Israel and Washington Target Iran

Israel and Washington Target Iran

by Stephen Lendman

Olive branches aren't in either country's vocabulary. Both nations are modern day Spartas writ large. They live by the sword.

They do so irresponsibly. They do it lawlessly. They're ruthlessly out-of-control. They're partners in crime.

They deplore peace and stability. They thrive on conflict and violence. They wage one war after another. They threaten humanity in the process.

They're rogue states. They make more enemies than friends. Threatening, intimidating, and bullying don't win hearts and minds. Nor does causing unimaginable levels of human suffering.

America's media front for Washington. They support what demands condemnation. Most Israeli media operate the same way. They do so irresponsibly.

Israel's worried about its public image. It's for good reason. Out-of-control hegemons are despised.

Tel Aviv established propaganda brigades. Hundreds of students were hired. They're paid to lie.

Their job is flooding social media sites with duplicitous pro-Israeli disinformation. They're doing it covertly. They're doing it without identifying themselves as government agents.

In mid-August, AP headlined "Israel to pay students to defend it online," saying:

Netanyahu's "office said in a statement that students on Israeli university campuses would receive full or partial scholarships to combat anti-Semitism and calls to boycott Israel online."

"It said students' messages would parallel statements by government officials."

"This is a groundbreaking project aimed at strengthening Israeli national diplomacy and adapting it to changes in information consumption."

At the same time, Netanyahu said:

"We are (operating) on four fronts: The military front, the home front, the diplomatic front and the public diplomacy front."

"We must fight for the truth, for the facts, and your help is worth more than gold (in) refuting the industry of lies."

Israel deplores truth. It's a machine for manufacturing lies. Netanyahu prioritizes doing so.

His annual UN addresses alone reflect it. They repeat one lie after another. Netanyahu systematically avoids truth. He supports wrong over right.

He does so by claiming nonexistent national security interests. He does it by concealing racist hate. He does it by ignoring mass slaughter and destruction.

He does it by falsely claiming Israel seeks peace. He does it by vilifying non-belligerent states. He does it by inventing nonexistent enemies. He does it by threatening to attack Iran. He does it by falsely claiming justification.

Doing so confirms Israel's rogue state status. So does hiring student propagandists. Putting a brave face on enlisting them doesn't wash.

Nor does putting lipstick on this pig. Imagine students accepting compensation for lying. Imagine them selling their souls in the process.

Imagine do so cheap. Imagine doing it for any reason. Imagine a government stooping this low.

Imagine Israel capable of virtually everything warranting censure and unequivocal rebuke. Imagine doing what has no chance to succeed.

Governments are judged by their actions. Tweets and Facebook postings can't erase crimes.

Israel's Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Ministry is closing. Haaretz said its outgoing deputy director general Daniel Seaman heads Israel's new propaganda initiative.

Its article headlined "Is an abusive racist the best Israeli PR can produce? Facebook messages posted by (Seaman) raise serious doubts about his judgment."

He's highly controversial. He's an extremist Likudnik. He once headed Israel's Government Press Office. According to Haaretz:

He "gained a reputation for his confrontations with foreign correspondents and for the complaints they lodged against him."

Public Diplomacy Ministry personnel are being shifted to Netanyahu's national public diplomacy unit.

Seaman heads its interactive media initiative. He handles online propaganda campaigns.

He's establishing "covert (student) units in Israel's seven universities." According to Haaretz:

"Messages (he) posted on his Facebook page raise serious doubts as to the degree to which good judgment is exercised by someone who is slated to be the chief official in the Prime Minister's Office responsible for Israel’s public diplomacy efforts on the various social networks on the Internet."

His postings include "abusive, even racist, statements directed against Muslims in general and senior Palestinian leaders in particular, as well as against countries that are thought to be Israel's allies."

His other messages express over-the-top right wing views. He typifies rogue Israeli governance.

Recruiting student propaganda brigades to spread pro-Israeli misinformation is one of many examples. Doing so isn't new.

The National Union of Israeli Students (NUIS) already spreads propaganda. They do so for pay. They get up to $2,000 for lying. Their job is prettifying Israel's ugly face.

NUIS works cooperatively with government ministries and supportive organizations. It's done so since at least late 2008.

It fronted for Israel's Operation Cast Lead. It portrayed mass slaughter and destruction as legitimate self-defense.

In 2008, social media strategist Niv Calderon said Israel's Foreign Ministry hired him to establish a digital war room.

Israel uses it for international propaganda. It targets Israel's enemies. It does so by turning truth on its head.

Calderon was involved in vilifying humanitarian efforts to relieve Palestinian suffering. He targeted Gaza flotilla activists.

Israeli anti-Iranian efforts are intense. They go way beyond propaganda. They include overt threats, cyber attacks, subversion, and targeted assassinations.

Iranian Republican Guard commander Mojtaba Ahmadi is its latest victim. Mossad assassins murdered him. Reports suggest their CIA counterparts approved. So did Netanyahu months earlier.

