Showing posts with label Against. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Against. Show all posts
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
GOP lawmakers: Declare suspect "enemy combatant," eBay CEO rallies troops against online sales tax bill, Cruz vs. Rubio, Globe endorses Markey, Ricin suspect"s ex: He was framed
GOP LAWMAKERS WANT BOSTON SUSPECT DECLARED ‘ENEMY COMBATANT’ – Charlie Savage writes in the New York Times: “Some Republican lawmakers want President Obama to declare the surviving Boston bombing suspect an enemy combatant in order to question him without a lawyer and other protections of the criminal justice system, intensifying a recurring debate over how to handle terrorism cases arising inside the United States. But while the suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a naturalized American citizen, is a Muslim, there is no known evidence suggesting that he is part of Al Qaeda. The United States is engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda, not all Muslim extremists. As a result, the dispute is pushing beyond familiar arguments and into new territory.
– “Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, is among the earliest and most vocal proponents of declaring Mr. Tsarnaev an enemy combatant. Others include Senators Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and John McCain of Arizona, as well as Representative Peter T. King of New York, all also Republicans. The Obama administration has said it thinks terrorism suspects arrested inside the United States should be handled exclusively in the criminal justice system. It has indicated no intention to do otherwise in Mr. Tsarnaev’s case, but the issue is taking on political currency, underscoring a major divide on national security legal policy.
– “Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that the laws of war did not apply to Mr. Tsarnaev and that there was so far no evidence that he was “part of any organized group, let alone Al Qaeda, the Taliban or one of their affiliates — the only organizations whose members are subject” to detention as a part of war.” http://nyti.ms/ZgsNly
BLAME GAME: GRAHAM SUGGESTS THE FBI DROPPED THE BALL after interviewing one of the Boston bombing suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, two years ago following a tip from Russian authorities, reports CNN’s Ashley Killough. “The ball was dropped in one of two ways,” Graham said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” The senator from South Carolina said the FBI either “missed a lot of things” in its investigation, or federal laws did not allow the FBI to “follow up in a sound, solid way.” http://bit.ly/17HZRCh
REP. PETER KING (R-N.Y.) was much more direct: “This is at least the fifth case I’m aware of where the FBI has failed to stop someone,” the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence said on “Fox News Sunday.” http://politi.co/108UhnN
TOP DEMS: ‘DEATH PENALTY’ APPROPRIATE – “Federal prosecutors should seek the death penalty in the case of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, top Senate Democrats said Sunday, Alan Zibel reports for the Wall Street Journal. “Speaking on CNN’s ‘State of the Union,’ Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) said the Tsarnaev case is ‘just the kind of case’ that should merit the death penalty under federal law. Mr. Schumer compared the case of Mr. Tsarnaev, a naturalized U.S. citizen, to that of Timothy McVeigh, who was executed under federal law in June 2011 after being found guilty in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings, which killed 168 people. … Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) also indicated she favored the death penalty for Mr. Tsarnaev.” http://on.wsj.com/17dmK2b
– The Boston bombing suspects were not licensed to own guns where they lived, Reuters reports: http://nyti.ms/10ttF8j
eBAY CEO RALLIES TROOPS AGAINST ONLINE SALES TAX BILL – Alistair Barr reports for Reuters ahead of tonight’s cloture vote in the Senate: “EBay Inc Chief Executive John Donahoe began emailing millions of users of the company’s online marketplace on Sunday in an unprecedented lobbying effort to change looming Federal sales tax legislation. The e-commerce giant plans to send emails from Donahoe to at least 40 million eBay users, including most sellers on the marketplace. The first messages were sent out Sunday morning. In the emails, Donahoe said the legislation, known as the Marketplace Fairness Act, unfairly burdens small online merchants and asked eBay users to send an email message to members of Congress asking for changes. The legislation, due to be voted on by the Senate in coming days, gives states the power to compel retailers outside their borders to collect online sales tax. … The legislation includes an exemption for merchants that generate less than $ 1 million in annual out-of-state revenue. Donahoe argued in the emails that merchants with less than $ 10 million in annual out-of-state sales, or fewer than 50 employees, should be exempt. Reuters viewed copies of the emails.
– “In emails to eBay sellers, Donahoe singled out Amazon.com Inc, eBay’s main rival, which supports the current legislation. ‘This legislation treats you and big multi-billion dollar online retailers – such as Amazon – exactly the same,’ Donahoe wrote. ‘Those fighting for this change refuse to acknowledge that the burden on businesses like yours is far greater than for a big national retailer.’” http://fxn.ws/XZAugt
BILL BACKERS PUSH BACK – A coalition that includes Best Buy, Amazon, Retail Industry Leaders Association, National Retail Federation and International Council of Shopping Centers swiftly responded to the eBay chief in a letter sent to Huddle: “This legislation would level the playing field for the industry with the largest private workforce in America. eBay’s opposition to the Marketplace Fairness Act is a transparent attempt to maintain an unlevel playing field and benefit a very small number of their largest sellers. … Mr. Donahoe wants you to believe that the Marketplace Fairness Act would somehow penalize small online businesses. This is disingenuous because it overlooks the fact that this legislation exempts small sellers with less than one-million dollars in annual remote sales to address concerns about small business compliance. To put this in perspective: the Marketplace Fairness Act exempts 99% of all sellers and over 40% of all online commerce.
