Death Of Nuclear Deal With Iran Adds To Biden's Failures In U.S. Foreign Policy
When the Biden administration came into office it had promised to reenter into the JCPOA nuclear deal with Iran. Under Trump the U.S. had left the deal and had reissued sanctions against Iran. Tehran followed up by increasing its enrichment capabilities and by accumulating more enriched Uranium.
It would have been easy for Biden to immediately eliminate the sanctions and to rejoin the deal. Iran would surely have followed up by returning to the enrichment levels the deal allows for.
But Biden bungled the issue. For months nothing happened. Then he send negotiators to Iran who demanded additional concessions by Iran while offering less sanction relief. Iran rejected that. It demanded that Biden guarantees that the U.S. would stick to the deal under future administrations. The negotiations were drawn out and made little progress.
The European Union, which is part of the JCPOA deal, finally wrote a compromise draft agreement which was submitted to the Iranian negotiators in Vienna. Iran made some small changes to the draft and send it back. The EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell publicly said that Iran's changes were "reasonable" and that he hoped for a quick U.S. agreement to the draft. But the Biden administration, which worried about the midterm elections, called the Iranian changes "not constructive" and rejected the draft agreement.
Meanwhile old accusation were re-raised over alleged finds of radioactive substances at two places that had never been part of Iran's civil nuclear program. U.S. intelligence agrees that Iran never had a military nuclear program though it allegedly once studied how one could be set up. The IAEA demanded that Iran explains how the substances got there. Iran says it does not know. Further IAEA inspection demands were rejected and IAEA inspections of some elements of Iran's enrichment facilities were limited.
The Biden administration had thought that, under sanction pressure, Iran would eventually succumb to its demands. That was a rather stupid miscalculation. The revolutionary Iran is not a country that succumbs to pressure.
Iran is still ready for a deal but Biden has given up:
Biden in newly surfaced video: Iran nuclear deal is "dead"
President Biden said on the sidelines of a Nov. 4 election rally that the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran is “dead,” but stressed the U.S. won’t formally announce it, according to a new video that surfaced on social media late Monday.Why it matters: It's the strongest confirmation so far that the Biden administration believes there's no path forward for the Iran deal, which leaves key questions about the future of Tehran's nuclear program.
- In late October, U.S. envoy for Iran Rob Malley said that the administration is not going to "waste time" on trying to revive the Iran nuclear deal at this time considering Tehran's crackdown on protesters, Iranian support for Russia's war in Ukraine, and Iran's positions on its nuclear program.
Driving the news: Biden made the remark in a short conversation with a woman who attended an election rally in Oceanside, California.
- The woman asked Biden to announce that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the Iran deal is formally known, is dead.
- Biden responded that he would not “for a lot of reasons."
- But then he added: “It is dead, but we are not gonna announce it. Long story."
- The woman replied that the Iranian regime doesn’t represent the people. “I know they don’t represent you. But they will have a nuclear weapon that they'll represent," he said.
What they're saying: "The JCPOA is not our focus right now. It’s not on the agenda," a White House National Security Council spokesperson told Axios.
- "We don’t see a deal coming together anytime soon," the spokesperson said, pointing to Iran's crackdown on protesters and support for Russia in the war in Ukraine. "Our focus is on practical ways to confront them in these areas."
The U.S. has supported the protests and arranged for the attacks on Iranian security personnel by armed ethnic Kurd and Baloch insurgents. It is the U.S. that had kept up the sanctions up. It is the U.S. that pushed the IAEA to investigate the old unfounded claims. Iran is free to sell and buy arms to and from whomever it wants.
If the U.S. really wants 'practical ways to confront Iran' over any of those issues it will have to fight against Iran. Without the JCPOA deal there will also be more pressure on Biden and whoever follows him to go to all out war against Iran. But Iran is well protected and its missiles can hurt a lot of U.S. installations and friends in the region. A war would likely end with huge damage to Iran and a U.S. retreat from the Middle East.
Iran will continue to increase its civil nuclear capabilities. But it is unlikely to start a military program to build nuclear weapons. Its religious leaders have decided that weapons of mass destruction are against their religious duties and beliefs.
President Obama had invested quite a lot to get the JCPOA done. One wonders what he thinks of Biden's decision to not resurrect but to destroy his signature foreign policy achievement.
For other countries the U.S. behavior towards the nuclear deal demonstrates again that the U.S. is not-agreement-capable. That alone is already a huge failure for U.S. foreign policy.
Posted by b on December 20, 2022 at 17:47 UTC | Permalink
next page »As far as I know, there was never any evidence put forth that Iran was in violation of JCPOA. I don't think anybody even bothered with that.
Posted by: chunga | Dec 20 2022 17:58 utc | 2
https://www.rt.com/news/568598-us-nuclear-energy-breakthrough/
fusion of one atom into another.. release energy.. brings nuclear energy into question, does it belong to the world or will copyright, patents and monopoly power privatization be used to keep it in a few hands? I wonder if Iran has been working on fusion instead of nuclear weapons? Containing Iran is about competition.
Posted by: snake | Dec 20 2022 17:59 utc | 3
The US needs to stop kowtowing to Israel. Israel has the delusion of being the hegemon of the Middle East (or West Asia) with its population of 8M.
Posted by: Jeff Harrison | Dec 20 2022 17:59 utc | 4
Israel has the delusion of being the hegemon of the Middle East (or West Asia) with its population of 8M.
It's not a "delusion", but it is highly contingent on the US' unconditional support.
Posted by: Observer | Dec 20 2022 18:04 utc | 5
Posted by: Jeff Harrison | Dec 20 2022 17:59 utc | 4
There's no chance of that with terabytes of videos and pictures of US politicians in possession of Mossad's "Epstein ring".
They have the US leadership elite by the short and curlies - literally.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Dec 20 2022 18:19 utc | 6
Not all sanctions on Iran were imposed by the Executive; many were imposed via Congressional legislation and can only be removed via same. Any POTUS is thus handicapped. Iran's development of hypersonics means it has even less reason to build atomic weapons (see here and here).
Yes, Iran still has security problems caused by the Outlaw US Empire it must solve, but there is also the issue of reaching an all encompassing security pact for the Persian Gulf Region. China's entry into the region as a major player will help in that regard as I've previously written. Plus, much of Iran's internal issues are economic that will diminish overtime as China aids Iran with its development. The real loser in the region is Occupied Palestine as it "splinters" into a political mess worse than that of Ukraine.
Arch Bungle | Dec 20 2022 18:19 utc | 6
so what the US does is once again the Khazars' fault?
what a get outta jail free card you antisemites give the western ruling class.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Dec 20 2022 18:22 utc | 8
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Dec 20 2022 18:22 utc | 8
It is what it is.
And please - stop with the "anti-semite" slur.
No actual semites have ever been slandered on this site.
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Dec 20 2022 18:24 utc | 9
Posted by: snake | Dec 20 2022 17:59 utc | 3
Propaganda news from Amerika, probably to feed the idea that there is no need for gas and oil anymore, eat bugs and go to bed when there is no sun. I doubt anything new in that area will appear in next 30-40 years.
Just like propaganda last week about the "hypersonic" prototype, but after reading the text you see it's Mach 5 and no video available. Kim has better working missiles, not prototypes.
Posted by: rk | Dec 20 2022 18:26 utc | 10
@ Arch #6
Epstein hanging himself on a tailor made horizontal bar in an anti-suicide cell, guards monitoring broken cameras, while under an international media spotlight was really a low point.
The first I heard of him being jailed was by way of an MSM report that the top US cop Bill Barr recused himself from the matter.
This is a state sanctioned activity in the US.
Posted by: chunga | Dec 20 2022 18:26 utc | 11
Must give credit where credits’s due. It’s when Biden his time and blowing his Trumpet destroyed ‘TheWest’ by being potus for Israel first. Who would have known that self destruction would finish forever war with a whimper. Tho it’s about time, Congrats 🥳
Posted by: sadness | Dec 20 2022 18:27 utc | 12
If we keep pushing Iran into Russia's arms, they may not need their own nuclear program.
Posted by: ian | Dec 20 2022 18:33 utc | 13
Posted by: chunga | Dec 20 2022 18:26 utc | 11
"US cop Bill Barr recused himself from the matter ... This is a state sanctioned activity in the US."
What puzzles me most is why Ghislaine is still alive and how Epstein could have died (for real) if he really had all that dirt on people (which he most certainly did).
(And before anyone rails at me for going off topic: Robert Maxwell born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch 10 June 1923 Slatinské Doly, Czechoslovakia (now Solotvyno, Ukraine ...)
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Dec 20 2022 18:37 utc | 14
@ b who wrote
"
For other countries the U.S. behavior towards the nuclear deal demonstrates again that the U.S. is not-agreement-capable. That alone is already a huge failure for U.S. foreign policy.
"
Just yesterday there was a vote of 120 states at the Bioweapons Convention in Geneva in favor and the FUKUS 4 countries against.
Given the civilization war we are in, the God of Mammon cult behind FUKUS does not give a shit about individual country foreign policy perception to the RoW that wants to bring them down. They continue to be intent on maintaining Might-Makes-Right Rules-Based unipolar control of our world and have never had to blink before.
The God of Mammon cult is going to have to blink or take humanity to extinction and relations with Iran are just a part of the pressure to blink.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 20 2022 18:38 utc | 15
The JCPOA was always going to fail. Too much acrimony over the events 1979 Iranian Revolution on both sides.
