Signs of the Coming Pivotal Showdowns

 

The Middle East has never seen the conflux of terminal situations as it is being currently forced to witness. Needless to point out that all of them have an Israeli contingency or are solely placing its sights squarely on Israel. The most obvious is the Iranian nuclear threat and the lacking of a spine amongst the Western Powers leaving once again the solution squarely with Israel, which begs the question as to what will the world, particularly the Western Powers, do if the problem is shown to be beyond Israeli conventional capabilities thus leaving the choice between Western Power intervention, a nuclear armed Iran spreading its hegemonic desires upon the Middle East, Northern Africa and all of Europe or, potentially the worst possible solution, a tactical nuclear strike to decapitate the Iranian leadership by any of the nations potentially threatened by a nuclear Iran. The obvious best scenario would be for the Western Powers, particularly the United States or the European Union acting as a single power including its complete membership acting as one to make known to Iran that either they terminate their nuclear weapons dreams, dismantle their nuclear sites allowing for inspections of every step along the way to assure compliance or face even more all-inclusive sanctions than Iran has faced to this point. Unfortunately, the United States is currently led by a President who sees empowering Iran and making them the new main ally of the United States with Iran in the superior position and the United States engaged as the supportive partner providing cover through negotiations to permit nuclear weapons capability of deliverable warheads, not just a single warhead but potentially hundreds of deliverable nuclear warheads spanning the complete range from thermonuclear city-busting devices to EMP yields capable of striking down the electrical grids of the continental United States and Canada or the entirety of Europe or the Russian grid including surrounding satellite nations to tactical weapons deployable in support of ground-forces engaging any foe’s opposing armies. This would be the result of the current Framework should the Farsi translation as claimed by the Iranian nuclear negotiating hierarchy which has been backed fully by the leadership and finally given the stamp of authenticity by the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei (in Farsi: حسینی خامنه‌ای سید علی) be proven valid and still acceptable.

 

Thus far, there has been total silence given as a response by the White House which implies that they know full well that the Framework they allowed the Iranians to mold due to the United States team’s compliance and their taking the position of explaining the Iranian demands being planted as the Framework was the better choice than implementing a military response as no sane individual desires to start a war. The reasoning by President Obama, Secretary of State Kerry and the entirety of the United States negotiators is flawless as long as the sole alternative to the present situation was to start a war, a completely specious and disingenuous choice which is fully noted by the White House. President Obama is presenting a dishonestly fallacious choice and he knows so. This was the given alternative when President Obama responded to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu speech to a Joint Session of Congress where the underlying theme of his speech was that war was not the sole and obvious alternative to this bad deal, a better deal brought forth through the reapplication of the relaxed sanctions and potentially the imposition of even stricter and more encompassing sanctions but never war. President Obama along with White House Spokesperson Josh Earnest and supporting members of the White House public interface as well as the myriad of spokespeople from the State Department such as but not limited to Jen Psaki, Victoria Nuland and Marie Harf have all adopted the proven irrational choice as between whatever deal eventually is hammered out or war. The first falsehood is it is well known that President Obama will not only refuse to choose the military option; he will not even move it on the table to give the appearance of having been considered. With the United States actually taking the other side, evidence provided by Amir Hossein Mottaghi, known to have managed media, Internet and other electronic dealings for Rouhani during his 2013 Presidential election campaign, sought asylum and in interviews related how the Iranian media at the Lausanne negotiations were merely tools used to control the information fed to the Iranian people. But Amir Hossein Mottaghi’s biggest coup was his reporting that, “The US negotiating team are mainly there to speak on Iran’s behalf with other members of the P5+1 countries and convince them of a deal.”

