"".there is no evidence that Iran is preparing
to acquire nuclear weapons. All that exists is a suspicion that Iran so intends, and, because of this
suspicion, we are trying to compel Iran to abandon efforts to advance its
nuclear program meant for civil and peaceful purposes, specially to meet its
energy needs so that its industry can grow. Even though Iran does not violate
any international requirement by continuing to advance its nuclear capability.
Indeed, we are preparing to go to war with Iran on this!"
**********************
"We the people must rise up and demand that we
do not go to war with Iran on this. Unless we do this we will find ourselves in
another unnecessary and costly war. And this time it will be
ugly."
***********************
The hysteria over Iran's nuclear capabilities having reached such a stage as to call for immediate bombing of its nuclear facilities -- this hysteria is deliberately and insidiously being whipped up by Israel to turn away the world's gaze from its vicious ethnic cleansing and land grabbing activities in Palestine, especially in the Jerusalem region and to find an excuse for attacking Iran, for which it has been itching ever since Iraq was neutered, leaving Iran the only country in the region that can be expected to stand up to Israel.
The extent of its success can be gauged from the fact that, according to a recent Pew poll, 58% of Americans favor preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons even if it means taking military action.
More important is the success Benjamin Netanyahu scored when he met Obama at the Whitehouse. One would have thought that the most burning question requiring urgent attention in the region, namely restoring peace between Israelis and Palestinians and the creation of a Palestinian state, would have been the central topic. But it was not. There was hardly any mention of the issue! Netanyahu managed to shut it out completely and devote the entire discussion to dealing with Iran!
Obama's performance at the meeting was pathetic. Not only did he not bring up the issue of Palestine, but, even on Iran, enabled Netanyahu to say, --Above and beyond that there are two principles you reiterated yesterday that Israel must have the ability always to defend itself, by itself against any threat and that, when it comes to Israel's security, Israel has a right, a sovereign right, to make its own decisions". Israel must reserve the right to defend itself"..my supreme responsibility as Prime Minister of Israel is to ensure that Israel remains the master of its fate."
True Obama could not possibly have denied that. However he could and should have reminded Netanyahu that Israel, in exercising that right, must always remember that Israel, as any other nation, has a duty not to take any action that can result in grave harm to the world as a whole, especially if that action is unwarranted and unnecessary and is being maliciously or mistakenly taken under cover of "defending Israel", and that if, in spite of being advised against it, Israel goes ahead and takes such action, Israel cannot expect and will not get any support from the US. In fact, if Israel is preparing to take any such action, other countries that will be adversely affected have a right to take any action that may be required to prevent such an action.
By remaining silent at Netanyahu's enunciation of Israel's right, Obama missed the opportunity to make the US position forcefully clear to Israel and to Americans.
While Obama did not give Netanyahu the green signal to go ahead with his bombing plan and seemed to back away from it, saying that there was still a window of opportunity for a diplomatic solution, he seems to have succumbed to Israel's pressure, saying recently that the window had narrowed!
A brief look at relevant facts will show that there is no call for bombing Iran because of its progress on its nuclear energy program.
Iran has repeated again and again that it has no intention of acquiring a nuclear arsenal and that its nuclear program is meant only for civil not military purposes.
The New York Times, no friend of Iran, reported on February 24 that though Iran had accelerated its uranium enrichment program, "American intelligence analysts continue to believe that there is no hard evidence that Iran has decided to build a nuclear bomb. Recent assessments by American spy agencies are broadly consistent with a 2007 intelligence finding that concluded that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons program years earlier, according to current and former American officials. The officials said that assessment was largely reaffirmed in a 2010 National Intelligence Estimate and that it remains the consensus view of America's 16 intelligence agencies". ( emphasis added)
According to a report by Time's journalists James Risen and Mark Mazetti, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper in his January 31 Senate testimony stated explicitly that there was no evidence that Iran had made a decision on making a concerted push to build a weapon.
Other top Obama administration officials, including CIA Director David Petraeus, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey share Clapper's assessment.
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