February 16, 2019
Warsaw, Poland is not a fun place to visit in darkest February, but that is where the US just staged an anti-Iranian jamboree of 60 client states that brought derision and scorn from Europeans and much of the Mideast.
The point of this cynical exercise was to lay the diplomatic groundwork for an anti-Iranian coalition to act as a fig-leaf for an upcoming attack on Iran planned by President Donald Trump and his close ally, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.
The real question is who is calling the shots in bleak Warsaw, Trump or Bibi Netanyahu? It seems to many that the Israeli tail is again wagging the American dog.
This is thanks to the power of America’s born-again evangelicals, hoodwinked into believing that a Greater Israel is somehow a key part of the Second Coming of Christ.
A Fox News poll this week finds that a quarter of these credulous folks believe that God actually summoned Donald Trump to become president. This may even be more than the number of Americans who believe that Elvis is still alive. More proof that the Republicans have pretty much become a theological party.
The three horseman of the hard right Republican Apocalypse, Vice president Mike Pence, Insecurity advisor John Bolton, and State Secretary Mike Pompeo (who reportedly keeps an open bible on his desk) joined their voices to the Warsaw jamboree to excoriate Iran for being a ‘sponsor of terrorism,’ and a danger to world peace and stability.
The never understated Bibi Netanyahu, whose nation has at least 100 nuclear weapons, claimed Iran, which has no nukes and feeble armed forces, was planning a ‘second Holocaust’ for Israel.
An over-excited Netanyahu even tweeted that the Warsaw meeting was preparing for `war with Iran.’ He was forced to retract his tweet. But he did get to sit next to the delegate from war-torn Yemen, a stooge put into place by the Saudis and Emiratis whose aggression against Yemen has so far cost hundreds of thousands of lives, mass starvation and epidemics.
This week a newly energized US House of Representatives voted for an end to their nation’s support for the Saudi-led war in the Mideast’s poorest nation. The Senate, still controlled by Republican Crusaders, will be likely to vote down the sensible House proposal.
Another participant at Warsaw was the largest Arab nation, Egypt. This nation just extended the rule of its military dictator, Field Marshall al-Sisi, to 2034. It was Sisi, backed by Saudi money, who overthrew Egypt’s first democratic government in history, killing and jailing thousands.
In a slap in the face to Washington, Europe’s leaders, France, Germany and the European Union government, either refused to attend the Warsaw hate-fest against Iran or sent low-level paper-passers.
Ironically, while Trump’s people were fulminating against Iranian ‘terrorism,’ it was Iran that was the victim of terrorist attacks. An attack from a Pakistan-based Sunni Jaish al-Adl extremist group linked to the CIA killed 27 soldiers and wounded a similar number. Iran has been the target of constant attacks since its 1979 revolution by groups linked to the US, and from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other US regional vassals.
Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, is even a long-term lobbyist for the hyper-violent Marxist Iranian extremist group, the MEK which was even branded a ‘terrorist group’ by the US government.
The Warsaw jamboree was also supposed to set the stage for Trump’s much ballyhooed Mideast ‘peace’ plan. Run by son-in-law Jared Kushner, the full plan is expected to be released in April, right after Israeli elections. It will likely consist of trying to buy off Palestinian land claims with US taxpayer money and some cash from the Saudis. America’s Arab client states in the region will all provide polite applause.
The Warsaw jamboree produced no evident results and left the US even more isolated than before. Europe is moving ahead with a financial mechanism to permit trade with Iran that circumvents US sanctions. US intelligence itself reports that Iran is not working in nuclear weapons. Europe wants to trade with Iran.
America’s anti-Iran campaign has just suffered another blow. This after Washington badly damaged relations with China and Canada over the arrest of the daughter in Vancouver of the founder of Huawei over charges it traded with Iran. Most non-Americans view this as an outrage. But the later-day Crusaders around Trump don’t seem to care that they are damaging America’s reputation and making a mess of its foreign policy.
Copyright Eric S. Margolis 2019
It would appear that the Americans are progressing in establishing a presence in Eastern Europe. Warsaw is like Winnipeg in winter, only warmer. I suspect most of the attendees were from warmer climes.
