Netanyahu is Pulling a George W. Bush on Iran
By Thom Hartmann A...
One of, if not the biggest, Republican talking points about the nuclear deal with Iran is that it’s bad deal because it’s bad deal for Israel.
We know this deal is bad for Israel, Republicans say, because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it is.
Now, there’s nothing the mainstream media likes more than regurgitating right-wing talking points, so this kind of thinking gets treated like gospel here in Washington, but in reality it’s just plain wrong.
And that’s because it’s becoming increasingly obvious that Netanyahu is lying about the threat (or lack thereof) posed by the Iranian nuclear deal.
This isn’t some big secret, either.
It’s right there in the opinion pages of Haaretz, Israel’s version of The New York Times.
Earlier this week, Haaretz published a shocking editorial that accused the Netanyahu government of “silencing” a group of intelligence chiefs who disagreed with Netanyahu's position on the Iran deal
According to that editorial, “There are those in the Intelligence Corps, including those in the research division dealing with Iran, who have a very positive view of the nuclear agreement… but… they have been swallowed up as if they had never existed... [T]hese views," they concluded, "are being concealed from the public.”
In other words, Netanyahu is pulling a George W. Bush on Iran.
This raises the question: Why would someone like Benjamin Netanyahu, someone who claims to care about the health and safety of the Israeli people, put politics over policy?
Why wouldn’t he listen to his intelligence chiefs and go along with a deal that pretty much every single nuclear expert in the world says will stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon?
The answer is simpler than you might think.
Despite all his talk about Israel and its safety, Benjamin Netanyahu is really only loyal to one cause: the neocon cause.
He’s always been a warmonger of the highest order, and his number one concern isn’t protecting Israel, it’s justifying the Next Big War in the Middle East.
He’s still the same guy he was in 2002 when he sat in front of the US Congress and told the elected representatives of the American people that invading Iraq would bring peace and prosperity to the Arab world.
Replace the words “Saddam Hussein” in that clip with “Ayatollah Khameini” and it could have been taken 13 days, not 13 years, ago.
And that’s a really important point because it gets to the heart of what’s really at stake as Congress continues to debate the Iran deal.
This isn’t about Israel versus Iran, Iran versus Saudi Arabia, America versus Israel, or Israel versus terrorism.
It’s about war versus peace, warmongering versus diplomacy, and neocons versus the rest of us.
Neocons like Benjamin Netanyahu want war at all costs, and will suppress the truth if they have to in order to get their way.
We’ve seen this script before with Iraq, when Netanyahu and the neocons lied their way into the biggest foreign policy disaster in American history. And we saw it played out in the 1960s when neocons lied their way into the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, formalizing the Vietnam war.
Let’s not make the same mistake again..
Comments
#2
Naw, Thom,
Natanyahu would like to be a neo-liberal, but as lonf as there are "other opinions" that are not "neo", some of the same social benefits that existed before, and during his various candidacies will remain.
FYI, there some very real neos and when they had charge of the Ministry of Finance they cut some of the benetits back. When that neo aka Yair Lapid lost his preeminence, the social conservatives, some of them Clerical, and those people in the Left put the the benefits back to where they were, and even changed the rules of eleigibility to make it less difficult that it was before.
On the Iran front, Natanyahu has been reaching out to the Arab states, and the Palestinians below the radar for years. The Iran thing is one of those enemy of my enemy is my friend, for the time being. Then too, there are people in Iran that are against the treaty, as well, as long as the current governement remains as authoritarian as they are, 600 odd people assassinated over the year, is that what you reward Iran with?!
Nobody wants war, not even Natanyahu, and there is so much under the radar that doesn't get reported. Yeah, Syrians are regularly brought over treatment in Israeli hospitals, Gazans, too, as well as food and construction materials to rebuild the homes. It simply doesn't get into the front lines for all sorts of curious reasons.
I'm not worried, and I live here. For the nearly twenty odd years that Natanyanu has been on the scene, he has been likely the most reasonable PM we ever had. He knows what his is doing, though, as you point out, he was a YAFer like you, at one point in your life, and remained a neo-liberal, but Please God, our system of proportional representation insures that anyboy that is "in the government", has a say, and we are talking about a plurarlity of voices.
#3
Does Sanders / Trump tell us what the two sides have in commom, besides SS. Medi..... We're both sick of lawyers in government?
#4
On topic: Could the MIC and it's mules be anymore obvious that they are with the MIC? Watch The Brink on HBO! Tim Robbins is the Sec. of state. He battles the knucklehead generals over diplomacy and war, in Pakistan with humor.
#5
Fear mongering is a "tried and true" technique commonly used by demegogues to get themselses elected and then stay elected. In Isreal, there are large numbers of voters who feel very insecure, becasue they are living in Jews-only settlements on lands that were illegally grabbed (in many cases violently) from Palestinian land ownwers. They have a guilty conscience, and rightly so. And as we have seen lately, some of them are themselves terrorists. Those Jews-only settlements are institutionalized hot beds for Jewish bigotry. So it is not surprising to see that they tend to vote for a bloody lying war monger like Bibi Netanyahu.