Posted by: Monos | Dec 20 2022 18:43 utc | 16
Once congress put's it own sanctions in place it locks the United States into foreign policy that even the president cannot back out of. Given the divisions in Congress they have no way to resend them. Iran China and Russia etc should consider the fact that sanctions regimen has 0 chance of changing direction (will only get worse) and plan for total war accordingly.
Posted by: atm | Dec 20 2022 18:57 utc | 17
Anyone who thinks that any US president is capable of going against the wishes of the Zionists is naive. The only party running the US is the Zionist party. It would take a bloody revolution within the USA to change that. Iran and any other nations dealing with the USA are wise to take that fact into consideration.
Posted by: Steve | Dec 20 2022 19:00 utc | 18
you know, i don't actually think this serves israels interest....unless israel is intent on domination which is probably the reality.. i guess they need to keep the fear mongering ramped up 24/7 while trying to proceed with regime change so they can rape and pillage.. these ways of doing things doesn't work in the long run... on the other hand, maybe they are a death cult.. sure looks that way..
Posted by: james | Dec 20 2022 19:08 utc | 19
Next to last paragraph about Obama...
Obama is the one pulling Biden's strings from what can be seen. Obama worked with him closely eight years and before that in Senate. Obama is not a free agent, whoever plays Obama would naturally use him to operate Biden's armatures.
Hillary gets in the loop as well and she has Sullivan as operative. Too busy hitting the bottle to be bothered much and happy to let Barry run the show.
Posted by: oldhippie | Dec 20 2022 19:17 utc | 20
I don't think Russia has any unrealistic expectations that western sanctions will be lifted, and the supply-chain replacements and work-arounds they have devised seem pretty durable, as if they were expected to last a long time and perhaps permanently. Europe is going to have to figure out how to live with a minimum 20BcM gas shortfall next year, and there is another 30 BcM which is optimistically accounted for by re-energizing the nuclear plants they were planning to phase out, increased hydroelectric (more dams) and 'more stringent economies' by the population which is already washing the dishes with cold water and skipping showers.
Recently Newsweek - which I realize is not a real news source - announced remarks by Rep. Adam Kinzinger that NATO could 'take out' Russia in only three days.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/nato-could-take-out-russia-in-3-days-congressman/ar-AA15swg0
Commenters at my blog immediately and gleefully highlighted that it had taken the US 20 years to not be able to 'take out' Afghanistan, and the US is unquestionably the most powerful force in NATO. NATO has been involved in Ukraine in a ground-war capacity for many months now, with no significant movement. NATO stepping formally into the picture would mean a significant surge in armor and personnel, as well as aviation, but Russia is nowhere near stretched in those areas either. And the assumption seems to be that NATO would only be confronting Russia. Would it?
I don't think so. China has been watching developments avidly, and it surely knows what would happen to its abundant and cheap energy supply in the event of a NATO victory over Russia - assuming NATO could beat Russia alone, and I have my doubts about that. I am confident China would assume a higher profile in both political and military spheres, and shortly the west, with its typical big mouth and overconfidence, would find itself fighting at least both. And what about Iran? Surely Iran would recognize this as its best chance to be part of an alliance that inflicted a decisive defeat on the west and forced it to keep its nosy 'values' to itself for at least a couple of generations into the future.
Washington has told itself, and anyone who will listen, that Russia is isolated and friendless for so long that it is beginning to believe it. The deeper NATO works itself into an untenable economic situation, the more likely that it is going to sleepwalk into a hot land war with the active participation of at least two of the most powerful countries in the world, and perhaps others who have watched western swaggering until they are thoroughly sick of it.
@atm, #17:
Iran China and Russia etc should consider the fact that sanctions regimen has 0 chance of changing direction (will only get worse) and plan for total war accordingly.
Iran China Russia have been prepared for war at least since a quarter century ago, when a brat trumpeted the rise of a New World Order. They have to, for self-defense. But fighting the beast is not their only option available. The beast is ostensibly aging, weakening, and slumping. Why not flash the capabilities to resort to MAD as a pose, and just sit on the fence to watch the beast deteriorate further by the years?
The three nations you mentioned are active in manifesting their new weaponries and their readiness to mobilize. I believe they are doing this deliberately for the reason that I speculated.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Dec 20 2022 19:35 utc | 22
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Dec 20 2022 18:37 utc | 14
What puzzles me . . . [is] how Epstein could have died (for real) if he really had all that dirt on people . . . .
I think he died BECAUSE he had all that dirt on people. And didn't take Edward-Snowden-type precautions while the getting was good.
Posted by: aej | Dec 20 2022 19:58 utc | 23
The War Party in Washington seems intent on isolating itself. Breaking the Iran agreement is yet one more example. Cold War 2.0 for sure
The War Party calculus appears to be the economies of the 87% will collapse before that of the USA. Question for Barflies - why would the War Party believe this ?
Posted by: Exile | Dec 20 2022 20:03 utc | 24
Didn't the U.S. and Germany just admit that the Minsk agreement was made to rearm their Ukrainian proxies, and that they had no plans to actually implement anything in the agreement? Similarly, the JCPOA was used as the carrot so that Iran would decrease their support of President Assad in Syria and give the American backed Kurdish proxies some breathing room. The Western powers in the JCPOA had no intention of actually honoring the agreement.
Considering that Obama was president when the Minsk agreement (that the U.S. never intended to honor) was signed, I think he would fully support Biden's handling of the JCPOA.
Posted by: Sid Victor Cattoni | Dec 20 2022 20:09 utc | 25
Hurrah for Iran. Every country is sovereign, according to the UN Charter, and Iran has done nothing to be singled out this way. Not kowtowing to the US is not a basis for limiting Iran in any way. The US and its Europe puppets have done the sanctions thing, which initially hurt Iran and also the EU go-alongs. Iran has stood fast while improving its domestic industries. Iran growing stronger under forty years of sanctions has been a model for other nations persecuted by the US, including China and Russia. Now Iran, given its geographical benefits, will move with Russia and China into a new era.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 20 2022 20:14 utc | 26
b who wrote
President Obama had invested quite a lot to get the JCPOA done. One wonders what he thinks of Biden's decision to not resurrect but to destroy his signature foreign policy achievement.
For other countries the U.S. behavour towards the nuclear deal demonstrates again that the U.S. is not-agreement-capable. That alone is already a huge failure for U.S. foreign policy.
Now, one could be forgiven to think JCPOA, conceived and birthed in Obama-Biden administration, that all efforts would be to save the agreement in Obama's 3rd term.
However, it was rebuffed in the true capital. Instructions are from Tel Aviv, the real seat of government of U.S.A.
and you can't get by the Cabinet Roster which includes: VP Emhoff, Blinken, Nuland, Yellen, Garland, etc. Got it yet?
Emhoff has a voice in the WH? His creds!! he is the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president.
and there is the Sentry:
ADL and AIPAC; the [latter] group was formed to spin positive PR after Israeli atrocities.
Now, before anyone pounces and paint me anti-semite, just know my roots are Cohen. And don't get me started on the Khazars - their conversion to Judaism.
The comeuppance will be soon and the walled open-air prison for Palestinians will crumble.
Posted by: Likklemore | Dec 20 2022 20:17 utc | 27
I would add the JCPOA has been dead deal as sanctions failed to stop Iran's development of missile technologies, the critical aspect of it regarding Israel security.
Posted by: John2007 | Dec 20 2022 20:19 utc | 28
Posted by: atm | Dec 20 2022 18:57 utc | 17
Iran China and Russia etc should consider the fact that sanctions regimen has 0 chance of changing direction (will only get worse) and plan for total war accordingly.
I think people misunderstand Putin's situation in a way reminiscent of the way Alexander Dubček was interpreted by the West in the 1960s. The West folded Dubček into its anti-Communist narrative, but I don't think he would have approved of many of the changes that took place after his (suspicious?) death in 1992.
Because of the position Putin's in, it's tempting to think of him as a revolutionary anti-neoliberal leader, and to build unrealistic expectations on that.
But looking at the depth of neo-liberal penetration of Russia, the continuing stumbling blocks such as the lack of a national currency and the effects of neo-liberal entrenchment in academia and industry and media, and also to Putin's relationships to many of the post-Soviet oligarchs, I don't think it's entirely correct to think of Russia as a revolutionary country. Russia is a Western-influenced country pushed into an adversary stance by continued unconditional racist hostility from the West going back to the Pope's mandate to the Teutonic knights to colonize Prussia in the 1200s.
Going back to his Yeltsin connection, I don't think Putin is, or was, fundamentally hostile to the Western system, so long as Russia could take a fair share in it. Though the West's existential hostility to Russia is forcing him to take an adversarial stance, I don't think this, or the dismantling of the neoliberal fifth column inside Russia, comes easily to him.
Posted by: aej | Dec 20 2022 20:27 utc | 29
Iranian Foreign Minister: "Our negotiations with Saudi Arabia continue as before,Iran is ready to normalize relations and open embassies."
https://t.me/azmilitary11/31245
Peace is threatening to erupt in the Middle East, not only that but Saudi oil supply pricing threatening to slip away from US grasp... US will soon lash out and do something about that or they end up in a much weaker position.
