"Officials in Jerusalem believe the Jan. 31 declaration by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that Iran was just months, and possibly weeks, away from obtaining sufficient fissile material for a bomb were exaggerated and deliberate. According to Israeli diplomatic and security sources, Blinken knows that the figure he mentioned was imprecise and relates only to fissile material and not to Iran’s ability to manufacture a nuclear warhead and install it on a delivery vehicle. They believe Blinken’s declaration was intended to provide a convincing rationale for a speedy return to negotiations with Iran and perhaps even a nuclear agreement, as if to say that the new administration was saving the world and rolling back Iran’s ambitious nuclear program.
Netanyahu’s people were underwhelmed by Blinken’s forecast, to put it mildly. Israeli security officials are more concerned by the gaps in perception with the Americans. “Generally speaking, the Americans want to get out of the Middle East as fast as possible,” an Israeli security source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “They do not view a nuclear-threshold Iran as a threat or danger; they have the capabilities of a world power and a different timetable than ours. For us, Iran as a threshold state is very dangerous and a nuclear-capable Iran is an existential threat, whereas America can handle both options. It has different capabilities, its distance from Iran is far greater and its triggers are completely different.”" al monitor
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Well, well. Here is one issue or set of issues on which I agree with the Biden Administration. Blinken, Malley, Bill Burns et all are a seasoned crew who have a long and bitter experience of the nasty, bullying way the Israelis treat the US. Natanyahu once said "Don't worry about the Americans, they are easy to push around." This is one case in which the Borg (US foreign policy establishment) has it right. The Israelis need to be reminded that they are the tail and not the dog.
If they want to fight Iran, let them, but without us. No target intelligence, no air to air refueling, no supplemental funding for this, no assistance to get them access to Iraqi airfields, no SAR anywhere. Nothing. If they want to fight Iran, let them, but without us! Woof! pl
Don’t the Dems want to be re-elected in 2024? The Izzies have “six ways from Sunday” to get their way.
Col:
You have your reasons for your loathing of Israel, BUT in an Israel-Iran fight, why would the US NOT support Israel?
Iran is a bad guy – seizing our embassy, harassment of US ships in the Persian Gulf, support for terrorism, responsible for US deaths in Iraq and what other country has a national holiday “Death to America?”
Israel is not wearing a white gown, but they haven’t done any of the above things and – unlike any other country in the region – is a western democracy.
TV
Israel does nothing for us, never has and continually seeks to manipulate US policy. You really want to fight a war for them? You have forgotten about the their vicious attack on USS Liberty, the Pollard affair and their relentless efforts to steal US technology? I do not LOATHE Israel. I regard them as a burden to the US that is not worth the costs to us.
@ tv…. i can get the same propaganda talking points anywhere, but to get them here at pats site is a bit off putting.. . and those talking points fall apart on closer examination…. the usa ought to realize how much they have been manipulated by israel, instead of constantly being fed poppycock like what you post offers… how are the yearly money dispensations to israel going these days anyway??? apparently israel never gets enough..
Excellent opinion.
With friends like Israel and Saudi monarchy who needs enemies.
Bibi address to congress during Obama administration was obscene.
@TV. “support for terrorism”. Very interested to see your list.
sbin:
Bibi is more pro-American than Obama has ever been.
TV
Bibi is a hyper nationalist Zionist who has no use for anyone else.
TV, turn off the TeeVee. It’s mostly owned by Zionists who seek to shape the opinions of the credulous, like you.
Amen!
re: “If they want to fight Iran, let them, but without us!”
Agreed.
But with that said, let’s imagine Israel launches an attack. Then runs low on ordnance after Iran and Hezbollah counterattack.
What happens next? Just as in 1973, Israel demands re-supply with the threat to use their nuclear weapons if Zionist Joe doesn’t comply.
That’s assuming Joe and his Zionist cabal aren’t in on it from the jump, which seems a far more likely scenario.
The night of Benghazi – when Obama was functionally MIA ……except for one curious photo op event that was later published.
This is how I remembered that awful night – anyone else remember this, or need to correct my memory? Pre-election – Obama vs Romney 2012 – Sept 11, 2012 – 16:00 – 22:00 EST.
For one hour (approx 19:00-20:00) while the Benghazi murders were still taking place, Obama was photographed taking a phone call from Netanyahu ….. photos which also included Biden curiously holding the talking points papers in the background, allowing their main headings to be read.
Then Obama went missing both before and after this phone call during the entire Benghazi event, starting at approx 16:00 EST until Hilary Clinton’s “video” statement at apporx. 22:00 EST.
I have always thought this entire time period and the phone call photo op was very odd. Mainly because everyone was to tight-lipped and spoke only in veiled terms.Including the Susan Rice official fabrications on five talk shows.
The later Gowdy investigation eventually was forced to conclude ….nothing was done to protect Americans in Benghazi that night. No one was asked to “stand down”, because no one was ever ordered to stand up.
But why the call to Netanyuhu that night, of all people? Why the intentionality of the photo op with the disclosed talking points? Why was Biden used as the silent purveyor of this talking points information. Yet, they continued the official Obama lies about Benghazi for weeks, until their hand was finally forced by the facts.
What was really going on with Benghazi and why the staged photo op call to Natanyuhu that same evening? Did the call actually take place, or was this a plented event for some other purpose.
