Coming February 6, 2024 . . .
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
Pre-order at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop
Coming February 6, 2024 . . . MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Pre-order at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
By M. K. Bhadrakumar, Asia Times Online, Feb. 18, 2012
The foreplay is nearing completion on the Iran situation. The surest sign is that there were no serious takers in Western capitals for the Israeli smear campaign this week that Tehran's agents had been going about placing bombs in New Delhi, Tbilisi and Bangkok. Simply put, there is growing impatience that it is way past the time for histrionics.
Several indicators are available that matters are moving towards a substantive plane. One cluster of events this week consists of the Iranian reply to the letter from the European Union foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, penned by Tehran's chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili. Simultaneously, Tehran announced it was developing a new generation of centrifuges and augmenting its number of centrifuges from 6,000 to 9,000 as well as loading a research reactor with Iran's first batch of domestically produced fuel.
While Tehran's announcement of new nuclear "achievements" might have appeared as a belligerent move - Washington derided it as "hype" meant for the domestic audience in Iran - the contents of Jalili's letter, and, more important, the initial responses of cautious optimism it generated within hours in Western capitals convey that there are positive stirrings in the air.
The reaction in Washington is particularly noteworthy [....]
Comments
by artappraiser on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 4:40am
Looks to me like that letter just might have something to do with this deadline:
by artappraiser on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 5:06am
by artappraiser on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 11:17pm
I read Panetta's testimony to the House committee and Clapper's to the Senate exactly the way Bhadrakumar does. When both the defense secretary and the intelligence chief state categorically that Iran has not yet decided to develop a nuclear weapon, that means it does NOT have a nuclear-weapon program. Contra what Netanyahu and his clique keep screaming.
What it comes down to is this: As Panetta says, "We (the U.S.) will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon." (Which Iran's supreme leader has stated it does not intend to do.) Israel's position is very different: Iran must be denied the right that it has under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to enrich uranium. (Which every Iranian leader insists it will continue to do.)
What everyone understands, I think, is that neither sanctions nor negotiations are going to get Iran to surrender its NPT rights. Joe Biden, who is as pro-Israel as anyone in the White House or Congress, conceded as much at least two years ago, saying under any negotiated deal, Iran will continue to enrich. Which is why Netanyahu is panicking over the chance that U.S.-Iran talks will succeed.
There's been concerted pushback since Panetta and Clapper spoke:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/world/64707-iran-poised-expand-nuclear-program
Personally, I'd listen to Panetta and Clapper on what U.S. intelligence has concluded over what Jahn hears from unnamed "senior diplomats." These guys are not speaking off the cuff; they are delivering their government's officially scripted position (most likely Israeli or Saudi). Caveat lector.
by acanuck on Sun, 02/19/2012 - 5:38pm
what U.S. intelligence has concluded
Anonymice speaking out on that, and I would note the timing of this confirmation--after the IAEA report, qualifying/countering it, and before Netanyahu's visit:
Upon seeing James Risen's byline on the article, I thought that I hadn't seen it in quite some time, so I did a search on NYT, and the last time was August. So looks to me like he was pulled away from whatever he's been doing, whether editorial duties or sabbatical or whatever, to take this message, i.e. the "officials" wanted to talk to him, not anyone else.
by artappraiser on Sun, 02/26/2012 - 10:54am
Oh I forgot about this, it sort of throws my speculation about the Risen byline under a totally different light:
by artappraiser on Sun, 02/26/2012 - 11:02am
Tom Ricks has been talking with a mouse, too, a short "must read":
So I ran into a friend who knows a lot about U.S. policy and Iran. We sat down on a park bench and this is what he told me:
continued at
'It is not in the American national interest to go to war against Iran anytime soon'
By Thomas E. Ricks, Best Defense @ foreignpolicy.com, Feb. 24, 2012 - 10:23 AM
by artappraiser on Sun, 02/26/2012 - 11:47am
Despite blogosphere fear mongering, right wing hype, and any Netanyahu admin hype forthcoming in the near future, I feel pretty safe betting that it's not going to happen. It's all bluster. All parties involved like having a great number of people believe it's going to happen, indeed want enough people to believe it and aren't going to go out of their way to dissuade them from believing that it's going to happen, so that Iran too isn't 100% sure, but it's still not going to happen.
by artappraiser on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 3:39pm
Obama Offers Israel a Path to Avoid an Iran War, but Will Netanyahu Buy Its Terms?
Strong summary piece on what's going on on this front,
by Tony Karon @ Global Spin @ Time Magazine, March 2, 2012:
by artappraiser on Sat, 03/03/2012 - 4:03am
from
Thomas E. Ricks, March 8 @ ForeignPolicy.com, J. Wing claims Iraq is not getting more violent, but J. Mattis sounds not so sure
Also see
Iran Watch: Bibi's Iran stopwatch by Uri Friedman @ ForeignPolicy.com, March 9, where he has set his "Iran Watch" at Natanz to worry about.
by artappraiser on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 12:50am
Three updates of import on topic:
(David Rothkopf at ForeignPolicy.com noted March 12 in his article "The Iceman Leadeth, The cool diplomacy of Barack Obama" that When Time's Fareed Zakaria recently asked Obama about his closest international relationships, the example he offered of Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan seemed to many observers to be a reach, further proof of Obama's remoteness.)
by artappraiser on Thu, 03/15/2012 - 2:34pm
by artappraiser on Thu, 03/29/2012 - 9:55pm
by artappraiser on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 1:51pm
by artappraiser on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 9:16pm
by artappraiser on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 9:25pm
by artappraiser on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 10:16pm