Posted by: unimperator | Dec 20 2022 20:32 utc | 30
But isn't—wasn't—the JCPOA really just window dressing and cover for the long-term geo-strategic aims of the US/UK in old Persia? The success or failure of the agreement, whether it's alive of 'dead' is really neither here nor there. All that matters is a story about policing WMD that can be peddled to Western middle-classes who look up long enough to ask "why are we so hostile to Iran?" The long-term reality is part and parcel with the capitalist death-drive to rescue the West from the implosion of finance capital and rent-seeking. As Hudson would argue, the West doesn't produce value anymore. Eurasia is the New New World with resources and population to colonize, exploit and plunder.
Historically, the Old New World (the Americas) were the path of least resistance: pre-Columbian populations simply could not counter the Conquista (at least the Spaniards had the honesty to call by its true name). It is well known that Ottoman success (fall of Const.) and the monopoly of Venetian interests in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 15th century pushed non-Venetian northern Italian capital (Genovese in particular) to invest in westward ventures undertaken by the Portugese and Spanish. Our world is the ultimate consequence of these investment decisions, especially in the great barrier to European colonialism erected by Russian and Ottoman regional success. Notwithstanding British adventurism and meddling in Persia and India, Napoleonic invasion and Operation Barbarossa, this barrier persists.
What are all these little blips but micro-episodes in the long history of Western capital to recreate the golden returns of that funded the Baroque, forever chipping away at the only pristine continental resource never fully subjected to the rapacious designs of the imperial capitalist conspiracy that has haunted the world since it crawled out of the ruins of post-Black Death feudalism?
Posted by: Patroklos | Dec 20 2022 20:34 utc | 32
@snake #3
Fusion is not going to be a factor for many decades, if ever. The 'breakthrough' is a scientific milestone but they also demonstrated just how far it is from practicality (not even within a factor of 100 of breaking even in a real sense), although the popular press glossed over the details. It is a useful result in getting more funding for the scientists and has already been used to attack spending on renewable energy (wind, solar) in favor of redoubled fossil fuel exploitation.
It is, in a sense, about competition though- an unchallenged ability to interdict transportation of energy, food and goods to and from an adversary in order to starve them out is a big part of US power projection. Nuclear energy produces local energy and avoids the necessity to sell their fossil fuels cheap, as well as providing a short time span path to nuclear weapons if a state feels threatened. Given the many months build-up to the Iraq invasion, it would appear that the potential of a similarly timed build-up is a matter of some concern since the target country could not be attacked without risk.
Posted by: Billb | Dec 20 2022 20:34 utc | 33
Why not flash the capabilities to resort to MAD as a pose, and just sit on the fence to watch the beast deteriorate further by the years?
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Dec 20 2022 19:35 utc | 22
Back under W, the neocons replaced MAD doctrine with "decapitation strike" based on their belief that if they nuke Moscow, Russia will immediately surrender. This policy continued under O.
Now Biden has changed to nuke 1st strike policy against any nation, nuke or non, that *might* cause *any* kind of harm, including economic, to the US.
This had just taken place within the last few weeks, & Putin has expressed serious concerns on about the position this puts Russia in.
Posted by: Mary | Dec 20 2022 20:34 utc | 34
JPCOA offered zero incentive to Iran to slow its nuclear program. It essentially was another no-strings, US Taxpayer-funded handout to a medieval thug regime, a practice made popular by Clinton, continued by Dubya, and all-out treasonously metastasized by Hussein. Americans are sick sick sick of it--hence the 2016 election of Trump (who albeit turned out to be merely controlled opposition, but that's beside the point). The point is that psychotic, Islam-is-a-Death-Cult Iran will start World War 3 just as soon as it is able, and this thinly-veiled Russian State Media site is not doing its duped, rabidly antisemitic audience any favors by pretending otherwise. It's concordant to point out on this particular forum that most Americans are sick of the support for thug-regime, Ukraine, too, but our populist/democratic frustration has been silenced since 2020 when the Fabian Masters (today known as the WEF) completed their usurpation of the US Government. The WEF wants genocide, too, and its exacerbation of the Ukraine Potato-Head war demonstrates that nukes are definitely an option. But the WEF has the Clot Shot, now (yes, thanks in large part to Clot Shot Spokes-bobblehead, Donald Trump), and the Clot Shot is downsizing the population through sterilization quite nicely--so why bother with Armageddon? But Iranian mullahs? They won't settle for anything less than melting down Israel, which is ground zero for the literal prophecy of Armageddon.
Posted by: Tom SteChatte | Dec 20 2022 20:47 utc | 35
The making of JCPOA demonstrated to the world that Iran is led by reasonable and capable people. More than any other thing this was a severe blow to the Illegal Occupiers of Palestine who insist on perpetrating the lying myth of all neighbor states as being ignorant fanatics.
They are demonstrably wrongheaded occupiers and likely will encounter the same fate as other arrogant, malign states.
Meanwhile Iran continues with its civil program and threatens no one with nuclear weapons. Unlike the USA and the Illegal Occupier of Palestine.
In its death current living record the JCPOA demonstrates the capacity of sensible international diplomacy to bring nations together and forge practical cooperation and development. Unfortunately the USA and the belligerent fools occupying Palestine are not up to that standard.
Well done Iran.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 20 2022 20:50 utc | 36
Iran's development of hypersonics means it has even less reason to build atomic weapons (see here and here).Yes, Iran still has security problems caused by the Outlaw US Empire it must solve ....
Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 20 2022 18:21 utc | 7
Yes, but....
Once upon a time...
A year ago, we were all convinced that Russia could not make the mistake of attacking Ukraine
The myth of Khamenei's fatwa dates back to February 19, 2010, when he said: "We do not believe in the atomic bomb, in nuclear weapons; we do not want them. According to our fundamental beliefs, our religious principles, the use of such tools of massacre is in essence "haram"; it is forbidden by the Sharia. It destroys humanity and the Quran forbids it; we don't want to have it."
In 2012, Ahmadinejad said in a message read to a gathering of families of victims of chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88):"The production and use of weapons of mass destruction is against the religion and has no place in the defense doctrine of the Islamic Republic of Iran,"
He recalled that this position was "based on the teachings of Islam and the fatwa (religious decree) of the Supreme Leader," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
It would be quite justified to reason on these bases and not on generalities.
If the weapon of mass destruction, intended to wipe out a city (or a small country), seems excluded by the teachings of Islam, a precision weapon allowing the total destruction of an American base, an aircraft carrier or an armored division in attack formation seems to me absolutely legitimate and coherent.
A volley of missiles, even if precisely guided and heavily loaded, is not likely to produce this effect. This was verified on January 8, 2020 when a dozen missiles were launched from Iran against the American base of Ain al-Assad.
The same precise and fast missiles equipped with mini-nukes of an equivalent of 10 and 25 kt are on the other hand totally adapted.
It is not a weapon of mass destruction, because as Boris Vian sang:
La seule chose qui compte, c'est l'endroit où ce qu'elle tombe...the most important thing is where it falls.
And as for Russia, there comes a time when the pressure and the preparations of the enemy leave no choice but to disarm him brutally.
Posted by: La Bastille | Dec 20 2022 20:57 utc | 37
aej @ 23
I think he died BECAUSE he had all that dirt on people. And didn't take Edward-Snowden-type precautions while the getting was good.
He died because he wasn't a privateer, he worked for the Mossad, he was an employee, a used up asset that became a liability and was tossed in the trash can. Ghisalne was allowed to live as two murders back to back would have been a bit over the top, she may still die in time, but my guess is she is Israeli royalty and so will be kept in isolation in the Tower rather than killed, Epstein was a lowly squire.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Dec 20 2022 21:10 utc | 38
re: President Obama had invested quite a lot to get the JCPOA done.
That seems to be the trend now. The US autocratic president does a treaty without Senate approval. Who needs a constitution anyhow? Democracy in action. s/
And the target country knows that the President doesn't have political support on a treaty, that in this case it's just a trophy Obama can brag about in his new library, a foreign policy win for Obama who killed too many people with too many wars. . . .memories of Obamacare, mandatory insurance for everyone able to get it, or just die if you can't get it.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 20 2022 21:12 utc | 39
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Dec 20 2022 18:37 utc | 14What puzzles me . . . [is] how Epstein could have died (for real) if he really had all that dirt on people . . . .
I think he died BECAUSE he had all that dirt on people. And didn't take Edward-Snowden-type precautions while the getting was good.
Posted by: aej | Dec 20 2022 19:58 utc | 23
Any photos of his arrest, arraignment, or in detention at MCC? The couple of photos of his corpse are of dubious provenance.
Odd that MCC staff leaked security footage of El Chapo t media, presumably for money, but not of Epstein (or Maxwell).
Deep State wants you to debate whether it was murder or suicide, not whether "was he ever there" vs "was he extracted".
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 20 2022 21:16 utc | 40
Privately Obama is probably thinking never doubt the ability of Joe to f_ck something up.
Posted by: morongobill | Dec 20 2022 21:17 utc | 41
If Tehran returns to compliance with the deal, President Biden would re-enter the agreement, using hard-nosed diplomacy and support from our allies to strengthen and extend it, while more effectively pushing back against Iran’s other destabilizing activities.
https://joebiden.com/americanleadership/#
It was never "re-enter" but extend it...
And it is of course a mere coincidence that the negotiations dragged on at the same time as NATO was massing its forces in Poland and Ukraine.
