All Discussions Tagged 'US' - 12160 Social Network2024-03-28T22:08:13Zhttps://12160.info/group/Global/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=US&feed=yes&xn_auth=noCongress in No Rush to Return for ISIS War Authorizationtag:12160.info,2014-09-23:2649739:Topic:15051792014-09-23T23:43:36.985ZTarahttps://12160.info/profile/Tara
<p>The United States has begun a bombing campaign in Syria, but don’t bet on Congress returning to Washington to vote on a new war authorization anytime soon.</p>
<p>Shortly after airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria started, some lawmakers started pushing again for an authorization vote. But so far, leaders aren’t gearing up to bring their members back to town.</p>
<p>Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., tweeted Monday night it was “irresponsible and immoral” that congressional leaders had…</p>
<p>The United States has begun a bombing campaign in Syria, but don’t bet on Congress returning to Washington to vote on a new war authorization anytime soon.</p>
<p>Shortly after airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria started, some lawmakers started pushing again for an authorization vote. But so far, leaders aren’t gearing up to bring their members back to town.</p>
<p>Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., tweeted Monday night it was “irresponsible and immoral” that congressional leaders had chosen to recess for nearly two months instead of debating and voting on war. And the ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, released a statement saying it’s “time for Congress to step up and revise the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force in a way that supports the targeted actions underway, but also prevents the deployment of American ground forces that would drag us into another Iraq War.”</p>
<p>Van Hollen tweeted that Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, should call the House back to debate a new Authorization to Use Military Force.</p>
<p>Boehner’s office deferred to the White House when asked about the issue.</p>
<p>More Here: <a href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/boehner-obama-hasnt-requested-isis-war-authorization-pelosi-he-doesnt-need-one/">http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/boehner-obama-hasnt-requested-isis-war-authorization-pelosi-he-doesnt-need-one/</a></p> H.R. 748: To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 25 to perform national service...tag:12160.info,2013-02-16:2649739:Topic:11244752013-02-16T20:04:51.732ZTarahttps://12160.info/profile/Tara
<p>either as a member of the uniformed services or as civilian service in a Federal, State, or local government program or with a community-based agency or community-based entity, to authorize the induction of persons in the uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements of the uniformed services, to provide for the registration of women under the Military Selective Service Act, and for other purposes.</p>
<dl>
<dt>Introduced:</dt>
<dd>Feb 15, 2013 (113<sup>th…</sup></dd>
</dl>
<p>either as a member of the uniformed services or as civilian service in a Federal, State, or local government program or with a community-based agency or community-based entity, to authorize the induction of persons in the uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements of the uniformed services, to provide for the registration of women under the Military Selective Service Act, and for other purposes.</p>
<dl>
<dt>Introduced:</dt>
<dd>Feb 15, 2013 (113<sup>th</sup> Congress, 2013–2015)</dd>
<dt>Sponsor:</dt>
<dd><a class="name" href="/congress/members/charles_rangel/400333">Rep. Charles Rangel [D-NY13]</a></dd>
<dt>Status:</dt>
<dd>Referred to Committee</dd>
<dd>Source: <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr748">http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr748</a>?</dd>
</dl> US military suicide rate hits one per daytag:12160.info,2012-06-08:2649739:Topic:8773932012-06-08T20:40:47.227Ztruthhttps://12160.info/profile/adap2k
<h1 class="story-header"></h1>
<div class="story-feature related narrow"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60785000/jpg/_60785984_60785838.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" height="195" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60785000/jpg/_60785984_60785838.jpg?width=304" width="346"></img></a> <span style="width: 304px;">Suicides have outnumbered combat deaths in US troops in 2008 and 2009…</span><a class="hidden" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18371377#story_continues_1"></a></div>
