Avnery on the Iran Deal

Poo says:

“Never tell a fool he is a fool. All you’ll have is an angry fool.”…Yiddish Witticism

I know, I know, I said I’d never bother to comment again on this loon Avnery. I wouldn’t have accept for the inference that everybody is, was and forever will be stupid except for him and the hapless Obama.

The President has an excuse, his much beloved mirror, mirror on his wall has cracked along with his Domestic and Foreign policies, such as they were. He is frantic to find something to hang his Legacy on now that the Obamacare website has proven to be the ACA’s best feature. Domestically, he has been reduced to augmenting the old tax and spend philosophy with simply just printing more and more money. Can you even call running up more debt than ALL previous Presidents combined a Legacy? Only in America, I guess. What has been laughingly called his Foreign Policy has been reduced to please, appease and spend some more. Untrusted even by America’s friends, Obama has reduced American influence to that of a paper tiger. Tony the Tiger is has more world-wide support. From world power to world cower in less than 5 years! The next 3 years are really going to be something. Is it still possible to blame everything on Bush and racism? From what I read, the answer appears to be yes, yes, yes. To steal a line from Afred E. Neuman, “What me worry?” Maybe it can be crafted onto the Presidential seal.

Avnery puts himself on the same level as an American President which would normally seem like his vaunted egomania running completely amok again but in this case it merely underscores the paucity of his thoughts. The world’s largest sponsor of state terrorism will never be welcomed back into the family of “civilized nations” unless it is by the U.N. which is populated by enough terrorist states, dictators and anti- democratic autocracies to render the term “civilized” completely nonsensical. Iran is at home there if not quite” civilized.”

The amount of alcohol and/or chemical substances Avnery must inject into each and every one of his orifices in order to dream Iran as “a responsible country, led by sober and shrewd leaders” would kill a cow, no a herd of cows, big ones and a few bulls as well. Can he honestly say this stuff aloud and if yes where, under his bed?

Avnery has no grasp of political realities as they exist outside his bedroom. American Presidents, like English and Canadian Prime Ministers come and go but our systems of government, our laws, constitutions and the common decency of our peoples continue. Israel will NEVER be even a tiny “loser” with us. Current governments which support Israel will be replaced by governments that support Israel, some to an even stronger degree. The only “loser” is Avnery. If we disagree with him, he calls us names, oh boo hoo. The only “hack” is Avnery, banging his one note drum because he lacks the skill to play a piano.

Everyone with access to an Atlas, Google Maps or a brain knows the situation at the Strait of Hormuz, the weak American President and the war weary populace. But then everyone also knows the China Sea, yet there is the U.S. flying and boating about in a hostile dance. It is never a good thing to dare. What is “off the table” today can soon be put back on by a new government or a new situation.

Look, it is not a call for a choice between love-ins or wars. Everything is not black and white except to Avnery in which case it is, “I am right. You are stupid!” While world oil supplies might be severely damaged by any extended war with Iran, their complete lack of cash and supplies would starve them into surrender. The situation would go far beyond mere sanctions as the American navy’s 5th fleet would control the waters while the NATO air forces controlled the skies. The armies would seal their borders. Iran would be completely isolated not partially as they are now. And what does “extended” mean? The secret pipelines and fuel trucks that provide much needed cash to Iran would cease to exist. And for the record, both the U.S., thanks to permits issued by Bush and bragged about by Obama, and Canada are oil and natural gas rich and getting richer as new discoveries come on line seemingly weekly. Import shortages would be quickly compensated for and short term cutbacks would be little hardship. I myself will give up driving and walk everywhere. I almost do anyway. See? Remember, North America would also stop exporting too so oil and gas would not disappear around here. And we would still have money, clothing and food. What would Iran have? Sand? We would not need to be as “mad” as Avnery thinks nor even as “mad” as he is. Understand, I am not advocating war or anything close to it. All I am saying is that North America can be as self-sufficient as we need to be and in short order too. How would that work for Iran? They haven’t seen sanctions yet, think total blockade. Israel need not do anything.

Ali Husseini Khamenei, neither changed the regime nor installed a new president. He just asked a known liar to smile. I note that Avnery omitted the words ‘democratic’ or ‘elected’ and chose ”install” instead. Sounds pretty “civilized” to me.

I do not blame any country for keeping secrets. It is their country and their right to conduct themselves as they choose behind their own borders. However, when you threaten another country with extermination or annihilation and you supply, arm and encourage terrorists outside of your own borders you cross into the rest of the world. We don’t like that. Civilization does not just entail centuries of existence; it is common courtesy, character and above all, credibility. I guess honesty and trustworthiness should be in there somewhere too. If Iran was any of those things, they’d still have an embassy in Ottawa. I hope they don’t miss us. We don’t miss them. They say it is good to keep contact, to keep talking. Well, we have phones here and computers too. I’m sure Iran has our number. We’ve certainly got theirs.