– “Mr. Donahoe suggests that leveling the playing field and treating all sellers equitably is bad policy. We could not disagree more. The current system can no longer be justified and it is time to modernize how sales taxes are collected, level the playing field for all sellers, and protect the states’ right to make their own policy choices. That is why a broad coalition of sellers, states, and municipalities from across the country and in your district are waiting for Congress to pass the Marketplace Fairness Act and end the uncertainly of the current sales tax collection system. The Marketplace Fairness Act will fuel competition and create real value for consumers based on service, price, and convenience: not unfair sales tax collection rules. All businesses, large and small, must be given the chance to succeed and grow. We exist in a 21st century marketplace and the law must reflect this reality.” View the letter here: http://bit.ly/ZHE8qB
10 A.M. TODAY: 23 WITNESSES ARE SET TO TESTIFY AT IMMIGRATION HEARING – Expect the Boston bombing suspects, immigrants from Chechnya, to once again come up in today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, just as it did during a similar hearing on Friday. Witnesses include: Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform; Janet Murguía, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza; former Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.); and Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. Location: Hart 216.
CRUZ VS. RUBIO – Manu Raju writes about the budding rivalry for the hometown paper: Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio “have much in common as first-term senators elected with the help of the tea party from states with large Latino populations. Both have Cuban roots and are considered rising GOP stars and prospective presidential rivals. But the pair is divided on immigration legislation — a key difference that could have significant ramifications for their party and political ambitions. The Texas freshman is sharply critical of the pathway to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants, a central part of the bipartisan bill that Rubio helped write. Cruz is weighing whether to aggressively oppose the immigration overhaul, a decision that could neutralize Rubio’s outreach to conservative activists in order to minimize their opposition. …
–“[I]f Cruz were to lead the fight against the comprehensive plan, it could also spark a revolt from the large — and growing — population of Texas Hispanics who opposed his candidacy in large numbers in 2012. Cruz’s thinking will be on fresh display Monday, when witnesses testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee could be subjected to his prosecutorial style of questioning.
– “The Cruz-Rubio divide underscores the soul-searching within the GOP over immigration reform as Republicans continue to ask themselves: Should they soften their opposition to a comprehensive plan after witnessing a mass erosion of support from Latino voters in recent election cycles? Or should they stand firm and defeat any bill that could provide ‘amnesty’ to millions of illegal immigrants and instead mainly demand tougher border security laws?” http://politi.co/15yDVwZ
IMMIGRATION BILL SPRINKLED WITH PET PROJECTS – Sara Murray reports for the WSJ: “Buried within the 844 pages of the bipartisan immigration bill—amid historic shifts in policies such as a path to citizenship for 11 million unauthorized immigrants—are pet provisions of the senators who crafted it. South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham wants more visas for the meat industry, a major employer in his state. Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) pushed for special treatment for Irish workers; his state is home to a large population with Irish ancestry. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio sought help for the cruise-ship industry, a big business in his home state of Florida. And Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado wove in a boost for ski areas.” http://on.wsj.com/11wUy6Q
** This week, members and leaders of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades will be in Washington, D.C., to talk to members of Congress about the $ 1 Billion investment it and IUPAT employers have made in training the best skilled construction workforce in the country. Find out more here: http://www.goiupat.com
GOOD MONDAY MORNING, APRIL 22, 2013, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of the day’s congressional news. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to swong@politico.com. If you don’t already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.
My new followers include @emmaroller and @AllisonPrang.
TODAY IN CONGRESS – The House is out today. The Senate is in at 2 p.m. and holds a procedural vote at 5:30 p.m. on the online sales tax bill known as the Marketplace Fairness Act.
BOSTON GLOBE: MARKEY BEST CHOICE FOR SENATE – The Globe makes its endorsement: “One afternoon in 2007, Ed Markey stood outside the doors of the US House chamber, balancing plaster models in his hands. He was waiting to enter the nearly empty chamber, to make a speech for C-SPAN junkies illustrating the lack of screening of cargo on US airliners — a loophole that Markey feared a terrorist might exploit. It was a point he had hammered home after 9/11, while airlines and cargo companies insisted that existing precautions were sufficient. But he wasn’t about to give up, and, with a big smile on his face, bounded onto the House floor. Though Markey’s district included people who died on 9/11, there was no special reason why he, of all House members, should be leading this particular cause. He simply saw it as his job to do what he could to improve the country. Now, after 37 years of legislative action — sometimes fruitful, sometimes fruitless, always engaged — Markey is seeking to move to the Senate. …
– “On that afternoon in 2007, Markey could have been anywhere else in Washington — or Massachusetts, for that matter — than the floor of the House, intoning about cargo screening. But the opposition finally relented: Markey’s bill became law. On cargo screening and dozens of other issues, Markey’s legislative exertions have paid off for America and Massachusetts. He is the best choice for Bay State Democrats.” http://b.globe.com/15B6Wbt