<h1 class="story-header"></h1>
<div class="story-feature related narrow"><a target="_blank" href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60785000/jpg/_60785984_60785838.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60785000/jpg/_60785984_60785838.jpg?width=304" height="195" width="346"/></a> <span style="width: 304px;">Suicides have outnumbered combat deaths in US troops in 2008 and 2009</span><a class="hidden" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18371377#story_continues_1"></a><h2><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18371377#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa" target="_blank">bbc</a></h2>
<ul class="related-links-list">
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</div>
<p class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">Suicide among US troops has sharply increased this year, hitting a rate of almost one death per day, figures show.</p>
<p>As of 3 June, the army's 2012 active-duty suicides reached 154, compared with 130 in the same period last year, the Pentagon confirmed to the BBC.</p>
<p>The number far exceeds US combat deaths for the same period.</p>
<p>"We are deeply concerned about suicide in the military," a Pentagon spokeswoman said, adding it was "one of the most urgent problems" they faced.</p>
<p>While the reasons for the increase are not entirely understood, the army's own data suggest soldiers with multiple combat tours are at greater risk. But a portion of those taking their own life have never deployed, the figures show.</p>
<div class="story-feature related narrow"><a class="hidden" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18371377#story_continues_1">Continue reading the main story</a></div> US plans naval exercises with South Korea:Pentagontag:12160.info,2010-05-24:2649739:Topic:1857232010-05-24T19:02:33.470ZTarahttps://12160.info/profile/Tara
<span class="lingo_region">The <a class="lingo_link" href="http://topics.breitbart.com/US+military/" rel="nofollow" style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 14px; CURSOR: pointer; FONT-WEIGHT: 400; TEXT-DECORATION: underline">US military</a> on Monday said it will carry out anti-submarine and other naval exercises with…</span>
<span class="lingo_region">The <a style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 14px; CURSOR: pointer; FONT-WEIGHT: 400; TEXT-DECORATION: underline" class="lingo_link" href="http://topics.breitbart.com/US+military/" rel="nofollow">US military</a> on Monday said it will carry out anti-submarine and other naval exercises with <a style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 14px; CURSOR: pointer; FONT-WEIGHT: 400; TEXT-DECORATION: underline" class=" lingo_link" href="http://topics.breitbart.com/South+Korea/" rel="nofollow">South Korea</a> in the "near future" after a North Korean sub sank a South Korean warship.<br />
</span><p><span class="lingo_region">The announcement came after an international investigation last week concluded that a North Korean submarine fired a heavy torpedo at the Cheonan on March 26, sinking the South Korean vessel and killing 46 sailors.</span></p>
<p><span class="lingo_region">The decision to conduct anti-submarine as well as maritime interdiction exercises with <a style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 14px; CURSOR: pointer; FONT-WEIGHT: 400; TEXT-DECORATION: underline" class=" lingo_link" href="http://topics.breitbart.com/seoul/" rel="nofollow">Seoul's</a> military "are a result of the findings of this recent incident," Pentagon spokesman <a style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 14px; CURSOR: pointer; FONT-WEIGHT: 400" class=" lingo_link lingo_link_hidden" href="http://topics.breitbart.com/Bryan+Whitman/" rel="nofollow">Bryan Whitman</a> told reporters.</span></p>
<p><span class="lingo_region">He declined to offer more details of the "important" exercises but said they would take place "in the near future."</span></p>
<p><span class="lingo_region">The <a style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 14px; CURSOR: pointer; FONT-WEIGHT: 400" class=" lingo_link lingo_link_hidden" href="http://topics.breitbart.com/White+House/" rel="nofollow">White House</a> said earlier that President Barack Obama had directed his administration to review North Korea policy and commanded his armed forces to work closely with South Korea "to ensure readiness and to deter future aggression."</span></p>
