Iran Offered Recognition of Israel, Nuclear Cooperation
Bush: "How dare you!"
In 2003, Iran offered to come in from the cold in a proposal to George W. Bush. Recognition of Israel within 1967 borders, pressure on Hizbullah and the Palestinians to moderate, signing the additional protocols of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, it was all there for Bush's taking.
What did Bush do?
He reprimanded the Swiss embassy, which takes care of US affairs in Iran, for daring to forward this proposal to Crawford on the Potomac.
Why?
Why?
Bush and his various constituencies (the military-industrial complex; the Christian Right; the Likudnik Lobby; and Big Oil) do not want peace with Iran.
How relieved they must have been when they managed to freeze out President Mohammad Khatami, who was trying to bring Iran back into the international community and reduce tensions.
How delighted they must have been when the world class buffoon Mahmoud Ahmadinejad succeeded Khatami and the hard liners strengthened their grasp after the Bush administration had done what it could to sabotage the Iranian reform movement.
Now Bush has Iran right where he wants it, in the sights of an ICBM.
Condi Rice called Iran the "central banker for terrorism" , even though the banks al-Qaeda used were in the UAE and Pakistan and no operational Iranian link to al-Qaeda has ever even been plausibly suggested. Rice hasn't said that again, because everyone pointed out to her that it is not true. Given that so many of the Israeli colonists busy stealing Palestinian land and pushing Palestinian children into thorn bushes are armed and demonstrably violent, and given that the US has designated Kach/ Kahana Chai as a terrorist group, it could as well be argued that the funders of Kach in particular and of the colonists in general are among the central bankers of terrorism in the world.
Then last week the Likudnik Lobby started a black psy-ops campaign to paint Iran as the Fourth Reich. The Khomeinist regime is oppressive and authoritarian, may God hasten its demise. But it hasn't invaded any neighbors, and it hasn't committed genocide (though it has executed dissidents and members of religious minorities who were prisoners of conscience), and you may as well assault Burma or Zimbabwe if you are a Warmongering Wilsonian.
posted by Juan Cole @ 5/26/2006 06:07:00 AM
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14 Comments:
What's so IRONIC about this.
The US should blow the XXXX out of Switzerland, if they had any serious intent about being a Global Policeman stopping corruption.
By the way. Iran is seriously more mountainous and bigger than Switzerlands.
Juan, you fail to note that Israel itself has outlawed both Kach and Kahane Chai (in 1994) and jailed much of their leadership and followers. Israel has also uncovered numerous terrorist plots against Arabs by extremist Jewish Israelis and punished the perpetrators. If only Syria, Iran, the P.A. etc. would take similar action against the terrorist organizations within their midst, instead of promoting their agendas and electing them to power.
You would have much more credibility if you told the entire story, and not the edited version that supports your anti-Israel bias.
Yeah, and the Israeli government has put billions into settling people that often have the same views as these outlawed groups on Palestinian territory.
Yes jeffepops, Kach is illegal. But your comment would have more credibility if you had gone on to acknowledge that although Israel has laws against its own armed extremists it often fails to apply them so long as the victims are “only” Palestinians. Only yesterday Amnesty International condemned Israel for failing to enforce the rule of law when its own settlers attack and even kill Palestinians in the Occupied Territories:
Turning to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Amnesty accused the Israeli judiciary of turning a blind eye to abuses and crimes committed against the Palestinians by Israeli policemen and settlers, who have no fears of being brought to justice.
"Israeli soldiers, police and settlers who committed unlawful killings, ill-treatment and other attacks against Palestinians and their property commonly did so with impunity," said the report.
"Investigations were rare, as were prosecutions of the perpetrators, which in most cases did not lead to convictions." (Link)
And this is not a situation that begins and ends with the recent attacks on children by the Maon settlers, it is a long-term institutional failure to take seriously Jewish-Israeli extremism that runs all the way from the policeman on the scene who fails to make an arrest up to the high-level politicians who hand out pardons to Israeli terrorists for crimes that, if carried out by a Palestinian, would never qualify for pardon or parole. As B’Tselem reported, when an Israeli district court sentenced Nahum Korman to 6 months community service for beating to death Hilmi Shusha (a Palestinian 12-year-old):
The Court's decision to accept the plea bargain is a direct continuation of the policy of all Israeli law enforcement agencies - from the police and the IDF, to the State's Attorney's Office and the Courts, and including the Presidency. Throughout the years, all these institutions have turned a blind eye to cases where Israelis injure innocent Palestinians, and have even supported them. This policy stands in blatant contradiction to the authorities' treatment of cases where Palestinians injure Israelis. In the latter cases, the justice system is suddenly highly efficient and employs all means at its disposal, including measures that violate human rights...
