What President Bush is Likely to 'Learn' When He Visits Tel Aviv
If Obama wins New Hampshire tomorrow as resoundingly as he did Iowa, Israel's chances for a friendly succession Clinton government, and the concomitant openness to a preemptive strike on Iran, dwindle ever further. So under the guise of exploring peace options with Palestine, Bush will, in reality, explore, war options with Iran when he visits Tel Aviv this week. I think it is probable that Israeli intelligence will do their damnedest to keep Bush 'open' to an attack, providing him with more "proof" of nuclear ambitions.
No wonder George McGovern is now calling for impeachment of Bush and Cheney. The doomsday clock is ticking as loudly as it did in 1962 when we almost nuked Cuba. It is my belief that there is a public schism (if not war) between the White House and the Intelligence Establishment--with important factions in both the intelligence and military communities siding with Bush.
Something terrible and terrifying happened in September when Israel bombed Syria. I believe the Israeli air force was aided and abetted by dissident elements in our own air force which provided some sort of cover for the mission. And I remain deeply troubled by the episode of the "missing warheads" that disappeared and were found in Louisiana.
But let me be frank here: I also think that Obama is no sugar daddy or agent for change. Yet I think he might be more willing to side with the secular realists in Washington who want to curb the return of the Holy Roman Empire and are willing now to let the Muslim world receive some share of the oil and water spoils in the Middle East. Despite occasional genuflection to AIPAC, I think Obama knows that Israel is completely out of control with xenophobia and paranoia and is no longer a reliable partner in peace or an outpost for democracy.
Nevertheless, as a member of a 12-step program, I have to renounce the hope of 'divine intervention' through any aegis but myself and other members of that 'we' called the people. Obama is, to me, our last fling with an external savior. He is owned as much as Hilary by the establishment. He is no better than she is in terms of IOUs. Maybe leaders who could change the status quo were possible when the cancer was still Stage Two, but it is now Stage Four, and the moral equivalent of a very advanced lymphoma.
Friends, pray without ceasing, and make it abundantly clear to your children that you will shelter them until you run out of strength or money. It is never good to be in God's hands by default, but if you believe, as I do, in the ultimate sound of one hand clapping, there is only One reality to whom it could belong.
In the meanest of mean times, the mega samsara called America is one over which we must admit we no longer have any control. "God, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change; the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Obama is not that difference. None of the candidates are. The difference, I am learning by bumping into walls, dwells inside us. We must make a new, small-radius homeland of mercy, compassion, wisdom, love and justice. We must somehow find their ampleness within ourselves, our families and our communities. I am too old to not want to be the source of my own salvation.
Israel to brief George Bush on options for Iran strike
By Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv
01/06/08 "The Times" -- - -ISRAELI security officials are to brief President George W Bush on their latest intelligence about Iran’s nuclear programme - and how it could be destroyed - when he begins a tour of the Middle East in Jerusalem this week.
Ehud Barak, the defence minister, is said to want to convince him that an Israeli military strike against uranium enrichment facilities in Iran would be feasible if diplomatic efforts failed to halt nuclear operations. A range of military options has been prepared.
Last month it was revealed that the US National Intelligence Estimate report, drawing together information from 16 agencies, had concluded that Iran stopped a secret nuclear weapon programme in 2003.
Israeli intelligence is understood to agree that the project was halted around the time of America’s invasion of Iraq, but has “rock solid” information that it has since started up again.
While security officials are reluctant to reveal all their intelligence, fearing that leaks could jeopardise the element of surprise in any future attack, they are expected to present the president with fresh details of Iran’s enrichment of uranium - which could be used for civil or military purposes - and the development of missiles that could carry nuclear warheads.
In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot this weekend, Bush argued that in spite of the US intelligence assessment, Iran still posed a threat.
“I read the intelligence report carefully,” Bush said. “In essence, what the report said was that Iran had a secret plan to develop nuclear weapons.
“I’m saying that a state which adopted a nontransparent policy and had a secret plan for developing nuclear weapons could easily develop an alternative plan for the same purpose. So to conclude from the intelligence report that there is no Iranian plan to develop nuclear weapons will be only a partial truth.”
Israeli security officials believe the only way to prevent uranium enrichment to military grade is to destroy Iranian installations. Many Israelis are eager to know whether America would give their country the green light to attack, as it did last September when Israel struck a mysterious nuclear site in Syria.
