Today Israel is doing pretty well, economically. It is riding a wave of technological and pharmaceutical trade. Earlier in Israel’s life, Iran was a major source of revenue, first, by means of an oil trans-shipment arrangement whereby Iran shipped oil to Eilat in tankers; at Eilat, it entered a pipeline that Rothschild financed in the 1950s. Some of the fuel was used for Israeli domestic consumption, while the major portion was shipped across the Mediterranean. This was highly lucrative and kept Israel afloat for about 15 years — ’til Khomeini turned off the spigot. The keen desire to reestablish this oil trade was one of Doug Feith’s motives in ginning up Iraq war: Feith, his partner Marc Zell, and Ahmed Chalabi cooked up a deal whereby Chalabi would displace Saddam, reestablish favorable relations between Iraq and Israel, and connect a pipeline from Kirkuk to Eilat (details may be fuzzy — that’s the gist).

During the rule of Pahlavi, Israel had extremely close ties — commercial, political, and security — with the Pahlavi regime, and profited mightily. Sale of Israeli military hardware formed that major revenue stream from Iran to Israel. In fact, that stream still flowed through the duration of the Iraq war on Iran. Only in about 1990 did that revenue start to dry up, a bad time for Israel, as it was experiencing burgeoning growth as Russian Jews migrated to Israel by the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. As it developed, those Russian Jews brought with them the intellectual capital upon which Israel’s tech boom is based.

When Ephraim Sneh said, at the 2008 AIPAC conference, that Iran’s leader’s should be made to worry about how Iran’s 70 million citizens would be fed, he may have been reciting the worry that keeps him up at night: tiny Israel must constantly plan for the next revenue source in its resource-poor state.

Sanctions are not the ‘least bad’ alternative to military attack on Iran; sanctions are the goal; the drumbeat of military attack is the (despicable) tactic to make sanctions look palatable. Economically strangling Iran will have the effect of driving business to those partners with whom Israel has better relations–Saudi Arabia and the UAE, for example. Several years ago Solomon Wald wrote for JPPPI the plan for Israel’s increasing strategic engagement with China, which Israel forecast would be the world’s next economic and military superpower, as US power wanes. To decouple China from Iran would mark a major coup for Israel.

The irony is, that since the Iranian revolution of 79 outside western hegemonic powers to prolong and justify their presence in the region, have implemented a policy of scaring the people of Middle East by a presumed Iranian intention, and at the same time scaring people of Iran by their presence as protectors of the region.

For all intentions, Iran is actually trying to build security and trade alliances to expand its markets for its industrial and agricultural products in its immediate neighborhood.

Since admittedly Israel is a client state of US (Forward Installation), the question is why Iran should be scared of an Israeli attack; Israel is incapable of attacking Iran without a green light or more precisely ordered to attack Iran by its creators. Israel without backing of US is even incapable of finding fuel for its military fighters nerveless planning to attack a country 10 times its size and thousand miles away.

If US and its European client states are capable of fighting the entire Muslim population of the world (New Crusade) then it should plan/order an attack by Israel on Iran
At the end of the day, if militarily, financially, and physically US policy planers are incapable of stomaching a new wider war in the region, then they should stop their tiring simulations and start negotiating, Iranians are not getting scared nor any one is writing home to hide the Americans are coming. Iran in its history has seen and repealed worst then Ken Pollack or Denis Ross or Hillary the obliterator.

I heartily agree the US can achieve better relations with Iran, and of course should do so. However, I do not think Iran is actually a “threat” to Israel, and a fair assessment of Iranian intentions would put at zero the chances Iran would launch a surprise attack on Israel. (In absence of any prior attack on Iran.)

If Hillary Clinton comprehends that better relations with Iran can be achieved, that is a step forward. The head of the IAEA opposes more sanctions against Iran, and Hillary needs to understand the basis of this thinking.

Re: Iran’s Ahmadinejad on Holocaust

Shabnam, posted this link,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykd-syzZ4ZY

Ahmadinejad has been systematically misquoted and demonized.

Mr. Ahmadinejad did not say what the US Subcommittee on Intelligence Policy reported that he said:

“They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred and place this above God, religions and the prophets.”

He actually said,

“In the name of the Holocaust they have created a myth and regard it to be worthier than God, religion and the prophets.”

This language targets the myth of the Holocaust, not the Holocaust itself –

i.e., “myth” as “mystique”, or what has been done with the Holocaust.

Re: The fake quote “Israel must be wiped off the map”

I agree with your suggestion that any answer should be prefaced with “Ahmadinejad never said it”.

The fake quote “wiped off the map” has been spread worldwide by Israel lobby Organizations and I am sick and tired of hearing this fake quote from the lips of the world leaders and its corrupt media.

There is a comprehensive and excellent analysis regarding this issue by “Arash Norouzi”

http://www.mohammadmossadegh.com/news/rumor-of-the-century/

You probably have read his article but for those who have not read it, it is highly recommended.

Again, congrats and continued success!

You have described all noisy people in the community of Iranian intelligentsia in some of the best terms possible. Let me add a bit to the description.

Abbas Milani: I really don’t consider him as an Iranian anymore. the best traitor one can even imagine! it just happened that he was born in Iran and knows Farsi. he has consistently endangered Iran’s interest with propaganda much more than a foreign enemy, and worse, even encouraged the U.S for an air attack!

Soroush: ideologically bankrupt. unable to move on intelligently, so turn toward politics with his superficial political analysis. I really like non-political Soroush.

Attaolla Mohajerani: hope he could get back to 1370s period. 80s turned out to be the destroying decades for him, personal life, political life…

Mohsen Kadivar: hope he could have been wiser not to spend his hard gained prestige and intelligence by (recently) wrong taken approaches.

Bazergan: his father was wiser. he is so disappointing.

Ganji: messed up all the time! constantly in illusion.

Hamid Dabashi: you are dead wrong Shabnam. he is not even an opportunist! an opportunist does have relatively big brain, high level of IQ, lots of wisdom and intelligence, common sense…. I am not sure of an i***t though.

and

Makhmalbaf: you have always been great with your movies, even up to these days well you are the first man player (btw, your daughter’s movies, and the character, is not great at all). your recent style, comedy, is even better than the others! keep continue in the business!

Michael O Hanlon also got hold of a microphone and used it to embarrass Americans (C Span, about 12:00 noon Mar 29).

But then, to end the day (Charlie Rose is on at 11:00 pm in my part of the country), Drs. Leverett stated the case for rational and strategic thinking about Iran, with a view to promoting the best interests of the US. They gave no ground, and retained their equanimity.

Hillary stole the show: “The best way to ensure Israel’s security is to turn Iran. WE CAN DO THAT.”
Hillary had already urged that the US must replicate Nixon’s confidence-building measures toward China: Nixon told CIA to stand down from actions in Tibet; that caused the Chinese to assess that Nixon had the power and the intent to deal seriously with China. Hillary said that (one of the founders of the Revolutionary Guard) had told her that Iran looked for such an action from the US, such a demonstration of good faith.

Flynt got the last word in: “Now you see why I fell in love with her.”

Makes you proud to be an American.

Well done, Drs. Leverett

“The best thing that can happen to ensure Israel’s security is for Iran to turn, and we can do that. The US did it in Egypt; Kissinger and Nixon did it in China. A US rapprochement with Iran is in the best interest of Israel and the US.” (paraphrasing)

Yes We Can!

Alright, shoulders squared, sleeves are rolled, brains on full alert: how can we help you make this happen, Flynt and Hillary and Ben?