AIRPORT DELAYS? REAL TEST COMES TODAY AFTER FAA FURLOUGHS – The Associated Press: “Commercial airline flights moved smoothly throughout most of the country on Sunday, the first day air traffic controllers were subject to furloughs resulting from government spending cuts, though some delays appeared in the late evening in and around New York. And even though the nightmarish flight delays and cancellations that the airline industry predicted would result from the furloughs did not materialize yet, the real test will come Monday, when traffic ramps up. Information from the FAA and others showed that flying Sunday was largely uneventful, with most flights on time. There were delays in parts of Florida, but those were caused by thunderstorms. … The FAA website said that flights from Philadelphia and Orlando, Fla., into John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Westchester County airports were delayed due to staffing issues.” http://abcn.ws/122PhoZ
–WaPo, A14, “Major furloughs spur uncertainty at U.S. agencies”: The first round of sequester-related furloughs begins this week, affecting thousands of federal workers, reports Steve Vogel: http://wapo.st/XQPMlx
RICIN SUSPECT’S EX-WIFE: HE WAS FRAMED – Sarah Robinson writes for the Northeast Mississippi News: “Laura Curtis of Booneville, his former wife, contacted the Daily Journal on Saturday to say she fully supports her ex-husband and among friends and family members ‘none of us believe he did this.’ Curtis appeared in court on Friday but after three hours of proceedings Magistrate Judge S. Allan Alexander recessed the hearing until Monday. Defense attorney Christi R. McCoy called the only witness on Friday, FBI Special Agent Brandon Grant. Grant testified investigators are currently unable to link Curtis to ricin and found no evidence of his fingerprints on any of the letters. The agency is awaiting DNA and other lab results from evidence they collected from Curtis’ home. Grant testified in court Friday that Laura Curtis told investigators that Kevin Curtis suffers from bipolar disorder and had been extremely violent toward her and that he had threatened to kill her and had raped her. Laura Curtis did not dispute the accuracy of Grant’s testimony but claimed ‘only one percent of the truth came out.’ She said she and her children remain very close to her ex-husband. …
– “She has spoken to Kevin Curtis since his arrest. She said, ‘I asked him, did he do this, and he said ‘I did not.’’ Laura Curtis said she gave the FBI the names of other people she believes might have sent the letters in an attempt to frame her ex-husband. ‘Anybody could get his tagline,’ she said. The letters in question were signed ‘I am KC and I approve this message,’ a phrase often used by Curtis in his writings about the alleged conspiracy. The three letters also said: ‘To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance,’ a quote Kevin Curtis posted on his public Facebook profile.” http://bit.ly/17dryV6
THE ROGERS REPORT: NEW FIGHT OVER FOOD STAMPS – “‘Where are the jobs?’ Speaker John Boehner likes to ask. But do his fellow House Republicans really want to kick the unemployed off food stamps if they can’t find the jobs either?” David Rogers writes for POLITICO. “That’s the question behind a simmering farm bill battle over reimposing work requirements on millions of able-bodied adults enrolled in the nutrition program. Most have no reported earnings, and without added job training or workfare slots, the change could spell real hardship in today’s economy. For this reason, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) is resisting the move. But back home, the Oklahoma state Legislature recently took steps to reinstate work requirements. And the office of Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has repeatedly raised the issue with Lucas as a way to win conservative votes for his farm bill, now slated for markup May 15.” http://politi.co/15xBZ7U
HOUSE GOP LAUNCHES PROGRAM TO KEEP MAJORITY – Alex Isenstadt reports for POLITICO: “Congressional Republicans, seeking to counter efforts by President Barack Obama and Democrats to win the House next year, are launching a program Monday aimed at preserving their 17-seat majority. The National Republican Congressional Committee will unveil what it dubs the ‘Patriot Program,’ which will provide support to the party’s most endangered incumbents. Republicans say the objective is to shore up members facing the toughest races before the 2014 election season heats up in earnest. They say they want to spend much of next year focusing their firepower on vulnerable Democrats with an eye toward building on their majority. …
– “The 11 Republicans who are being named to the Patriot Program are: Reps. Mike Coffman of Colorado, Rodney Davis of Illinois, Jeff Denham and David Valadao of California, Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Bob Gibbs and David Joyce of Ohio, Chris Gibson of New York, Joe Heck of Nevada, Steve Southerland of Florida and Jackie Walorski of Indiana.” http://politi.co/17RwjVG
DSCC OUTRAISES NRSC BY $ 2M – James Hohmann reports for POLITICO: “The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $ 5.2 million in March, beating their Republican counterpart by $ 2 million. Senate Democrats have grown their money advantage so far in 2013, as incumbents from red states last week and now the committee reported sizable first-quarter hauls. The National Republican Senatorial Committee raised $ 3.2 million for the month, ending with $ 5.3 million cash and $ 9.5 million in debt. The DSCC raised $ 13.7 million over the last three months, their best first quarter ever and $ 6.9 million more than the NRSC. They say that $ 5.6 million of that came from grassroots donors by mail, phone and online.” http://politi.co/17RwaBL
FRIDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – Ross Kapilian was first to correctly answer that Alice Roosevelt Longworth had a child with a senator to whom she was not married. He was Sen. William Borah.
TODAY’S TRIVIA – Geoff Simon has today’s question: Who was the first president or ex-president to fly in an airplane? First to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at swong@politico.com.
GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says “Sign Up.” http://www.politico.com/huddle/
** In 1937, Congress and President Roosevelt signed the National Apprenticeship Act. It established an important federal role in private apprenticeship training by bringing labor and management together to ensure that the training provided was fair, safe and in the best interest of the contractors and the end user. Today, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, the Finishing Trades Institute and other Building and Construction Trades Unions annually spend more than $ 1 billion in private funding on apprenticeship instructors, curriculum and training the next generation of construction workers. Any planned expansion of registered apprenticeship or federal role in apprenticeship should proceed outward from resilient and high quality construction programs that currently exist in nearly every community in the United States. Find out more here: http://www.goiupat.com
POLITICO – Top 10 – The Huddle
GOP lawmakers: Declare suspect "enemy combatant," eBay CEO rallies troops against online sales tax bill, Cruz vs. Rubio, Globe endorses Markey, Ricin suspect"s ex: He was framed
Israel’s ‘Dove’ and Hawk in its War against Iran
It has been abundantly clear to those who closely follow the political developments in the Middle East that, for at least two decades, Israeli politics has been moving continuously toward extreme, reactionary right. The left, and the center-left represented by the Labor Party, have been marginalized, and the relatively moderate elements of the old Likud Party have left it. As a result, Israeli politics are now dominated by the extreme groups and figures, ranging from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – the hawk of Israeli politics – and his like-minded supporters that are still with what remains of Likud, to Yisrael Beiteinu (the Jewish Home) and the ultranationalist religious groups. Such environment has allowed men like former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman – a “neo-fascist … a certified gangster … the Israeli equivalent of [Austria"s racist politician] Jörg Haider” – who founded Yisrael Beiteinu to rise to power in Israel. Even Netanyahu’s electoral setback in the January did not present any significant break from the rightward movement of politics in Israel; it actually represented a left turn to the extreme right.
A constant feature of Israeli politics is that much of it is based on myths. The list of such myths is actually very long, but here is a sample. Anyone who opposes Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian lands and urges its people to resist it is opposed to the “peace process,” a mythical process that has not yielded any tangible benefits for the Palestinians and their dream of having their own independent state. Anyone that does not believe that Iran and its non-existent nuclear weapon program represent an “existential threat” to Israel is an “appeaser” of the Islamic Republic, even though many former high security officials in Israel have rejected such a notion of the threat..
But, one of the greatest myths is that the Israeli President Shimon Peres is a “moderate,” a “man of peace,” and a “dove,” presumably because he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 (together with Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin), or that he has urged “peace” with the Palestinians. He received the Nobel Prize for the Oslo Accords, which are dead, but recall also that a war criminal like Henry Kissinger also received the same prize. As for Peres’ advocacy of peace with the Palestinians, he advocates peace on, of course, Israel’s terms, which is no peace at all. Never mind that Peres spent the lion share of the initial stages of his career in Israel’s ministry of defense; was Israel’s Prime Minister when the massacre of innocent people in Qana in southern Lebanon took place in April of 1996; was Israel’s Foreign Minister during the battle of Jenin in April 2002 in which Amnesty International accused Israel of committing war crimes against the Palestinians; played a fundamental role in the creation of Israel’s nuclear program and arsenal, and has been a member of too many Israeli governments that have continued to expand Jewish settlements on the Palestinian lands in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
But, it is Israel’s policy toward Iran that reveals the bogus image of Peres as a “dove.” When it comes to Iran, the difference between him and Netanyahu the hawk is zero, zilch, nada. Both lie, both exaggerate, and both want war with Iran.
The Hawk
Led by Netanyahu, Israel has been waging a secret war on Iran, consisting of assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientists, killing of many innocent people by terrorist groups, trying to recruit terrorists, such as those of the Jundallah, to carry out terrorist operations in Iran, waging a cyberspace war against Iran’s nuclear facilities that even a recent NATO study recognized as being tantamount to the use of force and illegal, likening Iran to the Nazi regime, our era to 1938, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Adolf Hitler, an outrageous claim that has been criticized even in certain pro-Israel circles, and using the Israel lobby in the U.S. to advocate military attacks on Iran.
Netanyahu has been at this for over a decade, first against Iraq, and now against Iran. A comparison (made by comments of a commentator on an article published by Foreign Policy) between what he said about Iraq in 2002, and what he has been claiming about Iran reveals eerie similarities, and given that everything claimed about Iraq turned out to be a lie, it only goes to show the baselessness of the Netanyahu’s propaganda about Iran.
In a speech at the United Nations on September 11, 2012, Netanyahu said, “The world tells Israel, ‘Wait, there’s still time,’ and I say, ‘wait for what, wait until when?’…The fact is that every day that passes, Iran gets closer and closer to nuclear bombs.” Have we not heard this before? Yes, almost exactly a decade earlier, on September 12, 2002, Netanyahu said, “It is simply not reflecting the reality to assume that Saddam isn’t feverishly working to develop nuclear weapons, as we speak. How imminent is it? Look, do you want to wait and find out? The answer is no.”
On March 5, 2012, Netanyahu said, “a nuclear-armed Iran is a grave danger to my country and to the peace and security of the world.” Compare this with what he said on September 12, 2002, “Today the United States must destroy the same regime because a nuclear-armed Saddam will place the security of our entire world at risk.” On April 18, 2012, Netanyahu said, “Today, the regime in Iran openly calls and determinedly works for our destruction. And it is feverishly working to develop atomic weapons to achieve that goal,” which should be compared with what he said on September 12, 2002, “[I]t is simply not reflecting the reality to assume that Saddam isn’t feverishly working to develop nuclear weapons, as we speak.” Of course, nothing less is expected of Netanyahu. He, as former French President Nicolas Sarkozy put it, is a liar.