Posted by: La Bastille | Dec 20 2022 21:19 utc | 42
“JPCOA offered zero incentive to Iran to slow its nuclear program. It essentially was another no-strings, US Taxpayer-funded handout to a medieval thug regime” - Posted by: Tom SteChatte | Dec 20 2022 20:47 utc | 35The incentive was the stipulated but never fulfilled gradual elimination of sanctions. There was no handout.
“. . .this thinly-veiled Russian State Media site. . .it’s duped, rabidly antisemitic audience. . .” - ibidThis is not a Russian site, and you’re conflating anti-Zionist with anti-Semitic.
Posted by: DocHollywood | Dec 20 2022 21:20 utc | 43
For the above commenters that mentioned the Epstein suicide, I have a bit of hearsay that I’ll share with you. A friend of mine who is close friends with some high end prostitutes in Germany that fly all over the world told him that they visited Epstein at a secure location in Israel, that he is still alive. They were told in a not so thinly veiled way by his guards that if they went to the press they would die or their family member would die. My friend said these women are very trustworthy and old friends of his and he believes them. Another detail that I think lends some credence to the theory that he is still alive is the fact that they wheeled him out of the jail with no covering so onlookers could get clear photos of his face. I have never seen police do this with any other body, they always would cover it with a blanket or put it in a body bag. Also look at the photos of his face when he’s being wheeled out, looks like a man who has been temporarily put to sleep to me.
Posted by: James C | Dec 20 2022 21:20 utc | 44
Check out the history of the Kurds. The US has used their regions and their people a great deal in Middle Eastern conflicts. The fact that they lack a country makes it easier for them to work against any country that they are residents.
They have a history as nomads, and have never had their own country. They were mostly divided into Syria, Iraq, and Iran after WWII by the Allies, and some sources indicate that was intentionally done to facilitate future meddling in the Middle East..
The woman who recently threw down her headdress in Iran was a Kurdish Iranian. Kurds in Syria still have a US military base. Turkey is fighting them.
The people that Hussein attacked before the Iraq War began were Kurds in Kurdish Iraq.
Posted by: HelenB | Dec 20 2022 21:24 utc | 45
It seems to be an article of faith on this list that Iran has never had any interest in acquiring Nuclear weapons.
Completely apart from the question of the JCPOA and if it was good or bad. Is it really reasonable to assert with certainty that Iran is not interested in acquiring Nuclear weapons ? If I were Iran, I would want nuclear weapons. Hell, if I were Serbia, I would be very sad that I don't have Nuclear weapons.
I don't believe that Obamas great success was ever submitted to the Senate for approval. Therefore it was never a treaty in any meaningful sense. America may or may not be agreement capable but that says nothing about the constitutional requirements for a treaty being "legally" binding.
Treaty or no. Iran continues to make strides designing and building ballistic missile capability. They may feel that if they had 1500 such missiles that could put a 1000 pound warhead more or less on target 2000 miles away, that would be sufficient for them to confront the great and little satan.
So they may very well feel that a Nuclear weapon is not necessary at least as long as they don't threaten the existence of the Israeli state to a degree that Israel would feel compelled to use their bombs.
Does Iran wish to end the existence of the Israeli state ? They have said such was their policy. Should we believe them ? If that is their real policy, they must have in mind the problem of Israels nuclear weapons. In my mind, that does not make them good or bad - it's just the reality of the world, nation-states and geo-politics and - if you are so inclined - questions of God and destiny.
So the sentiment on this list is in agreement with Iran that Israel is the little satan. I guess that means everyone has to believe that Iran is good and Israel is bad. It becomes an emotional commitment because we are human beings.
The fallout from the wests war with Russia is having very interesting impact on the entire geo-political balance in the world. That movement is showing up in the middle east. Geo-political tectonic plates are slowly rearranging. What had been a more or less balance of power equilibrium is changing.
Do we hope for peace and world order ? Do we really. Arguments could be made that Russia is the most hopeful broker for the emergence of such a thing. But when great mass begins to move - like the geo-political plates in the middle east - they can develop an inertia of their own that defy merely human influences.
Posted by: Dan Farrand | Dec 20 2022 21:24 utc | 46
@ Jeff Harrison | Dec 20 2022 17:59 utc | 4
The US needs to stop kowtowing to Israel
Israel, a country smaller than New Jersey with less people, has bought every single member of the US Congress so there will be no end to the kowtowing. Cynthia McKinney, a former U.S. Congresswoman from Georgia is a prime example of how the establishment made sure that she lost her re-election campaign because she said naughty things about Israel.
Posted by: Don Bacon | Dec 20 2022 21:24 utc | 47
the biden administration will not cross israel on this issue. it just won't happen. and that goes for the majority of congress too. israel donors are too important to the dem party. it's that simple. obama stood up to them (israel lobby) to some degree, biden won't ever.
Posted by: annie | Dec 20 2022 21:31 utc | 48
atm #17
Iran China and Russia etc should consider the fact that sanctions regimen has 0 chance of changing direction (will only get worse) and plan for total war accordingly.
Well I am fairly certain they see permanent sanctions as the USA bludgeon. They are continuously planning for defence and are now planning for a close integration of trade excluding the use of US $ currency.
They don't really need to plan for total war but just keep a readiness in case the FUKUSA lose the plot even further.
Meanwhile the Eurasian states and BRICS+ team are seriously bent on tighter integration of their financial settlements, trading and transporting infrastructure. Even more so after the EU clowns tried to cap the price of Russian oil which has had an immediate impact on the west's maritime insurance monopoly.
I suspect the western idiocy will become a pissing contest as to who can hit the east harder and may even culminate in some serious maritime incidents as the shipping teams become combative. There are many choke points and many ships and some mighty big fools in the world.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 20 2022 21:34 utc | 49
“Therefore it [JCPOA] was never a treaty in any meaningful sense. America may or may not be agreement capable but that says nothing about the constitutional requirements for a treaty being "legally" binding.” - Posted by: Dan Farrand | Dec 20 2022 21:24 utc | 46I believe it was still binding per United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231
Posted by: DocHollywood | Dec 20 2022 21:35 utc | 50
If there is ever a strategic nuclear war between Russia or China and the USA the USA will nuke both plus Iran and the DPRK, in for a penny in for a pound. During the cold war it was always USA strategic policy to take out China if nuclear war ever broke out with the USSR. Iran has become a critical ally for Russia, if you factor a Caucasus second front an existential ally. At this point Russia should just help Iran make nuclear warheads as fast as possible if not just give them to them as that would increase Russia's strategic protection and in theory the entire world's. One big Mexican standoff, none go or we all go.
Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Dec 20 2022 21:35 utc | 51
Out of deep respect for the sufferings of Ukranians at the hands of USUKIS NAZI proxies in areas where Russia has retreated, President Putin candidly admits the difficult choices Russia has had to make in this SMO. He doesnt say that without the SMO USUKIS NAZI proxies
would have genocide them anyway , scoring political points out of their suffering.
Contrast this with the constant , Victim-playing of the Guardian and BBC, repeating the lie of Russia's illegal invasion at every sentence to stifle questioning about who started this in 2014 by arming Nazis in Ukraine. Sickening. The Western MSM never mention the obscene conditions Zelensky is forcing raw recruits have to fight, except in jingoistic terms. Sicknaking.
And to cap it all, Biden by Western culture must always be photoed laughing. MACABRE.
Posted by: Giyane | Dec 20 2022 21:36 utc | 52
The only reason JCPOA was really never acceptable to US, was because it accepted and recognized enrichment inside Iran. Ironically that is also the only reason Iran accepted the deal.
US will not accept non U.S. controlled states, to have a homegrown enrichment capability and technology. From as far back as I remember IMO Iran plans always has been to become a threshold nuclear state with delivery capabilities. Iran’s current threshold nuclear status and her missile capabilities limits US/EU/Israel maneuvering in the west Asia religion. this is the reason no U.S. administration will realistically want a deal with Iran that does not enhance their strategic standing in that region.
And for Iran to remain an independent and sovereign Shia state without these capabilities including hypersonic delivery will mean a subdued western satrapy.
This again as I grew up in Iran and even under the shah’s rule, is against very culturally epic nationalistic proud mentality of majority of Iranians, regardless of who is in power in post revolutionary Iran. The reason US never attack Iran is exactly this, if Iran is attacked Iran will burn the Western Asia for decades. Iran’s collective security comes with her resistance Shia allies who are dominant in Western Asia.
Posted by: Kooshy | Dec 20 2022 21:45 utc | 53
La Bastille #37
The myth of Khamenei's fatwa dates back to February 19, 2010, when he said: "We do not believe in the atomic bomb, in nuclear weapons; we do not want them. According to our fundamental beliefs, our religious principles, the use of such tools of massacre is in essence "haram"; it is forbidden by the Sharia. It destroys humanity and the Quran forbids it; we don't want to have it."
Myth?
What myth?
You just cited the VALIDITY of Khomeini's fatwa against the use of nuclear weapons. Why belittle its importance?
Iran doesn't do nukes - the Illegal Occupier of Palestine does!
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 20 2022 21:45 utc | 54
The only reason JCPOA was really never acceptable to US, was because it accepted and recognized enrichment inside Iran. Ironically that is also the only reason Iran accepted the deal.
US will not accept non U.S. controlled states, to have a homegrown enrichment capability and technology. From as far back as I remember IMO Iran plans always has been to become a threshold nuclear state with delivery capabilities. Iran’s current threshold nuclear status and her missile capabilities limits US/EU/Israel maneuvering in the west Asia religion. this is the reason no U.S. administration will realistically want a deal with Iran that does not enhance their strategic standing in that region.
