#Tehran nuclear

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

The head of an Iranian secret service unit set up to target Mossad agents working in the Islamic Republic turned out to be an Israeli agent himself, according to former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Speaking to CNN Turk, Ahmadinejad claimed Monday that a further 20 agents in the Iranian intelligence team tasked with monitoring Israeli spying activities also turned against Tehran.

The alleged double agents provided Israel with sensitive information on the Iranian nuclear program, according to his comments in the interview, which were widely picked up by international media.

Ahmadinejad said the agents were behind some key Mossad successes in Iran, including the 2018 theft of nuclear program documents that were taken from Tehran to Israel and revealed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The trove is thought to have been a factor in convincing then-US president Donald Trump to pull out of the nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran.

The head of the counterintelligence unit was revealed as a double agent in 2021 but he and all of the other alleged Mossad moles were able to flee the country and are now living in Israel, claimed Ahmadinejad, a firebrand populist known for his hardline anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric and for the violent crackdown that followed his disputed 2009 reelection. He was prevented from running again for president earlier this year.

Other Iranian officials have in the past remarked about Mossad’s penetration in Iran. A former Iranian minister who served as an adviser to former president Hassan Rouhani said in 2022 that senior officials in Tehran should be fearing for their lives due to the “infiltration” of Israel’s spy agency, according to the London-based Persian-language Manoto news site.

[lasseling]

Israel to destroy Iran’s NUCLEAR facilities if Tehran follows through on revenge threats

[simply-ivanka]

‘Hypocritical’ Barack Obama - not Donald Trump - the US president who failed spectacularly on the world stage

President Trump performed well on the international stage, in pursuing his “American first” diplomatic strategy.

In May 2018, Trump made good on his campaign promise and announced he was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear agreement, which had established a set of debatable limits on Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon for at least the next ten or fifteen years.

When other signatories signalled that they would remain in the agreement, Trump put allies on notice that European countries would face American sanctions if they did business with Iran, forcing old friends to choose between Washington and Tehran.

Trump, then rebuking President Obama’s commitment to the first comprehensive global agreement to combat man-made climate, withdrew from the Paris Agreement, which had been negotiated in December 2015.

Preserving freedom of manoeuvre and energy independence, the Trump administration made it plain that it would deal with global warming and climate change in its own way.

No. 45 reckoned it was getting late in the game anyway, and that America was well-placed to deal with the remaining strategy of mitigation and adaptation.

Making a mockery of Obama’s policy of “strategic patience” with North Korea, which is shorthand for doing nothing at all, President Trump and North Korea’s Kin Jong-Un met in Singapore in June 2018, the first summit between the leaders of the US and North Korea since the end of the 1950-3 Korean War, to resolve the nuclear crisis.

While not determining exactly what “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean Peninsula would look like, Trump single-handedly took war off the table.

It was different, as well as potentially brilliant. See link below

https://www.skynews.com.au/insights-and-analysis/hypocritical-barack-obama-not-donald-trump-the-us-president-who-failed-spectacularly-on-the-world-stage/news-story/054c4abca1f6e81ad902bbcd41bd9dcb

[papasmoke]

Do you understand why Russia gave that Ultimatum to US and NATO in December 2021? It is a win-win for the  Moscow-Tehran-Beijing Axis. Why do you think Putin is so happy after all those recent high-level meetings with Iran, Hamas in Moscow and China? When they win as US/NATO will capitulate in Ukraine/Europe, in the Middle East, Central Asia, South China Sea/Taiwan, having already lost Africa, Latam. BRICS will dethrone the dollar and thus democracies. That is new world order that Putin was talking about a few days ago, that will be the 21st century under dictatorships. 