The Dove
Let us see what Shimon Peres, the “dove” of Israeli politics says about Iran. As an example, I analyze his speech to the European Union parliament in March, focusing on what he said about Iran.
Peres: The greatest danger to peace in the world is the present Iranian regime. Really? How many countries has Iran invaded over the last three centuries? Zero. Over the same period, how much territory has been taken from Iran by force? Four million square kilometers. How many times Iran has been invaded just over the last 75 years? Twice (in 1941 and in 1980), not to mention the CIA-MI6 coup of 1953 that overthrew Iran’s democratically elected government of Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh, and established the dictatorship of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi that had very close relations with Israel.
Peres: Nobody threatens Iran. Iran threatens others. Really? Netanyahu has been threatening to attack Iran for a long time. President Obama has kept saying “all options are on the table” regarding Iran, which Peres applauded in his speech. Saudi Arabia has urged the U.S. to attack Iran. General James Mathis, commander of the Central command responsible for the U.S. forces in the Middle East, has said that the sanctions are intended to bring Iran to its knees. The U.S. has trained members of Mojahedin-e Khalgh Organization (MEK) for operations with Iran……… And, as despicable as the Iranian leaders may be in the eyes of a majority of their own citizens, they have only said that if Israel attacks Iran, they will defend their nation and retaliate forcefully. According to Pentagon’s report of June 2012, Iran’s military posture is purely defensive: “Iran’s military doctrine remains designed to slow an invasion; target its adversaries’ economic, political, and military interests; and force a diplomatic solution to hostilities while avoiding any concessions that challenge its core interests.” James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, testified before the Senate on April 18 that Iran’s military “strategy [is] to deter – and if necessary retaliate against – forces in the region, including U.S. forces,” if an attack on Iran occurs.
Peres: It [Iran] endangers the independence of Arab countries. First of all, since when has Israel been worried about the independence of Arab countries? Secondly, which Arab country is Peres talking about?
Peres: They [the Iranians] deny the Holocaust. They call for another Holocaust. True, Ahmadinejad, on his way out as Iran’s President, has repeatedly cast doubts on the Holocaust (which has been condemned even within Iran). But, on occasions, he has also expressed his belief in it. For example, in a speech at Columbia University in 2007 he said, “However, I believe the Holocaust, from what we read, happened during World War II after 1930 in the 1940s.” This admission has not reported widely, simply because it will destroy another myth.
But, the claim that Iran has called for another Holocaust is sheer lie. With its 25,000 Jews Iran has the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside Israel. Iranian Jews have been free to practice their religion. There are 18 synagogues active in Tehran alone, whereas the government has not allowed Iranian Sunnis, which represent 10 percent of the population, to have a single mosque in Tehran. The Ahmadinejad administration provided extra funds to the Jewish hospital in Tehran. Between 12,000 and 18,000 political dissidents were executed in Iran in the 1980s, almost all of them Muslim, but at most 17 of them Jews (other estimates are even lower) on accusation of spying for Israel. And, the Iranian Jews have their own representative to the Iranian parliament, set aside for them by Iran’s Constitution, a practice going back decades. In which nation have the Jews been given a seat in the parliament, exclusively devoted to them? Are there discriminations against Iranian Jews? Yes, but the ruling elite also discriminate against Iranian Muslims who do not agree with its policies.
Peres: They are aiming to build a nuclear weapon and they deny it. A nuclear bomb in the hands of an irresponsible regime is an imminent danger to the world. First of all, what Peres is saying is that it is fine for Israel to have nuclear weapons because it is a “responsible” government. Secondly, too many American officials have said repeatedly that Iran is not making nuclear weapons, and has not even made the decision to do so, with the most recent assertion made by Clapper.
As for the Iranian regime being “irresponsible,” Clapper said, “Iran’s nuclear decision-making is guided by a cost-benefit approach,” balancing its own domestic interests with “the international political and security environment.” He added, “Iran prefers to avoid direct confrontation with the United States” and would only act defensively (emphasis mine) “in response to perceived offenses.” Many current and former security officials of Israel believe that the Iranian leadership is composed of very rational people, when it comes to national security and foreign policy issues. Israel’s Military Intelligence chief Major General Aviv Kochavi also said on April 18, “Iran has not yet decided to build the bomb.”
Peres: [Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei declared that religion prohibits the production and use of nuclear arms. Why then does he build missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads? Here is what the Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation stated about the issue in January: “Even if Iran decides to develop a nuclear weapon, most evidence suggests that it will not possess a missile capable of reaching all of Europe or the United States – to say nothing about its ability to arm the missile with a nuclear warhead – for years to come [if ever].”
As for why Iran has built any missile that can reach Israel, it has done so for the same reason that Israel has F15-I fighter/bomber that can reach Iran; is receiving aerial refueling aircrafts for its bombers on the way back from Iran; has missiles that can reach Iran; has received permission from Azerbaijan to use an air base near the border with Iran, and has reportedly received permission from Saudi Arabia to use its airspace to attack Iran. Given these facts, any regime, regardless of its nature, will want to be able to defend itself, and to retaliate in case of an attack.