And for Iran to remain an independent and sovereign Shia state without these capabilities including hypersonic delivery will mean a subdued western satrapy.
This again as I grew up in Iran and even under the shah’s rule, is against very culturally epic nationalistic proud mentality of majority of Iranians, regardless of who is in power in post revolutionary Iran. The reason US never attack Iran is exactly this, if Iran is attacked Iran will burn the Western Asia for decades. Iran’s collective security comes with her resistance Shia allies who are dominant in Western Asia.
Posted by: Kooshy | Dec 20 2022 21:52 utc | 55
@ annie 48
BoJo's blonde hair and Obama's black skin were selected for credible deniability of being under Israel's thumb. White power speak with fork tongue
Posted by: Giyane | Dec 20 2022 21:59 utc | 56
@ annie 48
BoJo's blonde hair and Obama's black skin were selected for credible deniability of being under Israel's thumb. White power speak with fork tongue
Posted by: Giyane | Dec 20 2022 22:00 utc | 57
Take a lesson from Chernobyl of Fukushima.
If a nation has a few nuclear reactors for civil and perhaps military use eg Negev Nuclear Research Centre (Dimona) and a war breaks out with a nation that has no nukes but precision accurate hypersonic conventional missiles then they will likely see every reactor destroyed or self destructed as the cooling systems are destroyed.
Then there are the launch silos of the country that has nuclear weapons and their vulnerability to destruction by some hypersonic hit. So we may consider intense but localised destruction and permanent exclusion zones or maybe even major waterway exclusions (Gulf of Aqaba).
War at this scale will be disastrous and the actions of Iran in agreeing to negotiate treaties are commendable. Those that opposed and those that failed such a simple negotiation for such high stakes are culpable fools and global criminals imo.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 20 2022 22:08 utc | 58
Take a lesson from Chernobyl or Fukushima.
If a nation has a few nuclear reactors for civil and perhaps military use eg Negev Nuclear Research Centre (Dimona) and a war breaks out with a nation that has no nukes but precision accurate hypersonic conventional missiles then they will likely see every reactor destroyed or self destructed as the cooling systems are destroyed.
Then there are the launch silos of the country that has nuclear weapons and their vulnerability to destruction by some hypersonic hit. So we may consider intense but localised destruction and permanent exclusion zones or maybe even major waterway exclusions (Gulf of Aqaba).
War at this scale will be disastrous and the actions of Iran in agreeing to negotiate treaties are commendable. Those that opposed and those that failed such a simple negotiation for such high stakes are culpable fools and global criminals imo.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Dec 20 2022 22:09 utc | 59
Joe Biden once said, "I'm a Zionist". How can anyone imagine that he would restore the JCPOA? It was risible from the beginning.
Worse, every single day over at Antiwar.com, I had to read a constant dribble of "the deal is almost near, just a few more minor points to work out." Then the
"minor points" were: 1) the US won't drop sanctions, and 2) the US won't agree to continue to abide by the deal and not drop out like Trump did.
Well, these were the two most important aspects of the deal. If the US didn't agree to them, what "minor points" are being referred to?
This went on day after day for a year and a half. Utter bullshit. And I called it day after day at Antiwar until finally I quit Antiwar as being too full of
morons.
As for whether Iran "needs" nukes, no it doesn't. Nukes are only useful as a deterrent if 1) you have enough of them, and 2) you have a delivery systems that
is effective. Iran realizes that even if it starts a nuclear weapons program, it will never catch up to Israel, let alone the US, in terms of numbers of
deliverable systems. And that's assuming Iran isn't attacked before it could complete such a program, given that it's already being threatened by Israel even
though it doesn't have such a program.
North Korea is not a counter-example. NK has perhaps 10-20 nukes. NK's real deterrent is its million-man army which could inflict 50,000 US casualties
within 90 days of a conflict. NK would also never use those nukes because the detonation of one nukes would result in NK being obliterated by one US submarine
with 12-16 missiles with 4 or more MIRV warheads. The same would happen to Iran were it to develop a nuclear weapon - and Iran knows it, and NK knows it. The
nukes developed by NK are a bargaining point, not an actual deterrent. The same applies to Iran's slightly increasing uranium enrichment and stock levels -
they're a bargaining point, not an actual program.
Iran has explicitly said it has no need or intention to try to "catch up" to either Israel or the US with nukes. This means they recognize that Iran has no
need of or desire for nukes. Instead, Iran has been following Russia's example and building up the largest missile arsenal of all types in the Middle East.
While not as effective a deterrent as a large number of deliverable nukes would be, it is effective for the adversaries Iran might face in its region, excluding
the US.
I have been predicting a US-Iran war since 2006 or before. I still believe one will occur, if not derailed by a more serious war such as between the US and
Russia in Ukraine, or between the US and China over Taiwan, or even a war between the US and NK. Israel wants Iran gone and Israel will never stop trying
to get the US to attack Iran on its behalf. Also, historically when two countries have this much animosity towards each other, sooner or later they will
go to war. The animosity between Iran and both the US and Israel pretty guarantees a war sooner or later, again depending on the overall geopolitical
situation elsewhere.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Dec 21 2022 1:15 utc | 60
"...I think he died BECAUSE he had all that dirt on people. And didn't take Edward-Snowden-type precautions while the getting was good." aej@23
He died because the deep state wanted him dead and they were able to pull off a fake suicide because public opinion had been so shaped against him that nobody cared whether he lived or died, except those who wanted him dead.
At the time of the charges and detention the internet and the media was full of the most extravagant accusations all designed to ensure , firstly, that he could not get a fair trial and secondly that nobody would protest when the state murdered him.
The trial of Ghislaine Maxwell was a similar production. In both cases wild accusations from Victorian prosecutors in which prostitution was re-defined as pedophilia and were mixed with equally unproven charges that they were Mossad agents (as if half the US Congress and Executive were not!).
The entire campaign was designed to sucker the liberals and the left into hatred of people who are actually fairly representative of ruling class cronies- once they had neutralised the left they knew that nobody would protest when they killed the guy in conditions that make 'broad daylight' look like complete darkness.
Just to recall: he was in a suicide watch, he was observed by cameras 24 hours a day, two guards were responsible for monitoring him, the Prison governor was responsible as were his superiors in the government. How quickly they were promoted after his death I don't know but I'm certain that nobody suffered.
And the net result? That the rather sordid details of the prostitution and extortion ring of which he was a part will never emerge during the lifetimes of the Clintons and others who were said to have been recipients of his hospitality.
In short who benefitted? The Political caste and all those against whom, in a properly managed prosecution, he might have been persuaded to testify.
Them and the loudmouths who formed the lynch mob that those afraid of his 'singing' organised.
Posted by: bevin | Dec 21 2022 1:43 utc | 61
"Joe Biden once said, "I'm a Zionist". How can anyone imagine that he would restore the JCPOA? It was risible from the beginning..." Richard Steven Hack@59
And Obama? Was he not a Zionist too? And was not his administration as full of zionists as Biden's?
The original JCPOA suited the US government and the other powers including both the EU countries and Russia and China.
Now what the European think doesn't matter- they have descended into complete satrapy and no longer pretend to have ideas of their own, while Russia and China are now openly regarded as enemies. As is Iran which, far from having gravitated towards the US -as fondly envisioned by Obama when he made the treaty- has fallen further into the SCO orbit.
And then there is Israel- the relatively pragmatic (I said 'relatively') government of a decade ago has been replaced by an unashamed fascist government bent on genocide and complete annexation. It is no accident that it arises at the time when NATO no longer pretends to be opposed to fascism and openly sponsors and arms it in Ukraine.
The truth is that neither Israel nor the US government has any clear idea of its own interests, having enveloped themselves in 57 different flavours of hubristic psychedelic dreams.
I blame the spinach. Popeye always was subversive.
Posted by: bevin | Dec 21 2022 1:58 utc | 62
La Bastille @37--
One year ago, I was convinced Russia had to do something about the Genocide and wrote as much at VK. I had even proclaimed in November 2021 that Russia was within its rights to perform its own R2P operation which it finally launched on 24 February.
Correct, Biden could have easily re-entered the deal at the beginning of the admin, before the Iranian elections. Just blew it. I wrote about it in detail here if any are interested- "The administrations pathetic efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal are typical of the lazy, indifferent anti-diplomacy of these creeps . " https://ourimperialpress.substack.com/p/the-imperial-end-timers
@ Dan Farrand | 46
Dan Farrand seems to play ‘devils advocate’ with this post today – by ‘shaping the discourse’ about Iran acquiring nukes (pun on his post a few days ago, when he alleged that the MoA is hosting anti-semites, who see devil in every Jew). Iran is not that fantastic State, it declared the desire to destroy Israel etc,. ICPOA was never a treaty, etc.. Good points. Where is the “red line” between a very clever ‘trollism’ and true concern about geopolitical consequences?
As another commenter rightly said (uncle tungsten at 57) “Those that opposed and those that failed such a simple negotiation for such high stakes are culpable fools and global criminals imo.”
Posted by: fanto | Dec 21 2022 2:23 utc | 65
@ Posted by: bevin | Dec 21 2022 1:43 utc | 60
Cute that you are convinced he is really dead...