As to Israel’s nuclear capabilities, guess what? It has never been much of a secret or a threat. It has never been bragged about either. Surrounded by less than friendly neighbours, Israel wisely tends to keep their military secrets quiet. Cripes, I hope we keep ours!

All of America’s allies worry about where Obama stands on any issue, in front of or behind a back. Super Power or no, nations have questions and they are entitled to ask. Pick a country, read a paper, hello! Now whether the Super Power gives you an answer is an entirely different story. They have secrets too!

It strikes me as funny but when it is reported here that Canada received information on an issue from the U.S., the worst that is said is that it came “via an unnamed source.” Paranoid Avnery believes what Israel gets comes only from “intelligence sources” or “informants.” He should take a flashlight under that bed. It must be scary under there.

President Obama cares no more for Iran than he does for Syria. He is looking for Legacy. Heaven knows what Avnery is looking for. An Iranian deal for 6 months is no deal at all. A bigger deal will fail once Iran gets what it wants. Obama won’t care; it will be on the next President’s watch. He can blame him. President Obama is desperate to change the subject and his Socialite of State is desperate to make a name for himself. France in a charitable moment called it a “sucker’s deal.” Vive la France!

Economic sanctions have cut deeply into everyday life in Iran. Their currency has collapsed, inflation is rampant and the regime feels itself threatened and rightly so. Regime survival is the one thing the Ayatollah and his flunky mullahs value above nuclear weapons. The West weakens sanctions in exchange for nothing that weakens Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. We pay, Iran promises. Well, maybe not we. Three cheers for Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird who released a statement through spokesperson Rick Roth.

“We remain deeply skeptical of the Iranian regime’s commitments to reform as their nuclear program continues unabated, they continue to fund terrorist networks in the region including the murderous Assad regime, now implicated for war crimes, and they continue to ignore their abysmal human rights record.”

I’ve never heard of “King Bibi” but I know those Foreign Affairs guys in Ottawa. They were the ones that cancelled relations with Iran, threw their representatives out of the country and froze their assets. We in the Great White North know a wolf in sheep’s clothing when we see one. We know a wolf in any clothing actually.

Yup, Iran has really changed. Avnery says so. They’ve got Twitter and everything. What more evidence could you want from a state that jails dissidents, sponsors terrorists and flagrantly flouts international agreements? Oh, I don’t know. How about an influential Iranian cleric allowed to speak publically who has warned President Obama not to include Israel in any nuclear negotiations. Why? Because the Jewish state must be destroyed.

“What is visible is that Obama has agreed to include the fake Zionist regime (Israel) in future negotiations,” said Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts.Experts at what?

“However, we firmly believe, [Israel] must be wiped off the face of the earth and we don’t recognize [its existence].” Khatami said according to IRNA, the official news agency of the Islamic Republic.

This guy is a cleric? I’d like to read the Iranian definition of cleric. Sounds more like a terrorist or war monger to me.

Smiling Rouhani, Iran’s new and improved President, bragged back in June on Iranian state television during his pseudo election campaign that he and the regime utterly flouted a 2003 agreement with the IAEA. They promised to suspend all uranium enrichment and certain other nuclear activities. They did not. Iran did issue a joint statement with visiting EU ministers, in October 2003, setting out its pledged obligations under the Tehran Declaration.

“We did not let that happen,” Rouhani said.
A man of his word from his own mouth. Let’s make a deal with this guy! What could possibly go wrong? He went on to state proudly that the Iranian heavy water reactor at Arak was also developed under his watch, in 2004.

“Do you know when we developed yellowcake? Winter 2004.” Do you know when the number of centrifuges reached 3,000? Winter 2004.” Rather than bow to international pressure and agreements, “We completed the technology.”

Well hey, this a guy we can all enjoy following on social media. Who needs actors and singers?

Avnery doesn’t like it when Netanyahu quotes from Rouhani’s 2011 book. Why not? It’s a book. The man wrote it. Maybe Avnery should read it.

“While we were talking to the Europeans in Tehran, we were installing equipment in Isfahan. By creating a calm environment — a calm environment — we were able to complete the work in Isfahan.”

Those are Smiling Rouhani’s own words, in his own book.

Rouhani’s new cabinet is replete with the same “clerics” and thugs who have run the Islamic Republic since 1980. For example, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, his justice minister, was a former high official in the Ministry of Information during the bloody and violent 1980s. He was one of those primarily responsible for the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988. In the ministry’s foreign intelligence operations in the 1990s, his notable “achievements” included the bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires and the assassination of dissidents in Iran as well as around the world. Good qualifications for a minister of justice, don’t you think? Apparently that wanker Avnery does. While Rouhani was smiling and lying his way around the U.N. with his fellow terrorists, more than 30 Iranians were executed without due process of law. That’s your new minister of justice hard at work.