Peres: During the Helsinki conference which took place in 1975, the U.S.A. placed the issue of human rights in the Soviet Union at the top of the world’s agenda…..Today, this call should apply to Iran. A clear voice must be raised against the violation of human rights by the Iranian regime. Yes, absolutely, but that clear voice belongs to neither Israel, nor the U.S., nor the European Union, all of which have terrible track records when it comes to respect for human rights. If Israel has any concerns about human rights, it should stop, as a first step, killing innocent civilian Palestinians in Gaza, and respect the rights of the Palestinian people that are violated systematically on a daily basis, and in particular the Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s jail.
Peres also spoke at length about the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran’s support for it. I believe that Iran must not interfere in Lebanon’s internal affairs, but its support of Hezbollah is no worse than Israel’s close relations with the MEK – an exiled Iranian group that has carried numerous terrorist operations in Iran, was up until a few months ago listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization, and is despised in Iran – the aforementioned recruitment of the Jundallah terrorists, its recruitment and training of Iranian Kurdish fighters and dissidents, and its close relations with Azerbaijan, which has reportedly been working with Israel against Iran.
Thus, when it comes to Iran, there is no difference between “doves” and hawks in Israel; they are all hawks. It is the same in the U.S. political establishment. Everyone is a hawk and wants a war with Iran because that is what the War Party and Israel lobby want.
Read more by Muhammad Sahimi
- David Albright and Company Call for Intensifying War on the Iranian People – January 18th, 2013
- AP, George Jahn, and the Fake Diagram for Iran’s Bomb – November 29th, 2012
- Sanctions Will Kill Tens of Thousands of Iranians – August 8th, 2012
- Don’t Remove the MEK From the Terrorist List – July 5th, 2011
- High Stakes for Upcoming Nuclear Negotiations With Iran – January 18th, 2011
Israel’s ‘Dove’ and Hawk in its War against Iran
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Israel’s ‘Dove’ and Hawk in its War against Iran
It has been abundantly clear to those who closely follow the political developments in the Middle East that, for at least two decades, Israeli politics has been moving continuously toward extreme, reactionary right. The left, and the center-left represented by the Labor Party, have been marginalized, and the relatively moderate elements of the old Likud Party have left it. As a result, Israeli politics are now dominated by the extreme groups and figures, ranging from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – the hawk of Israeli politics – and his like-minded supporters that are still with what remains of Likud, to Yisrael Beiteinu (the Jewish Home) and the ultranationalist religious groups. Such environment has allowed men like former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman – a “neo-fascist … a certified gangster … the Israeli equivalent of [Austria"s racist politician] Jörg Haider” – who founded Yisrael Beiteinu to rise to power in Israel. Even Netanyahu’s electoral setback in the January did not present any significant break from the rightward movement of politics in Israel; it actually represented a left turn to the extreme right.
A constant feature of Israeli politics is that much of it is based on myths. The list of such myths is actually very long, but here is a sample. Anyone who opposes Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian lands and urges its people to resist it is opposed to the “peace process,” a mythical process that has not yielded any tangible benefits for the Palestinians and their dream of having their own independent state. Anyone that does not believe that Iran and its non-existent nuclear weapon program represent an “existential threat” to Israel is an “appeaser” of the Islamic Republic, even though many former high security officials in Israel have rejected such a notion of the threat..
But, one of the greatest myths is that the Israeli President Shimon Peres is a “moderate,” a “man of peace,” and a “dove,” presumably because he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 (together with Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin), or that he has urged “peace” with the Palestinians. He received the Nobel Prize for the Oslo Accords, which are dead, but recall also that a war criminal like Henry Kissinger also received the same prize. As for Peres’ advocacy of peace with the Palestinians, he advocates peace on, of course, Israel’s terms, which is no peace at all. Never mind that Peres spent the lion share of the initial stages of his career in Israel’s ministry of defense; was Israel’s Prime Minister when the massacre of innocent people in Qana in southern Lebanon took place in April of 1996; was Israel’s Foreign Minister during the battle of Jenin in April 2002 in which Amnesty International accused Israel of committing war crimes against the Palestinians; played a fundamental role in the creation of Israel’s nuclear program and arsenal, and has been a member of too many Israeli governments that have continued to expand Jewish settlements on the Palestinian lands in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
But, it is Israel’s policy toward Iran that reveals the bogus image of Peres as a “dove.” When it comes to Iran, the difference between him and Netanyahu the hawk is zero, zilch, nada. Both lie, both exaggerate, and both want war with Iran.
The Hawk
Led by Netanyahu, Israel has been waging a secret war on Iran, consisting of assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientists, killing of many innocent people by terrorist groups, trying to recruit terrorists, such as those of the Jundallah, to carry out terrorist operations in Iran, waging a cyberspace war against Iran’s nuclear facilities that even a recent NATO study recognized as being tantamount to the use of force and illegal, likening Iran to the Nazi regime, our era to 1938, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Adolf Hitler, an outrageous claim that has been criticized even in certain pro-Israel circles, and using the Israel lobby in the U.S. to advocate military attacks on Iran.
Netanyahu has been at this for over a decade, first against Iraq, and now against Iran. A comparison (made by comments of a commentator on an article published by Foreign Policy) between what he said about Iraq in 2002, and what he has been claiming about Iran reveals eerie similarities, and given that everything claimed about Iraq turned out to be a lie, it only goes to show the baselessness of the Netanyahu’s propaganda about Iran.
