Is This Israel's "Godfather" Moment?
You remember the end of the original "Godfather" movie. Michael Corleone wipes out all his enemies at the same time. Is Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu getting ready to do the same thing?
On August 1 the Israeli paper Ha'aretz featured an article saying that war with
Iran and Hezbollah would result in 200 deaths and if Syria was included another 100 more. The article by Amos Harel said its
source was "Defense Ministry expert". No press conference was mentioned. Evidently the Ministry just had a talk with Harel.
The article mentions that last year Defense Minister Barak took great pains to calm Israeli fears that thousands
would die and that the real number would be "far fewer than 500". So Israelis be comforted. Your government thinks "only" 300 of you would die in an attack sure to kill tens of thousands of Persians and Arabs.
This comes after a July 7 article in the same paper where Israeli Brigadier General Halevy said Israel is preparing for war with Lebanon and threatened war crimes against its people
More recently Israel raised the bogus issue of Syrian chemical weapons just so it can float the idea of attacking Syria to destroy or steal its WMD.
Iran, Syria, Lebanon...all at one swoop. Who would oppose it? Romney has given the go ahead publicly
and the spineless Obama says not a word of criticism, but instead demonstrates his "sacrosanct"
"unshakeable" love for Netanyahu by giving Israel $70 million more for its Iron Dome anti-missile system.
(At a televised Oval Office statement Obama said the amount was $70 million and then MISTAKENLY CORRECTED HIMSELF and said the number was $70 billion!! This enormous number didn't seem odd to him, evidently.)
Congress? In an election year it's scenting the money of the Israel Worshipping Billionaires and is salivating for war.
The U.S. itself could easily be drawn into the attack. Vijay Prashad reports that the US has added the USS
Ponce (a US Special Forces platform) to its formidable battle group into the
Persian Gulf. These platforms can be used if Iraq gets the gumption to deny its bases or airspace for a U.S. attack.
The only restraint on Netanyahu could come from U.S. CEO's. Economies from China to the U.S. are cooling. Great Britain's economy is falling and Spain and Greece are in depression. The captains of industry may think this is not the best time to risk floundering the oil markets
Still, the time may seem ripe to Netanyahu. Syria is undergoing civil war and foreign attack.
Iran is ruled by brutal theocrats who foolishly thump bombastically about their military might even as
they are unable to ward off computer viruses. In Lebanon Hezbollah seems to have lost support from
Christian politician former General Aoun and the Lebanese Army is not known for fighting Israel.
The U.S. has replenished stores of oil (prices have even gone down lately) which might suffice is Iran is able to block
the Strait of Hormuz. So maybe a "Godfather" type attack could devastate all the demons of the Israeli leaders at "acceptable cost".
A less rosy picture of a war with Iran was written by (a former CIA station chief)
Philip Giraldi on the Council for the National Interest site.
It starts with the complete closing of the Strait of Hormuz, revolts in Saudi Arabia
cutting oil exports and government overthrows in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It moves
on to World War III. Yes, it's unlikely, but nothing is certain when the dogs of war are unleashed.
As I recall Michael Corleone triumphed in "Godfather I", but ended in misery in "Godfather III".
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