This incident is one of dozens in which Israeli civilians killed Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. B'Tselem conducts a comparative study of all these cases, which paints a disturbing picture: many cases are never even investigated by the Police; others that are investigated, the State's Attorney's Office decides not to file indictments; the few cases that do reach the courts end in acquittal or in light sentences. In those isolated incidents where a serious sentence is imposed, the President commuted the sentence. B'Tselem, Palestinian Life Continues to be Cheap; 22 Jan 2000.
If you want to see how this plays out specifically for Kach members, consider Ze’ev Wolf and Gershon Herkovitz who threw grenades into the butchers’ market of East Jerusalem, wounding 10 Palestinians and killing 70 year-old Abdel Razeq Dkeikek. By any criterion, that was a terrorist attack, but when convicted they were sentenced to only 10 years, which would be an unthinkably light punishment for a Palestinian terrorist in the same circumstances. And even then, they served only 4 years before being pardoned and released. Similarly, Israel Lederman who was sentenced to 20 years for murdering a Palestinian civilian, but was pardoned and released after three. Which left him free to reoffend by throwing boiling water over over leftist M.K. and prominent peace and gay rights advocate Yael Dayan, while she was on a visit to Hebron.
There is no credit for Israel in having laws against its own extremists when its selective, racist application of those laws makes it clear that in practice some terrorists are more “illegal” than others.
Dr. Cole writes, "Why, why?"
It's because the soup man said so, Dr. Cole. Wasn't Douglas "dumbest motherfucker on the planet" Feith still providing guidance and counsel from within the five walls of indecision? I mean, JMFC (don't ask), this guy is now on the faculty at Georgetown. He's your new peer!
Excuse me, I see a rip in the firmament. Must go now.
Regards...
Leverett's account:
http://www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/fleverett/20060124.htm
I would like to see some real evidence that 'Big Oil' wants régime change in Iran, or wanted it in Iraq. The 321-page report that Greg Palast is so excited about hasn't yet yielded any such evidence.
Despite the possibility that I will be accused of "anti-israel" bias, I wanted to point out that carbomb assassinations are alive and well in Lebanon. The Mossad is suspected
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5019306.stm
I remember when I first heard about this a month or so ago, I got so mad I was spitting vinegar.
In a way, this was worse than all the other lies and spin of half truths.
In this administration, arrogance, incompetance and ignorance overlap so much you never know which one has the upper hand.
Finally, after reading your link to Hafed, ones must compare this to the situation with Libya where Gaddafi's regime all of a sudden is ok -- and again ask Why? Why? Why?
we hould exercise restraing on Iran. our record in Iraq is one compelling reason, and here is another that suggests we may be focusing on the wrong things,
and on top of that, omisfocusing on Iraq to the exclusion of other priorties.
as well as probably being the wrong move, as well as having a track record that would justify no action under the current admnistration, ti would jsut diveret our attention even more
Dear Juan and Lawrence,
Instead of acknowledging anything the truth about Israel and it's real -- if flawed -- democracy, you can only launch your same tired and generalized attacks. How glib of you to say that the "settlers often have the same views as...[Kach and Kahane Chai]." Tend to your own dirty laundry. How many Arab murderers of Jews have been punished at all by Arab governments. The filthy and venemous state sponsored anti-Semitism throughout the Arab/ Islamic world is so overwhelming, you dqare not deny it.
Israel has not always brought Jewish extremists to justice, nor all soldiers and police who abuse Palestinians. Yet, it has done so regularly and often -- more than you can say about it's Arab neighbors.
But that was not the subject Juan raised. He specifically addressed the issue of two terrorist organizations; not soldiers, police or individuals.
But, perhaps it's just easier to change the subject when you have had you facts regarding the original subject corrected.
Jeffepops: Both Juan and Lawrence responded with specifics that were germane to the question at hand. You, however, in your insistence on trying to bully into silence anyone who dares criticize the Israeli government, are merely being thuggish. The sad fact is that because of the thuggishness of people like you, two things have happened:
1) It's easier to openly discuss these subjects in Israel than it is in America -- go crack open any copy of Ha'aretz and you'll see what I mean.
2) The reflexive use of the claim of anti-Semitism as a means to gag anyone (even Jews) who dare for any reason criticize Israel, only serves to cheapen that claim into meaninglessness. The more you and people like you abuse that claim, the less seriously you will be taken, and (in classic "boy who cried 'wolf!'" fashion) the easier you will have made it for genuine anti-Semites to go unpunished.
But enough of this. Why should I waste time attempting to reason with a person who knows he's lost his original argument and thus is trying to change the terms of the argument after the fact?
"Why?"
Because they want war, it is good for business, or at least, they expect it to be good for business.
Just look at how well the military-industrial stocks have done since 2002.
Dear Dr. Cole:
I totally agree with your comment regarding why the Bush Administration totally dismissed the letter sent in 2003. Isn't this exactly what the U.S. wants from Iran now. The point that I am sure you know better than anyone else is that the Bush Administration is attempting to take down the strongest country in the Middle East, Iran, so that it can have total control over the region. Nuclear issue is just a "pretext", the issue about Iran being a threat is as dumb as it can get with Israel already possessing 200 to 500 nuclear bombs which it does not allow any international organization (i.e. IAEA) to investigate. In addition to the fact that Israel is obtaining the most sophisticated military arsenal from the U.S.