I think we need to let israel take responsibilty for their own actions.It’s wrong to give another nation veto power over our own policy.Do we evan know the extent to which we subsidize israel?Thx mark
Bibi while being full of it wasn’t the obscenity I was referring to.
It was the behavior of the American congress that was reprehensible.
Some of us remember when Iran and USA were best of friends. Iranians made up the largest contingent of foreign nationals at US universities. Major defense contractors made their profits on Iranian projects, and similar for other US industrial and commercial exchange with Iran. Not a few Americans AND Iranians fondly recall those relationships.
I am not aware that, in that time, Iran did to USA any of the sorts of things that Israel has done to USA in the course of its “special relationship.” As well, Iranian history and culture is far more elevating than anything Israel has lent to the USA.
—
Regarding TV’s list of Iran’s sins against USA: I once heard Mike Morell declare that “Somebody needs to give Iran crayons and a map, so they can learn to stay in their borders: ‘THIS is Iran, THAT is NOT Iran.’ ” Any middle school kids listening might have been confused: “Do Iranian ships prowl the Chesapeake Bay? Does USA have a coastline in the Persian Gulf?”
Among other ways Israel “continually seeks to manipulate US policy,” AIPAC boasts of having written the Libya-Iran Sanctions bill (D’Amato Amendment) in 1995, that cost a US corporation a favorable contract to develop Iran’s oil fields. The Chinese picked up the project. It’s been one set of sanctions against Iran after another ever since, all at Israel’s demand and to the detriment of the American people, in ways commercial, political, and moral.
If US Treasury Dept. spent less energy punishing other nations for trading with Iran, and more effort toward keeping US finances in a better condition, we and much of the rest of the world would be a lot better off.
Outrage Beyond:
“Runs low on ordnance”.
What Ordnance? IDF will run out of airborne targets before they run out of AMRAAMs, even w/ 2-shot volleys. Same with ground HVTs.
Maybe CAS will exhaust “smart” bombs. But that’s CAS. Only Egypt can mount an existential ground invasion now. Nobody else can.
seizing our embassy, harassment of US ships in the Persian Gulf, – support for terrorism, responsible for US deaths in Iraq and what other country has a national holiday “Death to America?”…
Posted by: TV | 10 February 2021 at 11:14 AM
D آمریکا Marg bar Āmrikā, down with America was part of the most popular chant of the Iranian 1979 revolution. Down with the Shaw, down with America. The latter parts survived while the former didn’t.
By the way, there isn’t such a national holiday-
Arbitrarily following Richard Armstrong here, could anyone have killed Americans in Iraq without the US led Iraq War?
**********
Bibi while being full of it wasn’t the obscenity I was referring to.
It was the behavior of the American congress that was reprehensible.
Posted by: sbin | 10 February 2021 at 04:34 PM
I wouldn’t call it obscene, but no doubt curious to what extent the US can stand united, shoulder to shoulder across party lines on Israel issues.
I found this part of the al monitor article to be bizarre: “They believe Blinken’s declaration was intended to provide a convincing rationale for a speedy return to negotiations with Iran and perhaps even a nuclear agreement”
Have I fallen into the Quantum Realm and time-travelled back to July 2015?
The negotiations (which were not speedy) concluded on that date, and the resulting JCPOA was – and is – the very definition of “a nuclear agreement”.
All that is required now is for all parties to announce that they will come back into compliance with the terms of that agreement.
No “negotiations” are required for that to happen, from anyone.
Just some good old-fashioned Trust-but-Verify will do the trick.
It’s funny how the Israelis spin this stuff: even when they are speaking English they may as well be speaking in a foreign language.
Yeah, Right,
“All that is required now is for all parties to announce that they will come back into compliance with the terms of that agreement. ”
The Biden administration is desperate to get back in. Iran can demand, and recieve, quite a bit in concession to make that happen. The worst thing that happens to them is the current status quo. Which leaves Trump’s policies in place (I’d remind Biden’s people of that every day if I were Iran). We’ll be giving them lots, including money, shortly. Can’t let Trump have the last word…….
“If they want to fight Iran, let them, but without us! Woof!”
I’ll take “‘Things That Are Not Going To Happen’ for $500, Alex!”
Colonel,
Did you see the latest?
Israel’s former UN envoy regrets tweet asking Biden to call Netanyahu
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/11/israels-former-un-envoy-regrets-tweet-asking-biden-call-netanyahu/
I have been following this since Jan 22nd after the call with Justin. Since then, the Israeli rags have been asking : when ?
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=Biden+has+not+called+Netanyahu
This is what he wrote:
https://twitter.com/dannydanon/status/1359506734218416133
Fred, the Iranians COULD demand concessions, just as much as they COULD ask for a pink pony.
But they haven’t. They are sticking to their core argument.
Which is this: a deal is a deal is a deal is a deal.
The USA walked away from the deal, so the onus is on the USA to walk that back.
No “concessions”. No “lots of money”. No demands at all, other than that the USA comes back into compliance with the conditions that it originally agreed to when it signed the deal.
Because a deal is a deal is a deal is a deal.
Yeah, right
I agree with them. A deal is a deal. And in any event IMO there has not been an Iranian nuclear weapons program since 2003. Look at the US IC evidence. Look at the NIE of 2007 and subsequent statements. We have been led down a rabbit hole by the Izzies with their 1% psychosis.
Yeah Right,
I made no mention of Iran making any concession. Yes the Biden Administration could waltz back in, if he could get his herd of loyal cats to not step all over themselves.