I’m getting a real kick out of all the Monday morning quarterbacking about the Geneva nuclear talks agreement between the P5+1 and Iran. Almost everyone has weighed in with varying opinions, from MSM editorials to local bloggers, about whether this was a good deal or not. It is fitting that the NYT would invite an Israeli expert to write an editorial condemning it.
Frankly, I don’t believe there has ever been an existential threat from Iran to Israel, or anyone else. And it probably has no interest in building a bomb. But it does have every interest in letting people think it can possibly develop one. In reality, all the threats have been directed at Iran, and if people (Iran’s enemies) thought it had a bomb they would hesitate to follow through on such threats. (Remember Saddam Hussein’s refusal to admit it didn’t have one?)
But, if there is no nuclear threat from Iran, just why do the Western powers (and Israel is one) wish to take Iran down? Could it be that Iran represents a threat to the complete hegemony in the Middle East by those Western powers? Certainly, that seems to be the reason. The US and Israel have been trying to consolidate their hegemonic powers in order to control energy and natural resources in the region for years. Iran and its allies, such as Syria, and now China and Russia, stand in the way.
US president Barack Obama is now garnering all the credit for making a peaceful deal with Iran, thus avoiding a possible war, and even being praised for having finally earned his Nobel Peace Prize! Can the leopard have changed his spots so quickly? Has this been his plan all along? Not hardly. Only a few weeks ago, Obama was ready to bomb Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons in its civil war. Only the international uprising and refusal of certain allies, including his own Congress, to go along with that potential war crime prevented him from following through on that threat. His embarrassment over domestic failures, such as the economy and the Obamacare boondoggle helped. He was left hanging out to dry on his own hoisted petard. He had to back down and, in order to save face, the best thing he could do was to go along with the Russian and Chinese-engineered negotiations with Iran.
This preliminary agreement only kicks the can down the road. The Israel editorialist believes this favors Iran, and will only temporarily dissuade it from ultimately getting the bomb. In reality, it allows the US and Israel time to arrange a false flag operation that would show that Iran is not cooperating, and since all options are still on the table, the long awaited war with Iran will take place. US ties with Israel, Mr. Netanyahu’s threats notwithstanding, have not been broken, and the status quo ante still remains.
This writer is the first to agree that this hiatus is welcome, and that war has been avoided. But he is not willing to bet that peace is in the air. Regime change is still the name of the game.
Eugene Schulman is a member of the Overseas American Academy in Geneva, Switzerland.