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American foreign policy is substantially driven by the Israelis. Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar recently brought this to the national attention and was vilified. Even Trump wanted her to resign in disgrace. Ilhan, wisely or foolishly, backed down and apologised. She was even chastened by members of her own party; there is likely a clique of ‘old white guys’ forming the base of the Democratic Party. I think the Democrats are on a cusp; this will be interesting in the years to follow to see which way the party goes. So many of the new Democrats elected relied on their own hard work in getting voters out and not on corporate donations. They bring a whole new era to American democracy.
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In addition to groundwork, I think the Poland exercise was to give legitimacy to an upcoming attack. The UN did not give approval until after the American attack on Iraq; they may be trying to avoid this scenario. Similar to the Ilhan situation, above, you first vilify the antagonist. The US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel want to have complete control of the Middle East. The US and Israel for financial and security reasons, and Saudi Arabia likely for religious (and the security that comes with that) reasons. I’m pretty sure that Netanyahu is calling the shots… if things don’t personally affect Trump, he’s shown that he just ‘doesn’t care’.
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You have to be careful using the expression, “the Israeli tail is again wagging the American dog.” lest you be accused of being an anti-semite.
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Regarding Elvis, he is likely more alive than is the American Constitution.
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I would disagree that, “…the hard right Republican Apocalypse, Vice president Mike Pence, Insecurity advisor John Bolton, and State Secretary Mike Pompeo” are the three horsemen. I think they all personify the ‘White Horse’, the Horse of War. With American history, the people should maybe consider renaming the ‘White House’ to the ‘White Horse’.
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Your statement, “The never understated Bibi Netanyahu, whose nation has at least 100 nuclear weapons, claimed Iran, which has no nukes and feeble armed forces, was planning a ‘second Holocaust’ for Israel.”, has the effect of vilifying Iran. This is a prerequisite to war.
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I understand there are talks of the US bringing Saudi Arabia into the nuclear club. With the recent history of their dealings with Khashoggi, this could prove to be interesting. I wonder how the Israelis will deal with this in the future. Saudi Arabia may not be dependable. I’m more concerned about Saudi Arabia than I am Iran.
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“…voted for an end to their nation’s support for the Saudi-led war in the Mideast’s poorest nation. The Senate, still controlled by Republican Crusaders, will be likely to vote down the sensible House proposal.” I would suggest that the American democratic system was seriously ‘broken’, and, in desperate need of repair.
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“Another participant at Warsaw was the largest Arab nation, Egypt. This nation just extended the rule of its military dictator, Field Marshall al-Sisi, to 2034. It was Sisi, backed by Saudi money, who overthrew Egypt’s first democratic government in history, killing and jailing thousands.” America chooses strange bedfellows.
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As you note, “But the later-day Crusaders around Trump don’t seem to care that they are damaging America’s reputation and making a mess of its foreign policy.” In a recent news article from Germany, Joe Biden described America as “an embarrassment” and its trade policies “self-defeating.” I’ve never been aware of an American making that type of statement. France, Germany and the European Union government did not want to give the Poland meeting any legitimacy, and did not attend.
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“…it was Iran that was the victim of terrorist attacks.” The news media are largely to blame for this omission. It seems that they can no longer be objective.
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“It will likely consist of trying to buy off Palestinian land claims with US taxpayer money and some cash from the Saudis.” The US national debt just reached 22 trillion dollar$. This only works as long as the world is on the US dollar. Hussein wanted to change that, and, look at what happened to him. If the Euro were ever to replace the American dollar as ‘the’ currency, there would be a substantial change to America’s position.
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If Canada wanted to help China, we would insist the Americans provide proof since the issue is political and not just criminal. This would have a ‘right of passage’ through our criminal court system, with appeals, right to the Supreme Court. As with the Swiss, we could also insist that she not be charged with anything other than that stipulated on the extradition request. This will not happen; we do not wish to offend our ‘friends’ to the south.
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…and all this is on top of Climate Change… we are living in real interesting times.
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Dik
I understand the requirement for stipulated charges is a requirement in Germany also.
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Dik