#6
The Fascists say that we can't afford programs like Social Security, and Medicare.....things that promote the general welfare, but we always seem to have plenty to shell out on war for profit....and of course Netanyahu is well aware of this...which is why he lobbied before our Fascist/Confederate party last March.
#7
Like most things, it's a little more complex than that, & in this case appears to be at least partly personal. Remember, NetanYA-HOO's entire political career has been based on fear- & war-mongering - a successful approach when in a situation such as Israel's.
In addition, his coalition governments have always been dependent on the small, far right wing religious parties to make a majority.
He was one of the architects of the settlement policies that are destroying Israel from within, & if he was to acknowledge that it would contradict his entire political career.
& then there are the personal pieces: His father was a major aide to Jabotinsky & his brother was the commander of & only IDF casualty during the Entebbe Raid.
The combination of all of these pieces results in the deadly approach he seems psychologically incapable of changing... Or even admitting the destructiveness of.
#8
The confusion all goes away if we consider Netanyahu’s approach in light of the Twin Tower- False Flag model. Netanyahu’s long term goal is domination of all Israel land (plus any additions he can get). The Israeli military is not capable of achieving that goal alone. His plan is to con the U.S. into militarily decimating all of Israel’s opposition. The Iran agreement kills this plan. So, from Netanyahu’s perspective, the agreement is bad for Israel. Of course Israeli intelligence chiefs don’t agree. They aren’t part of the plan. They are thinking about current peace. I don’t believe Netanyahu is just in this as a warmonger for the sake of war. Israelis are too practical for that. There’s a long term goal at stake. This is ALL ABOUT Netanyahu’s goal for Israel’s long term geography and domination of the region.
#9
why is US so beholden to Israel ? US must not give away money we have to borrow. Looks like China , Israel , billionaires, lobbyists, greedy Wall St controls US policy...
#10
dianhow, Israel is a tool of the CIA to make war for the MIC.
#11
Org,
apparently you didn't read by comment. Again, if you didn't know already, the "settlements" were began under Rabin, and promoted by Sharon. Natanyahu, as I already said, would like to be a full-fledged neo-Liberal, but there are too many other elements in the country that won't let him, yes including the not so right wing religious parties that support social programs that cover "all the citizens of the nation", inclucing the Palestinian Arab minority. In fact, if you haven't read about how Palestinian Arabs in Jerusalem are opting for Israeli citizenship so they can get those benefits, a trend, and how many I can't say.
Fact is that one of the reasons that the PLO is not talking is on account of Natanyahu's talks with Hamas, as well as other Arab nations in the region, The other day, on Israeli pol said something about it, and Abu Mazen is upset that Hamas actually "is talking". Yeah, just another example of how "together" national leadership of the Palestinian Arab movement is.
the Israeli PM does what is good for Israel, maybe not for the States, but why would you explect him to do otherwise. Heck, Jordan and Israel seem to be working together on the Syrian front. and if you didn't know, Palestinian Arab tycoons invest in Israeli companies, and other curiousities that might complicate your version of the situation.
Ah! if you looked up some things that your arch enemy Jabotinsky wrote--during the Mandatroy period he suggested a bi-national state where Jews and Arabs might share the governance. You see, the British were tough on Jewish immigration, but Arabs from the region came to live and work in the Mandate without much trouble since the "Zionist enterprises" were doing well enough to need workers in the cities and outlying regions. You din't hear about that, either.
Don't worry, the more you learn the more you realize the Middle East is more complicated a place than you imagine, Currintly, it looks like the enemies of the enemies have are becoming friends vis a vis Iran. Whether there will be war, I can't say. There is a commonality of interests, my friend. I don't understand it, but that seems to be happening, so . .. whatever you thought you knew, changes.
#12
Israel's Prime Minister Yahoo is a dangerous fascist. I am terrified at the prospect of those idiots in Congress following his lead into WWIII.
#13
This whole issue brings to mind one old, but rather relevant, joke:
There was this proverbial Jeannie who promised to fulfill any one of some guy's wishes on one condition : that the guy's Jewish neighbor next door will get double of whatever the guy wants for himself. It didn't take the guy long to come up with the perfect wish: “I wish ...my one eye go blind!" The Jeanie laughed and noticed that century after century the wish never changes.
I find the joke quite universal. It certainly applies to the current Iranian nuclear deal. As long as they chant "Death to Israel!" first and "Death to America!" second, we cannot resist assisting...
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Thom, This might be the story that got people thinking about Bernie and the Israel-Palestine issue. This morning they played Amy Goodman's interview with Henry Siegman. I think Bernie should get Henry Siegman on his team!
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/8/13/henry_siegman_leading_us_jewish_voice
He should also get PR expert George Lakoff on his team. Professor Lakoff could be our Frank Luntz. But the "Left" doesn't seem to understand the importance of PR like the "Right" does.