BREAKING: Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani Responds to Netanyahu
SEE ALSO: Netanyahu Goes to Washington: An Act of Desperation By a Political Dinosaur
21st Century Wire says…
If you are interested in avoiding another major war, then consider it your duty as a human interested in world peace to get this article out to as many people as you possibly can.
The speech Netanyahu gave to the U.S. Congress today is nothing less than the case for war against Iran. Voters should not, under any circumstances, allow this to hold any weight at all with policy makers – as they did with Iraq in 2003.
Here’s our rundown of the Top 10 points from his speech proving that Netanyahu has lost the plot…
Number One
“I deeply regret that some perceive my being here as political.”
Despite his opening rhetoric praising Obama, Netanyahu and the U.S. President have been known to be in what some have dubbed a hate-hate relationship. This accelerated after Obama won his second-term election, setting Netanyahu’s Republican and Neocon-friendly agenda back at least another four years. His speech in Congress has been seen as a massive breach in diplomatic protocol; so of course his presence is political and it would be crazy to think otherwise.
Number Two
“The remarkable alliance between Israel and the United States has always been above politics and it must always remain above politics.”
Contrary to popular belief Israel and United States are not, at least officially, allies. There is no treaty between the two states detailing any mutual obligations, which stems back to American ties with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; as it would be much harder for the Saudis to work with the U.S. if they were ‘officially’ tied to Israel. If it so wished, the United States could drop Israel literally overnight. So, it might be crazy to assume an alliance, especially with the presence of the tensions mentioned above.
Number Three
“In 1979 Iran was hijacked by religious zealots.”
Interestingly, Netanyahu failed to mention Operation Ajax. This was a covert operation led by the American CIA and British MI6 to ‘hijack’ Iran from the rule of the democratically elected Mohammad Mossadegh, who had refused foreign companies access to Iran’s oil fields, and install the Shah; who promised to do the opposite. Calling the 1979 Iranian revolution a ‘hijacking’ is crazy; it wasn’t pretty, but it happened and the Anglo-Americans have been unable to exercise economic and political control over Iran ever since – and this is why Iran is constantly framed as an enemy to this day.
Number Four
“Backed by Iran Assad is slaughtering Syrians, backed by Iran Shi’ite militias are rampaging through Iraq, backed by Iran Houthis are seizing control of Yemen; threatening the strategic straights at the mouth of the Red Sea. Along with the Straight of Hormuz, that would give Iran a second choke point on the world’s oil supply.”
Where do we start with this one? Assad is fighting off an invading army of foreign terrorists, and has said himself that civilian casualties are the unfortunate reality of war – like they would be in any country facing the same situation. Netanyahu’s comments mentioning ‘strategic’ points should be recognised as carefully assembled talking points for a war agenda. He is implying that such ‘strategic’ elements should not be allowed to be under Iranian control. It is crazy to think that Iran should not have a sphere of influence like every other powerful country on Earth.
The denial of a sphere of influence is what this rift is really all about.
Number Five
“Iran is now gobbling up the nations! We must all stand together to stop Iran’s march of conquest, subjugation and terror.”
Now we’re really getting into the depths of Netanyahu’s special breed of crazy. Where exactly is this ‘march of conquest’ occurring? Netanyahu makes reference to Iranian support for Assad and Hezbollah, but in what way is this any different from American support for the Kiev coup-installed leaders and rebels in Syria?
If we want to talk about conquest, we should really examine the case of Israel’s conquest via the building of illegal settlements on Palestinian land; some would go as far to argue that the entire state of Israel is itself an illegal entity.
Number 6
“Don’t be fooled, the battle between Iran and ISIS doesn’t turn Iran into a friend of America. Iran and ISIS are competing for the crown of militant Islam … In this deadly ‘game of thrones’ there is no place for America or Israel.”
By invoking the title of a popular TV series, ‘Game of Thrones‘, Netanyahu and his controllers are undoubtedly attempting to appeal to a wider, perhaps non-politically inclined, dumbed-down audience; in the hope that this quote will run in headlines to attract the a few young clicks of the general public.
Psychological factors aside, Iran’s competition for the crown of Islam is actually waged with Saudi Arabia. It would be crazy to think that Iran cannot help in the fight against ISIS, in fact, now that is the recommended course of action from numerous mainstream analysts. So when you factor in Saudi Arabia and Qatar’s support of ISIS and al Nusra terrorists, then Iran is genuinely at war with Saudi Arabia now. So even by Washington’s measure, Iran is on the right side of the War Against ISIS, but Saudi Arabia may not be.
Number Seven
“Like North Korea, Iran too has defied international inspectors … like North Korea Iran broke the locks and shut off the cameras … Iran not only defies inspectors, it also plays a game of hide and cheat with them … Right now Iran could be hiding more facilities we don’t know about.”
When discussing a hidden nuclear program, no discussion can be complete without mentioning Israel itself. The Israelis have ‘been stealing nuclear secrets and covertly making bombs since the 1950s‘. This fact is conveniently ignored by Western powers. When does Netanyahu plan on allowing IAEA inspections of his nuclear facilities and weapons? Not only is it crazy, but, it’s also immensely hypocritical to try and hold Iran to some gold-standard of nuclear activities when the Israelis themselves fail meet the same standards.
It’s also worth noting that with regards to North Korea, there is still scant, if any proof that North Korea actually has a functioning nuclear weapons arsenal, even though many US politicians insist the regime in Pyongyang is some sort of existential threat to the US.