 

Apparently the most feasible, productive and potentially desirable outcome has to be a better deal than what has been made as evidenced by the Iranians with their apparent belief that the Framework Agreement stipulates allowing them to continue with their nuclear program unhindered by the coming deal. The Iranians fully expect to dictate the terms for the final agreement and President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry will take that as the direction for the P5+1 to go. This has to be prevented and the fastest and most probable path to successfully doing so would be attained simply by the European Union taking the lead dismissing the United States as having become useless. The Europeans first move after dismissing the United States leadership would be to threaten to reapply the strongest sanctions so as to get the full attention of the Iranian leadership. Perhaps with a new threat of actually having an opposing side would bring the Iranians back to the negotiating table this time duly shamed thus ready to actually negotiate and realize that they will not be permitted to continue having everything their way. Once the European Union had coordinated with the United Nations and brought them on board with the Europeans’ rejection of the leadership role played by the United States, the European Union would necessarily need to carry negotiations forward at a speed far faster than the United States which would be potentially possible simply by using the original draft of a Framework with the major points which the United States has dropped until the Framework Agreement had become meaningless. The European Union taking such an initiative might just jumpstart the United States role as a senior or lead negotiator. Should the United States attempt to reestablish their predominance within the workings of the negotiations, the European Union should refuse such a move further reestablishing their reassuming the lead role. One might even desire going so far as to relieve the United States of having an overriding veto over any of the provisions as their actions have proven their lack of serious desire to even minimally restrict the Iranian nuclear program. Anything short of rejecting the current Framework and returning to the basic demands from before the United States eventually stripped them of any relevance would make all efforts futile. There is still the possibility of having a finished and signed better deal by the end of June providing that the European Union is willing to take a principled stance or if they are going to permit this freak-show being staged by the United States Iran will be a nuclear armed nation by Christmas. Serious reapplication of the full range of sanctions would get the full attention of the European insistence that Iran become serious or face really serious sanctions going forward for as long as it takes. These were the sanctions which had actually brought the Iranians to the negotiating table and were also the sanctions which President Obama just could not wait to relax that he held private talks with the Iranians and relaxed the sanctions without receiving even a single concession. That has become the latest way that negotiations have operated with the rest of the P5+1 joining sessions which are held so that the United States can dictate the latest surrender of points to the Iranians and present them as great victories though anybody with 20/20 vision and half a brain can see they are exactly the opposite as each rendition is weaker than the previous and the whole while the United States has pulled hard for weakening the sanctions. But unfortunately the European Union has been so weakened that their once proud nations which traveled the globe with their strong forces of trade protected by navies and marines who were the envy of the world are no more and their dependence on the protections of other nations has left them incapable of taking such a lead role.

 

But there has been one place where the Europeans have found their abilities to act with resolute strength, Israel. The European Union and individual governments have already primed the engines of industry to rush into Iran as soon as sanctions are lifted, if they even wait that long after witnessing the Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system recently reactivated violating both the Iranian sanctions still in place and the sanctions against their engaging in such activities due to their offenses in the Ukraine. The strongest words about the Russian jumping the gun did emanate from the White House where President Obama stated his surprise that the Russians held off this long considering the weakness displayed by the United States and other nations involved in the negotiations with Iran. But these same weaklings who are unable to even look the Iranian leadership in the eye will glare at Israel demanding her surrender of all lands which International Law assigns as legally Israeli lands. The Europeans do not care and for as long as the United States shows no favor to their longtime loyal friend, the Europeans will continue displaying their hatred for Israel with some expressing regrets over voting for the Jewish State both in 1920 after the initial findings during the San Remo Conference and again in November of 1947 which may have actually had much to do with the revelations of the Holocaust and the extent the hatreds were permitted by the allies as well as the axis powers. But now the many nations, especially the so proper and perfect in their attire and manner of speech always sticking to the approved progressive reasons and smugly purporting such superiority while they quiver before the Muslim threats they have no difficulty demonizing and walking forward with the destruction of Israel, the Jewish State, for they are fully aware that Israel will not strike them for their spiteful hatred while the Muslims might smite them even if they demur perfectly into their roles as Dhimmi bowing before their Islamic masters. The world will soon face a choice, a great choice which will be their final choice, Israel or Islam, with which will each of us stand? The choice in this instance is not merely for nations but for individuals to choose. Needless to point out that should an individual living in any nations that stands to ally with Israel and you choose to ally with Islam, you will have your choice protected, but if you choose Israel and your nation chooses Islam then you had best move to a nation which will accept your choice for the nations that choose Islam will be unable to couch an individual who desired any other choice. The clouds have been on the horizon for as long as I can remember, and I can remember back to President Ike and the campaign buttons screaming, “I Like Ike!” Those were good days in so many ways and also had their share of evil, an evil which sought to minimize the presence of Blacks in many public places as well as private. Lesser remembered were the places both public but mostly private where a Jew was unwelcome. The sixties and seventies came and went and much of the segregations had been eliminated yet there were still those private clubs closed to Black and Jew alike. Eventually these hatreds were supposedly conquered but we all know those few Neanderthals who refuse to bury their hatreds. In the United States the religion which has had the most hateful crimes perpetrated against them from 1900 to 2000 was far and away Jews. Since 2001 and the World Trade Center disaster the popular opinion has been that Islam became the religion which suffered the most hate crimes but that perception is not backed up by the statistics as the Jews remain the religion with the highest number of hate crimes perpetrated against them.

