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| image source (click to enlarge) – Zen Gardner |
Stephen Lendman
Activist Post
Dark forces run both countries. They want Geneva agreed on terms subverted. On November 30, Fars News headlined “Riyadh, Tel Aviv Cooperating to Sabotage Iran’s (Nuclear) Program.”
They’re cooperating on a new computer worm. They want one more destructive than Stuxnet. In 2010, it infected Iran’s Bushehr nuclear facility.
Operations were halted. Israel was blamed. So was Washington. Had the facility gone online infected, Iran’s entire electrical power grid could have been shut down.
Experts say Flame malware is 20 times more harmful than Stuxnet. Perhaps Israeli and Saudi dark forces want something even more destructive.
Fars News quoted an unnamed “informed source,” saying:
Saudi spy chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and director of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency Tamir Bardo sent their representatives to a meeting in Vienna on November 24 to increase the two sides’ cooperation in intelligence and sabotage operations against Iran’s nuclear program.
One of the proposals raised in the meeting was the production of a malware worse than the Stuxnet (a comprehensive US-Israeli program designed to disrupt Iran’s nuclear technology) to spy on and destroy the software structure of Iran’s nuclear program.”
Netanyahu called Geneva a “historic mistake.” Bandar called it “West(ern) treachery.” An Israeli/Saudi alliance plans to subvert it.
Washington’s approach represents new wine in old bottles. Longstanding objectives remain unchanged.
Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping once said “(i)t doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white so long as it catches mice.”
America wants Iranian governance it controls. How it’s achieved is optional. War is currently unpopular.
US-style diplomacy substitutes. It includes more than meets the eye. It’s more duplicitous than sincere. How long current tactics continue remains to be seen.
Bottom line objectives haven’t changed. If current strategy fails, expect Plan B. It’ll be more confrontational. I’ll include stiffer sanctions.
Expect hawks to urge war. Attack plans were readied years ago. They can be implemented straightaway if ordered.
False flag deception may precipitate it. Duplicity is longstanding US tradition. Trustworthiness isn’t its long suit.
Deals it offers aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. Anti-Iranian sentiment is decades old. Geneva reflected marked overt change from past policy. It did so tactically.
Plans may shift going forward. Don’t expect smooth sailing. Obama is no peacemaker. He’s waged multiple direct and proxy wars. He’s done so since day one in office.
Syria is his war. He wants Assad toppled. Planned January peace talks change nothing. Conflict persists. Dozens die daily.
On Thursday, insurgents attacked Russia’s Damascus embassy. A statement followed, saying:
Today, the area where the embassy is located has undergone yet another intense mortar fire.
One mine exploded on the territory of the diplomatic mission.
There are no injuries on the site of the explosion. Another mine exploded near the fence outside the embassy.
US support makes these type incidents possible. The State Department issued a disingenuous statement, saying:
We condemn any attack against individuals or facilities protected by international law.
The United States continues to emphasize that those responsible for atrocities on all sides must be held accountable.
One side alone bears full responsibility. It’s done so for over two and half years. Washington’s dirty hands facilitate things. High-level US manipulation controls what’s ongoing.
America’s imperial policy remains firm. It wants Syrian and Iranian regime change. It wants governments in place it controls.
Waging multiple regional direct and proxy wars shows how far US policy goes to achieve strategic aims.
Iranian officials know what challenges they face going forward. They know Washington and Israel can’t be trusted.
Negotiating with America in Geneva wasn’t easy. Nor were reported secret talks preceding them. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif excludes Israel from future negotiations. He does so for good reason.
“We will not attend a meeting in which the occupying regime participates,” he said. His remark responded to possible future Israeli involvement.
It negotiates like Washington. It’s up to no good. It demands. It’s all take and no give. Decades of failed Palestinian peace talks reflect its duplicity.
It deplores conflict resolution. So does Washington. Violence, instability and deception serve their agenda. Longstanding policy calls for toppling Iran’s government.
The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) “advocate(s) on behalf of a strong US military, a robust national security policy and a strong US security relationship with Israel and other like-minded democracies.”
It supports the worst of US and Israeli crimes. It’s militantly anti-Iranian. In October, it issued a report titled “The 2013 JINSA Generals and Admirals Trip to Israel and Jordan.”
Pentagon officials involved recently retired. They’re not household names. They’re all high-ranking.
They met with Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. IDF chief of staff General Benny Gantz was involved. So were various other senior Israeli military and intelligence officials.
JINSA’s report covered lots of ground. One section dealt with Iran. It largely focused on its nuclear program. It called Geneva an “ugly deal.”
It referred to enrichment as one element. It wants strict limits imposed. It wants operational centrifuges restricted to between 1,000 and 3,000.
Iran wants thousands more for nuclear power generation. It wants an adequate supply of medical isotopes produced. It wants rights no different from other states operating nuclear facilities. It has every right to demand them.
Israel falsely calls an Iranian “nuclear weapons capability (an) existential threat…and cannot be allowed.”
“Containment is not a viable option.” Israeli consensus is that attacking Iran at most will delay its (nonexistent) “weapons program” three to five years.
Plans going forward require stiffer sanctions, “diplomatic engagement, covert operations, regime change, and a credible military option,” it said.
Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful. Annual US intelligence assessments say so. IAEA inspectors concur. Israeli officials know it. So do visiting retired US generals and admirals.
They falsely blamed Iran for a regional arms buildup. America is by far the world’s leading merchant of death and destruction.
Tens of billions of dollars annually are involved. It’s big business. The Commerce and State Departments actively promote arms sales.
In October, the Obama administration relaxed exporting rules. Doing so bypassed longstanding federal export controls.
According to the State Department, new rules “strengthen the US defense and aerospace industrial base.” They let Washington “focus (its) export control resources on the most sensitive items.”
Independent groups explain otherwise. Arms and munitions exports serve Washington’s imperial agenda. They fatten warprofiteers’ bottom lines. They prop up friendly dictators.
They further regional conflicts. They prevent peace and stability. Israel is a major beneficiary.
According to JINSA:
Covert operations have had a demonstrable effect on the pace of Iran’s nuclear development.
Iran’s “goal of 40,000 operational centrifuges by summer 2012 has been reduced to the 12,000 to 13,000 today by a wide range of special operations, though Iran recently began installing more advanced centrifuges.”
Tehran “exploits the P5+1’s eagerness for diplomatic engagement to buy time for additional uranium enrichment.”
Therefore the regime feigns interest in continued negotiations, only to drag its heels before ultimately rejecting compromise settlements proposed by the P5+1.
Washington dominates negotiations. It’s dirty hands prevented resolution numerous times before.
Israel wants Iran’s nuclear program entirely dismantled. Its Lobby exerts enormous pressure in Washington.
Last May, Israel said Iran “would only consider a deal if sanctions generated far more pressure and if the US conveyed a much more credible threat of military action.”
Iran never wanted confrontation in the first place. It sought rapprochement years ago. Washington precipitated conflict. It stoked it for years. It subverted normalized relations. It still does.
Iran is blamed for US duplicity. Syria is blamed for US-backed terrorist atrocities. All governments America targets face false charges.
Big Lies substitute for truth and full disclosure. Doing so aims to advance America’s imperium. It comes at the expense of world peace, equity and justice.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at [email protected]. His new book is titled How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/
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