to the sale of oil to Britain and France. The move came in response to the tough stance the two European countries have taken on the Iranian nuclear program, and in reaction to
the European embargo on Iranian oil that is due to take effect in July.
In a television interview at the beginning of the month, Obama said it was his understanding that Netanyahu was allowing more time to gauge the success of the sanctions and had not yet decided whether to attack Iran. However, others in the Obama administration have voicing more concerns. Defense Secretary Panetta has been quoted as saying he thinks Israel is close to a decision to attack this spring. In a CNN interview broadcast yesterday, Gen. Dempsey of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said such timing would not be prudent and would undermine the stability of the region.
For his part, British Foreign Secretary William Hague also said an Israeli assault would not be wise.
Washington, like Jerusalem, appears to be under the impression that Barak will play a key role in Netanyahu’s decision-making. According to various assessments, in the constellation of forces within the senior forum of eight capital ministers, Barak represents the hawkish camp, while ministers Moshe Ya’alon, Dan Meridor and Benny Begin are leading the opposition to an assault at this time.
In a report in the New York Times about two weeks ago, U.S. administration officials were critical of Barak, who has warned against the prospect within a few months of Iran entering a “zone of immunity,” after which it would be impossible to destroy its nuclear facilities. Barak defines the “zone of immunity” in accordance with Iran’s progress in installing centrifuges at the Fordow underground site near Qom, the location of which would make an aerial assault much more difficult.
The officials have contended that Israel is placing undue importance on the “zone of immunity” issue and mentioned Netanyahu’s request that his ministers keep quiet about Iran. Since then, other than the Israeli premier, only one senior Israeli continues to constantly make statements on Iran − Defense Minister Barak, who again made expansive comments on the issue in Japan and Singapore last week.
Support for Barak’s position came yesterday from Vienna, where the International Atomic Energy Agency is based.
The Associated Press quoted senior diplomats in the Austrian capital as warning that the Iranians recently carried out significant work at the Fordow site.
Israel joins Hague in raising temperature over Iran: Independent
As Tehran unveils the latest developments in its nuclear programme, the Israeli Defence Minister calls for ‘crippling’ sanctions
BRIAN BRADY SUNDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2012
Israel joined the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, in ratcheting up the pressure on Iran last night, calling for “crippling” sanctions on Tehran to force it to give up its nuclear programme. Israel’s Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, said a nuclear-armed Iran would trigger an arms race in the Middle East and ultimately pose a threat to the entire world.
The warning came hours after Mr Hague had claimed that Iran’s nuclear ambitions could plunge the Middle East into “a new Cold War”. Mr Hague told The Daily Telegraph: “If [the Iranians] obtain nuclear weapons capability, other nations across the Middle East will want to develop nuclear weapons,” leading to “the most serious round of nuclear proliferation since nuclear weapons were invented”.
Tensions in the Middle East are already running high, with Israel accusing Iran of masterminding attacks on its embassies. Iran denies the allegations and blames Israel and the United States for assassinating several Iranian nuclear scientists in recent years.
Mr Barak added to the tensions yesterday, when he expressed frustration that four rounds of UN sanctions had failed to halt Iran’s uranium enrichment programme. On a visit to Tokyo, he said: “We have to [speed up] imposing sanctions and make them crippling to such an extent that the leadership … will be compelled to sit down and ask themselves ‘are we ready to pay the price of isolation from most, if not all, of the world?'”
On Wednesday, Iran unveiled new developments in its nuclear programme, declaring it had used domestically made nuclear fuel in a reactor for the first time. Yesterday, after extensive naval manoeuvres in the region, Iranian warships entered the Mediterranean for only the second time since the 1979 revolution.
But experts urged governments last night to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to lead the investigations. Sir Richard Dalton, a former UK ambassador to Iran, said: “It is wrong to say that Iran is rushing towards having a nuclear weapon.
“But,” he added, “it is right that the IAEA should press Iran on behalf of the international community to answer fully questions about what it has been up to in the past and what it may still be doing in the present.” The shadow Foreign Secretary, Douglas Alexander, said: “Instead of raising the rhetoric, the Government should be focused on redoubling their efforts to increase the diplomatic pressure on Iran and find a peaceful solution to the issue.”
On Friday, US and European Union leaders were optimistic about resuming talks with Iran. The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said a letter from Iran to the US and its allies was “one we have been waiting for”.
Talks between Iran and six world powers – the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China – on Tehran’s nuclear programme collapsed a year ago. In recent months, Western countries have stepped up pressure on Iran over the nuclear issue, with the EU and US both introducing wide-ranging sanctions on the country. The US President, Barack Obama, emphasised this month that Israel and the US were working in “unison” to counter Iran.
Mr Hague told the Telegraph that Britain has urged Israel not to strike. He said: “We support a twin-track strategy of sanctions… and negotiations,” adding that a military attack would have “enormous downsides.”
Israel’s Civil Administration promoting legislation to let settlers build dirt roads without planning approval: Haaretz
If approved, the new policy would substantially expand the ability of Jewish settlers in the West Bank to take control of additional land.
By Chaim Levinson
The Israel Defense Force’s Civil Administration in the West Bank is promoting legislation that would allow Jewish settlers to build new dirt roads without planning approval if their purpose is to protect state-owned land.
Currently the creation of any new road or even changing its route requires full approval of the planning authorities, including the National Planning and Building Council, and is followed by the issuance of individual building permits.
If approved, the new policy would substantially expand the ability of Jewish settlers in the West Bank to take control of additional land.
Under the new approach, no permits would be required for the construction of roads designed to “protect state lands” unless the roads were constructed from gravel or asphalt.