See Posted by: Arch Bungle | Dec 20 2022 18:37 utc | 14
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 20 2022 21:16 utc | 40
Posted by: James C | Dec 20 2022 21:20 utc | 44
We trust no other news coming from inside the DoJ, why believe this fable? Bill Barr was still in charge FFS.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 21 2022 2:23 utc | 66
Posted by: aej | Dec 20 2022 20:27 utc | 29
I don't think it's entirely correct to think of Russia as a revolutionary country.
Perhaps the last two violent revolutions past century is enough for a slower and steadier change. Intermixed with the west every so often trying to conquer russia one way or another. So… slow is better if changes continue and the country is stable.
Posted by: yk | Dec 21 2022 2:30 utc | 67
@ Dan Farrand | Dec 20 2022 21:24 utc | 46
Here is the whole totality of the nuclear issue.
Yes, proliferation is bad, because the more different centers of power have nuclear weapons, the more likely nuclear war by mistake, accident, or intention becomes. But who is responsible for this situation?
When nuclear weapons were first invented and violently used in 1945, the US had a temporary monopoly on them that the US leadership desired to maintain but correctly doubted that it could continue to do (On this, see Michael D. Gordin, Red Cloud at Dawn: Truman, Stalin, and the End of the Atomic Monopoly). Nevertheless, the postwar US forged ahead with its attempts to gain "full spectrum dominance," in that felicitous and frank later neocon formulation. That is, the US was to be the absolute ruling state in the world, having ultimate sovereignty over everyone else, being a law to itself, etc. This was and remains very similar to the ultra-aggressive attitude and behavior of the Roman Republic in the 2nd century BC.
The trouble was, nuclear weapons completely vitiated and checkmated this desire for dominance. And worse, from the mid-1960s, the USSR achieved nuclear parity, making it completely invulnerable, except to a world-destroying nuclear exchange. Efforts to create an anti-missile shield proved completely abortive and fruitless, so the US actually gave up on that, and to this day, every man, woman, and child in the US remains vulnerable to nuclear annihilation falling on them out of the sky at any moment. This is hardly a situation any hegemonist can tolerate, but it exists, so their way of dealing with it is mostly to ignore it, to push it out of their consciousness.
So did the US become more cooperativist as a result? After all, it would be in the interests of all both to limit proliferation and to reduce the nuclear arsenals. Some of the latter was done, but not the former. That is because cooperativism completely contradicted the US elite's dominationist and unilateralist playbook. So instead of holding back, they blasted away in country after country. By their multiple, frequent aggressions, what they were essentially telling the world was: "Countries of the world, arm yourselves with nuclear weapons as much and as fast as you can! That way, you can be treated like China when it forced down the American spyplane over Hainan Island in 2001 instead of like Korea, Vietnam, Laos Cambodia, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Grenada, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and Venezuela." The US has even threatened to invade the Netherlands over the International Criminal Court.
Thus, it is US imperialism that is the primary source of nuclear proliferation in the world. Today, there is no attempt by the US leadership to reign in nuclear weapons at all. Instead, stupid idiots who ought all to be locked up actually promote the idea that a nuclear war is "winnable."
So the the US has absolutely zero moral authority trying to tell any other country, even Liechtenstein, that it can't have nuclear weapons. Rather, North Korea has a better moral standing to make nuclear weapons than the US has to oppose that. Obviously, this applies to Iran as well. Nevertheless, it is indeed way unproven that Iran actually would like to get nuclear weapons, and it has officially denied that that is its intent, as has already been noted in this discussion.
As for nuclear-armed Israel, what claim does it conceivably have either to deny Iran to have the very selfsame right to nuclear weapons, especially when some Israelis openly threaten it and other Middle Eastern countries with annihilation, nuclear or otherwise? The coming of the Great Equalizer has made for a completely different set of situational ethics, and those leaderships mired in 19th-century dominationist ideas have failed utterly to adapt to this. The ethics of the US and Israel are driven by nationalist logic, basically what they want is right, and no one else's opinion counts for anything. Too bad when contending with nuclear annihilation, nationalist logic is the first thing to fall.
Posted by: Cabe | Dec 21 2022 2:49 utc | 68
To overcome this chaos among our Euro-American Sicarii elites, I suggest this:
https://therevdavidrgraham.substack.com/p/standards-of-usa-statecraft
Posted by: The Rev. David R. Gr | Dec 21 2022 2:57 utc | 69
Dan Farrand @ # 46.
("Israel's nukes)
It doesn't matter whether "Israel" 'feels compelled to use its Nukes' or not. It'll never use them because they don't exist.
If "Israel" had Nukes, and a delivery system, they wouldn't be whining and lying incessantly about the Iran Threat.
Q.E.D.
Making a whole lot of Nuke Budget money disappear was a bit short-sighted, wasn't it?
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Dec 21 2022 3:04 utc | 70
:..Cute that you are convinced he is really dead..." Opport Knocks@65
And weird, though entirely predictable, that you subscribe to the childish fantasy that he us still alive. Can you imagine just how many people would have had to be silenced, paid off or tricked to smuggle him out alive, substitute another body for his and then falsify all the records.
And for what purpose? Do you think that Mossad protects its agents at such enormous expense and risk?
No, he was clearly killed- suicide was impossible in the circumstances, certainly suicide by hanging was. He was killed and it is fairly obvious that there were powerful interests very happy that he was killed and that no proper inquiry was made into the flagrant crime,
As to the links-they prove nothing except that some people are not very bright.
Posted by: bevin | Dec 21 2022 3:13 utc | 71
Cabe@67
An absolutely superb description of the nuclear problem. Anyone who skipped it should read, copy and paste it.
Posted by: bevin | Dec 21 2022 3:16 utc | 72
'The' (and only) exceptional country on this globe does NOT need to 'make deals' on pieces of paper with these little people. These 'little' countries just need to be taught that they just do as they are told - or else!!!!!
These fuzzies, sand n****rs, slavs and other sundry backward tribes need to learn their place in OUR world order.............the world order the exceptional US allows them to actually participate in! Ingrates!!
Ingrates, all of them! They need to be taught a lesson.
When our man Zelenskyy finishes teaching those upity eastern slavs a lesson or three, we will send him to I-ran to bang some sense into those towel headed mullahs.
Posted by: James Cook | Dec 21 2022 3:25 utc | 73
Haa cant broach the iran usa deal without including israel. It was bibi that bragged he convinced trump to cancel. Or do we forget that moment. Israel opposes the deal and not the deal. In no way do they want normalised relations. They thought a strangled sanctioned iran was good. From the acme bombs at the UN to the fake documents in the "nuclear secrets warehouse" . The assasinations, stuxnet virus and now mysterious rads found in non military sites. Most probably mossad diversions. Now Russia is a strategic partner i guess its a decade too late for israels plans to destroy the persians.
Posted by: Hankster | Dec 21 2022 3:54 utc | 75
And weird, though entirely predictable, that you subscribe to the childish fantasy that he us still alive. Can you imagine just how many people would have had to be silenced, paid off or tricked to smuggle him out alive, substitute another body for his and then falsify all the records. And for what purpose? Do you think that Mossad protects its agents at such enormous expense and risk?Posted by: bevin | Dec 21 2022 3:13 utc | 70
Mossad seems unlikely, Black Cube, Shin Bet, etc. are more likely his handlers. There are other coincidences that predated his alleged arrest, that the selling of one of his planes. The last minute will. The fact that his assets distributed in his estate were only half of what he was alleged to have owned. That much of that was distributed to his "victims" (aka underage prostitutes) with NDAs to ensure their silence.
That he was collecting kompromat on very important designated "marks" is a given. What happened to all of that? Would he not have had a dead mans switch if he suffered an "accident" to release it to embarrass whoever?
As for the cover up, a combination of bribes and threats among a very small closed circle is all that is needed. Mr. Barr would have made sure.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 21 2022 4:25 utc | 76
It doesn't matter whether countries find the US agreement capable in the short run. White countries will do as we say and we still have a lot of power to help keep others from getting too uppity. In the longer term this will drive countries further from us and closer to China and Russia. But there is a lot of money to be made right now and we have Israel to keep happy.
Posted by: My Comment | Dec 21 2022 4:29 utc | 77
Bahahahaha Brandon
Fuck Joe Biden
It's so funny to see him fuck up and then watch the media try to pretend that it's fine and was totally the plan the whole time.
But it's pretty clear with opec at last count 1.8 million bpd under quota Iran doesn't need us permission to sell and buy outside the dollar system.
Russia and Iran even got an exchange setup to trade their currency pair, but it's ramping up slowly but surely.
I guess the military trade is a good start, if Russia can resist the urge to throw Iran under the bus.
Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Dec 21 2022 4:30 utc | 78
...bevin, so please forgive my not so bright, childish curiosity for trying to connect all the dots and not just the ones they want us to see.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Dec 21 2022 4:31 utc | 79
Thanks b. The end of empire is a farce and tragedy at the same time. JCPOA was DOA from Day 1. Politics in the USA is panto, a farce of honesty, decency and virtue. The Empire of Lies and Extraction is truly the Great Satan, hidden by jingo propaganda.