😱😱😱 NOT DETHRONING THE DOLLAR AS THE GLOBAL RESERVE CURRENCY 😭😭😭😭 QUICK WE NEED TO START NUCLEAR WAR TO SAVE OUR HEGEMONIC POSITION

[usafphantom2]

🚨🚨🚨Update: US B-2 ‘Spirit’ stealth strategic bomber carrying nuclear weapons has arrived at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar amid RED HOT tensions between Iran and Israel!! US preparing to nuke Tehran??🔥🔥🔥

@captCoranado via X

[mariacallous]

There is no shortage of misery in the Middle East today. As the region marked the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, Israel mourned the murder of around 1,200 Israelis and worried about the fate of the remaining 100 hostages held by Hamas. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the subsequent war, hundreds of thousands are currently homeless, and much of Gaza lies in ruins. Lebanon, too, is now devolving into a war zone.

Often overlooked amid all this misery is Iran, which is also having a terrible, horrible, very bad year. But unlike most of the other actors here, it has only itself to blame.

Consider where Iran was strategically on Oct. 6, 2023. The United States, torn between competing demands for its military forces, was looking to reduce its military presence in the Middle East. That brought Iran closer than ever to achieving one of its long-term goals: ridding the region of U.S. influence. Israel, meanwhile, was tearing itself apart at home over controversial judicial reforms. Iran had suffered a strategic blow a few years prior with the passage of the Abraham Accords, which promoted Israel-Arab ties, but Tehran had arguably countered this in part by forging closer military ties to Moscow. True, Iran remained under significant sanctions, but the Biden administration unfroze some $6 billion in Iranian funds in exchange for freeing American prisoners.

Now consider where Iran is just a year later. Hamas, an Iranian proxy, has been decimated. Israel has shown that it can reach into a VIP guest house in Tehran to kill Hamas’s leaders. Hezbollah, the crown jewel of Iran’s proxy network, has been mauled to the point where Iran needs to strike Israel on the group’s behalf, rather than vice versa. Israel’s fractured political spectrum doesn’t agree on much, but it is united when it comes to making Iran pay for its missile attacks on the country. The Abraham Accords—which normalized Israel’s relationship with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain—are strained but remain intact, and Saudi-Israeli normalization remains possible in the longer term, even if it is not in the cards right now. In fact, despite the violence, it is easier to fly to Tel Aviv from Dubai than from many European cities. And the U.S. military is once again surging into the region. Further Western sanctions relief—in this geopolitical climate—is currently off the table.

While Israel faces strategic problems of its own, at least Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can argue that he did not start this war. By contrast, it is an open question to what extent Iran’s leaders helped plan the Oct. 7 attack and set the region aflame in the process. Even if Iran was merely caught up in one of its proxies going rogue, it certainly did have a direct role in the missile barrages against Israel and, by extension, the retaliatory strikes that followed.

Perhaps the silver lining for Iran here is that it could have been worse. Tehran’s missile attacks—in April and again in October—failed to kill Israelis or cause significant damage. Had they done that, Israel’s retaliation would likely have been significantly more robust.

But this gets to the crux: Iran’s tolerance for risk is growing. Firing hundreds of ballistic missiles at a militarily superior adversary is a dangerous game. Firing them while repeatedly calling for the annihilation of a likely nuclear-armed, militarily superior, superpower-backed state with a right-wing government inclined to hit back hard is a potentially suicidal gamble.

That’s not the only thing Iran has done over the past year that was so risky that it could have threatened the regime’s stability itself, had it not been for Tehran’s incompetence. Iran reportedly tried to kill former U.S. President Donald Trump and other former senior Trump administration officials in retaliation for the killing of Iranian Quds Force leader Qassem Suleimani. Thankfully, those plots were foiled. But the attempt itself was a huge risk, especially given that Trump is a current candidate for the presidency and known for holding grievances. Indeed, after being briefed about the attempted assassination, Trump threatened to “blow [Iran’s] largest cities and the country itself to smithereens” if he gets back to the White House and Iran tried a similar ploy.

But whereas trying to assassinate a former—and potentially future—U.S. president on American soil is a gutsy move, imagine what would happen if such a plot actually succeeds. Republicans—many of whom are already pretty hawkish on Iran—would likely be calling for blood. Democrats would not likely let the killing of a former U.S. president go unpunished. Indeed, if one thing could upend the post-Iraq, post-Afghanistan received wisdom of eschewing regime change in the Middle East, killing a former president could be it. In short, if the Iranian regime survives this war, it will be thanks to luck and its own incompetence.