 

The real sadness is the singling out of the Jews over the centuries has now been applied to the national home for the Jews. This is beyond any moral fathoming and the world has but two societies which support the nation of Israel, one obvious and the other far less so. The largest support for Israel comes from the Evangelical Christians who easily surpass the Jews in their support. As difficult as it may be to believe, the Evangelical Christians support Israel in a higher percentage than does the Jewish community in the United States and this is even after discounting those religious Chassidim communities who do not accept Israel due to religious interpretations of Torah believing that Israel is to be established by the Messiah and not before. Still the Jewish communities within the United States take second place behind the Evangelical Christians in their support for Israel. Why, you might ask, would the Jews not be at one-hundred-percent supporting of Israel? The Jews who least support Israel are the least observant of strict Jewish traditions and commandments. These are Jews who have redefined their Jewish religious observance to match the progressive agendas. They place acceptance of all individuals above Jewish laws about marriage by their not only accepting same sex marriages but condone performing such ceremonies with their Rabbi officiating in their Sanctuaries. They replaced the idea of perfecting the world through doing all possible to perfect oneself and by such example change the world with the ideal that for every problem there must be a government program to address and form a solution, which is normally to just throw money at the problem. They have replaced G0d with government and thus are comfortable with an all-powerful government as government is the source of all goodness. They sold their soul to the progressive cause, have also accepted the progressive leftist beliefs that Israel is an Apartheid state which persecutes the Palestinians and is illegitimate, and are most likely to condemn Israel of any crime anyone brings against Israel. As a Zionist, very likely from birth, I have always had difficulty interacting with the Progressive, leftist, whites are the source of all evil, Israel has no right to exist, whacko, crazy, lunatic-leftist, earth-first, Ghia worshipping, statist Jews by birth only. Whenever I meet one when traveling even within Israel I carefully refuse to speak about even the weather as that inevitable is taken straight to what in the current weather will bring the end of all life on the planet we are all doomed to some anthropomorphic apocalyptic cataclysm. Did I mention also insane and you do not want to know how I really feel.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

United States Department of State Proves Their Blindness Again

The State Department of the United States once again made the same tired old New Year’s resolution, or should I say wish list, by once more urging that the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians return to negotiations and find a resolution. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland stated, “As we turn the calendar to 2013… now is the time for leaders on both sides to display real leadership, to focus on the work that’s necessary to return to direct negotiations.” Her helpful suggestions were for, “both sides to clearly demonstrate that they are serious about achieving two states living side by side in peace and security,” adding that both sides, refrain from “counter-productive unilateral actions.” Ms. Nuland turned thoughtful and made this observation which had obviously escaped everybody else’s observations, “We have an environment that was quite fraught and quite difficult at the end of 2012, so the question is whether we can make a fresh start in 2013, and that’s going to require restraint on all sides. We want 2013 to be a better year, we really do.” How can anybody expect anything short of miracles to suddenly bloom and both sides to come together and hold a hoedown.

