Ayoon Wa Azan (Israel spawned the terrorism of others)

The evil gang of war seeking to prevent Barack Obama from winning a second term in the White House is being led by the fascist government of Israel, and includes Jewish American neocons and Likudniks along with the Israel lobby. Naturally, the Republican Party (GOP), dominated by an extremist right wing faction, is also on board, after succeeding in nominating Mitt Romney as an exclusive candidate for the rich, with Paul Ryan, who represents the right of the right in the GOP, on his vice presidential ticket. In his nomination acceptance speech, Romney expressed his support for Israel and attacked Iran. But I still retain my opinion, which I had noted in this column, about the so-called October surprise. All those who know Benjamin Netanyahu or have spoken to him have heard him say that Obama will be free of all shackles in a second term, and would therefore not place the interests of Israel ahead of his country. For this reason, thwarting Obama’s reelection is a matter of life or death for Israel, especially in light of the information contained in the latest quarterly report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The report confirmed that uranium enrichment in Iranian nuclear facilities is fast approaching the levels required for nuclear bombs. According to the report, 1,000 centrifuges have been added to an underground facility near Qom, while the Iranian stockpiles of enriched uranium are estimated to be in the range of 145 to 190 kg, a 30 percent increase compared to the estimates of the IAEA’s previous report. Equally important is the fact that Israel cannot on its own destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities (the distance involved is too large but Israel may stage its attacks from airbases in Georgia). There are several such facilities located underground, and Israel does not possess the means to reach them, but the United States does. Therefore, Israel’s only hope lies in starting a confrontation with Iran, to which the U.S. would be drawn into. If the Obama administration refuses to intervene, then it would be accused of abandoning America’s foremost ally in the Middle East, and the only alleged democracy in the region. Nay, the administration would be accused of putting the security of the U.S. itself at risk. I find news stories every day, like the dish of the day, about Iran’s threats to America and Israel. Netanyahu has even attacked the countries of the non-aligned movement, for their silence about Iran’s attacks on Israel. This is despite the fact that half of the 120 countries attending the summit in Tehran were Arab and Muslim countries that consider Israel an enemy that occupies Jerusalem and besieges al-Aqsa mosque, and that the member states of the movement have unanimously supported the Iranian nuclear program for peaceful purposes. Before that, Netanyahu had attempted to persuade the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to not go to the non-aligned summit in Tehran, although the participants represent the majority of the world population. So in an attempt to ward off Likudnik wickedness, he criticized Holocaust denial. Personally, I have always criticized Holocaust deniers, because we had nothing to do with the murder of Jews in gas chambers. The Obama administration is thus caught between the foolishness of the Iranian regime, specifically President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who gives his enemies ammunition against Iran each time he makes a statement, and the Nazism of the Israeli government, which wants to see Obama out of the White House by all means necessary. In an attempt to preempt an Israeli strike against Iran, the U.S. administration announced it will be holding military exercises in the Gulf and deploying antimissile systems there, while stepping up sanctions against Iranian oil exports. Now, there are secretive American-Israeli negotiations aimed at preventing Israel from carrying out a unilateral military strike against Iran, which would drag the entire region to a disaster of unknown results. Regardless, we know that the majority of the funding of the Romney campaign comes from the Jewish-American right. If Israel finds Obama in a clear lead over his Republican rival, or if they are in a tie, then Israel will ignore all the attempts by the administration to start war with Iran, perhaps even covering Hezbollah, Lebanon and others. The chutzpah in the media is at every level. When Israeli tourists were killed at the Burgas airport in Bulgaria, Netanyahu was quick to accuse Iran of being responsible, as though he can fathom the unseen. Likewise, an editorial in the Washington Post accused Iran of staging the attack. The editorial was written by the editorial board, i.e. the op-ed contributors, who include extremist Likudniks. The editorial expressed opposition to Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon, overlooking the fact that Israel has a full arsenal of them. One thing the editorial also made claims about was, “terrorist attacks by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Lebanon’s Hezbollah have targeted Israeli diplomats and tourists in half a dozen countries.” What proof do they have of this? Israel is the world’s foremost terrorist state, and had spawned the other terrorism for which it alone is responsible. But I want to conclude with a view that I have stated time and again, and will state in the future as well, which is that the Arab countries, particularly Egypt and Saudi Arabia, must seek to acquire nuclear weapons (the UAE has a nuclear program which I wish would start enriching uranium locally). For one thing, the Arab countries’ possession of nuclear bombs is the first step towards ridding the Middle East, including Israel, of weapons of mass destruction. --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.