Of course, from the Iranian perspective, its actions—or at least its missile strikes—were driven by strategic necessities to reestablish deterrence after a series of Israeli and U.S. affronts to its sovereignty, such as striking Iranian diplomatic facilities in Syria and killing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders. But there is little evidence that Iranian actions are having any deterrent effect whatsoever. If anything, Israeli leaders are talking even more openly than before about regime change in Tehran and even more adamantly about destroying the Iranian nuclear program.

Strategically, the wisest option for Iran right now would be to retreat to the shadows, rebuild its proxy network, and fight another day. After all, it will take time to rebuild Hamas and Hezbollah into the formidable fighting forces they once were. At the same time, Israel’s ties to its Arab neighbors and the West are already frayed, thanks to the bloodshed of the Gaza campaign and the Netanyahu administration’s unwillingness to commit to any sort of Palestinian state—a win, if a Pyrrhic one, for Iran. Pulling back also leaves open the prospect of some sort of future deal with the West over the medium term—which Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says he wants and even Trump says he’s open to supporting.

That is not, however, what Iran seems intent on doing. Whether it’s because of Iranian domestic politics, concerns about losing face on the international stage, or simply a desire for revenge, the regime looks intent on doubling down. In a rare Friday prayer speech, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei—with a rifle by his side in case anyone missed the point—praised the Oct. 7 massacre and promised that Iran “won’t back down. Israel won’t last long.”

Iran’s seeming unwillingness to reverse course has important implications for the United States and the West’s approach to Iran. It raises the question of whether threatening Iran with further costs will be sufficient to force a change in direction. The United States and its European partners can sanction Iran all they want; Israel could bomb Iranian oil fields. But it may not change Iranian behavior.

If deterrence by punishment won’t work, then the United States and the West will need to resort to deterrence by denial—destroying Iran’s ability to attack Israel and aid its proxies. That would be hard to do, since it requires destroying significant chunks of Iran’s military capabilities rather than simply threatening to inflict pain. But if the Iranian regime seems intent on escalating, then the United States and its allies may have no other choice.

And if that happens, while this year may have been a terrible one for Iran, next year might be even worse.

[punisheddonjuan]

Yeah, Iran struck first, so long as you don't count Israel destroying two Iranian embassies in two separate countries (Lebanon and Syria) with air strikes, killing Haniyeh in Tehran, killing key Iranian ally Nasrallah in a strike that also killed a high ranking officer in the IRGC, or Israel assassinating Iranian scientists connected to their civilian nuclear program. Any one of these actions would provide a justified casus belli under international law. Iranian retaliation has been, if anything, remarkably restrained. The Islamic Republic, for all its many faults, has been a very rational actor in all this and avoided escalation, it's the Israelis who have taken every opportunity to escalate the conflict.

Of course, these Zionist motherfuckers never let the truth get in the way. And they lie. And they lie. And they lie.

[eretzyisrael]

by David Israel

A Pentagon official told Sky News in Arabic that the investigation being conducted by intelligence agencies in Washington into the leaking to Tehran documents of the IDF plan to strike Iran has begun to indicate “suspicion” of the involvement of a senior employee in the Pentagon.

The American official added that the employee suspected of leaking the documents is an American of Iranian origin named Ariane Tabatabai.

Ariane Tabatabai is an Iranian-American scholar of political science, writer, and senior policy advisor to the United States Department of Defense. After the Biden administration took office in January 2021, she joined the US negotiating team in nuclear negotiations with Iran. Between 2021 and 2022, she served as an advisor to Robert Malley, the chief promoter of pushing a deal with Iran at any cost.

Members of the US Congress, especially Republicans, have pointed out that Robert Malley was investigated after being suspected of having dealt with classified information without prior permission and of having secret contacts with Iranian figures.

Tablet Magazine accused Tabatabai of being an Iranian agent (High-Level Iranian Spy Ring Busted in Washington).

