Middle East Discussion

"Move intended as gesture of goodwill before negotiations with US over nuclear programme begin next week" - Jim from Bookmarklet

ahem. not - NoahDavidSimon

"It is alleged that Iran has threatened to annihilate Israel. It has done no such thing. Iran has a ‘no first strike’ policy, repeatedly enunciated by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has expressed the hope that the ‘Zionist regime over Jerusalem” would ‘vanish from the page of time.’ But he didn’t threaten to roll tanks or missiles against Israel, and compared his hopes for the collapse of Zionism to the collapse of Communism in Russia. Iran has not launched a conventional war of aggression against another state in all of modern history. Israel aggressively invaded Egypt in 1956 and 1967 and Lebanon in 1982 and 2006. The list of aggressive wars fought by the US, including the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq, is too long to detail. So why is Iran being configured as the aggressor?" - daveeza from Bookmarklet

#AnimalHoardersI "A man from southern Israel divorced his wife this week because she had brought 550 cats into their home. The husband, apparently not a cat lover, told the Rabbinical Court in Beersheba that he was unable to sleep in his bedroom because the surface of the marital bed was constantly covered with cats who refused to lie on the floor. The man, in his divorce request, complained that the cats also blocked his access to the bathroom and did not allow him to prepare meals in the kitchen, the Hebrew daily Maariv reported Wednesday. When he sat to eat, cats jumped onto the table and stole his food. The couple attempted reconciliation at the behest of the rabbinical court. The wife, however, was unable to part from her cats… and preferred to part from her husband." - sofarsoShawn ~presque...

I can only imagine the smell. - Headless Gnad Kicker

"Who cannot Register? Judaism is interested in preserving the sanctity and distinctiveness of the Jewish people. In order to become a part of the Jewish people, therefore, one must freely choose to do so – through halachic conversion, and not through marriage. Marriage laws in Israel are in accordance with Jewish law; thus, there are couples who are ineligible for marriage. If you fall into such a category, the rabbinate will inform you of such when you come to register, and attempt to find a viable halachic solution. If it is unable to come up with a solution, you will not be able to legally marry in Israel. If you get married abroad and return to Israel – you will be registered as married in the population registry. The following couples are not eligible for registration...(see a few down) - sofarsoShawn ~presque... from Bookmarklet

~ Now that sounds like a wonderful final solution, I know I’ve heard THAT somewhere before.” When you can’t marry the person you love then the “rabbinate will inform you of such when you come to register, and attempt to find a viable halachic solution.” Now if they determine that’s a no go, you’re expelled, forced to leave the country to marry. As consolation, they should also be forced... more... - sofarsoShawn ~presque...

Obama says: "Stand against "zeroing out" aid to Israel Republican candidates for president Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich all say they would cut foreign aid to Israel—and every other country—to zero. Stand up to this extreme isolationism and join the call to reject the Romney-Perry-Gingrich plan." - NoahDavidSimon from Bookmarklet

"How they vote in the United Nations: Below are the actual voting records of various Arabic/Islamic States which are recorded in both the US State Department and United Nations records: 1. Kuwait votes against the United States 67% of the time. 2. Qatar votes against the United States 67% of the time. 3. Morocco votes against the United States 70% of the time. 4. United Arab Emirates... more... - NoahDavidSimon

1. Alan Hart 2. Alex Odeh 3. Alexander Cockburn 4. Alice Walker 5. American Conservative 6. Amnesty International 7. Amy Goodman 8. Andrew Sullivan 9. Andrew Young 10. Angela Merkel 11. Annie Lenox 12. Antiwar.com 13. Arab Spring 14. Arabs 15. Arianna Huffington 16. Barack Obama 17. Barbra Streisand 18. Ben White 19. Betty McCollum 20. Bill Clinton 21. Bill Moyers 22. Bobby Ray Inman 23. Brad Pitt 24. Brent Scowcroft 25. Britain and Brits 26. CBS 60 Minutes 27. Center for American Progress 28. Center for Constitutional Rights 29. Chas Freeman 30. Chris Hedges 31. Christiane Amanpour 32. Chuck Hagel 33. CIA 34. Coldplay 35. Colin Powell 36. Cornel West 37. Counterpunch 38. Cynthia McKinney 39. Cyrus Vance 40. David Cameron 41. David Petraeus 42. David Remnick 43. Democracy Now 44. Dennis Blair 45. Dennis Kucinich 46. Desmond Tutu 47. Duncan Kennedy 48. Ed Asner 49. Egypt and Egyptians 50. Ehud Olmert 51. Elvis Costello 52. Europe and Europeans 53. Facebook 54. Fareed Zakaria 55. Flynt... more... - Sean McBride