<p><span class="lingo_region">The <a style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 14px; CURSOR: pointer; FONT-WEIGHT: 400" class=" lingo_link lingo_link_hidden" href="http://topics.breitbart.com/United+States/" rel="nofollow">United States</a> and numerous other nations have condemned the attack, seen in Seoul as one of the worst provocations since the 1950-53 <a style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 14px; CURSOR: pointer; FONT-WEIGHT: 400; TEXT-DECORATION: underline" class=" lingo_link" href="http://topics.breitbart.com/Korean+War/" rel="nofollow">Korean War.</a> The North's ally <a style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 14px; CURSOR: pointer; FONT-WEIGHT: 400" class=" lingo_link lingo_link_hidden" href="http://topics.breitbart.com/China/" rel="nofollow">China,</a> which wields a Security Council veto, has called on all sides to show restraint.</span></p>
<p><span class="lingo_region"> </span></p>
<p><span class="lingo_region"><a href="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.425f30f7af55f75115ed7394018dccda.481&show_article=1">http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.425f30f7af55f75115ed7394018dccda.481&show_article=1</a></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><br/></p> Pentagon Plan to Upgrade Afghan Airbase Near Iran May Rile Islamic Regimetag:12160.info,2010-05-21:2649739:Topic:1850442010-05-21T18:56:59.847ZTarahttps://12160.info/profile/Tara
<p><em>By <span class="author">Tony Capaccio</span></em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>A U.S. plan to upgrade its airbase in southwestern Afghanistan just 20 miles from Iran’s border will likely rile the Islamic regime, bolstering suspicions the West is trying to pressure it with military might, analysts say.</em></p>
<p><em>The Defense Department is requesting $131 million in its fiscal year 2011 budget to upgrade…</em></p>
<p><em>By <span class="author">Tony Capaccio</span></em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>A U.S. plan to upgrade its airbase in southwestern Afghanistan just 20 miles from Iran’s border will likely rile the Islamic regime, bolstering suspicions the West is trying to pressure it with military might, analysts say.</em></p>
<p><em>The Defense Department is requesting $131 million in its fiscal year 2011 budget to upgrade <a title="Open Web Site" href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/afghanistan/shindand.htm">Shindand</a> Air Base so it can accommodate more commando helicopters, drone surveillance aircraft, fuel and munitions.</em></p>
<p><em>Plans to expand the base come as the U.S. works to strengthen the militaries and missile defenses of allies in the region and presses at the United Nations for a new round of sanctions aimed at forcing Iran to curb its nuclear program.</em></p>
<p><em>U.S. military officials say the base is only to support U.S. and Afghan military operations in Afghanistan. Iran will likely view the Shindand buildup as another step to squeeze it, said <a title="Search News" href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=en10_wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&partialfields=-wnnis:NOAVSYND&sort=date:D:S:d1&lr=-lang_ja&q=Kenneth%20Pollack">Kenneth Pollack</a>, director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the <a title="Open Web Site" href="http://www.brookings.edu/">Brookings Institution</a> in Washington.</em></p>
<p><em>“Whatever U.S. intentions, the Iranian regime will see it as a threat -- as another American effort to surround Iran with U.S. military forces,” Pollack said in an interview.</em></p>
<p><em>“The Iranians are almost certainly going to assume that a beefed-up intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance presence is really about spying on them,” he said.</em></p>
<p><em><a title="Search News" href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=en10_wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&partialfields=-wnnis:NOAVSYND&sort=date:D:S:d1&lr=-lang_ja&q=Andrew%20Krepinevich">Andrew Krepinevich</a>, president of the <a title="Open Web Site" href="http://www.csbaonline.org/2006-1/index.shtml">Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments</a> in Washington, shares that view.</em></p>
<p><em>“The positioning of the base gives us the opportunity to monitor any efforts by Iran to serve as a sanctuary for anti- government Taliban and allied forces, and to support operations in Iran itself if that were to become necessary,” he said.</em></p>
<p><em>Sanctions</em></p>
<p><em>The Pentagon planning for Shindand comes as the U.S. is helping to strengthen missile defense systems in Israel and allied nations in the Persian Gulf.</em></p>