While awaiting the results of the official investigation, the official explained that the intelligence and armed services committees in Congress had been informed of this matter, especially since the suspect had a “top secret clearance that gives her the right to view highly classified information.”

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Douglas Murray

Published: May 21, 2024

THE President of Iran died at the weekend in a helicopter accident – news that the BBC marked with the headline “President Ebrahim Raisi’s mixed legacy in Iran”.

“Mixed legacy” is an interesting way to sum up the life of someone better known as the “Butcher of Tehran”.

Raisi rose through the ranks of the revolutionary Islamic Government that overthrew the Shah in 1979.

And he made his name in the usual revolutionary Islamic way.

By killing his political opponents — including the leftists who the regime rounded up, imprisoned and murdered by the thousands in their jails.

Some of the obituaries have noted that Raisi helped speed up the backlog of trials in Iran.

That is true. He did it in the same way Stalin did — by killing his opponents fast.

The United Nations noted his passing in its own unique way.

At the Security Council, the member States were invited to stand and observe a minute’s silence for Raisi.

Those taking part shamefully included our own deputy ambassador to the UN, James Kariuki.

At the same time, Iranians were letting off fireworks and handing out sweets in their own streets.

There has been more mourning at the United Nations than there has been in Iran.

Perhaps that is because the Iranian people are the first ones who have had to suffer under the cruel rule of President Raisi.

It was on his watch that students and others who have protested against his regime have been abducted, tortured and killed.

It is Raisi’s regime which has overseen the harshest rule of Islamic law — which includes the hanging of women who have been raped.

That’s right. If you are a woman who has been raped in Iran, you are the culprit.

And you will be the one that is hanged.

Are the women who suffered that horror worth a minute’s silence at the UN? I would have said so.

Is their hangman? I’d have said not. Yet the UN and others continued with this gross spectacle.

Today, the organisation flew its flags at half-mast at its HQ in New York.

How morally sick can an organisation be?

We seem to have come to the stage where international bodies, as well as some sick people at home, will love anyone so long as that person hates us.

And Raisi and his foreign minister, who died with him, certainly did hate us.

Theirs is a regime which has, for 44 years, called for “Death to America” and “Death to the UK”.

It is a regime which has caused a numberless loss of lives inside Iran and in the wider region.

It is a regime which has been trying to expand its power in its own region and whose assassins have made it as far as New York and London.

Only last month, a member of the Iranian opposition was stabbed outside his house in London.

Almost certainly by assassins sent to the UK by the government in Iran.

All the time, Raisi and his friends have tried to make their regime invincible by gaining a nuclear weapon.

So far they have had that project delayed many times.

But they still seek the bomb and are one of the very few regimes on Earth that has said they would like to use it.

We should take them at their word.

It is the regime in Iran that has, for years, funded and trained terrorists across the region and indeed the world.

‘Mass slaughter’

In October last year, when Hamas terrorists broke into Israel and carried out the largest mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, it was Iran which backed them.

It is Iran that has funded Hamas. It is Iran that has trained Hamas. And it is Iran that has armed Hamas.

Just as they have also trained, funded and armed their other terrorist groups.

Notably in Yemen. Where Iran’s Houthi friends have fired missiles and attacked British ships.

But also in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, where Iran’s weapons have killed British and American soldiers.

And that is before even getting on to the 150,000 missiles Iran has helped Hezbollah store up in southern Lebanon.

Or the drones and other munitions it has been giving to Vladimir Putin’s Russia as he tries to overrun Ukraine.

All of his foul life, Raisi hoped to start and win a massive regional war.

Why should the man who oversaw all this and very much more be given any respect?

You might say it makes political sense to keep doors open — as most of our Foreign Office seems to think.

But it is quite another thing to mourn, or lament, the passing of this man.

The BBC, Foreign Office and United Nations may not know what a tyrant is. But the Iranian people do.

If only we could show that we are on their side.

We could start by showing that we are also on our own.

==

Good fucking riddance. The Earth is a better place with him as a splatter stain upon it.