Well, let’s take a look at what needs to occur from both sides in order for negotiations to actually produce results. We will start with the Palestinian side. Numerous times, almost as many times as we’ve discussed this, Mahmoud Abbas has given a partial list which varies from time to time, depending on the atmospheric conditions, orientation of the stars, and his horoscope, of preconditions he requires the Israelis fulfill before he would be able to even consider joining into negotiations. His precondition lists usually start with almost understandable demands as if you can get anything from the other side before negotiations begin, you have gained the advantage and that is one less area of contention. Examples of such are the Israelis accepting the pre Six Day War which are also the 1949 Armistice lines as the starting point for negotiations for boundaries for the Palestinian State, a complete freeze of any and all Israeli building of any variety beyond the same boundaries, the surrender of the Old City areas of Jerusalem, the surrender of the entirety of the Temple Mount, and the surrender of the Western Wall and the Plaza where Jews regularly gather to pray as it is the closest Jews can come to praying at the holiest site of Judaism which is the Temple Mount.

There is a secondary level of preconditions which the Palestinian leadership regularly trot out just in case anybody might think that if only the Israelis make some offer of compromise which was the whole idea behind United States President Barack Obama’s forcing of a ten month building freeze on Prime Minister Netanyahu in order to entice Mahmoud Abbas to the negotiating table near the beginning of the President’s first term. It was during that time when Mahmoud Abbas first previewed some of his additional preconditions. Some of these include the release of the majority of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel serving life sentences, release of all Palestinian from Israeli prisons as part or at the end of negotiations, open route under Palestinian control and security between Gaza and Judea and Samaria cutting Israel in halves, no restrictions on military buildup of Palestinian security forces, ability to hold military training exercises with other nations within Palestine, removal of all roadblocks and checkpoints anywhere in the West Bank, recognition of all Islamic holy sites in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) which a subset of these sites bears a remarkable similarity to the Jewish and Christian holy sites, and the requirement that upon completion of negotiations every single Jew must be removed from within the lands denoted as the Palestinian state and be forbidden from reentering these lands in perpetuity thus placing the majority of Jewish holy sites out of the reach of the Jewish people both Israeli and non-Israeli.

Then there are the deal busters which Mahmoud Abbas has trotted out any time it appears that the Israelis might actually agree to meet any of his preconditions. These are the real beyond the pale demands which no Jewish or Israeli leader would ever agree to grant.  These include the Right of Return within Israel with full rights as citizens of over four and a half million Palestinian refugees as listed by UNRWA, the Palestinians are not to be held to consider any agreement as final and must be permitted their understandable right to continue protests until all of the Palestinian lands have been liberated which means they get to continue their terror war, and they then claim that these are not preconditions at all; they are simply items and obligations which Israel is required to fulfill in order to prove to the Palestinians and the world that they are seriously interested in peace.

There are some items that Israel has declared that must be included in the final agreement which are that Israel be recognized as the Jewish State, the agreement be an end to incitement, terror, rockets, and other forms of attacks, and recognition that all of Jerusalem belongs to Israel and Israel understands the existence of Christian and Islamic holy sites in addition to Jewish sites and that Israel will fulfill their obligation to allow free access for all religions to their holy religious places while Israel intends to be allowed access to Jewish holy sites within Palestine. Mahmoud Abbas has never stated that he would refuse allowing Jews to visit the Jewish holy sites in Judea and Samaria and has left that to others to state; Abbas has simply claimed that no Jewish holy sites exist anywhere in the entire area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and figures that settles the need for Jewish access as there are no places to visit.

There is one thing I would love to hear from Ms. Nuland or any of the other United States State Department spokespeople, exactly what do they expect from the Israelis who are willing to come to the table and attempt to hammer out some agreement between the two sides which they both give and receive some amounts of what each side claims while Mahmoud Abbas simply wants to hold a signing ceremony after the Israelis have met his demand over every single negotiable point which exists and then some. My bet is that had the Jewish people accepted the alternate offer the British had proposed, taking Madagascar in which to build their Jewish state, Mahmoud Abbas along with Yasser Arafat would have sailed their and claimed it as Islamic lands of the ancient Madagascar Muslims and they were here to take back their ancient homeland. Would you bet against such a preposterous idea and feel safe?

Beyond the Cusp