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OnFire by belfasttelegraph.co
The dark clouds of war hang over the Middle East as Israel prepares to launch an attack on Iranian facilities it suspects are developing a nuclear bomb. The saber rattling and threats emanating from Israel against Iran never stop. Hardly a day goes by when we do not hear ominous warnings issued by the government of Israel. The Middle East is like a seething volcano, increasing in intensity, ready to erupt at any time.
This is an extremely tenuous situation. Israel threatens to launch an attack, Iran answers back with a threat to retaliate, and the U.S. announces that "all options are on the table." Round and round it goes, one threat followed by another. There has been no substantive effort made to alleviate this very dangerous situation by any one of the parties through mutual discussions, negotiations or use of intermediaries.
Israel seems to be hell bent on settling the matter by attacking Iran, and the Obama administration has been powerless to deter it from this reckless obsession. While Israel and Iran have been adversaries for some time, when it became known that Iran was initiating a nuclear program, Israel immediately charged that the program was designed to develop a nuclear bomb; that is, without any concrete evidence to prove it.
Never mind that the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Association, based on continuous intensive on the ground inspections, and U.S. intelligence agencies have both reported that there is no conclusive evidence of the development of a nuclear device. This is so reminiscent of those days when UN inspectors and intelligence agencies of various nations were stating that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction.
We should remember that these war hawks in both America and Israel are the same ones who used misinformation and fabricated evidence to initiate an invasion of Iraq in 2003. Now they are using that same strategy, once again aided and abetted by the mainstream corporate-controlled media, to repeat that same egregious mistake. But that's what they do; that's how they and their fellow facilitators of war make their monumental profits.
This ongoing confrontation is currently the greatest concern in this region but it is not the only instance in which Israel is at odds with one or more of its neighbors. Here are several other recent incidents where Israel was and still is involved with questionable actions or military confrontations with other nations in the Middle East.
In May, 2010, Israelis commandos boarded a ship that was a part of the freedom flotilla trying to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza; eight Turkish citizens and one Turkish/American were killed. Thereafter Turkey demanded that Israel issue an apology but Israel refused and would not accept responsibility for the attack.
Whenever a humanitarian flotilla heads for Gaza to try to deliver badly needed supplies the Israeli's lie in wait to stop it before it can complete its mission. This government gives every impression of being merciless and totally without conscience as it goes about its mean spirited agenda against people who need the aid of others.
Turkish intelligence agencies have reported that Israel has used drones to gather surveillance data over their country and has given it to the Kurdistan Worker's Party (the PKK) that it could use to strike targets within Turkey. The Turks believe that Israel is covertly working to help arm the PKK as retribution for Turkey's supposed diplomatic snubs. Now a huge gulf has developed between these two former friendly nations and this is a sign of the further isolation of Israel from the nations of the Middle East.
Since 2010, four Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated; the last was killed when his auto was recently blown up by an attached magnetic bomb. Who is being blamed for these deaths? Well, all fingers seem to be pointing at Israel but its government remains silent on the matter, making no official comment; the only comments have come from a spokesperson who said that "they won't be shedding any tears."
Now we are hearing of reports that indicate that Israel is planning another attack on Gaza, three years after its December, 2008 Operation Cast Lead killed up to 1,400 Palestinians. The Israeli military has stated that a new offensive would be launched before very long and would be "swift and painful". No doubt it will be very painful especially for those innocent women and children who will once again become innocent victims of "collateral damage."
This situation is becoming more than embarrassing for America as the world watches the tail (Israel) wag the dog (America). It's incomprehensible that such a small nation has the power to control a large part of the foreign policy of the world's only superpower.
This potential attack on Iran must be defused before it gets America involved in yet more costly war that cannot be justified, one that could disrupt the supply of petroleum for the entire world and send prices skyrocketing.
If Iran is attacked it will, based on the expert opinions of military analysts, respond with a massive counterattack on Israel and a wide array of U.S. military installations in numerous surrounding countries including Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. Retaliation would very likely occur in both Israel and the U.S.
Much of the Middle East is in a fragile state with nations trying to regain stability after the revolutionary demonstrations and protests that took place during the Arab Spring. The outbreak of a massive military confrontation between Iran, Israel and, possibly, the U.S. could turn this region upside down if some of these nations came under attack and decided to enter into the conflict.
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