<p><em>The U.S. Navy is coordinating its ship-borne Aegis missile defense with Israel’s land-based systems, and Defense Secretary <a title="Search News" href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=en10_wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&partialfields=-wnnis:NOAVSYND&sort=date:D:S:d1&lr=-lang_ja&q=Robert%20Gates">Robert Gates</a> and other top U.S. military officials have encouraged Persian Gulf nations to strengthen and coordinate their individual defenses.</em></p>
<p><em>Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also are upgrading their air, ground and naval forces, spurred by Iran’s military buildup.</em></p>
<p><em>The United Arab Emirates has spent $18 billion since 2008 on U.S.-supplied training, munitions and equipment such as the Patriot missile defense built by Lockheed Martin Corp.</em></p>
<p><em>Fighter Jets, Missiles</em></p>
<p><em>Saudi Arabia has bought 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets and is in negotiations to buy 24 more. The nation also has bought Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, laser-guided equipment to enhance the accuracy of its air-to-ground missiles, Black Hawk helicopters and U.S. kits to upgrade Apache helicopters and armored personnel carriers.</em></p>
<p><em>“We have worked hard in the region to build a network of shared early warning, of ballistic missile defense and of other security relationships,” General <a title="Search News" href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=en10_wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&partialfields=-wnnis:NOAVSYND&sort=date:D:S:d1&lr=-lang_ja&q=David%20Petraeus">David Petraeus</a>, the U.S. military commander in the Middle East and Central Asia, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 16.</em></p>
<p><em>Strengthening Gulf partners is important because containing Iran “will be a challenge as long as Iran’s theocracy keeps building asymmetric forces, moving towards nuclear capability and using proxies and non-state actors in neighboring states,” <a title="Search News" href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=en10_wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&partialfields=-wnnis:NOAVSYND&sort=date:D:S:d1&lr=-lang_ja&q=Anthony%20Cordesman">Anthony Cordesman</a>, a military analyst at the <a title="Open Web Site" href="http://csis.org/">Center for Strategic and International Studies</a> in Washington, said.</em></p>
<p><em>Asymmetric forces are used in an attempt to offset the capabilities of a more advanced military foe. Iran might deploy speedboats in a swarm to attack U.S. warships, military officials have said.</em></p>
<p><em>Containment Strategy</em></p>
<p><em>Iran will view the U.S. base expansion and acceleration of “missile defense and other systems in the Gulf states” as part of a containment strategy, said <a title="Search News" href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=en10_wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&partialfields=-wnnis:NOAVSYND&sort=date:D:S:d1&lr=-lang_ja&q=Kenneth%20Katzman">Kenneth Katzman</a>, a Middle East analyst with the non-partisan Congressional Research Service.</em></p>
<p><em>The U.S. should be prepared for what could be a vigorous reaction, he said. “‘Iran will almost certainly respond by stepping up weapons shipments to Taliban militants in Herat and Farah provinces, and Tehran might direct these militants to use the assistance to attempt attacks on the airfield,” he said.</em></p>
<p><em>Pollack gave a similar warning. “We need to go in with eyes wide open that we could be provoking them,” he said. “We should not be expanding our operations in this area unless we are ready to deal with the potential.”</em></p>
<p><em><a title="Search News" href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=en10_wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&partialfields=-wnnis:NOAVSYND&sort=date:D:S:d1&lr=-lang_ja&q=Michael%20O%E2%80%99Hanlon">Michael O’Hanlon</a>, a military analyst for the Brookings Institution who is in Afghanistan, said he heard from U.S. military officials that Shindand is in line for “a limited tactical expansion for Afghan-specific purposes.”</em></p>
<p><em>“I think it would be a big mistake to provoke Iran with an airfield actually designed for possible operations there and potentially encourage Tehran to up its involvement in Afghanistan,” O’Hanlon said. “So I am hoping that we have no such designs and doubt that we do in fact.”</em></p>
<p><em> </em></p>