Rouhani’s team did not go to Geneva after a profound epiphany and deep self-analysis. Naw, Iran returned to negotiations because the Ayatollah wants, read needs, economic sanctions lifted. Sanctions have destabilized Iran’s currency, slowed the oil and gas industry and under-mined international trade and investor confidence. The people have suffered more than their leaders. It was ever thus. Sure, illicit trade goes on all the time and eases, at high prices, some of the country’s needs but three decades’ worth of sanctions have forced Iran’s leaders grudgingly back to the negotiating table. They really didn’t want to but they had little choice.

On state television in Tehran on September 10, 2013, President Obama’s pen pal, Smiling Rowhani, warned world powers that the timeframe for resolving a showdown with Tehran over its nuclear ambitions is not unlimited. Not what I would call a charm offensive but then I don’t write for the New York Times. If Iran has no intention of developing nuclear weapons, why does it continue to enrich uranium to weapons grade? Why is it still developing missile systems that are specifically designed to carry nuclear warheads? Why does it need 19,000 centrifuges? And why I’m on the subject of ‘whys’, why does Iran continue to supply Hezbollah and assorted other terror groups? Why is the sky blue Mommy?

It was no coincidence that Iran’s overtures came in the aftermath of Obama’s dismal “red line” performance during the recent Syrian gas-attack crisis. His failure to follow up on his ultimatum encouraged the rogue regime in Iran to try its hand at testing Obama’s resolve. No country has crossed more “red lines” than Iran. It is their national sport.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, has the final word on any and all nuclear agreements. The Iranian people love nuclear, the Ayatollah loves nuclear and he likes things just as they are. He has accurately calculated that Obama needs a deal with Tehran, any deal just to get him through his final 3 years and another step closer to his longed for Legacy. It is a good strategy on the Ayatollah’s part, 6 months at a time. Obama was not prepared to act in Syria against a dictator who gassed his own people. He is unlikely to concern himself with Iran’s plans to acquire a nuclear weapons. Nothing will happen until he is out of office. Then it will be somebody else’s fault. It won’t be a new line for Obama.

This interim six-month agreement makes no sense to thinking people with any familiarity with the negotiating process. If you can’t get a deal to hobble the nuclear program when Iran is on its knees, how on earth will you get one once they are on their feet and with your money? Kerry and Obama have rescued the Ayatollah and his mullahs. That’s some negotiation. Why can’t I ever get to negotiate with Obama or Kerry, on anything?

The deal widens permissible trade in oil, gold and auto parts. It releases frozen Iranian assets which will increase Iran’s foreign-exchange reserves by 25%, effectively doubling them. An inflow of cash such as this will have a somewhat more than a positive effect on Iran’s near dormant economy. Inflation will lower, thereby reducing shortages and boost the country’s flagging morale. Maybe the Twitterverse will lighten up. The lifting of sanctions and the possible resumption of trade already has foreign oil and other interests circling.

And what did master negotiators Obama and Kerry get for all this largesse, what? Is Iran giving up its pursuit of nuclear weapons? I mean, isn’t that what the negotiations were about? Apparently not, that proved to be too tough. OK, (Obama/Kerry), simply said OK. No centrifuges will be dismantled nor will any facility that manufactures them be touched. Huh? Iran’s nuclear infrastructure remains intact. Double Huh? Iran gets to keep every one of its 19,000 centrifuges. This number, by the way, is more than 50% higher than what is needed for peaceful nuclear purposes. The 19,000 even includes some 3,000 second-generation machines that produce enriched uranium at five times the rate of first-generation centrifuges. Boy, OK sure punished those poor bastards.

In Syria, the machines that made the chemical weapons were destroyed right off. Next came the stockpiles. Duh! Otherwise, it is an exercise in futility like say, in Iran who retains their 3.5% uranium, which can be enriched to 20% in a month, maybe less as they also get to keep their plutonium facility at Arak, an alternate path to a nuclear weapon. As stated, this massive OK give-away leaves Iran’s nuclear infrastructure untouched. It bears repeating. Iran will always be just a few months away from going nuclear. Can you say Kaboom! Iran will also be given the “right” to enrich uranium thereby legitimizing their status as a threshold nuclear state.

Do you know a couple of drunks who could do worse at the table than the OK team? Of course, Avnery could do as much on his own but who else? He’s not stupid, you know. Even Avnery knows what the desperate OKs apparently do not. You can say sanctions are reversible but Good Luck with that. Think about the U.N. Security Council and the Veto votes of Russia and China. The Ayatollah did. The Europeans spend a generation to make any decision at all. The Ayatollah knows that too. The sanctions are out of the box. Try to imagine getting a consensus to put them back in the minute Iran goes off the rails, which it will. It is what they do. No wonder Rouhani is smiling. It’s all he can do to keep from laughing out loud while rolling around on the floor.

The interim agreement gives political and economic relief to Iran instantly if not sooner. The Ayatollah, the mullahs and Smiling Rouhani no longer have any incentive to conclude any meaningful agreement but they will talk. Ho Hum. It’s another shovel for the hole Obama has dug for his Legacy.

I can offer only this from Goethe. It suits both Avnery and Obama well.

“When ideas fail, words come in very handy.”
Blah, Blah, Blah!