The absolute moral confusion that has infected our institutions is truly dire.

[girlactionfigure]

🟪 ANTI-DRONE - Real time from Israel

 

ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

( VIDEO - IDF soldiers on a break in a HEZBOLLAH UNDERGROUND AMMUNITION WAREHOUSE. )

▪️IRAN ATTACK FINAL.. 12 production facilities for rocket fuel mixers, the Russian S-300 air defense systems protecting Tehran, a drone manufacturing plant and a nuclear research site in Perchin were attacked.  US: During the attack on Saturday night, Israeli Air Force planes entered Iranian airspace and carried out deep strikes.  The attack ELIMINATED Iran’s air defense system, completely in western Iran and Tehran.  Anti-aircraft batteries and long range radars.

▪️DEFENSE.. The US is deploying a 2nd THAAD anti-ballistic-missile battery in Israel.  They have also stationed 3 AEGIS missile defense ships offshore from Israel.  While Israel’s Arrow ballistic missile interceptor system is very effective, apparently Israel has requested American coverage for additional capacity vs very large barrages.

▪️ANTI-DRONE.. the IDF has placed the first Vulcan cannon (very high rate of fire anti-aircraft gun) on the northern border, with the goal of intercepting drones launched by Hezbollah at Israel. The cannon was created by the Israeli Tamar company, and the IDF will mark the effectiveness of the cannon in its operational area in the north.

▪️A CIVILIAN HAS BEEN MURDERED.. in the Glilot terror ramming attack: Betzalel Karmi, 72, from Rishon L’Ziyon.  May his family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem, and may G-d avenge his blood!

▪️OH THE ICC.. The Guardian: The prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, who is trying to bring warrants against PM Netanyahu and Def. Min. Gallant, tried to (allegedly) prevent the employee who was sexually harassed by him from complaining against him.

▪️SHELTERS IN ISRAELI ARAB TOWNS.. several social commentators were stating that Israeli Arab towns, which have been hit several times recently with casualties, are not provided shelters.  The Ministry of Social Equality notes it has been delivering protective shelters to Israeli Arab towns within 20 km of the Lebanese border over the past year, including 14 different towns.  The town that was recently hit, Majd al-Khorum, has received 6 shelters to date.  

▪️MILITARY DRILL - AFULA, YOKNEAM, BEIT SHEAN AREAS.. exercise, from 16:00 to 19:00, active movement of police and security forces in the following places: Beit Shean and the nearby towns, Afula, Yokneam, Migdal HaEmek , Ramat Yishai and the Galilee. During the exercise, a partial blockage of traffic lanes is expected.

🔹Reuters: Iraq filed a complaint with the United Nations about Israel's use of its airspace in an attack on Iran.

🔸HOSTAGE DEAL NEWS.. Hamas has rejected the Egyptian deal, then hinted maybe not, or with changes.  A report on the Saudi Al-Arabiya channel: the US supports the Egyptian proposal for a fierce ceasefire and calls for it to be pushed through quickly.

.. With Netanyahu's intervention - the summit moved from Egypt to Qatar. Negotiation professionals recommended that it is a better center of gravity.

.. Saudi Al-Arabiya channel: Hamas is ready to accept the new proposal if it is part of the agreement proposed on July 2. “…We want guarantees of commitment to the Egyptian proposal and the agreement for a comprehensive ceasefire and not a partial deal.”

.. LEBANON SIDE - The office of the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Navia Berri: "What is attributed to him regarding the negotiations is not accurate.”

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Lee Smith

Unsurprisingly, Israel’s success against Hezbollah the last two weeks alarmed the former Obama officials staffing the current administration. After all, Obama’s strategy to realign U.S. interests with Iran was predicated on the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which put Iran’s nuclear weapons program under the umbrella of an international agreement guaranteed by the United States. The Iranians armed Hezbollah with missiles in order to deter Israeli action against their nuclear facilities, which is to say that the Lebanese militia serves not only Iranian interests but also those of the Obama faction.