<p><em><a href="http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-05-20/pentagon-plan-to-upgrade-afghan-airbase-near-iran-may-rile-islamic-regime.html">http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-05-20/pentagon-plan-to-upgrade-afghan-airbase-near-iran-may-rile-islamic-regime.html</a></em></p> Not Another War, Mr. President! Iran nuke deal: US not taking yes for an answertag:12160.info,2010-05-19:2649739:Topic:1846132010-05-19T20:46:12.627ZTarahttps://12160.info/profile/Tara
<p>by <a href="http://original.antiwar.com/author/justin/" title="Posts by Justin Raimondo"><font color="#990000">Justin Raimondo</font></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nothing, but nothing, is going to get in the way of this administration’s path to war with Iran. This was brought home in a dramatic way when the Brazilians and the Turks <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/iran-agrees-to-ship-uranium-to-turkey-in-nuclear-fuel-swap-1.290682"><font color="#990000">announced</font></a> Iran had…</p>
<p>by <a title="Posts by Justin Raimondo" href="http://original.antiwar.com/author/justin/"><font color="#990000">Justin Raimondo</font></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nothing, but nothing, is going to get in the way of this administration’s path to war with Iran. This was brought home in a dramatic way when the Brazilians and the Turks <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/iran-agrees-to-ship-uranium-to-turkey-in-nuclear-fuel-swap-1.290682"><font color="#990000">announced</font></a> Iran had agreed to implement the nuclear exchange deal <i><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/01/iran-uranium-enrichment-plant-inspection"><font color="#990000">proposed by the US</font></a></i> some seven months ago: the Iranians agreed to turn over most of their fissionable material in exchange for fuel rods and technical assistance that would enable them to produce medical-grade materials.</p>
<p>Peace seemed to be <a href="http://www.politico.com/static/PPM143_100517_iran_agreemet.html"><font color="#990000">breaking out</font></a> all over – but not if the US government and its allies on the UN Security Council could help it. They <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2010/05/17/white-house-slams-iran-uranium-deal/"><font color="#990000">refused to take yes for an answer</font></a>, and promptly announced they were <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2010/05/18/despite-nuclear-deal-us-send-sanctions-draft-to-un/"><font color="#990000">proceeding with the sanctions campaign</font></a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.payvand.com/news/09/dec/1131.html"><font color="#990000">Last time</font></a> we went around <a href="http://original.antiwar.com/prather/2009/10/30/on-the-eve-of-wwiii/"><font color="#990000">this bend</font></a>, a combination of hardliner opposition within Iran, and the War Party’s efforts in the US and Western Europe, effectively took the nuclear exchange deal off the agenda. No one expected the Brazilians and the Turks to put it back on – and, this time, <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/laurarozen/0510/Iran_nuclear_breakthrough_Tehran_agrees_to_fuel_swap.html"><font color="#990000">it was the Supreme Leader</font></a>, the Ayatollah Khamenei, bypassing hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who gave the agreement his imprimatur. Khamenei, not Ahmadinejad – as <a href="http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/usa/Clinton-Questions-Ahmadinejads-Role-at-Nuclear-Conference-92461244.html"><font color="#990000">US propaganda</font></a> would have it – is in charge of nuclear policy, as well as being the supreme religious authority.</p>
<p>The tripartite pact put the hellbent-on-war Americans, and their British and French compatriots, in a panic. Hillary Clinton couldn’t keep the petulant, hectoring tone out of her announcement that the US and its allies were <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/05/draft-iran-sanctions-agreement-reached.html"><font color="#990000">going ahead with sanctions anyway</font></a>: “We have reached agreement on a strong draft with the cooperation with both Russia and China,” which will serve “as convincing an answer to the activities in Tehran over the last few days as any we can provide,” she hissed in a Senate hearing on the START negotiations Tuesday morning.</p>