Killing him now wasn't coincidental. It followed Iranian President Hassan Rohani's exemplary General Assembly address.

He stood out above all other world leaders. He made global headlines doing so. He was this year's star performer.

He made a fool out of Obama and Netanyahu. He made them look like boobs by comparison. Perhaps he'll be targeted to get even.

On September 27, National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden addressed Iran, saying:

Israel's "skeptical" about Rohani's intentions. So is Washington.

"We've made clear that words need to be followed by actions, and ultimately it’s going to be the actions of the Iranian government through this diplomatic process that is going to make the difference."  

"And so when we consider things like potential sanctions relief, we're going to need to see a meaningful agreement and meaningful actions by the Iranian government before the pressure that's in place can be relieved."

"The bottom line for us is that Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon."

Washington and Israel know Iran's nuclear program is entirely peaceful. Claiming otherwise shows their belligerent intent.

It bears repeating.Targeting Iran's program is red herring cover for regime change. Previous articles explained.

Washington tolerates no independent governments. It wants pro-Western puppet ones replacing them.

It targeted Iran for decades. It continues doing so now. War plans were readied years ago. Obama could order them implemented any time. Don't bet against him not doing it.

He's waged aggressive war every day throughout his tenure. He has no intention stopping now. Syria is in the eye of the storm. Iran's turn awaits.

It may face Obama's wrath before he leaves office. He deplores peace. He thrives on aggressive war. He's not about to change tactics now.

On October 3, the Washington Post headlined Kerry, Hagel: US won't be fooled by Iran," saying:

"Rapprochement with Iran won’t come at the expense of Israel's security or its relationship with the United States."

Neither country has security concerns. Their only enemies are ones they invent. Iran threatens no one.

Claiming otherwise reflects malicious propaganda. It continues at the same time as Obama's outreach to Rohani. Doing so shows his real intentions.

Kerry and Hagel underscored them. Kerry did it despite meeting face-to-face with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

WaPo repeated the Big Lie about Iran wanting Israel destroyed. It compounded it saying "Israel sees an Iran nuclear weapon as an existential threat."

It knows no such threat exists. It knows Israel is the region's only nuclear power. It ignored what's most important to report.

Lies and allegations substituted. Doing so is longstanding WaPo practice. In their book "End Times: The Death of the Fourth Estate," Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair discussed the deplorable state of today's dominant print media.

They included Ken Silverstein explaining WaPo's fall from grace. Watergate expose days are over. It no longer tolerates responsible reporting.

It deferentially serves wealth and power interests. Associate editor Bob Woodward does so disgracefully.

According to Cockburn and St. Clair, he fell from "Nixon's nemesis to Cheney's savior."

He and other WaPo staff never met a US imperial war they didn't endorse wholeheartedly. They're likeminded about Washington's enemies.

Separately, WaPo said Netanyahu and Obama agree more than they disagree on Iran. They're positions are "pretty close."

They're willing to wage war based on lies. They'll pursue diplomacy if Iran relinquishes its sovereign rights.

Kerry was hardline saying:

"I can assure (Netanyahu), as I would assure all the people of the world, and particularly Iranians, there is nothing here that is going to be taken at face value."

"We have an obligation," Kerry stressed. Alleged diplomacy is cover for Washington's long planned regime change policy.

For nearly 35 years, back channel efforts achieved nothing. Deceit and hostility substituted.

America's involvement in the 1980s Iran/Iraq war showed Washington's real intentions.

So did downing Iran Air 655. On July 3, 1988, the USS Vincennes did so in Iranian air space. It was premeditated, cold-blooded murder.

All 290 on board perished. They included 66 children and 16 crew members. The incident remains one of the world's deadliest ever air disasters.

It followed Washington falsely claiming Iran attacked US Persian Gulf naval forces in 1987 and 1988.

In March 1987, an Iraqi missile struck the USS Stark. In April 1988, the USS Samuel B. Roberts struck an Iranian mine in waters it trespassed in aggressively.

Washington invents reasons to vilify Iran. Paul Pillar's a former CIA official. He currently teaches security studies at Georgetown University.

He believes rapprochement with Iran faces two stiff obstacles. Anti-Iranian US/Israeli hardliners oppose it.

They "escalate(e) threats against Iran." They want sanctions stiffened. They want "the bar (raised) to an impossibly high place on the terms of a nuclear deal."

They make offers demanding rejection. They do it with other objectives in mind. Anti-Iranian sentiment is longstanding.

It's "because people outside of Iran have made it so," said Pillar. It's "outside Iran that much of the action needs to be taken now to resolve the issue" responsibly.

Nothing in prospect looks likely to do it. Expect longstanding anti-Iranian hostility to continue.

For nearly five years, Obama continued past policy. Nothing he's done substantively suggests change.

He's a duplicitous rogue leader. He lacks credibility. He can't be trusted. He's a serial liar.

Everything he says or does warrants suspicion. None of his public statements or pronouncements can be believed.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen [at] sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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