The Biden team tried to stop Netanyahu from continuing his Hezbollah campaign by outlining how it intends to punish Israel in the period between the November election and the January inauguration with sanctions and other anti-Israel measures. But by telegraphing its intentions, the White House inadvertently incentivized Netanyahu to act quickly. Since a Harris victory ensures four to eight more years of a White House filled by Obama aides determined to protect the Iranians and their proxies, and a Donald Trump win means Biden’s punitive actions go away, Israel saw it had nothing to lose in either case. So on Friday, Netanyahu brought the era of permanent resistance to an end by killing the cult leader the Obama faction so desperately wanted to but could not keep alive.

In the past, Israeli officials warned against targeting the terror chief. They feared it might bring about an even more ruthless leader just as Israel’s 1992 assassination of then-Hezbollah chief Abbas al-Mussawi elevated, in their eyes, the more effective Nasrallah. But what made Nasrallah special, what gave rise to the personality cult around the man whose name means “victory of God,” was his relationship with Khamenei.

In 1989, Nasrallah left Lebanon for Iran, where the 29-year-old cleric was introduced to Khamenei. In the vacuum left by Khomeini’s death, Khamenei was working to consolidate his power, which included taking control of Hezbollah, Tehran’s most significant external asset. He saw Mussawi’s assassination as an opening to put his own man in place, and with Hezbollah’s operations against Israeli forces in Lebanon, Nasrallah’s legend steadily grew. Even Israeli officials credited Hezbollah for driving Israel out of the south in 2000, a singular triumph worthy of the name Nasrallah, a victory against the hated Zionists that no other Arab leader could claim.

But the myth of Nasrallah as Turban Napoleon was dispelled with the disastrous 2006 war which he stumbled into by kidnapping two Israel soldiers. Later he said that had he known Israel was going to respond so forcefully, he’d never have given the order. And yet despite the thousands killed in Lebanon, Hezbollahis and civilians, and the billions of dollars worth of damage, he claimed that Hezbollah won just because he survived. Before his demise, he’d been in hiding since 2006.

Israel’s recent demonstrations of its technological prowess show that Nasrallah survived this long thanks only to the sufferance of the Jerusalem government. Netanyahu and others seem to have hoped the Hezbollah problem would resolve itself once the Americans came to their senses and recognized the threat Iran posed to U.S. regional hegemony. But the Israelis misread the strategic implications of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The George W. Bush administration’s freedom agenda gave Iraq’s Shia majority an insuperable advantage in popular elections. And since virtually all the Shia factions were controlled by Iran, democratizing Iraq laid the foundations for Iran’s regional empire as well as Obama’s realignment strategy, downgrading relations with traditional U.S. allies like Israel and building ties with the anti-American regime. Even Trump, whose January 2020 targeted killing of Iranian terror chief Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi deputy Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was far and away the most meaningful operation ever conducted by U.S. forces on Iraqi soil, couldn’t entirely break the mold cast by his predecessors and which the Pentagon protected like a priceless jewel.

U.S. forces are still based in Iraq and Syria to fight ISIS and any other Sunnis the Iranians and their allies categorize as threats to their interests. The detail seems almost like a medieval curse imposed on the losing side in a war. After the Iranians killed and maimed thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq, and helped kill and wound thousands more by urging their Syrian ally Bashar Assad to usher Sunni fighters from the Damascus airport to the Iraqi front, America’s best and bravest are condemned to eternal bondage requiring them to protect Iranian interests forever.

The idea advanced by conspiracy theorists from the U.S. political and media establishment on the left as well as the right that Netanyahu is trying to drag the U.S. into a larger regional war with Iran—a thesis sure to be cited repeatedly in the aftermath of Nasrallah’s assassination—is absurd. The Obama faction, of which Biden and Harris are a part, is in Iran’s corner. Moreover, only a fool could be blind to the fact that the Pentagon way of war, three decades into the 21st century and a world away from the United States’ last conclusive victory, means death for all who pursue it.

