Benjamin Netanyahu calls renewed nuclear talks with Iran a “trap”

Madison Ruppert, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

Even though Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expressed a willingness to restart nuclear talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the international community should not fall into the “trap” of renewing talks with Iran.

Netanyahu also stated that he would not set any “red lines” which would trigger a military response, a statement echoed by the Obama administration during the March 2 White House Press Briefing.

“I think the President also made clear that there is — it is not strategically in the United States’ interest to draw explicit red lines as to what hypothetical action by Iran would result in a specific reaction by the United States,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said. “He’s made clear what our policy is.  He has made clear that we do not rule out any option in responding or in dealing with Iranian behavior.  And I think that is the way it will remain going forward.”

Netanyahu spoke just days before what is likely to be a critical meeting at the White House with President Barack Obama on March 5.

During the meeting they are expected to focus on Iran and how they should address the supposed threat of the alleged Iranian nuclear program (which likely doesn’t even exist as confirmed by U.S. intelligence agencies and Leon Panetta on two occasions).

Netanyahu has also urged the international community demand that Iran not only dismantle their key uranium enrichment facility but also transport all enriched uranium out of the country.

This statement is nothing short of absurd, especially coming from someone like Netanyahu who leads a country with an unchecked nuclear arsenal.

Unlike Iran, Israel already has nuclear weapons according to now declassified American documents which show that the U.S. was convinced that Israel had nuclear weapons all the way back in 1975.

Furthermore, Israel has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and in 2009 The Washington Times (which I do not consider a reliable source given the fact that it is funded by the Unification Church also known as “the Moonies” ) claimed that “President Obama’s efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons threaten to expose and derail a 40-year-old secret U.S. agreement to shield Israel’s nuclear weapons from international scrutiny.”

When Israel is called out for not signing the NPT, they have been known to default to “national security considerations” and that “Israel is the only state that has been singled out, and is called upon to take a decision, which is against its best national interests,” as they did during the IAEA’s 2010 General Conference.

While Israel is indeed a member state of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), they have stated that their nuclear facilities operate under the supervision of Israel’s Nuclear Licensing and Safety Office, an agency which Dr. Shaul Chorev, the head of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, described as one “which enjoys independent status.”

Israel’s actions in Gaza with Operation Cast Lead [Note: the Wikipedia article is somewhat biased toward Israel] and countless other incidents have proven that they are a country that believes they are above the rule of law and above international scrutiny.

Their recent raiding of two Palestinian television stations, support of terrorism and running assassination operations in Iran, and their actions concerning nuclear matters, to mention a few, just underscore this fact.

Instead of addressing the fact that there is ample proof of no Iranian nuclear program, and the complete absence of evidence showing it exists, Netanyahu is now claiming that nuclear talks Iran would just be a tactic to buy time.

During a news conference with the Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper, Netanyahu said, “It could pursue or exploit the talks as they have done in the past to deceive and to delay so that they can continue to advance their nuclear program and get to the nuclear finish line by running the clock. I think the international community should not fall into this trap.”

Netanyahu is just throwing out pure speculation and treating it as fact. Instead of taking Netanyahu’s approach, which is more likely to lead to militarized conflict than anything else, the international community should indeed engage in talks once again as there is nothing to lose.

Instead, Netanyahu has turned this into a zero-sum game which the Iranians do not want to end up on the wrong side of.

When saying that all enriched uranium should be removed from Iran, he clarified, “And when I say all the material, I mean all the material.”

This means that Iran could no longer even pursue peaceful nuclear technology for power generation or medical treatments and research. I have been pointing out that this is the goal of the West’s belligerent approach to Iran for some time now.

In a recent interview, Obama confirmed that a “military component” was part of the assortment of approaches available in dealing with Iran and rejected the notion that the U.S. “might settle for a strategy of deterring Iran from using a nuclear weapon,” according to the Associated Press.

The most damning part of the interview came when he said that he does not “go around advertising exactly what our intentions are” which was echoed in statements made by Jay Carney, while still making it clear that they are preparing for a military option, as I have been documenting in my series, “Iran: a quickly evolving imbroglio” and some articles outside of the series like, “U.S. boosting military presence in Strait of Hormuz to fend off any Iranian attempt at closure.”

I will continue to keep tabs on the developments concerning Iran and attempt to keep you as informed as possible here at End the Lie.

If I have missed anything or you would like to share something like your feedback, writing, or analysis, please email me at [email protected]

This article first appeared at EndtheLie.com. Read other contributed articles by Madison Ruppert here.

Madison Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis database End The Lie and has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. He is available for podcast and radio interviews. Madison also now has his own radio show on Orion Talk Radio from 8 pm — 10 pm Pacific, which you can find HERE.  If you have questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact him at [email protected]