Israeli Claim of Iranian ICBM Exploits Biased U.S. Intel by Gareth Porter

by Gareth Porter
Writer, Dandelion Salad
crossposted at ISP
Washington
October 11, 2013

In an effort to provoke any possible opposition in U.S. political circles to a nuclear deal with Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has returned to exploiting an old claim that Iran is building intercontinental ballistic missiles that could hit the United States.

The Netanyahu claim takes advantage of the extreme position that has been taken on the issue by Pentagon and Air Force intelligence organisations but goes even further.

US Zionist Attack Dog Brought to Heel by Finian Cunningham

by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from PressTV
October 4, 2013

Interesting times are in the offing between the US and Iran as the American government says it is now “ready for talks” with the Islamic Republic – after 34 years of hostility since the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that economic sanctions imposed on Iran could be lifted within six months.

To Kerry: Get Israeli Peace Leaders Before Congress by Ralph Nader + Calls for One Democratic State in all of Palestine Increase

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
May 30, 2013

The new Secretary of State John Kerry taking four trips to the Israeli/Palestinian region in the past two months means yet another U.S. effort for a negotiated peace process between the Palestinians (under ruthless occupation) and the very dominant Israelis. Why should the prospects be any better than the failed attempts by the esteemed former Senator George Mitchell, and his predecessors?

Israeli Сrimes Expose US Arab Despots by Finian Cunningham

by Finian Cunningham
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from Strategic Culture Foundation
Nov. 23, 2012

Image by folkehjelp via Flickr

American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s hasty diplomatic shuttle from Southeast Asia to the Middle East this week can be seen as reflecting Washington’s priority to shore up stability in the region. It is a deep apprehension to maintain a shaky status quo that motivates Washington’s concern, not negotiating an end to appalling violence and human suffering in Gaza…

U.S., Allies Wage Economic War On Iran by Finian Cunningham

by Finian Cunningham
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from www.presstv.com
October 3, 2012

Image by Truthout.org via Flickr

The havoc hitting Iran’s national finances should leave no-one under any illusions. The country is facing economic warfare from the US and its European allies. In financial terms, it is equivalent to attacking the country with a weapon of mass destruction.

The disruption and hardship being inflicted on Iranian citizens is criminal and unspeakably callous. But let’s make no mistake: the suffering of Iranian people is the direct result of conscious decisions being made in Washington, London and Brussels.

After Dempsey Warning, Israel May Curb War Threat by Jim Lobe and Gareth Porter + Israeli Defence Minister Rumoured Cooling on Attacking Iran

Image by Alex Garland, World Can’t Wait via Flickr

Updated: Sept. 10, 2012 added a video report

by Jim Lobe and Gareth Porter
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
crossposted at ISP
Sept. 5, 2012

President Barack Obama’s explicit warning that he will not accept a unilateral Israeli attack against Iran may force Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step back from his ostensible threat of war.

Netanyahu had hoped that the Obama administration could be put under domestic political pressure during the election campaign to shift its policy on Iran to the much more confrontational stance that Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak have been demanding.

Israel’s Iran War Talk Aims at Deal for Tougher U.S. Policy by Gareth Porter

by Gareth Porter
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
crossposted at ISP
Aug. 16, 2012

Image by World Can’t Wait via Flickr

WASHINGTON, Aug 16 2012 (IPS) – Two recent interviews apparently given by Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak provide evidence that the new wave of reports in the Israeli press about a possible Israeli attack on Iran is a means by which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Barak hope to leverage a U.S. shift toward Israel’s red lines on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Gareth Porter: Economic War Against Iran Continues; Still No Evidence of a Weapons Program

with Gareth Porter
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
June 26, 2012

Jun 25, 2012 by TheRealNews

Gareth Porter: US continues to insist Iran gives up all nuclear enrichment and offers no concessions on sanctions

“Netanyahu has decided to attack Iran before the U.S. Elections in November.” by Michael Carmichael

by Michael Carmichael
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
PlanetaryMovement.org
June 25, 2012

Senior Israeli officials now confirm that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has, “decided to attack Iran before the U.S. elections in November.”

Netanyahu’s agenda is much broader than knocking out Iranian nuclear installations for his aim is to reshape the political landscape in the USA and Israel shifting everything to the far, far right in order to create a new comfort zone for religious fundamentalists.

Gareth Porter: Iranian Diplomat Says IAEA Undermined Recent Talks to Satisfy Israel and West

by Gareth Porter
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
April 3, 2012

TheRealNews on Apr 3, 2012

Gareth Porter: IAEA demanded to see Parchin on recent visit ahead of schedule to make Iran look uncooperative

Israel Shields Public from Risks of War with Iran by Gareth Porter

by Gareth Porter
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
crossposted at ISP
March 29, 2012

TEL AVIV, Mar 29, 2012 (IPS) – The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been telling Israelis that Israel can attack Iran with minimal civilian Israeli casualties as a result of retaliation, and that reassuring message appears to have headed off any widespread Israeli fear of war with Iran and other adversaries.

But the message that Iran is too weak to threaten an effective counterattack is contradicted by one of Israel’s leading experts on Iranian missiles and the head of its missile defence programme for nearly a decade, who says Iranian missiles are capable of doing significant damage to Israeli targets.

Netanyahu’s Real Goal is Not Bombing Iran; It’s Defeating Obama by Steven Jonas, MD, MPH

by Steven Jonas, MD, MPH
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
crossposted on Buzzflash.com
March 19, 2012

The sage Israeli commentator and activist Uri Avnery recently published an excellent analysis of the Israel/Iran situation on The Planetary Movement (1). Mr. Avnery presents the full list of strategic reasons why it is highly unlikely that Netanyahu will launch such an attack. It would result in: the immediate closing of the Strait of Hormuz and thus cut off the flow of about 40% of the world’s oil; an immediate all-out Iranian missile assault on the Israeli cities with some missiles getting through and wreaking much destruction no matter how good the Israel/US “missile shield” is; unknown to most US citizens (including an unknown number of their political leaders, especially on the Right) anyway, Iran is very large country, “larger than Germany, France, Spain and Italy combined,” Mr. Avnery tells us;

An Attack On Iran’s Nuclear Facilities Would Be A Nuclear War by Ed Ciaccio

by Ed Ciaccio
Dandelion Salad
Featured Writer
March 9, 2012

An attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, by Israel, the United States, or both, would be a nuclear war for two important reasons:

1. The GBU-28 “bunker buster” bombs which would be used to destroy hardened Iranian nuclear sites use depleted uranium to penetrate concrete. This means lethal radioactive contamination from those exploding bombs would be spewed into the air, ground, and water of Iran, with long-term health consequences to all the people of Iran as well as those in surrounding regions. The people of Fallujah, Iraq, already suffer these horrible consequences from the criminal U.S. & NATO use of depleted uranium there, war crimes which remain unpunished.

U.S. Leak on Israeli Attack Weakened a Warning to Netanyahu by Gareth Porter

by Gareth Porter
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
crossposted at IPS
Feb. 4, 2012

WASHINGTON, Feb 4, 2012 (IPS) – When Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told Washington Post columnist David Ignatius this week that he believes Israel was likely to attack Iran between April and June, it was ostensibly yet another expression of alarm at the Israeli government’s threats of military action.

Dempsey Told Israelis U.S. Won’t Join Their War on Iran by Gareth Porter

by Gareth Porter
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
crossposted at IPS
Feb. 1, 2012

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2012 (IPS) – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told Israeli leaders Jan. 20 that the United States would not participate in a war against Iran begun by Israel without prior agreement from Washington, according to accounts from well-placed senior military officers.