In a speech at the United Nations on September 11, 2012, Netanyahu said, “The world tells Israel, ‘Wait, there’s still time,’ and I say, ‘wait for what, wait until when?’…The fact is that every day that passes, Iran gets closer and closer to nuclear bombs.” Have we not heard this before? Yes, almost exactly a decade earlier, on September 12, 2002, Netanyahu said, “It is simply not reflecting the reality to assume that Saddam isn’t feverishly working to develop nuclear weapons, as we speak. How imminent is it? Look, do you want to wait and find out? The answer is no.”
On March 5, 2012, Netanyahu said, “a nuclear-armed Iran is a grave danger to my country and to the peace and security of the world.” Compare this with what he said on September 12, 2002, “Today the United States must destroy the same regime because a nuclear-armed Saddam will place the security of our entire world at risk.” On April 18, 2012, Netanyahu said, “Today, the regime in Iran openly calls and determinedly works for our destruction. And it is feverishly working to develop atomic weapons to achieve that goal,” which should be compared with what he said on September 12, 2002, “[I]t is simply not reflecting the reality to assume that Saddam isn’t feverishly working to develop nuclear weapons, as we speak.” Of course, nothing less is expected of Netanyahu. He, as former French President Nicolas Sarkozy put it, is a liar.
The Dove
Let us see what Shimon Peres, the “dove” of Israeli politics says about Iran. As an example, I analyze his speech to the European Union parliament in March, focusing on what he said about Iran.
Peres: The greatest danger to peace in the world is the present Iranian regime. Really? How many countries has Iran invaded over the last three centuries? Zero. Over the same period, how much territory has been taken from Iran by force? Four million square kilometers. How many times Iran has been invaded just over the last 75 years? Twice (in 1941 and in 1980), not to mention the CIA-MI6 coup of 1953 that overthrew Iran’s democratically elected government of Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh, and established the dictatorship of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi that had very close relations with Israel.
Peres: Nobody threatens Iran. Iran threatens others. Really? Netanyahu has been threatening to attack Iran for a long time. President Obama has kept saying “all options are on the table” regarding Iran, which Peres applauded in his speech. Saudi Arabia has urged the U.S. to attack Iran. General James Mathis, commander of the Central command responsible for the U.S. forces in the Middle East, has said that the sanctions are intended to bring Iran to its knees. The U.S. has trained members of Mojahedin-e Khalgh Organization (MEK) for operations with Iran……… And, as despicable as the Iranian leaders may be in the eyes of a majority of their own citizens, they have only said that if Israel attacks Iran, they will defend their nation and retaliate forcefully. According to Pentagon’s report of June 2012, Iran’s military posture is purely defensive: “Iran’s military doctrine remains designed to slow an invasion; target its adversaries’ economic, political, and military interests; and force a diplomatic solution to hostilities while avoiding any concessions that challenge its core interests.” James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, testified before the Senate on April 18 that Iran’s military “strategy [is] to deter – and if necessary retaliate against – forces in the region, including U.S. forces,” if an attack on Iran occurs.
Peres: It [Iran] endangers the independence of Arab countries. First of all, since when has Israel been worried about the independence of Arab countries? Secondly, which Arab country is Peres talking about?
Peres: They [the Iranians] deny the Holocaust. They call for another Holocaust. True, Ahmadinejad, on his way out as Iran’s President, has repeatedly cast doubts on the Holocaust (which has been condemned even within Iran). But, on occasions, he has also expressed his belief in it. For example, in a speech at Columbia University in 2007 he said, “However, I believe the Holocaust, from what we read, happened during World War II after 1930 in the 1940s.” This admission has not reported widely, simply because it will destroy another myth.
But, the claim that Iran has called for another Holocaust is sheer lie. With its 25,000 Jews Iran has the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside Israel. Iranian Jews have been free to practice their religion. There are 18 synagogues active in Tehran alone, whereas the government has not allowed Iranian Sunnis, which represent 10 percent of the population, to have a single mosque in Tehran. The Ahmadinejad administration provided extra funds to the Jewish hospital in Tehran. Between 12,000 and 18,000 political dissidents were executed in Iran in the 1980s, almost all of them Muslim, but at most 17 of them Jews (other estimates are even lower) on accusation of spying for Israel. And, the Iranian Jews have their own representative to the Iranian parliament, set aside for them by Iran’s Constitution, a practice going back decades. In which nation have the Jews been given a seat in the parliament, exclusively devoted to them? Are there discriminations against Iranian Jews? Yes, but the ruling elite also discriminate against Iranian Muslims who do not agree with its policies.
Peres: They are aiming to build a nuclear weapon and they deny it. A nuclear bomb in the hands of an irresponsible regime is an imminent danger to the world. First of all, what Peres is saying is that it is fine for Israel to have nuclear weapons because it is a “responsible” government. Secondly, too many American officials have said repeatedly that Iran is not making nuclear weapons, and has not even made the decision to do so, with the most recent assertion made by Clapper.
As for the Iranian regime being “irresponsible,” Clapper said, “Iran’s nuclear decision-making is guided by a cost-benefit approach,” balancing its own domestic interests with “the international political and security environment.” He added, “Iran prefers to avoid direct confrontation with the United States” and would only act defensively (emphasis mine) “in response to perceived offenses.” Many current and former security officials of Israel believe that the Iranian leadership is composed of very rational people, when it comes to national security and foreign policy issues. Israel’s Military Intelligence chief Major General Aviv Kochavi also said on April 18, “Iran has not yet decided to build the bomb.”
