US media have never been shy about promoting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s take on the supposed threat from Iran. To hear him tell it, that country is definitely building a bomb (there’s no evidence for that) and they’re developing intercontinental ballistic missiles that can strike the United States with nuclear weapons (also incredibly dubious).
There he was on CNN‘s State of the Union (4/27/14) with Candy Crowley, primarily to talk about the problems with the Israeli/Palestinian peace talks. But the menace of Iran came up too:
CROWLEY: Mr. Prime Minister, finally, in September of 2012, you told me that you thought Iran was probably six to nine months away from being able to have full nuclear weapon capability. Where is it now?
NETANYAHU: I didn’t say weapon capability. I said nuclear-enriched material.
CROWLEY: Nuclear-enriched, yes, sir.
NETANYAHU: That is fissile material for a bomb. They’re about two months away. And they’d like–to stay two months away. They have been under terrific sanctions pressure. There was an interim deal. Now they’re seeking a deal that would keep them more or less where they are. In other words, they will be a few months away–or they might be set back a few months from producing enough nuclear material for a bomb.
Netanyahu’s visual aid: Why hasn’t the bomb gone off yet?
Now, you could ask Crowley’s question to illustrate the problem with Netanhayu’s old timeline: If they were six months from a bomb 18 months ago, and they have no such bomb, something doesn’t add up.
But she was clearly not looking to challenge Netanyahu’s claims. He stresses that he was only talking about “nuclear-enriched material,” but Netanyahu’s obvious point was that Iran was about to build a bomb. Which is why, on that show back in 2012 (9/16/12), he talked about the need to “prevent Iran from completing its nuclear weapons program.” And he also declared: “We know that they’re working towards a weapon…. It’s not something that we surmise. We have absolutely certainty about that.”
But these claims are simply not rooted in the facts. There is still no evidence that Iran is currently pursuing any such weapons. In fact, if Crowley wanted to challenge Netanyahu on this point, she need only point to the recent AP report (4/17/14) about the latest from the International Atomic Energy Agency:
Iran has converted three-quarters of a nuclear stockpile that it could have turned quickly into weapons-grade uranium into less volatile forms and is well on the way toward transforming the rest, the UN atomic agency reported Thursday.
So according to the nuclear inspectors monitoring Iran’s program, the country’s feared plan to break out and manufacture weapons is becoming more unlikely–assuming one thought that was ever the plan at all.
But Netanyahu knows his talking points, and knows they’re not going to be challenged–not by a friendly CNN host, anyway. So he threw this one in for good measure:
They’re developing intercontinental ballistic missiles to put nuclear bombs on those missiles for you. Don’t let it happen.
That claim has been challenged, too (Wired, 2/24/12), with many analysts pointing out that Iran is nowhere near that capability. But for Netanyahu, American television is where you go to make baseless claims (FAIR Blog, 7/15/13) without having to worry that anyone will call you on it.
Crowley strikes me as someone smart enough to know how to keep her job while still (sort of) asking the right line of questions.
But if they are always 6 months away from making one, forever, then Net any yahoo would eventually be correct, because if Iran ever decided to do so he could jump up and say “see I told you so”.
Because Tomorrow is always in the Future, so just repeat ‘with in 6 months’ like a mantra. Pretty soon the audience will know that it 6 months away and yet the attack is imminent, always just over the horizon.
Anyone who thinks Iran is not developing nuclear weapons is either truly stupid, blind, and or deaf. The whole world including John Kerry and Obama, Putin, France, Germany, you name it, believe Iran is on the verge of a nuke. Moreover, the whole world also knows Iran is building ICBM’s or at least trying to which is why Iran will not negotiate at all about its missile program as part of the interim deal. If there is no ICBM program why won’t Iran talk about not pursuing one? There has never been 1 country to spend the money on nuclear infrastructure Iran has that was not pursuing a nuke. Anything to the contrary is simply a lie. Iran has spent billions to master the fuel cycle while its economy has tanked for more than a decade because of sanctions. It is willing to sacrifice its economy temporarily until it can be the nuclear hegemon it always wanted to be. Seriously people you want evidence? The evidence will be a mushroom cloud signed by the Ayatollah. Contrarians have a place in some discourse but Iran is on the verge of a nuke. The evidence is easy to find just read about what Iran publishes about its program.
Yahoo and his agents in US are in desperate mood. US administration got this one right. Iran is not a boogey man that Israel and Saudi Arabia (both regional rival) wants to portrait. A diplomatic solution with Iran serves US interest politically and economically.
@ “orneryamerican”: can be so kind as to give us a link to what you claim is available for us to “just read about what Iran publishes about its program.”?
Thanks!
Why pay for cable television to be lied to, watch millionaire jocks play with balls, sticks, and bats, and be saturated with commercials begging you to buy things you don’t need? Is why we as Americans have become so stupid?
I would say that we are at that point where Iran is putting its eggs in order so that they could if they decided to……build a bomb.Once those eggs are in order ,they can work to make the systemology better and better.Having a bomb is only one part of this puzzle.Once you can do that you can in a sense put that on hold while you work the kinks out of the rest of it.Irans next move will be to create a space program(as we did in the sixties)This will allow the weaponization toward ICBMs.And surprise surprise they have just started this.Also they would need to upgrade certain infrastructures as far as tracking and data collection(this we are now seeing is being built in those areas our experts have told us would be best suited)…and certain computer programs begun.Israel has been blocking these with cyber attacks(with US help)So to put it simply……..Remember when Israel trucked in hundreds of tons of building supplies into the desert of the contested areas.There they sat for years as pressure held strong against Israel.After a series of attacks the building began.Did any of you believe Israel was not ready to build i wonder.Doubt it.Yet you believe Iran
Only the US and Israel have maneuvered themselves through propaganda, lies, and victimization (the terrorists are going to get us) to use the nuclear bomb.
The US has used the bomb already and Israel with its racist, land confiscation, and military are itching to use the nuclear bomb.
Any other country would be lunatic to use the nuclear bomb because of certain and swift retaliation and total destruction. The US and Israel will justify and protect each other if either used the nuclear bomb. This is called white racist supremacy.
Tee…you are kidding I suppose.White racist supremacy is an old nugget.Im surprised anyone still goes there.Your logic has no logic.
Nuts yahoo has no need for facts to back up his “certainty” that Iran IS working on an atomic bomb and ICBM’s to shoot them at the US. Oh, and who are we fool Americans to ever question a member of the “chosen” of some tribal war god of a bronze age bunch of itinerant goat herders? How arrogant of the US people to doubt such a “leader” as Nuts to Yahoo.
This was intended to be sarcastic.
bear 47……Israeli intel does not work day and night for the sole purpose of helping you to feel comfortable with them.Recently they stopped a ship loaded with advanced rockets from Iran.Now im sure you would say they had not informed you….so what proof did they have.Yes I too am being sarcastic.I doubt that you will get any advance knowledge from Iran before THEY develop a bomb.Or from Israel when they try to hamper that move.You just are not on their xmas card list.Live with it.