<p>The War Party’s <a href="http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/2731/zombie-fuel-swap-back-from-the-dead-again"><font color="#990000">pet policy wonks</font></a>, and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2010/05/jewish-lawmakers-obama-gets-it.html"><font color="#990000">Israel’s amen corner</font></a> in Congress (i.e. everybody but <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVTElyiY-oU"><font color="#990000">Ron Paul</font></a>), immediately took up the cry that it’s not enough, it’s a trick, the Iranians could still manage to – somehow – launch a “nuclear breakout” with the remaining enriched fuel.</p>
<p>The Iranians <a href="http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/05/17/7973741.html"><font color="#990000">didn’t help matters</font></a> when they announced they would continue to enrich uranium up to 20 percent, but this still wouldn’t allow them to produce a nuclear weapon. That, however, is a technical detail, the explanation of which is going to make most peoples’ eyes glaze over. Suffice to say here that weapons-grade and “highly enriched” uranium are two separate things: in order to qualify as the former, the stuff has to be enriched <a href="http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/nukes/fuelcycle/centrifuges/U_production.html"><font color="#990000">beyond 90 percent</font></a>. Iran’s enrichment facilities at Natanz are operating under the <a href="http://payvand.com/news/07/feb/1018.html"><font color="#990000">watchful eye</font></a> of the <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:BN5Yc6GYiHcJ:original.antiwar.com/charles-davis/2009/06/19/distorting-us-intel-on-iran-obama-follows-bushs-lead-again/+"><font color="#990000">International Atomic Energy Agency</font></a> (IAEA): any attempt to create weapons grade nuclear materials would be immediately detected.</p>
<p>Iran has made a good faith attempt to create the conditions necessary for a comprehensive settlement: instead of rejecting it outright, and moving to impose <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/world/txtsanctions.html"><font color="#990000">draconian economic sanctions</font></a>, the US should stop making itself look like a <a href="http://www.aipac.org/694.asp#24473"><font color="#990000">bully</font></a> bent on a beating and agree to what was, after all, its own proposal. We look and act like <a href="http://article.nationalreview.com/433534/give-crippling-sanctions-a-chance/clifford-d-may"><font color="#990000">madmen</font></a> in front of the world – but that, of course, doesn’t enter into the War Party’s calculations. They have their own interests, as opposed to the country’s, at heart.</p>
<p>This is all about domestic politics, and competing factions with the Obama administration. The realist faction, which generated the original uranium-for-fuel-rods proposal, has been trumped by the hawkish Hillary. She has cut them off at the pass, stepped on the brakes, and reversed course: not only announcing the new sanctions, but also <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2010/0518/Hillary-Clinton-Russia-China-to-back-new-Iran-nuclear-sanctions"><font color="#990000">claiming</font></a> both Russia and China are on board.</p>
<p>This bald assertion, I’ll bet, is more a symptom of her own hysteria than a reflection of reality. The Russians may have used the sanctions issue to <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2009/10/26/despite-obamas-concessions-russia-remains-unhelpful-on-iran.html"><font color="#990000">extract concessions</font></a> from the US, such as canceling the aggressive placement of “Star Wars” anti-missile systems on Russia’s border with Poland, but I wouldn’t be all that shocked if the Russkies failed to live up to their part of a tacit agreement. As for the Chinese, they greeted the announcement of the tripartite pact by enthusing that “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQccfiFQLlk&feature=player_embedded"><font color="#990000">the whole world should be relieved</font></a>.”</p>
<p>Not in Hillary Clinton’s world, however. Nor in Obama’s, as many progressives and leftists are beginning to discover to their deeply felt sorrow.</p>
<p>US intransigence in the face of the Iranians’ clear desire to reach a settlement should shatter any remaining illusions about the Obama administration on the left side of the political spectrum. Recent events are rapidly separating the wheat from the chaff: <a href="http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php/features-mainmenu-220/the-war-of-terror/6280-crimes-are-crimes-no-matter-who-does-them"><font color="#990000">those who oppose interventionism and bullying in principle</font></a>, and <a href="http://www.moveon.org/"><font color="#990000">those</font></a> who are being <a href="http://www.votevets.org/index_html"><font color="#990000">bought off</font></a> with <a href="http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2010/04/19/votevets-org-crosses-the-line/"><font color="#990000">pork, perks, and power</font></a>.</p>