Peres: [Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei declared that religion prohibits the production and use of nuclear arms. Why then does he build missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads? Here is what the Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation stated about the issue in January: “Even if Iran decides to develop a nuclear weapon, most evidence suggests that it will not possess a missile capable of reaching all of Europe or the United States – to say nothing about its ability to arm the missile with a nuclear warhead – for years to come [if ever].”
As for why Iran has built any missile that can reach Israel, it has done so for the same reason that Israel has F15-I fighter/bomber that can reach Iran; is receiving aerial refueling aircrafts for its bombers on the way back from Iran; has missiles that can reach Iran; has received permission from Azerbaijan to use an air base near the border with Iran, and has reportedly received permission from Saudi Arabia to use its airspace to attack Iran. Given these facts, any regime, regardless of its nature, will want to be able to defend itself, and to retaliate in case of an attack.
Peres: During the Helsinki conference which took place in 1975, the U.S.A. placed the issue of human rights in the Soviet Union at the top of the world’s agenda…..Today, this call should apply to Iran. A clear voice must be raised against the violation of human rights by the Iranian regime. Yes, absolutely, but that clear voice belongs to neither Israel, nor the U.S., nor the European Union, all of which have terrible track records when it comes to respect for human rights. If Israel has any concerns about human rights, it should stop, as a first step, killing innocent civilian Palestinians in Gaza, and respect the rights of the Palestinian people that are violated systematically on a daily basis, and in particular the Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s jail.
Peres also spoke at length about the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran’s support for it. I believe that Iran must not interfere in Lebanon’s internal affairs, but its support of Hezbollah is no worse than Israel’s close relations with the MEK – an exiled Iranian group that has carried numerous terrorist operations in Iran, was up until a few months ago listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization, and is despised in Iran – the aforementioned recruitment of the Jundallah terrorists, its recruitment and training of Iranian Kurdish fighters and dissidents, and its close relations with Azerbaijan, which has reportedly been working with Israel against Iran.
Thus, when it comes to Iran, there is no difference between “doves” and hawks in Israel; they are all hawks. It is the same in the U.S. political establishment. Everyone is a hawk and wants a war with Iran because that is what the War Party and Israel lobby want.
Read more by Muhammad Sahimi
- David Albright and Company Call for Intensifying War on the Iranian People – January 18th, 2013
- AP, George Jahn, and the Fake Diagram for Iran’s Bomb – November 29th, 2012
- Sanctions Will Kill Tens of Thousands of Iranians – August 8th, 2012
- Don’t Remove the MEK From the Terrorist List – July 5th, 2011
- High Stakes for Upcoming Nuclear Negotiations With Iran – January 18th, 2011
Israel’s ‘Dove’ and Hawk in its War against Iran
Friday, April 19, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Watchdog Group Files Ethics Complaint Against McConnell Over Judd Tape Revelations
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a nonprofit government watchdog, has asked the Senate ethics committee and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to probe whether aides to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell improperly conducted political opposition research on federal government time.
A tape of a February McConnell campaign meeting that Mother Jones released Tuesday includes a section in which a McConnell aide states that McConnell’s “LAs”—congressional parlance for legislative assistants—helped gather background information on Ashley Judd, who was at the time considered a potential opponent in McConnell’s 2014 reelection race. The tape also refers to a “Josh” who worked on the research, which CREW’s complaint speculates might be Josh Holmes, McConnell’s congressional chief of staff.
Senate ethics rules forbid legislative assistants and other Senate employees from participating in political activities on government time. “In general, however, the ethics rules do not bar staffers from engaging in campaign activity provided they do it on their own time and do not involve government resources or property,” Tara Malloy, a government ethics expert at the Campaign Legal Center, told Mother Jones on Tuesday. You can read the relevant section of the ethics rules here. Bottom line: If McConnell’s aides did the research in their free time, they’re in the clear. But if they used government resources or worked on political matters on government time, they could be in trouble.
The Weekly Standard‘s Daniel Halper has suggested that the McConnell aide on the tape explicitly says that the LAs who worked on the opposition research did so “in their free time.” Jesse Benton, McConnell’s campaign manager, made the same argument in an interview with WHAS-11, a Louisville television station. But “it doesn’t really matter” whether the McConnell aide on the tape claimed that the political work was done in the LAs free time, explains Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director. “The question isn’t what somebody said, it’s what they did,” she says. “We need to know if it was on office time and with office resources. Those are the relevant questions here.”
Benton has acknowledged that McConnell’s Senate staffers do campaign work, but says they only do it in their off hours. “We do have several legislative staff that do contribute their free time, which is perfectly fine, perfectly legal, and cleared ahead of time by the ethics committee,” he told WHAS-11.
The FBI is currently investigating how the tape of the McConnell meeting was made. But Sloan says the bureau should expand its probe. “McConnell should welcome a review of the tape,” she says. “If McConnell thought it was so important for the FBI to investigate, the FBI should investigate everything about the incident. I think that’s hard to argue against. The tape certainly gives you probable cause to believe something improper occurred. It clearly merits investigation.”
Watchdog Group Files Ethics Complaint Against McConnell Over Judd Tape Revelations
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