Another issue that Iran is a threat to its neighbors is also b.s. as Iran has not threatened or invaded any country for over 250 years, unlike the U.S., and Israel.
And even when it Iran was attacked by Sadaam in 1980 with the assistance of the U.S. including the use of biological and chemical weapons, Iran never retaliated back with the same. In Afghanistan, Iranian diplomats were killed by the Talibans and Iran did not attack back. If it was not for Iranian help in 2001, the U.S. would not have been able to crush the Taliban forces.
But this is American foreign policy, a bully who says, I will bribe everyone, over step all international laws and the U.S. Constitution, have a right to dictate to any country I wish, topple regimes as I wish and impose "puppet" regimes which serve my interest, even if these regimes are brutal, dictatorial and are not acting for the benefit of the citizens of the "invaded" country. The U.S. and the Jewish Lobby do not want the American public to know that all the guarantees that they are demanding of Iran, Iran itself had provided to the U.S. Government in 2003.
Because if the people know they will ask the same question as you "Why did our government not accept this proposition?" Why is our government demonizing countries, who are not the real threat to our country? What is the real agenda of the Bush Administration and the Israeli Government in the Middle East and why do we the American people have to pay the price as we have done so for so many years in supporting a country, Israel, which has dehumanized, occupied, humiliated, brutalized, the Palestinians for 60 years and has defied all UN Resolutions?
Let's go to the issue of Israel. Israel should grow up and stop acting like the victim. It is the country which has victimized the entire Middle East region. Without U.S. military and economic aid, and total support where would Israel be today? It is totally heart breaking to read how the Israeli Government (which in every facet is a State Terrorist Government), is every day shelling the poor civilians and bedouins in Gaza. Yes, in the front it seems like Israel has withdrawn from Gaza, but in reality it has not. Every day, the artillery shells keep falling and killing the poor Palestinian people. Is this not called "State Terrorism"? The Israeli army has changed its own rules to allow it to drop shells within 100 meters of built-up-areas. And now they are starving the Palestinian people. As one Israeli Prime Minister's closest advisors commented "We need to make the Palestinians lose weight, but not starve to death."
Is this what we are calling Israeli humanity toward the Palestinians. The world should be outraged at the holocaust that Israel has brought for the Palestinians. But then again the Bush Administration and other U.S. Administrations remain silient, the question is "Why"? Because both the U.S. and Israel are hypocritical in their views.
Unfortunately, mainstream America is passive when it comes to politics. They are too busy worrying about their own daily survival, this has been the way that the U.S. Government has kept the American people dumb and stupid about the attrocities that it, and its ally Israel are committing. People in this country are passive and are self-absorbed. The media which is controlled by the Jewish Lobby will never show what is really happening in the world. However, if one leaves the U.S. and read foreign papers, it is only then that you see what is really being done at the hands of the U.S. and Israel.
To your answer dear Professor Cole, it is Mr. Bush and the Israeli Government, and the Israeli Lobby in the U.S. who do not want peace with Iran. Iran is not a submissive, puppet regime. As such, it has to go no matter what. All the other excuses that they bring up are nonesense and for anyone who has a bit of knowledge about foreign policy, one can determine how stupid and illogical their execuses are for invading Iran.
Iran has not violated the NPT and it is its inalienable right under the NPT to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The IAEA has found not one single evidence that Iran has diverted any material for nuclear bomb. This however, is not the same for Israel, who is not even a signatory to the NPT or the U.S. which is the greatest violater of the NPT. I agree let's stop total nuclear disarmement and have a nuclear free Middle East. In this regard, let's start with Israel and dismantle their dimona nuclear facility. Let's see if Israel will go for it. I bet you not. Iran is the real victim here, it is surrounded by nuclear weapon countries, Pakistan, India not too far away (neither one signatory to the NPT), to its north is Russia with nuclear weapons, in Afghanistan and Iraq it is surrounded by U.S. military and to its south the Persian Gulf states again you have the U.S. military forces, and let's not forget about Israel. So what do you expect a country which is totally surrounded by nuclear armed countries, who threaten its existence, and the U.S. who is not willing to give it security guarantees to do? Any stupid idiot will try to arm itself in order to protect its sovereignty. But then that does not work for the U.S. and Israel. All countries in the Middle East have to be weak so that Israel is the only super power and can terrorize them at its will and America can steal their resources. This is the answer Professor Cole.
Thank you as always for bringing the right and appropriate questions to the surface. Unfortunately, those who attack you either are too ignorant to know the facts, or are pretending to be ignorant, because knowing this truth, what kind of arguments can they possibly have.
Utmost respect as always.
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