Construction of gravel and asphalt thoroughfares would still require the full planning approval process, but dirt roads accommodating all-terrain vehicles would no longer require approval.
Most West Bank settlements are surrounded by fencing, but lying beyond the fences there is often considerable state-owned land, and the shift in policy would enable the Civil Administration to keep Palestinians off this land by giving access to security vehicles from the settlements, in an effort to keep the West Bank’s Arab residents from encroaching on the land.
The proposed change in policy would not be required for dirt roads needed to maintain security in areas around West Bank settlements, as the IDF GOC Central Command already has authority to seize land for the construction of security roads around the settlements without a building permit.
If the change in policy is approved with regard to the protection of state land, as a practical matter it would significantly expand the amount of land around West Bank settlements that is off-limits to Palestinians.
In response, the Civil Administration issued a statement in which it said a question was put to the Justice Ministry, but it was not regarding the creation of roads but simply putting markers on the land itself to indicate where the boundaries of state land are located.
“The request did not deal with the paving of roads for vehicular traffic to preserve this land. Work at the headquarters on the issue has not yet been completed,” the Civil Administration said.
At a hearing last week at the Ofer military court, however, Lt. Col. Zvi Cohen testified regarding land beyond the security fence at the Nili settlement east of the Israeli city of Modi’in.
As the hearing progressed, legal questions were raised about roads on state lands. The Civil Administration advised the court that it would seek to amend the law and would seek approval from Deputy Attorney General Malkiel Balas for roads protecting state lands.
US military chief cautions against Israeli attack on Iran: Guardian
General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, says a strike ‘at this time would be destabilising’
The United States is stepping up efforts to dissuade Israel from attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities, with a strong public warning by the US military’s most senior figure and the dispatch of two high-ranking officials to Jerusalem.
General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said in a television interview that it was “not prudent at this point” to attack Iran, and “a strike at this time would be destabilising”.
But in a comment likely to fuel speculation about Israel’s military plans, he added: “I wouldn’t suggest we’ve persuaded them that our view is the correct view.” The two countries were having a “candid, collaborative conversation” which was continuing, he said.
His concerns were echoed by William Hague, the British foreign secretary, who said it was “not a wise thing at this moment” for Israel to launch military action against Iran.
Reiterating comments made in a newspaper interview, Hague told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday: “I think Israel, like everybody else in the world, should be giving a real chance to the approach that we have adopted, of very serious economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure, and the readiness to negotiate with Iran.”
Citing attempted attacks allegedly by Iranian agents against Israeli targets in Delhi, Tbilisi and Bangkok last week, Hague said Iran was increasingly willing to contemplate “utterly illegal activities in other parts of the world”.
On Sunday Iran’s oil ministry announced it had stopped selling crude oil to British and French companies, in apparent retaliation for EU sanctions imposed over Iran’s perceived nuclear ambitions, including an oil embargo set to begin in July.
A spokesman, Alireza Nikzad, was quoted on the Iranian oil ministry’s website as saying: “Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped … we will sell our oil to new customers. We have our own customers … The replacements for these companies have been considered by Iran.”
Iran had warned last week that it might cut oil supplies to the Netherlands, Greece, France, Portugal, Spain and Italy.
Officials from the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, are due in Tehran on Monday for another round of talks on Iran’s nuclear activities, after they were denied access to certain nuclear sites and scientists on a visit last month.
Dempsey acknowledged Israel’s sense of urgency that action was needed before Tehran moved its nuclear facilities beyond reach, deep underground. Israel’s defence minister, Ehud Barak, who is believed to favour an early military strike, has termed this the “zone of immunity”.
Dempsey, who visited Israel last month to deliver a message of restraint, said it was premature to “decide that the time for a military option was upon us”. Economic sanctions imposed by the international community and diplomacy were beginning to have an effect.
Asked by the CNN interviewer Fareed Zakaria whether he would bet on Israel not launching an attack, Dempsey replied: “Fortunately I’m not a betting man.”
In Tehran, the Iranian foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, dismissed western “propaganda warfare” and said Iran would continue with its nuclear programme “even in the worst-case scenario”.
“Since we believe that we are right, we do not have the slightest doubt in the pursuit of our nuclear programme,” he told reporters, according to Press TV. “Therefore, we plan to move ahead with vigour and confidence and we do not take much heed of [the west’s] propaganda warfare … Even in the worst-case scenario, we remain prepared.”
As part of continuing efforts to restrain Israel, Barack Obama’s national security adviser, Tom Donilon, was due to meet prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday, as well as a clutch of senior government, military and intelligence figures during his two-day visit to Israel.
The purpose of the visit was consultations “about a range of issues, including Iran, Syria, and other regional security issues,” the White House said.
Later this week the US director of national intelligence, James Clapper, will arrive for talks with Netanyahu, Barak and the chief of Israel’s intelligence agency.
Both Americans are expected to impress on their interlocutors the need to give time for sanctions against Iran to have an impact. But, as the Guardian reported last week, there is a strong current of opinion within the administration that sanctions are unlikely to deter Iran and that their main purpose is to delay an Israeli strike.
Diplomatic traffic between Washington and Jerusalem has increased over recent weeks as Israel has agitated for tougher action against Iran, and the US has intensified efforts to persuade Israel against a military strike.
As well as a string of US officials travelling to Israel, visitors to Washington have included Barak, Avigdor Lieberman, the foreign minister, and Tamir Pardo, the Mossad chief.
Netanyahu is scheduled to visit the US next month to attend the annual conference of the pro-Israel lobby group Aipac. He is expected to meet Obama while in Washington.