whoops, I didn't hit "more," I guess you got 'em covered - chauncey

"The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is one of the most powerful lobby organizations in the country. AIPAC’s clout helps fuel a never-ending cycle of violence in the Middle East. Here are ten reasons why AIPAC is so dangerous." - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

"While progressives celebrate Warren for her fight against the big banks and the financial industry's lobbying arm, they have kept silent over the fact that she has enlisted with another powerful lobby that is willing to sabotage America's economic recovery in order to advance its narrow interests. It is AIPAC, the key arm of the Israel lobby; a group that is openly pushing for a US war on Iran that would likely trigger a global recession, as the renowned economist Nouriel Roubini recently warned. The national security/foreign policy position page on Warren's campaign website reads as though it was cobbled together from AIPAC memos and the website of the Israeli Foreign Ministry by the Democratic Party hacks who are advising her. It is pure boilerplate that suggests she knows about as much about the Middle East as Herman "Uzbeki-beki-stan-stan" Cain, and that she doesn't care." - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

An interesting cluster: 1. Ann Lewis 2. Debbie Wasserman Schultz 3. Elizabeth Warren 4. Hillary Clinton 5. Jane Harman 6. Madeleine Albright 7. Shelley Berkley 8. Susan Estrich - Sean McBride

Here is how the game is being played: 1. The Israeli government and the Israel lobby ratchet up tension with and hysteria about Iran to the max. 2. Oil and gas prices rise dramatically, possibly through the roof. 3. Pro-Israel activists and militants blame Barack Obama for the bad economy caused by high oil and gas prices. 4. Benjamin Netanyahu, exploiting American discontent about the rotten economy, succeeds in denying Obama a second term and replaces him with a pro-Israel fanatic from the Republican Party who will go to war against Iran. Bottom line: the Israelis, using their assets and ops in the mainstream media and US Congress, have trapped Obama in a vise. - Sean McBride

"From the Obama administration side, officials all over the place warning Israel not to attack Iran, and doing so publicly. Most emphatically, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN that an attack on Iran by Israel would be "destabilizing and wouldn't achieve [Israel's] long-term objectives." He said, "I think it would be premature to exclusively decide that the time for military action was upon us," and he added — echoing Ross — that "diplomacy is having an effect." Importantly, Dempsey said, "We are of the opinion that the Iranian regime is a rational actor." That last remark was aimed at neoconservatives and Israeli rightists who argue that Iran is an irrational, suicide-bound regime that would use nukes even if it meant the destruction of Tehran in response." - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

"According to Lara Friedman of Americans for Peace Now, the resolution got 15 Democratic supporters only "after days of intense AIPAC lobbying, particularly of what some consider 'vulnerable' Democrats (vulnerable in terms of being in races where their pro-Israel credentials are being challenged by the candidate running against them)." What's more, even as AIPAC was playing this hardball, the bill's sponsors still had to tone down some particularly threatening language in the resolution. But, even so, the resolution defines keeping Iran from getting a nuclear weapons "capability" as being in America's "vital national interest," which is generally taken as synonymous with "worth war."" - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

"In a talk to an Israeli group in July, 2010, [Gingrich super-donor Sheldon] Adelson said he wished he had served in the Israeli Army rather than the U.S. military—and that he hoped his young son would come back to Israel and “be a sniper for the IDF,” a reference to the Israel Defense Forces. “I am not Israeli. The uniform that I wore in the military, unfortunately, was not an Israeli uniform. It was an American uniform, although my wife was in the IDF and one of my daughters was in the IDF ... our two little boys, one of whom will be bar mitzvahed tomorrow, hopefully he’ll come back-- his hobby is shooting -- and he’ll come back and be a sniper for the IDF,” Adelson said at the event." - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

It's interesting: even Daily Kos is forced now and then to address some peculiar facts about the activities of the Israel lobby. - Sean McBride

"Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have launched a vicious attack on US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, an American war hero, saying his recent statements “served Iran.”" - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

WarLord -- I am beginning to sense that Obama may have a bit of backbone after all -- let's hope. One can only imagine how much anger Obama must be harboring over the repeated humiliations that Netanyahu has inflicted on him. - Sean McBride

"Anyone who supports the Lieberman bill is declaring themselves for war. If AIPAC makes the Lieberman bill an ask for its March policy conference, then at least we'll be done with the pretense that AIPAC is doing anything besides trying to get the U.S. into another Middle East war." - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

Second that "good analysis" comment. This is interesting stuff. The efforts at getting the American people on board are not going well according to the polls. On the other hand, Obama was utterly brazen about attacking Libya. - Berthe

"A majority of Americans don't want the U.S. to take military action to force Iran to shut down its nuclear program, according to a new national survey. A CNN/ORC International poll released Wednesday indicates that only 17% of the public wants the U.S. to use force, with 60% saying diplomatic or economic action against Iran is the right response, and 22% saying no action should be taken at this time." - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

"The survey indicates that men are slightly more willing to use military force than women, but that option is unpopular with both genders. Only 21% of men support military action against Iran; for women, that figure drops to 14%." - Sean McBride

"This is one issue on which Republicans and Democrats agree," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Republicans are a little more likely than Democrats to prefer military action, but a majority of Republicans, independents and Democrats say they favor economic and diplomatic efforts over a military option." - Sean McBride

What if Romney's thinking "keep your enemies close?" Romney's business career was, in large measure, a career of "stiffing" the creditors of the companies he took over. - Berthe

Neither do I! - Sean McBride

"Appearing as a guest on Thursday's Piers Morgan Tonight on CNN, former CBS News anchor expressed agreement with GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul in opposing U.S. involvement in the civil war in Syria to protect the civilian population from the terror regime of authoritarian ruler, President Bashar Assad. After describing what he believes should be done to put pressure on Assad, he brought up Congressman Paul's left-leaning views on the Middle East:" - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

The real powers behind the throne are manipulating both the Republican and Democratic Parties. Dogmatic Republicans and Democrats help keep the game rolling along. And this gang would never let anyone like Ron Paul get near the White House. - Sean McBride

"Close U.S. ally Israel is driving much of the burst of international attention now focused on the likelihood of an Iranian bomb and what to do about it.... Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu frequently draws parallels between modern-day Iran and Nazi Germany on the eve of the Holocaust. Last week, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said there is a growing global understanding that military action may be necessary." - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

Is there any grassroots surge from Americans to attack Iran, invade Syria or to become bogged down in any more Mideast wars? Not a speck. So why is Barack Obama relentlessly moving Americans into these bankrupting confrontations? Why isn't he focused on the problems of the declining American middle class? - Sean McBride

And her tweet has already been retweeted 166 times. - Sean McBride

Will do. :-) - Prosey BUTTONS!

"It has leaked that US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Gen. Martin Dempsey warned the Israelis that if they launched a strike on Iran that spiralled into a war, they would be on their own." - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

"Paul Pillar and Leslie Gelb – both of them well-respected and largely mainstream commentators on US foreign policy – have recently published essays cautioning us all – and Mr. Obama especially – to step back, breathe deeply, ask tough questions, and get sound answers before launching a military strike against Iran. And as Gelb’s piece (excerpted below) cogently notes, the silly season of presidential campaigning is going to elicit (indeed, already has elicited) a lot of tough-guy, red-blooded American bellicosity from GOP candidates eager to bash Obama and score nationally televised debate points in mega-auditoriums crammed full of lustily cheering Republican worthies:" - Sean McBride from Bookmarklet

George W. Bush's Christian Zionist beliefs played a key role in getting us into the Iraq War -- a multi-trillion dollar disaster. Are we going to have a repeat of this madness? Mitt Romney is chomping at the bit to go to war against Iran -- why? - Sean McBride

What role has Mormon religious doctrine played in forming your views on Mideast politics? - Sean McBride

I agree that the questions are important. However, regardless, Romney's getting the GOP nomination. That is what is coming. The options, come November, are Obama or Romney. I think, much as I hate to say it, even if he did answer those questions, the viewpoint is one that is loved by the Republican establishment. - Prosey BUTTONS!