Number Eight
“I don’t believe Iran’s radical regime will change for the better after this deal … its voracious appetite for aggression grows with each passing year.”
More over-the-top, loaded language. We’ve already discussed above that Iran is far from aggressive, and unlike Israel, it has not repeatedly attacked or invaded its neighbors ‘preemptively’. An ‘appetite for aggression’ is what Netanyahu himself seems to have. Consider last summer’s IDF attack on Gaza under Operation Protective Edge. The original aim of this was to stop homemade rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, which expanded into a ground invasion aimed at destroying “secret tunnels” used to infiltrate Israel. Approximately 2,300 Gazans were killed, over 500 of those were children, and over 50,000 homes were also destroyed by the IDF. If Netanyahu doesn’t see that as aggression, he’s either hiding his own hypocrisy, or he’s crazy.
He doesn’t even like it when Iran is fighting ISIS:
“When it comes to Iran and ISIS, the enemy of your enemy… is your enemy!” , quipped Netanyahu
The ravings of a madman? He’s just making it up as he goes along.
Number Nine
“Stop threatening to annihilate my country, Israel, the one and only Jewish state … If Iran wishes to be treated like a normal country let it act like a normal country.”
Just because Israel is the only ‘Jewish State’ does not necessarily mean that it is the best Jewish state it could possibly be. Moreover, a normal country, in the Westphalian sense, is a nation state that has exclusive control over its territory and domestic political decisions; it is sovereign. Iran is a sovereign state. So what does Netanyahu mean by a ‘normal country’? One that bends to the will of the Anglo-American oligarchy? One that holds 4.5 million Palestinians in a giant open prison system? One could make the argument that Israel is not a sovereign state, at least to some extent, due to its vast dependence on foreign aid; which invariably influences its domestic political decisions. Attempting to frame Iran as out of the ordinary is simply crazy, just look at how booming and modern Tehran is today.
In addition to this, is the painful truth that Iran has not threatened to annihilate Israel. 21WIRE explained recently:
“Israel and its neoconservative supporters are still claiming that “Iran has vowed to wipe Israel off the map”. Netanyahu has repeatedly claimed that, “Iran vows to annihilate Israel.” This is a lie. In fact,this lie will eventually go down in history as one of the biggest lies ever. In both 2005 in Tehran and again in New York City in 2007, Iran’s then President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave speeches that Israel has used this lie in order to justify its permanent war stance against Iran. In both cases, his words were not only taken out of context, but misquoted altogether. The rumors were quickly transformed into justifications for war, with catastrophic implications. Predictably, Netanyahu used these straw man incidents to sound the international alarm that somehow Iran is “preparing another holocaust for the Jewish state”, and even called for Ahmadinejad to be tried for war crimes for “inciting genocide”.
Then it happened again. In November 2014, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei went on a nonsensical Twitter rant, assailing Israel and the United States. Sure, it was a mad social media rant, but hardly a basis for the type of preemptive strike being talked about by Republican members of the US House and Senate. Again, this was immediately seized upon by the Israeli lobby and the reactionary right-wing in the US, who both claimed (once again) that “Iran has vowed to wipe Israel – AND the US off the map!” Of course, when you actually go and read the Twitter rant (which no one seems to have actually done) it’s pretty clear that nothing even remotely threatening on that level was said.”
Number Ten
“I can guarantee you this. The days when the Jewish people remained passive in the face of genocidal enemies, those days are over … I can promise you one more thing, even if Israel has to stand alone Israel will stand. But I know that Israel does not stand alone, I know that America stands with Israel, I know that you stand with Israel.”
Hold on a second. When were the ‘days when the Jewish people remained passive’? The methods and organization of the Nazis in their hostilities against the Jewish populations were indeed historic in their brutality, yet, not all Jewish people ‘remained passive in the face of genocidal enemies’, and to use such a sweeping statement is crazy as it dishonours both their name and actions. The Jewish Militias mounted a valiant and fierce resistance during uprisings that occurred in numerous ghettos and concentration camps, while some Jews even managed to assassinate Nazi leaders. The picture below shows members of Jewish militia operating in the Vilinus Ghetto.
Also of importance here is Netanyahu’s assertion of what he believes to be guaranteed American support if he were to attack Iran. As mentioned above, there is no formal alliance and American hegemony is slowly, but surely, on the decline. Netanyahu would be crazy to assume American support for such actions, and even crazier if he thinks American lives should be sacrificed for his genocidal and suicidal ambitions.
Jewish militia pictured in the Vilinus Ghetto.
Conclusion
Tired of Netanyahu’s crazy tendencies and wild hyperbole? Currently, due to his own failing policies, leading to a disastrous economic situation at home, he is set to lose the next Israeli election in two weeks time. His over-step this week may also help contribute to that end.
We’re surprised we didn’t hear something along the lines of the ‘Axis of Evil‘, although we did come relatively close with the comments documented above. Netanyahu’s rhetoric is from what should be a by-gone era of ‘War on Terror’ fear-mongering. Do not under any circumstances allow this speech to be used to push the world into yet another war.
In closing, we offer some food for thought to American constituents. If your Congressman was standing in applause looking, in the words of George Galloway, ‘foolish, craven and suckered’, then you might know who is sending them money. On the other hand, if your congressman was one of the ‘nifty fifty‘ who refused to attend, be sure to reach out and thank them for doing so; make sure they know those actions of war-avoidance are what will get them reelected next term.
What did you think was the craziest comment Netanyahu made? Please let us know in the comment section below!
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