Posted by: gottlieb | Dec 21 2022 4:50 utc | 80
Posted by: bevin | Dec 21 2022 1:58 utc | 61
The only reason Obama did the JCPOA is he needed a foreign policy "win" for his legacy after having botched his Nobel Peace Prize by starting four new wars, and he only did so knowing that whether Trump or Clinton got into office, they would rip it up.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Dec 21 2022 4:50 utc | 81
uncle tungsten | Dec 20 2022 21:45 utc | 54
"You just cited the VALIDITY of Khomeini's fatwa against the use of nuclear weapons. Why belittle its importance?"
Is that a bona fide fatwa or just an opinion he informally expressed? I don't know offhand what qualifies as a formal fatwa. I'm familiar with the common misconception regarding papal infallibility, that it applies to anything the pope says when it really applies only in the special case of a particular type of formal proclamation. Is that not the case here as well?
If there is such a fatwa, wouldn't any observant and self-respecting Iranian Muslim consider it insulting and redundant to sign a treaty undertaking to do what they already promised according to the most sacred tenets of their faith? Anyone supporting the JCPOA is automatically belittling the importance of such a fatwa.
As for me, I'd respect a formal de jure fatwa but otherwise I have no idea why Iran would still want such a demeaning agreement imposing such an arbitrary limitation on its sovereignty and power and getting nothing in return but the possibility that the empire might lift some of its illegal sanctions. Fatwa aside, Iran must decide on nukes based purely on rational power calculations, not on the mentality of wanting even self-destructive treaties just for the sake of having treaties, just "negotiating" for the sake of "negotiating".
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Dec 21 2022 5:03 utc | 82
President Obama had also invested a good deal to re-establish relations with Cuba and Trump torpedoed that, too. That adds another failure to U.S. foreign policy.
Posted by: Maracatu | Dec 21 2022 5:13 utc | 83
Cabe | Dec 21 2022 2:49 utc | 67 -- "Here is the whole totality of the nuclear issue."
I join Bevin @ 71 to compliment you on an excellent summary of the nuclear dilemma.
Also, your reading of the US regime's devil-may-care, short term thinking towards accidental nuclear annihilation of all humanity.
I have copied your post to my notes for studying.
Thanks again, Cabe.
Posted by: kiwiklown | Dec 21 2022 5:17 utc | 84
Oh, the nuclear file, yet again. The theater of the absurd for the absurd. Nothing more, nothing less.
Designed to focus on creating an image of Iran as warmongering, murderous regime bent on destruction (remember, always the negative term regime, not government).
An instrument to keep Iran in the corner (as if that was possible) and to keep it there.
The deal was dead the moment it was signed. It was abrogated at that very moment. Why bother reviving it? Better dead than alive. No more pretenses to keep up.
It was always obvious that Iran did not need nukes. With capable armed forces, pin point accurate ballistic missiles with a range of 2000 KM, drones, friends, proxies, Iran could reach all decision making centers in its neighborhood. No need for mass murder and let’s not forget the religious fatwa against such weapons.
As for an attack, how soon we forget Afghanistan. I know, it’s been memory-holed in the media, but… The empire couldn’t beat the goat-herding-bare-foot-cave-dueller-towelheads that we were told the afghans are. How well is it going to do against a standing army+?
All the acrimony can be explained by one word:
P L U N D E R
Posted by: Sakineh Bagoom | Dec 21 2022 5:19 utc | 85
b: "For other countries the U.S. behavior towards the nuclear deal demonstrates again that the U.S. is not-agreement-capable. That alone is already a huge failure for U.S. foreign policy."
Great observation.
The US regime thinks their global supremacy is so complete that they can afford to bleed some reputational points on their way to bullying Iran into submission.
The US regime likes to "negotiate from a position of strength" even when the cards are not in their favour. They love the feeling of being seen to be strong more than to be seen to be winning at the table. Remember black-faced Blinken in Alaska suffering the Chinese lashing?
In this case, all the cards favour Iran, and none favour the US regime. Still, arrogantly choosing to play hardball to gin up some sort of negotiating strength, the US regime makes more demands, imposes more conditions, organises riots in Iranian cities, hoping to pressure Iran to cave.
But hoping is not enough for negotiations between sovereign nations.
It is high time for the US regime to learn some humility, to learn that negotiations is about give and take, not take and take.
Unless of course, the US had expected the negotiations to fail anyway.
Posted by: kiwiklown | Dec 21 2022 5:20 utc | 86
Opport Knocks | Dec 21 2022 4:25 utc | 75
"That he was collecting kompromat on very important designated "marks" is a given. What happened to all of that? Would he not have had a dead mans switch if he suffered an "accident" to release it to embarrass whoever?"
Wouldn't his handlers have anticipated he'd be likely to try to set up a dead-man switch and be hyper-vigilant toward detecting how he was doing that so they could counteract it?
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Dec 21 2022 5:31 utc | 87
Out of curiosity was MoA down for anyone else for a significant period of time that happened to be afternoon/evening in the USA (so around 10 or 11 PM Europe time) today?
I even confirmed it was down with a few web based tools.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Dec 21 2022 5:35 utc | 88
The JCPOA was designed to only 'delay' Iran, not make a real deal that would not be broken, similar to the Minsk 1/2 agreements with Uky and Russia. It was all a 'big' circus show, with no substance.
The Iranians were well aware of the genuine purpose and played along.
Posted by: crazycanuck | Dec 21 2022 6:49 utc | 89
Goldsteindiamongbergman and friends planned to wrap up Iraq quickly, then move on Syria and Iran way back in 2003-2005 but got extended with nation building. The "Libyan revolution" in 2011 was great success, so they opted to repeat that everywhere in ME. Prof Michel Chossudovskys long time analysis seems to support that these plans were indeed in place.
May 2003: Theater Iran Near Term TIRANNT war games simulated invasion of Syria first stage, Iran second stage.
November 2004: NATO-Israel protocol: Israel’s IDF delegation to the NATO conference met with military brass of six members of the Mediterranean basin nations, including Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania. NATO seeks to revive the framework, known as the Mediterranean Dialogue program, which would include Israel. The Israeli delegation accepted to participate in military exercises and “anti-terror maneuvers” together with several Arab countries.
January 2005: the US, Israel and Turkey held military exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Syria. These exercises, which have been held in previous years were described as routine.
February 2005. Following the decision reached in Brussels in November 2004, Israel was involved for the first time in military exercises with NATO, which also included several Arab countries.
February 2005: Assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The assassination, which was blamed on Syria, serves Israeli and US interests and was used as a pretext to demand the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.
February 2005: Sharon fires his Chief-of-Staff, Moshe Ya’alon and appoints Air Force General Dan Halutz. This is the first time in Israeli history that an Air Force General is appointed Chief of Staff. The appointment of Major General Dan Halutz as IDF Chief of Staff is considered in Israeli political circles as “the appointment of the right man at the right time.” The central issue is that a major aerial operation against Iran is in the planning stage, and Maj General Halutz is slated to coordinate the aerial bombing raids on Iran.
March 2005: NATO’s Secretary General was in Jerusalem for follow-up talks with Ariel Sharon and Israel’s military brass, following the joint NATO-Israel military exercise in February. These military cooperation ties are viewed by the Israeli military as a means to “enhance Israel’s deterrence capability regarding potential enemies threatening it, mainly Iran and Syria.” The premise underlying NATO-Israel military cooperation is that Israel is under attack.
March 2005: News leaks in Israel indicated an “initial authorization” by Prime Minster Ariel Sharon of an Israeli attack on Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment plant “if diplomacy failed to stop Iran’s nuclear program”. (The Hindu, 28 March 2005)
March-April 2005: The Holding in Israel of Joint US-Israeli military exercises specifically pertaining to the launching of Patriot missiles.
April 2005: Donald Rumsfeld was on an official visits to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan. His diplomatic endeavors were described by the Russian media as “literally circling Iran in an attempt to find the best bridgehead for a possible military operation against that country.”
April 2005: Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon meets George W Bush at his Texas Ranch. Iran is on the agenda of bilateral talks. More significantly, the visit of Ariel Sharon was used to carry out high level talks between US and Israeli military planners pertaining to Iran.
April 2005: President Vladmir Putin is in Israel on an official visit. He announces Russia’s decision to sell short-range anti-aircraft missiles to Syria and to continue supporting Iran’s nuclear industry. Beneath the gilded surface of international diplomacy, Putin’s timely visit to Israel must be interpreted as “a signal to Israel” regarding its planned aerial attack on Iran.
April 2005: US pressure in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been exerted with a view to blocking the re-appointment of Mohammed Al Baradei, who according to US officials “is not being tough enough on Iran…” Following US pressures, the vote on the appointment of a new IAEA chief was put off until June. These developments suggest that Washington wants to put forth their own hand-picked nominee prior to launching US-Israeli aerial attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities. (See VOA). (In February 2003, Al Baradei along with UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix challenged the (phony) intelligence on WMD presented by the US to the UN Security Council, with a view to justifying the war on Iraq.)
April 2005. Sale of deadly military hardware to Israel. GBU-28 Buster Bunker Bombs: Coinciding with Putin’s visit to Israel, the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (Department of Defense) announced the sale of an additional 100 bunker-buster bombs produced by Lockheed Martin to Israel. This decision was viewed by the US media as “a warning to Iran about its nuclear ambitions.”
May 2005: Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Israel for follow-up talks with Ariel Sharon. He was accompanied by his Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, who met with senior Israeli military officials. On the official agenda of these talks: joint defense projects, including the joint production of Arrow II Theater Missile Defense and Popeye II missiles. The latter also known as the Have Lite, are advanced small missiles, designed for deployment on fighter planes. Tel Aviv and Ankara decide to establish a hotline to share intelligence.
