Can you threaten to start a war to stop something that doesn’t exist? Open the March 11 issue of Time magazine and you’ll see the headline “The Path to War: Inside Barack Obama’s Struggle to Stop an Iranian Nuke.”
The piece is a behind-the-scenes peek at the debate inside the government about the steps the United States is willing to take to “keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.” The idea that Iran is after a weapon is repeated numerous times–“the global effort to prevent Tehran from getting a weapon,” and the United States perhaps “using military force to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.” We’re even told that Obama “offered to let Iran keep a peaceful nuclear program. But Iran’s leaders rebuffed Obama’s efforts.”
Nowhere does Time‘s Massimo Calabresi mention one rather inconvenient fact: There is no evidence that Iran is actually pursuing a nuclear weapon. Regular inspections have failed to turn up any evidence of that. Instead, we read things like this: “Iran itself has slowed down its efforts, converting some enriched uranium to a form that can be used only in research, not in weapons.” This is treated as evidence that Iran is heading towards its nuclear weapons more slowly.
This is alarming, especially since the article is about whether the U.S. will launch a military attack on Iran. Time ominously warns that soon “time will run out,” and tells us that “the Pentagon has launched the largest buildup of forces in the Gulf since the run-up to the 2003 Iraq war.” It closes by noting that “Obama will soon face the hardest decision of his presidency.”
Time faces a decision too–whether or not it wants to repeat the mistake of the Iraq War by treating allegations about another country’s weapons as if they are facts.
And these guys are supposed to be the tip of the “liberal press” iceberg? More like the tip of the dunce cap….
Friggin’ war mongers are at it again. When will we stop Murder Inc.
And why are the Israeli-Jews kvetching about nukes, when they have them already…
Cheers, Joe Mustich, Washington, CT USA
You know, one has to really wonder here; I mean North Korea just threatened us with a Nuc. Iran May possible have something that might be nuclear, like the reactors they have said they are making all along. Yet we are rushing to war with Iran for no reason. Once again where is the clear and present danger.
And why does anyone think that Iran is really interested in becoming a glass parking lot, is beyond me. However I would take North Korea and at it’s word and tell China to muzzle it’s dog or we kick it.
Obviously Kim Jong-un is rattling his saber for the effect on his people, must be going to introduce some new restrictions, but this is not a smart move these days. The tallest nail gets the hammer first, and when the only tool you have and understand is a hammer, all your problems begin to look like nails…
How many wars and phony revolutions have we, the so called good guys, created since 1900? How many brutal dictators have we created? How many civilians, mostly women and children, the aged and the helpless have we murdered, bombed, agent oranged, DU’d, atomic bombed ; and why did we destroy their schools, hospitals , drinking water, homes, cities, farms, and hope? Why does the US have 400 billionaires , 2.2 million in jail, and 55 million on food stamps? Are these questions all related?
Let’s see: The USA admits Iran is not in violation on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, an agreement that Israel has always refused to sign, with its secret nuclear arsenal of at least 330 atomic bombs pretty well explaining its reluctance. It was the Zionist Ben-Gurion who lied to Kennedy, when he assured JFK that his Dimona plant was not producing atomic bombs out in the Negev desert.. JFK was about to intercede with vigorous inspections by US scientists at the time Oswald murdered him in November of 1963.
Now, we also know, from Panetta, that Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon or a nuclear weapons program. All the intelligent agencies, per the National Intelligence Estimate, have since 2007, unanimously concurred. On the other hand, many Iranian nuclear scientists have been mysteriously murdered, and Washington has encouraged certain militant groups to sabotage Iran. We have wreaked havoc upon their economy through sanctions and embargoes, and tried to starve them into submission. All this has been done with very little questioning from the establishment press. Amazingly, Obama has bragged about his SUXNET virus attack on Iranian computers, which his Pentagon has admitted is an act of war.
Given all these facts, one can conclude that Iran is a danger only inasmuch as it is the largest Midestern country opposed to complete Israeli hegemony in the region, and Iran is powerful enough to be an active obstacle to the Zionist dream of a Greater Israel. Therefore, it has to be first demonized, then punished, and finally attacked. but only after the US press whips the people into line by exaggerating Iran’s strengths and highlighting whatever eccentricities its leaders display.
I admire your work in publishing this – but, it is perhaps a bit too late.
The propaganda machine has been hard at work for several years now and the one article you point to pales in comparison to the flood of falsehoods that have been published or broadcasted across the mainstream media and outfits such as AP, UPI, Reuters….
Recall the famous words of Carl Rove to the effect saying: by the time you have caught up with one reality we have created, we are already moving to another reality. We need a lot more of you and a lots and lots of press outlets before we can make a dent in the propaganda machine.
Nuclear weapons are a very real threat to our little blue planet. There are enough stocked, around the Earth to eliminate all forms of life, once a war using them is started. Why do we keep making them?, and why is Iran the only threat. If the rest of nations, would institue a policy to render them harmless,and stop production, their protests would be better received by Iran. Isn’t that a more practical way of managing the situation than threatening them with military action?
We have seen this all before. Facts pale against a relentless assault of baiting and finger pointing. It happened to Iraq several times until the US finally invaded a broken and starving country. Now Iran is much larger and has a larger population and probably wouldn’t be invaded. But it could be destroyed like Iraq was. The US and Israel have no problem committing war crimes. The US won’t be touched and neither would Israel being protected by our power.
Only the most fanatical think an attack on Iran could be accomplished cleanly. By cleanly I mean with little in the way of retaliation. That is doubtful. It would be a horrible thing for everyone including Israel and the USA should one or both of them attack Iran. And without reason or need.
Yes, we have seen this all before, and somewhere I read that the President is looking at sometime his June as the ideal time to roll out our next war product. The question is: Is the Present administration truly crazy and stupid enough to back Israel’s (Netanyahu’s) maniacal plan to possibly start WW III based upon lies and paranoia? Unfortunately, I’m afraid Obama’s “liberal” supporters and admirers and swooning hacks will support him no matter what he does. We’ll see.
Also nowhere in the main stream media do they mention that Iran is complying with all the NPT inspections and even goes beyond what is required.
Amen.