The Absurd U.S. Stance on Israel’s Nukes: A Video Sampling of Denial


On Tuesday, at a rare joint session of Congress for a foreign leader, members of Congress will clap hands raw for Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel — a nation many members of congress are incapable of speaking simple truths about.

The upshot of the professional wrestling “fight” between Obama and Netanyahu the last several days is that they both want the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be decided by “negotiations between the parties.” These “negotiations” are between a nuclear armed Goliath Israel and largely defenseless Palestinians. It’s like “negotiations” between the Corleone family and a bandleader — except we’re not even supposed to notice the Corleone family comes to the table with huge guns drawn.

Yesterday at AIPAC Obama spoke of the “existential fear of Israelis when a modern dictator seeks nuclear weapons and threatens to wipe Israel off the face of the map — face of the Earth.” He spoke of “our commitment to our shared security in our determination to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.” Obama said to applause from the attendees at the pro-Israel group: “So let me be absolutely clear — we remain committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. … Its illicit nuclear program is just one challenge that Iran poses.” Of course, Netanyahu is ever more vociferous in his accusations regarding Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program.

But at his first news conference at the White House in February of 2009, Obama was asked by Helen Thomas if he knew of any country in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons. Obama replied that he didn’t want to “speculate.”

It’s simply not a credible position to have.

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[originally published on Washington Stakeout on May 23, 2011; posted on posthaven Nov. 13, 2015]

Last Night: Firefighter and 9-11 first responder Kenny Specht says let's get out of Afghanistan, Blitzer "loses contact"

BLITZER: Did you ever give up hope, Kenny, that the U.S. would kill bin Laden?

 

SPECHT: No, but I'd be lying to you, Wolf, I'd be lying to you if I -- if I thought about it every night. No, I didn't -- I didn't give up hope. That's all we had. That's all we had. It's like anything else, though. It's just sometimes we think that when it's not spoken about anymore, we wonder really what's being done.

 

I mean, we're in a quagmire, for lack of a better term, in Afghanistan. I hope to God that tonight is one large step to maybe wrapping up operations in Afghanistan.

 

BLITZER: Kenny, I'm going to interrupt because I think I've lost contact with you. But I want you to -- I want you to stand by, Kenny, if you can. Stand by for a moment because Peter Bergen is joining us now, our national security contributor. [emphasis added]

How Obama and Trump Imprison Voters -- and How To Break Out

A group of demonstrators recently got into an Obama fundraiser to protest the imprisonment of Bradley Manning, the alleged source of the WikiLeaks cables. 

They sang a song to Obama. Part of it went: "We'll vote for you in 2012, yes that's true / Look at the Republicans -- what else can we do?" 

Manning is not the only one who is in prison. 

These protesters have confined themselves. Or rather, they have allowed the political establishment to imprison them. They are attempting to pressure Obama, while saying outright -- as they are giving him money -- that they don't think they have any other choice but to back him. 

Not exactly negotiating from a position of strength. 

And some have mocked them. But, really, what is their choice? How can they emancipate themselves? 

Look at what is happening on the Republican side. Donald Trump told the Conservative Political Action Conference earlier this year: "Ron Paul cannot get elected." This statement tries to undermine and dismiss Paul's candidacy. Trump's vision of democracy is apparently one where the result is known before the election.

The Democratic establishment has relentlessly penned in Principled Progressives while the Republican establishment has continuously made captives out of Conscientious Conservatives. 

And these establishments have succeeded time and time again. 

This is particularly tragic because most Principled Progressives and Conscientious Conservatives agree on so much, though it might not seem that way because establishment politicians (and corporate media) dwell on the differences between each other, which are frequently trivial. Consider:

• Foreign policy: Cutting the military budget, ending the U.S.'s wars, dismantling the network of military bases around the globe, stopping support for tyrannical governments like Saudi Arabia, ending support of Israel's aggressions and occupations.

• Economy: Stopping the Wall Street bailouts, ending the Federal Reserve, curtailing runaway corporate power and corporate welfare, ending trade deals like NAFTA that obliterate jobs in the U.S. while impoverishing many in other countries, challenging the IMF and WTO.

• Freedom Agenda: Ending the so-called "Patriot" Act, stopping government use of secret "evidence" to prosecute individuals, insisting on accountability for torture and illegal detentions and renditions, stopping government spying on citizens, ending the drug war and the mass imprisonment that causes, and challenging the media establishment while enhancing solutions like local low power radio and net neutrality.

Oh yeah, and supporting WikiLeaks and whilstleblowers like Bradley Manning. 

But Big Media keep telling progressives they're supposed to hate "The Tea Party" -- as if there were no difference between Sarah Palin and Ron Paul. And the establishment and corporate media have kept conservatives from seeing the insights of authentic progressives, people like Dennis Kucinich, Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney and Mike Gravel -- demonizing or marginalizing them in a plethora of ways. 

So yes, singing protesters: Look good and hard at the Republicans and realize, that on virtually all the issues above, it's the Principled Progressives and Conscientious Conservatives together on one side and the Establishment Center -- Obama, the Bushs, the Clintons, Palin, Dick Cheney, John Boehner, Harry Reid, Donald Trump, Mitt Romney -- on the other. 

What we have is close to a classic prisoner's dilemma: If Conscientious Conservatives and Principled Progressives can find ways to dialogue and cooperate, they might develop strategies to win on all those issues listed above and then some. If they don't, they will likely continue to be shut out and locked down, forever in bondage to the corporate establishment. 

Who you've been lead to believe is your enemy -- your political opposite number -- is actually your ticket to political emancipation. 

What we need is the meaningful emergence of a New Center based on principle and conscience. Will there be disagreements? Yes, but with work, they will be honest ones, not endless political hackery.

Manning may be in jail, but in a deeper sense, he's free. He acted on his conscience. We all need to free ourselves -- and our votes -- from of the partisan boxes the establishment keeps confining us to. 

Sam Husseini is founder of VotePact.org, which advocates that would-be Democrat and would-be Republican voters pair up and vote for candidates they actually agree with. His personal blog is at husseini.posterous.com