May 2005: Syrian troops scheduled to withdraw from Lebanon, leading to a major shift in the Middle East security situation, in favor of Israel and the US.
Posted by: experienced | Dec 21 2022 7:21 utc | 90
@Karlof1 #62
Dear Karl, I'm sorry I can't register on VK and address you in a more private way.
I don't want to challenge your analysis, which I appreciate (and frankly, which I systematically seek).
I simply want to remind all of us that there is a gap between our rationality, based on the analysis of statements, and the purely military need, i.e. the evaluation (also rational) of the necessary violence.
I think that your (our...) position on R2P was not to envisage a military operation of such a scale as the one underway today. I reread what you wrote a year ago,
Kiev's ongoing Refusal and repeated violations causing death and destruction within Donbass are what prompted Putin's decree I wrote about here, that is the effective equivalent of an R2P operation. As The Saker has reviewed many times, Russia's military can control the entire region from within its own borders should it choose to do so...
Karlof1 11.23.2022
However, it is obvious that Russia has secretly prepared for it and has anticipated a large part of the requirements. The obligation to keep the military secret, the obligation to win the hearts of the Russians forcing to accept some shortcomings.
What I just wanted to emphasize is that the Iranians have no religious or ideological limitations on the power of the weapons to be used. And I think that precision missiles are not that powerfull.
But like the Russians, weapons aimed at mass destruction of the population are not part of the solution.
A nuclear weapon for military purposes (mini-nuke) is legitimate.
Posted by: La Bastille | Dec 21 2022 7:26 utc | 91
@ uncle tungsten | Dec 20 2022 21:45 utc | 54
There is no fatwa prohibiting nuclear weapons.
Islamic (or Christian morality or for that matter any religion or ethic) forbids Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Fight in the cause of Allah ˹only˺ against those who wage war against you, but do not exceed the limits. Allah does not like transgressors.
Posted by: La Bastille | Dec 21 2022 7:41 utc | 92
Interesting times.
The latest Western YT poopaganda will have us believe that 150K Russian allied force soldiers. Have been guilty of building nearly one thousand kilometers of static trench lines.
Which, if one were to believe that line of horse hockey. Then the great sedition leader DJT won the 2020 elections with an additional 25 million fake votes cast on January 6th,2021.
Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Dec 21 2022 7:53 utc | 93
It is pretty obvious that the US and Europe were never interested in making the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action work - What they were interested in was gaining time to get a nice colour revolution going in Iran.
When Trump tore up the agreement,the EU went to great lengths to drag out any sanctions relief through INSTEX. Showing how the EU was complicit in keeping Iran down.
In the Obama era regime change could actually have worked as the world seemed to agree on getting rid of the Theocracy in Tehran. There have been rumors that the powers that be had agreed on replacing the Mullah's with a strong nationalist leader.
I have wondered if Qasem Soleimani declined that job offer and was therefore assassinated. It would explain some of his reported outburst against the Americans just before he died.
Posted by: Vincent Tayelrand | Dec 21 2022 8:07 utc | 94
"President Obama had invested quite a lot to get the JCPOA done. One wonders what he thinks of Biden's decision to not resurrect but to destroy his signature foreign policy achievement."
Utter BS.
Just like the Minsk agreement this was meant as a temporary relief for US before fomenting renewed troubles.
As such it was designed with all the necessary loopholes for the US to never abide by their own signature.
Not that the Iranian were cheated. That was only PR BS, it is evident that they never expected good faith from the US as said time and again by their Supreme Leader. And as demonstrated by the US for their entire colonial history.
Just to see how the US manage to destroy NS pipelines of their own Eu satellites and you understand how it all works.
I do not understand how such idiocy might be pronounced in any serious edition. Are you CIA paid scammer ?
Posted by: Jack | Dec 21 2022 8:43 utc | 95
Posted by: La Bastille | Dec 20 2022 20:57 utc | 37
A volley of missiles, even if precisely guided and heavily loaded, is not likely to produce this effect. This was verified on January 8, 2020 when a dozen missiles were launched from Iran against the American base of Ain al-Assad.The attack on Ain al-Asad was not intended to kill anyone or destroy the airbase, but a warning to the United States that Iran had joined the PGM club. The advantage that the US had in the past with PGMs is largely gone. It might still have some advantages but not many. Even those will be gone when you can buy a JDAM kit from Alibaba for the M-21OF rocket used on the BM-21 Grad launcher at the same price as a smartphone.
Posted by: Ghost Ship | Dec 21 2022 10:35 utc | 96
Much like NATO encircling Russia for decades, the US has been encircling Iran.
The Azeris to the North (with a significant population in Iran), the Pakis to the East (with a Baloch minority), the Kurds and Iraq to the West and of course the Kingdoms to the South. Not to mention Israel.
The issue for the US is how to drag Iran into an open conflict.
Posted by: Johnycomelately | Dec 21 2022 10:41 utc | 97
Posted by: Arch Bungle | Dec 20 2022 18:37 utc | 14 and others responding or also posting on the same .
He was murdered or hidden as the US/Nato elite were sure that all the compromising information was destroyed or controlled.How?
Simple. The US Elite found all copies and now neutralised them. It may have taken years but they did it. May have worked on one person/copy/media dump at a time but there it is.
Other way is the US reached an accommodation with Israel for the moment. Israel for whatever reason either destroyed the information or “promises” never to use it. After all, there is absolutely no doubt that this whole thing has been a kompromat operation run by Israel on US /Nato/EU leaders from day one and that was decades ago. At least till before Maxwell Senior, Ghislaine’s Daddy was still the mover and shaker in still powerful Britain.
Israel has no problem offing its own when they “walk off the reservation “ or even if they are loyal , but the Israeli powers think they can get more out of you dead. Israel almost certainly murdered Maxwell as he was getting too big for his boots and there is evidence that Epstein and his own daughter offed him. Israel even murdered Prisoner X, a foolish Scion of a well-known Aussie Jewish family. They were told to shut up and not raise a fuss and they did exactly that. Supposedly, he was in the famed Golani Brigade as well and was going to squeal on massacres etc.
Posted by: Brother Ma | Dec 21 2022 11:10 utc | 98
It is possible to toss all the variables: Was Biden real about reviving JCPOA, does amerika only listen to Israel, there was no chance of all sanctions against Iran lifted, congress will never find a majority pf members prepared to face down the zionists etc, but surely no one who can think seriously imagined amerika was ever gonna re-institute the JCPOA under its original terms into the air and construct a viable alternative to ditching the JCPOA but it aint gonna happen.
Biden lacks the spine for that sort of "screw the donors, let's protect amerika's future" action. Donors got him off the streets of Scranton and into the Senate, he's never going to buck them now because he has never held a principle without a price tag ever, so he's not gonna alter that now.
The moment propaganda from the usual sources NYT, MSNBC, HBO, CBSNews et al began beating up bulldust about Iranian drones in Ukraine, it was obvious that Biden & Co were more interested in kissing zionist arse than resolving fixable feuds in the ME.
I've been in a couple of heated discussions elsewhere on the net past couple weeks and the what blew me away is opw few allegedly thinking amerikans actually appreciate how close to the edge of destruction amerika is.
Sure there is still a chance that amerika can luck its way through what could/should inevitably occur, however the odds are much higher that amerika cannot achieve this rather small ask.
AFAIK the chances of amerika falling on its arse broke and shattered are much greater although within that nearly certain outcome is the reality that most likely collapse won't happen over night, that is will be a protracted demise full of chances for a seeming remission although that won't ever eventuate either.
What do the bubble 'n squeaks call it? Hopium, yeah that's what amerikan idiots seem to live on now - hopium.
Posted by: Debsisdead | Dec 21 2022 11:33 utc | 99
Biden’s legacy is going to be something. By the time he leaves office the US is going to be isolated and severely reduced in power (except perhaps in the US press and minds of its politicians). The rest of the world may in fact remember him fondly as the guy who managed to unite them all to finally do something about the aged and dementia-riddled hegemon.
They really are. And it’s starting to appear that most of the rest of the world is actively trying to initiate a soviet collapse scenario for the US where it is stretched just enough globally that it’s internal contradictions become unsustainable. The imperial positions are threatened everywhere. Europe is actively threatened by Russia, Western Asia by Iran and east Asia by China/DPRK. Realistic US war planning has to consider a three front war. It also must maintain status of forces in all three places strong enough deter that scenario. The shoes of force of the last 30 years isn’t enough anymore and current dispositions are obviously overstretched.
Can’t bomb Iran without putting every soldier in Western Asia at great risk. Can’t defend Taiwan without possibly getting a DPRK missile dropped on Okinawa. Can’t escalate in that scenario without a land war in Korea. Can’t move East Asian forces/material to Europe without weakening East Asia. Can’t realistically strengthen any of those positions much less all of them without a massive defense budget increase (like double) and may not be able to man that increase in any case. And the guy in charge of responding to all this was never competent but is now also suffering the worst effects of aging while presiding over an economically rapacious gerontocracy.
This is how empires die.
Posted by: Lex | Dec 21 2022 12:15 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
thanks b...
it seems to me the usa always serves israels interest... i doubt this is a coincidence.. agree strongly with your last line..
Posted by: james | Dec 20 2022 17:53 utc | 1