In this one sentence, Netanyahu lays out his full-fledged paranoia, a belief that Iran would commit national suicide because it hates Jews. He also fails to support his allegation that Iran is "nuclear-armed." It is not. Pray for the Israeli people who have re-elected a man with these views.
The fact that Netanyahu continues as prime minister of a major industrial power is frightening. Paranoia on a scale this large, with at least 80 nuclear bombs awaiting use, is a major, major argument for eradicating all nuclear arms worldwide.
The New York Times asked veteran diplomat Gary Sick for a comment on Netanyahu's speech. Sick was polite but obviously surprised:
"Gary G. Sick, a former National Security Council staff member who specializes in Iran and who is now a research scholar at Columbia University, said he saw in Mr. Netanyahu's speech a somewhat ineffective attempt to abort the momentum that Mr. Rouhani had sought to build.
"'He was so anxious to make everything look as negative as possible he actually pushed the limits of credibility,' he said, noting that it seemed incongruous after Mr. Rouhani's diplomatic overtures and President Obama's cautious responses. 'It really is jarring to see that, the extreme element, and how far he was willing to push it. He did himself harm by his exaggerations.'"
The nuclear arms race is the most destructive, immoral, impractical, suicidal components of the world's military obsessions. All nuclear arms should all be banned. Unfortunately, in the realpolitik of the 21st century, the chances of a nuclear arms ban are slim to none.
Barack Obama has to be aware of the irrational views of Netanyahu. So it is that when Obama enters the world political boxing ring, he enters with an 800-pound gorilla on his back, a potent political force that keeps whispering in his ear, "is this good for Israel"?
A gorilla? Yes, a gorilla, which is one way to describe a particular reality whose name must not be spoken, even though it influences whatever is going on in the room of world politics, corporate strategy meetings or a marriage counseling session. The gorilla is always there, but as in the Harry Potter books, his name "must not be spoken."
The leader of the world's sole remaining super power functions in politics, domestic and foreign, with no reference to Israel's political prisoners, its checkpoints, its home demolitions, or its repressive occupation. Because our President does not speak "the name" except in the lofty phrase, "our ally," Obama focuses on Iran's nuclear program as something that concerns him.
Of course, the nation it really concerns is Obama's 800-pound gorilla which succeeded in getting Iraq neutered as a troublesome neighbor and is eager to do the same now with Iran and Syria.
Israel seems to be redrafting the Sykes-Picot agreement originally written at the close of World War I. It was a plan (shown above) which two Western diplomats, Sir Mark Sykes, of Great Britain, and Georges Picot, of France, designed to create new Middle East national borders for the benefit of Western colonial victorious powers.
Israel, one of the world's leading nuclear powers, wants to make the Middle East nuclear free, with the exception of Israel, of course.
The best way to accomplish this, from Israel's perspective, is to break up many states into smaller, weaker "tribal states" which would pose no military threat to the reigning Middle East power, Israel.
Obama's speech did not deal with new borders. Rather he revealed a distressing willingness to provide preferential treatment to Israel in the region:
"Since I took office, I've made it clear in letters to the supreme leader in Iran and more recently to President Rouhani that America prefers to resolve our concerns over Iran's nuclear program peacefully -- although we are determined to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. ... So these statements made by our respective governments should offer the basis for a meaningful agreement. We should be able to achieve a resolution that respects the rights of the Iranian people while giving the world confidence that the Iranian program is peaceful.
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