If Washington and the Europeans are appalled by Israel’s campaign over the last two weeks, it’s because the Israelis have resurfaced the ugly truth that no modish theories of war, international organizations, or even American presidents could long obscure. Wars are won by killing the enemy, above all, those who inspire their people to kill yours. Killing Nasrallah not only anchors Israel’s victory in Lebanon but reestablishes the old paradigm for any Western leaders who take seriously their duty to protect their countrymen and civilization: Kill your enemies.

[loneberry]

Nearly 500 people in Lebanon have been killed. In a day. It’s absolutely horrific. I’ve long been afraid it would come to this. Israel is turning Lebanon into Gaza. They are trying to drag the US into a war with Iran.

There are no breaks on the Israeli genocidal war machine.

I often think about historical forks in the road, moments when a society must choose to go down the path of war or the path of peace. That path is chosen long before a conflict comes to a head. (My daily worry is that China and the US have already chosen the path to war, that it’s only a matter of time before the consequences of their cumulative geopolitical choices are realized).

One of the few good things to come out of Obama’s colossally disappointing presidency was the Iran nuclear deal, which was secured to the chagrin of the psychopath Netanyahu. Normalizing relations with a country that was no real threat to the US was the sensible thing to do. It was a step on the path to peace, a step toward greater regional stability in the Middle East too. Trump ripped up that deal and assassinated Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, putting us back on the path to war.

Despite Israel’s outrageous provocations, the Iranians have been remarkably restrained. Israel literally carried out an assassination on Iran’s sovereign territory. In Tehran. On the day of their new President’s inauguration. And after that, Iran did not take the bait by retaliating. Let’s also not forget…Israel bombed Iran’s embassy in Syria, an egregious violation of the Vienna Convention of 1961.

I fear that because Americans have Iran Derangement Syndrome we will sleepwalk into this catastrophic regional war. Netanyahu is playing Biden like a fiddle. Someone make this madness stop. No arms to Israel. The war in Gaza and Lebanon must end.

[collapsedsquid]

For weeks after the surprise election of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian in July, Iranian politicians had been publicly pushing a message of restraint even as Israel increased its attacks on Hizbollah, the Islamic republic’s most important proxy. But after Nasrallah’s killing it was Iran’s military leaders, bent on revenge and fearful the republic was looking increasingly weak, who won the day at the Supreme National Security Council meeting on Monday, said an Iranian official. With little warning, Iran on Tuesday fired about 180 ballistic missiles at Israel, pushing the arch foes closer than ever to the full-blown direct conflict Tehran has been insisting it wants to avoid. “Nasrallah’s assassination was the last straw and Iran has come to the conclusion the Israelis are not going to stop; they are taking harsher measures and now they are going to attack and invade part of Lebanon,” an Iranian official told the Financial Times. “The military commanders persuaded [the council] that if Iran does not [retaliate], it will lose its supporters and it will badly damage its reputation.” In doing so, the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose prime aim is ensuring the survival of the republic, has taken a huge risk. He has so far backed Pezeshkian’s overtures to the west in the belief that it is in Iran’s interests to resolve its years-long nuclear stand-off with the US and European powers in a bid to ease sanctions on the crippled economy, say Iranian analysts.

FT piece trying to paint the Iranian strike as maybe the work of overly militaristic hardliners but after Nasrallah's death I was seeing a lot of "the Resistance Axis is done, this is the final victory of Israel"

[darkmaga-returns]

Doug Bandow

Nov 7, 2024

The United States exited the Second World War both rich and secure. The U.S. homeland was essentially untouched, and Americans remained almost invulnerable afterwards. No war was likely to come to our shores. 

Unfortunately, the peace offered little wealth and security to everyone else. So Americans joined other nations’ wars, patrolling the globe during the Cold War, which sometimes turned scorching hot. Taking on this burden imposed a measure of humility even in Washington.

Despite persistent demands for intervention, U.S. presidents painfully learned their limits. For Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower there was an unsatisfactory stalemate in Korea. Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson refused to battle the Soviet Union to liberate Hungary and Czechoslovakia, respectively. Johnson also left the USS Pueblo’s 82 surviving crewmembers in North Korean captivity for nearly a year. 

