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Title: A tangled tale _ The New Irainan "Threat"
Source:
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URL Source: http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/10/12/a_tangled_tale
Published: Oct 12, 2011
Author: http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011
Post Date: 2011-10-12 18:47:14 by tom007
Keywords: None
Views: 123
Comments: 10
A tangled tale Posted By Stephen M. Walt Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - 11:17 AM Share For the record: I don't know if there was a genuine Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the United States. Let me repeat that: I don't know. And neither do you. All we know is that the U.S. government claims to have uncovered such a plot, involving an Iranian-American used-car salesman who allegedly was getting direction from some part of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. This dangerous criminal mastermind reportedly thought he was paying a Mexican drug cartel to conduct the actual attacks, when he was in fact dealing with an undercover DEA agent. As I said, none of us really know what was going on here, but several features ought to be kept in mind. First, the Iranian government is by all accounts a contentious and unruly body, and it is possible that some rogue element of the Revolutionary Guards came up with this cockamamie but obviously despicable scheme. Whether Supreme Leader Khamenei or President Ahmadinejad had anything to do with it, of course, is another matter entirely. Second, the FBI doesn't have a terrific track record in identifying and documenting this sort of conspiracy, and we'd be fools to take their accusations at face value. There is sometimes a fine line between uncovering a real terrorist plot and subtly encouraging one, as in the famous case of the "Miami Seven," whose plot to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago appears to have been largely inspired by the undercover agent who eventually exposed them. Until we know a lot more about the actual time line and evidence behind these latest accusations, a certain skepticism is warranted. And I wouldn't be surprised if the government eventually reveals that the evidence of direct Iranian involvement is based on intercepted signals intelligence, which it will then claim it cannot make public without compromising sources and/or methods. In other words, just trust us... Third, before we leap to the conclusion that this is more evidence of how heinous Iran's revolutionary leadership is, let's pause to remember that the United States and some of our allies have done similar things in the past. We tried to bomb Muammar al-Qaddafi's tent back in the 1980s, and the CIA tried to kill Fidel Castro and a few other foreign leaders back in the 1960s. And the United States has certainly backed various groups that used assassination and other forms of terrorism to advance their political aims, such as the Nicaraguan contras. Some of you might think that these efforts were justified; my point is simply that we aren't wholly innocent in this regard. That doesn't justify what Iran is accused of doing, but it might temper our own moral outrage a bit. Lord knows there's plenty of grounds for concern about various Iranian actions (including their reliance on murder and/or sabotage on several occasions in the past), and no shortage of conflicts of interest between Tehran and Washington. But this story is sufficiently bizarre -- would a real Iranian agent actually try to hire a drug cartel to do his dirty work? -- and the potential consequences are sufficiently grave that we really ought to wait until we know more before drawing any conclusions at all.
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Here is a response to Walt's article: A Tangled Tale? We have been at the throat of each with Iran since 1979, and we would do anything to slow Iran from becoming a regional superpower in Middle East. And since attacking Iran militarily with Israel has been calculated and ruled out as more catastrophic to the U.S. and Israel, now the U.S. is launching an open propaganda to "United the World" against Iran politically - according to a CBS report. But the U.S. won't be able to "Unite the world" against Iran, because the U.S. itself is discredited by its unsavory history. Uniting the world against Iran is akin to "uniting the world" again the Taliban! The U.S. has tried it for 10 years, and has failed miserably. The campaign against Iran won't be different because the world already knows that we are the global warmongering bully against small and defenseless countries. The U.S. tried to "unite the world" against North Vietnam in the 1960's and 70's, but the world exploded both here and around the globe against us. And if the U.S. couldn't fool the world in the 60's and 70's when Internet was non-existent, trying to fool the world today would be just featherbrained vanity. The U.S., however, can "unite the majority of the global media" against Iran since it is secretly funding many foreign newspapers, TV and radio networks to support the U.S. foreign policy. But such a similar campaign failed during the Vietnam War, failed in Latin America during the rein of U.S. installed puppet regimes and CIA death squads, and has failed to convince the world that Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas are the wrongdoers in Middle East. The world believes the U.S. and Israel are. That is why the Palestinian bid for statehood at the U.N. has the U.S. and Israel spinning in panic. They have been claiming that the International Community regard the