<p>Politically, the Obama administration will find the growing conflict with Iran quite useful. With the economy <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E046x_wu83M"><font color="#990000">on the edge</font></a> of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dollar-Meltdown-Surviving-Unconventional-Investments/dp/1591842840/antiwarbookstore"><font color="#990000">complete meltdown</font></a>, and in the face of a rising populist opposition bubbling up from the grassroots, the sudden discovery of an overseas enemy is a <a href="http://www.orwelltoday.com/twominutes.shtml"><font color="#990000">godsend</font></a> to this administration. War with Iran would do more than divert attention away from trouble on the home front, it would make it possible for our leaders to blame the ayatollahs for rising inflation and widespread economic dislocation.</p>
<p>With the Western world’s interlocking banking system exposed to the imminent bankruptcy of <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Business/portugal-italy-greece-spains-debt-means/story?id=9786402"><font color="#990000">Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Italy</font></a>, it’s only a matter of time – perhaps sometime this summer – before the whole house of cards collapses. Faced with this inevitability, our rulers have no choice but to switch the blame away from themselves and onto a foreign enemy, one that has been <a href="http://www.aei.org/book/285"><font color="#990000">appropriately demonized</font></a> and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/7680557/Osama-bin-Laden-living-in-luxury-in-Iran.html"><font color="#990000">set up for the kill</font></a>.</p>
<p>War with Iran – or even the heightened prospect of such an event – would have much the same effect as those falling bank dominoes, albeit on a smaller scale. As the Federal Reserve furiously <a href="http://beforeitsnews.com/news/45/931/There_s_Always_More_Money_to_Print.html"><font color="#990000">amps up the printing presses</font></a> in response to the need for more cash to pay for the bailouts, rising prices can be blamed on <a href="http://riverdaughter.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/ayatollah_ali_khamenei1.jpg"><font color="#990000">those evil Iranians</font></a>, who, in the process of defending themselves, are <a href="http://mcgeek.com/blog/the_man_who_kicked_blue_team_s_ass,229/"><font color="#990000">blocking the Persian Gulf</font></a> and driving up the price of oil. Just out of pure spite, you understand….</p>
<p>The powerful Israel lobby, whose <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1VYGpHDd-c"><font color="#990000">instrument</font></a> in this case is the restless Clintonian wing of the Democratic party, has scotched efforts within the administration to head off a conflict with Iran. This is <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/world/obama-strategy-links-israel-palestine-iran-20090826-ezqm.html"><font color="#990000">the price</font></a> Obama has to pay for his dream of presiding over an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement – a strategy that ignores the growing militancy of the Israeli body politic, which <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/mayor-mulls-hiring-private-guards-to-demolish-illegal-homes-in-east-jerusalem-1.290740"><font color="#990000">will not</font></a> permit a fair settlement, and will do everything possible to undermine the peace process.</p>
<p>The Israelis’ <a href="http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/03/11/biden-in-israel/"><font color="#990000">shameful treatment</font></a> of Joe Biden should have sent that signal loud and clear, but apparently the Obama administration wasn’t listening – and the Clintonian shadow government, for its part, doesn’t hear anything it doesn’t want to hear. They also didn’t hear President Barack Obama’s top nuclear adviser, <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/2010/05/11/1939184/us-official-cites-setbacks-for.html"><font color="#990000">Gary Samore</font></a>, who said earlier this week that Iran’s enrichment program has encountered a series of mishaps that constitute a serious setback for its nuclear capabilities. Due to problems with centrifuges, among other factors, Samore said “the nuclear clock is not ticking as quickly as some had feared.”</p>
<p>So why the rush to scotch negotiations and impose sanctions? It’s politics, pure and simple.</p>