There was an even more painful surrender of Indochina by Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Rather than deploy additional service members to South Vietnam or drop nuclear weapons on North Vietnam, they ultimately left friendly Vietnamese atop the U.S. embassy forlornly waiting for rescue. After making a desultory effort to free America’s captive embassy staff in Tehran, Jimmy Carter gave up. In 1981 Ronald Reagan did not oppose the Soviet-inspired crackdown in Poland; he later abandoned Lebanon’s civil war after a bombing killed 241 Marines.

Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, and hawks and doves all realized that there were limits to American power. Then came the collapse of the Soviet Union, the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, and the humiliation of communists worldwide. Washington perceived an entirely new world, reflected by George H.W. Bush during the first Gulf War when he announced, “What we say goes.”

[adgp35]

The Adventures of Rachael Ohana, Mossad Spy, Part 8

“Well done, Rachael. You have brought in the top scientific officer of Iran’s nuclear programme - and single handedly too! How did you do it?”

“It was easy, sir, Mohammad here thought he was clever - hiding in plain sight in Tehran with no security. He came as meek as a Persian lamb once I told him who is new secretary really was! The Beretta 70 helped persuade him too of course! 😂”

Sources: Pinterest posted by Arthur and Alamy Stock Photos

[mariacallous]

Ukraine is outraged by the unwavering American support for Israel, calling it a "double standard" as the United States refuses to intercept Russian missiles and drones over Ukraine, Politico reported on Oct. 16.

This week, the United States deployed the advanced THAAD missile defense system to protect Israel from Iranian ballistic missiles. However, Ukraine receives no similar level of assistance despite facing daily attacks from Russian drones, missiles, and bombs, the article states.

The reason for this discrepancy is that Russia possesses nuclear weapons, making Washington wary of escalating tensions with Moscow.

"The tough answer that Ukrainians may not like to hear but is unfortunately true is that we can take the risk of shooting down Iranian missiles over Israel without triggering direct war with Tehran that could lead to nuclear war," a high-ranking U.S. Senate aide working on Ukraine policy told Politico.

“There’s a lot more risk in trying that with Russia.”

Two officials from the Biden administration confirmed this. The White House fears that sending U.S. troops to Ukraine to intercept Russian missiles could provoke a direct military confrontation between the two leading nuclear powers, with potentially apocalyptic consequences.

"It is sad to look at all this as an ordinary citizen of Ukraine — when in an agreement to prevent escalation on the part of Moscow, your country and citizens are being sacrificed," said Mykola Bielieskov, a research fellow at the Ukrainian National Institute for Strategic Studies.

Kyiv wants Poland and Romania to help intercept Russian targets over western Ukraine. This option is being discussed, but the countries have not changed their policies yet, Politico writes. Warsaw has stated that it will not act without full NATO alliance support.

Meanwhile, two Ukrainian air defense officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained that it is easier for the United States to defend Israel's skies because it is a small country, and America can use ship-based air defense systems. In contrast, Ukraine is vast and inaccessible to Western fleets; its allies would need to place air defense systems on the country's western border, from which they could only protect adjacent territory.

"NATO members entering into the aerial defense of Ukraine would need to bring a much larger contribution, over a broader area, with a greater risk of ‘entering the war’ for uncertain gains," said Matthew Savill, military sciences director at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

“The cost would also be greater, as the frequency of Russian attacks is far greater than the significant but reactive Iranian attempts to strike Israel directly.”

However, Ukraine's frustration is growing as the Biden administration is not doing enough to help Kyiv stop Russian attacks, Politico notes. This includes slow weapons deliveries and a ban on using long-range missiles to strike Russian territory.

According to the outlet, U.S. officials are aware of Kyiv's growing dissatisfaction. They stated that they are working on new weapons supplies, which they hope will address the outrage.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized on Oct. 13 the deployment of a THAAD battery and associated U.S. military personnel to bolster Israel's air defense following Iranian attacks on April 13 and Oct. 1.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said on Oct. 15 that the United States will not intercept missiles over Ukraine as it does over Israel because "the wars are different."