Palestinians as terrorists, and they are afraid that a vote at the U.N. General Assembly will expose the U.S. and Israeli claims as naked lies! It will be an encore of a prior U.S. denial to issue a visa to the late Palestinian leader to attend the U.N. which was condemned at the U.N. General Assembly with a vote of 151-2 against the U.S. The 2 votes were the U.S.'s and Israel! (The Wall Street Journal, April 29, 2010) The United Nations General Assembly is the propaganda stripping podium of the world. Media headlines create a buzz, but the buzz doesn't translate into actual global support for the U.S. For example, a United Nations resolution that condemned the U.S. embargo on Cuba was approved at the U.N. General Assembly with 184 votes - out of the 193 total U.N. member states. That means a 95% of the world - 184 countries- voted to condemn the U.S. policy on Cuba. And that was not only a slap on the face of the U.S., but it also proved that the world didn't regard Cuba as a pariah state - as the U.S. always claimed! That vote was hush-hush at the U.S. media, but it was widely reported in Latin America and around the world. ( China View Newspaper - online, October 30, 2007) There is, therefore, a wide distortion of truth between the U.S. claims of support from the global community, and the truth as revealed at the U.N. where votes casted have consistently exposed the U.S. misinformation about its enemies. The U.S. has had a 30-year misinformation about Iran -since 1979- but it didn't achieve anything. And rather than wasting a few $ billions more trying to discredit Iran, those $ billions could be spend for families here that have been looking for jobs for 3-4 years - rather than giving those $ billions to well-connected lobbyists and public relations firms in New York and Washington! As a historian, I expect the anti-Iranian campaign to be heavy on the scale, like an ostrich, and the results should be ostrich-like. It will be able to bury its head in the sand, but unable to fly! Nikos Retsos, retired professor
One more: I'm a little surprised at I'm a little surprised at myself for thinking this; but for once conspiracy nuts might be onto something with this one. Something is just not right. It has ALL the hallmarks of a Mossad operation. This is exactly the type of thing they excel at and indeed have perfected over the past 40 years or so. By most experts accounts, the Qods force is MUCH, MUCH to deliberate and skilled an organization to plan a hit in such a haphazard way. If they wanted this guy dead...he'd be dead. This seems like it was all tied up in a bow and dropped on the doorstep of the FBI on purpose. I'm going to go ahead and assume this is Israel trying to drum up US/World support for operations against Iran, as they see an inevitable war with Hezbollah brewing on the horizon. But then again, it could indeed be Iran, and I wouldn't be surprised by that either really.
And one more" what experts? you might wanna start with ollie heinonen Ever hear of ollie heinonen? might wanna check out his credentials... yukio amano is another you horse's petoots....and there are dozens of others who have grave reservations concerning; low altiutude detonation simulations found on iranian computers underground hardened facility at qom, which was kept secret, just as natanz was. nose cone designs for nuclear payloads detonation trigger designs aq khan admissions nuclear silos new centrifuges for faster more efficient enrichment all of you jew haters can crawl back under your rock now... this is not exclusively an israeli problem, its a global problem. The sad thing is that you jew haters would rather risk all of our lives globally if it means getting at israel and killing jews at the same time. You're despicable.
This "mastermind" apparently has no short-term memory since he was mugged a few years ago. He forgets his car keys and travel documents on a regular basis and has a reputation for being massively disorganized in his personal life. All of his business ventures have failed. He is the perfect patsy, not the Jackal.
It is vital to understand that there is no truth without discernment and no wisdom without the truth. What then is “faith” but an effort to confound truth and wisdom?
Why the USG seems to feel, that we MUST believe them after the last thirty years of gross lies to the public is a good start for a Phd dissertation.
Iran's plot -- and a U.S. double-standard? - latimes.com
US Will Not Respond Militarily to Iran Over Assassination Plot - ABC News
Holy Sh*t Tom we might just agree on something !!! This whole thing just smells bad, there certainly is something rotten in Denmark. On another note, the underoos bomber admitted to guilt on all charges, how convenient for the gunverment not to have a trial. He probably is going down to Tahiti with a new passport, a new Condo, and a regular paycheck paid by the gracious American taxpayer or they just disappeared him.
And why not? I do believe there is truth. Apprehending it from the disinformation appears to be an art, not a science.
"Satan / Cheney in "08" 
#2. To: All (#1)
"Satan / Cheney in "08"
#3. To: All (#2)
"Satan / Cheney in "08"
#4. To: tom007 (#0)
This dangerous criminal mastermind reportedly thought he was paying a Mexican drug cartel to conduct the actual attacks, when he was in fact dealing with an undercover DEA agent
#5. To: angK (#4)
(Edited)
"Satan / Cheney in "08"
#6. To: tom007 (#0)
#7. To: tom007 (#0)
#8. To: tom007 (#0)
#9. To: tom007 (#0)
#10. To: Lysander_Spooner (#9)
Holy Sh*t Tom we might just agree on something !!!
"Satan / Cheney in "08"
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