<p>The question of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East is a serious one: the problem is that no one with any power or influence in the US has dared approach the problem honestly. Any realistic assessment of the situation must include the fact that Israel presently has <a href="http://antiwar.com/radio/2010/01/04/daniel-ellsberg-7/"><font color="#990000">hundreds of nukes</font></a>, many of which are no doubt aimed straight at Tehran.</p>
<p>This is the real issue, but unfortunately the US government persists in maintaining the fantasy-fiction that Israel is just an innocent bystander in all this. The Israeli government’s official line of “nuclear ambiguity” is <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1B3GGLL_enUS371US371&q=israel+nuclear+ambiguity&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai="><font color="#990000">not in the least bit</font></a> ambiguous: they won’t admit to having them because they want the option to use them, at some point. With all their griping and kvetching about how Iran’s nuclear power program represents, for Israel, an “existential threat,” it’s frightening to speculate as to where that point might be located.</p>
<p>I can’t emphasize enough how dangerous the present moment is: we are at a critical juncture, with the Lobby pushing hard for war, and the whole political and journalistic Establishment united in beating the war drums loud enough to drown out any and all opposition.</p>
<p>Yet the facts are <a href="http://original.antiwar.com/prather/2009/10/30/on-the-eve-of-wwiii/"><font color="#990000">clear, and uncomplicated</font></a>, and they militate against war – and against getting entangled in what is a regional struggle between Tehran and Tel Aviv. Iran has signed the Nonproliferation Treaty: Israel has pointedly and repeatedly <a href="http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/israel/documents/battle/index.html"><font color="#990000">refused</font></a>. Iran’s nuclear power program, closely monitored by the IAEA, is <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:BN5Yc6GYiHcJ:original.antiwar.com/charles-davis/2009/06/19/distorting-us-intel-on-iran-obama-follows-bushs-lead-again/+"><font color="#990000">in compliance</font></a> with the terms of that treaty, whereas whatever is going on at Dimona no IAEA inspector has ever laid eyes on.</p>
<p>The whole world sees this brazen double standard, and our leaders, instead of minimizing it, glory in it. This is what being a <a href="http://work.colum.edu/~amiller/wolfowitz1992.htm"><font color="#990000">hegemon</font></a> is all about: ensuring and enforcing a gross injustice so unbalanced and arbitrary that only an unchallengeable power could enforce it. This is American supremacism unmasked, politically, and psychologically: naked evil rampaging over the earth, practicing the joys of subjugation –just because we can.</p>
<p>The crude rejection of the Brazilian-Turkish-Iranian peace initiative is a clear signal that we are well along on the road to war. Soon we’ll reach the point of no return, but there’s still a chance to stop the War Party. We must appeal to the President directly.</p>
<p>Only the President has to power to rein in the warmongers infesting his administration. Not that he’s exactly Mahatma Gandhi, but we have a far better chance of reaching him than we have of deterring Hillary from her ongoing effort to back Iran into a corner. If Obama’s reputation as a political pragmatist reflects the reality, then we have to let him know he’ll pay a very steep price if he allows himself to be stampeded into war.</p>
<p>I know it sounds a little pathetic: here we are, mere peasants, going hat in hand to the Czar. But this is an emergency, and at such times it is often necessary to relinquish everything to do with human vanity and concentrate on the big picture: war with Iran would be an <a href="http://www.amconmag.com/article/2006/dec/18/00022/"><font color="#990000">absolute disaster</font></a>. It would be the equivalent of a third world war, a cataclysm whose horrors we can only imagine at present.</p>
<p>Please call, and tell him: <i>Not</i> <b><i>another</i></b> <i>war, Mr. President</i>!</p>
<p>Phone numbers</p>
<p>Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 FAX: 202-456-2461</p>
<p>Or write:</p>
<p>The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Please include your e-mail address</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/05/18/not-another-war-mr-president/">http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/05/18/not-another-war-mr-president/</a></p>