Bush refused to be drawn when asked whether he would support an Israeli attack. “My message to all countries in the region is that we are able to solve the problem in a diplomatic way,” he said, “but all options are on the table.”
© Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers
No wonder George McGovern is now calling for impeachment of Bush and Cheney. The doomsday clock is ticking as loudly as it did in 1962 when we almost nuked Cuba. It is my belief that there is a public schism (if not war) between the White House and the Intelligence Establishment--with important factions in both the intelligence and military communities siding with Bush.
Something terrible and terrifying happened in September when Israel bombed Syria. I believe the Israeli air force was aided and abetted by dissident elements in our own air force which provided some sort of cover for the mission. And I remain deeply troubled by the episode of the "missing warheads" that disappeared and were found in Louisiana.
But let me be frank here: I also think that Obama is no sugar daddy or agent for change. Yet I think he might be more willing to side with the secular realists in Washington who want to curb the return of the Holy Roman Empire and are willing now to let the Muslim world receive some share of the oil and water spoils in the Middle East. Despite occasional genuflection to AIPAC, I think Obama knows that Israel is completely out of control with xenophobia and paranoia and is no longer a reliable partner in peace or an outpost for democracy.
Nevertheless, as a member of a 12-step program, I have to renounce the hope of 'divine intervention' through any aegis but myself and other members of that 'we' called the people. Obama is, to me, our last fling with an external savior. He is owned as much as Hilary by the establishment. He is no better than she is in terms of IOUs. Maybe leaders who could change the status quo were possible when the cancer was still Stage Two, but it is now Stage Four, and the moral equivalent of a very advanced lymphoma.
Friends, pray without ceasing, and make it abundantly clear to your children that you will shelter them until you run out of strength or money. It is never good to be in God's hands by default, but if you believe, as I do, in the ultimate sound of one hand clapping, there is only One reality to whom it could belong.
In the meanest of mean times, the mega samsara called America is one over which we must admit we no longer have any control. "God, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change; the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Obama is not that difference. None of the candidates are. The difference, I am learning by bumping into walls, dwells inside us. We must make a new, small-radius homeland of mercy, compassion, wisdom, love and justice. We must somehow find their ampleness within ourselves, our families and our communities. I am too old to not want to be the source of my own salvation.
Israel to brief George Bush on options for Iran strike
By Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv
01/06/08 "The Times" -- - -ISRAELI security officials are to brief President George W Bush on their latest intelligence about Iran’s nuclear programme - and how it could be destroyed - when he begins a tour of the Middle East in Jerusalem this week.
Ehud Barak, the defence minister, is said to want to convince him that an Israeli military strike against uranium enrichment facilities in Iran would be feasible if diplomatic efforts failed to halt nuclear operations. A range of military options has been prepared.
Last month it was revealed that the US National Intelligence Estimate report, drawing together information from 16 agencies, had concluded that Iran stopped a secret nuclear weapon programme in 2003.
Israeli intelligence is understood to agree that the project was halted around the time of America’s invasion of Iraq, but has “rock solid” information that it has since started up again.
While security officials are reluctant to reveal all their intelligence, fearing that leaks could jeopardise the element of surprise in any future attack, they are expected to present the president with fresh details of Iran’s enrichment of uranium - which could be used for civil or military purposes - and the development of missiles that could carry nuclear warheads.
In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot this weekend, Bush argued that in spite of the US intelligence assessment, Iran still posed a threat.
“I read the intelligence report carefully,” Bush said. “In essence, what the report said was that Iran had a secret plan to develop nuclear weapons.
“I’m saying that a state which adopted a nontransparent policy and had a secret plan for developing nuclear weapons could easily develop an alternative plan for the same purpose. So to conclude from the intelligence report that there is no Iranian plan to develop nuclear weapons will be only a partial truth.”
Israeli security officials believe the only way to prevent uranium enrichment to military grade is to destroy Iranian installations. Many Israelis are eager to know whether America would give their country the green light to attack, as it did last September when Israel struck a mysterious nuclear site in Syria.
Bush refused to be drawn when asked whether he would support an Israeli attack. “My message to all countries in the region is that we are able to solve the problem in a diplomatic way,” he said, “but all options are on the table.”
© Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers
posted by David Federman @ 7:57 AM
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