Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (photo: Ahikam Seri/AP)
The World Rebukes Netanyahu
By
Robert Parry, Consortium News
15 July 15
Led by President Obama, six
world powers ignored Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s harangues against Iran
and agreed to a plan for limiting – not bombing – Iran’s nuclear program. But
Netanyahu wields more sway with Congress and the mainstream media, which parrot
his complaints, writes Robert Parry.
In a rare rebuke to his bullying, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to stop the United States and five other
world powers from reaching an agreement to constrain but not eliminate Iran’s
nuclear program. Yet, Netanyahu still is dominating how the U.S. public and
congressional debate is being framed, with Iran accused of regional
“aggression” in four countries.
On Tuesday, a recurring theme on U.S. news broadcasts,
such as Andrea Mitchell’s MSNBC program, was that any lifting of economic
sanctions against Iran will give it more money to engage in trouble-making in
the Middle East with references to four nations – Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and
Yemen – a central theme in Netanyahu’s speech on March 3 to a joint session of
the U.S. Congress.
To repeated standing ovations from U.S. senators and
congressmen, Netanyahu declared: “In the Middle East, Iran now dominates four
Arab capitals, Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and Sanaa. And if Iran’s aggression is
left unchecked, more will surely follow. So, at a time when many hope that Iran
will join the community of nations, Iran is busy gobbling up the nations. We
must all stand together to stop Iran’s march of conquest, subjugation and
terror.”
Netanyahu’s reference to “Iran’s aggression,” which is
now becoming a conventional-wisdom talking point in Official Washington, was
curious since Iran has not invaded another country for centuries. In 1980,
Saddam Hussein’s Iraq – at the urging of Saudi Arabia – invaded Iran. But Iran
has not invaded any of the four countries that Netanyahu cited.
One of Netanyahu’s citations of Arab cities supposedly
conquered by Iran was particularly strange: Baghdad, which is the capital of
Iraq where the U.S. military invaded in 2003 to overthrow Saddam Hussein and
his Sunni-dominated government, on Netanyahu’s recommendation. In other words,
Iraq was conquered not by Iranian “aggression” but by U.S. aggression with the
support of Israel.
After the Iraq invasion, President George W.
Bush installed a Shiite-dominated government which then developed friendly
ties to Iran’s Shiite government. So, whatever influence Iran has in Baghdad is
the result of a U.S. invasion that Netanyahu personally encouraged.
More recently, Iran has helped the embattled Iraqi
government in its struggle against the murderous Islamic State militants who
seized large swaths of Iraqi territory last summer. Indeed, Iraqi officials
have credited Iran with playing a crucial role in blunting the Islamic State,
the terrorists whom President Barack Obama has identified as one of the
top security threats facing the United States.
So, in the current Iraqi fight against the
head-chopping Islamic State, Iran and the United States are on the same side.
Yet, Netanyahu calls Iran’s help “aggression” – and American talking heads
repeat that refrain.
Netanyahu also cited Damascus, where Iran has aided
the Syrian government in its struggle against the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda’s
Nusra Front. That means that Iran is assisting the internationally recognized
government of Syria hold off two major terrorist organizations. By contrast,
Israel and Saudi Arabia have provided direct and indirect help at least to
Nusra. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “Did Money Seal Israel-Saudi Alliance?”]
The Israeli prime minister also mentioned Beirut,
Lebanon, and Sanaa, Yemen, but those were rather bizarre references, too, since
Lebanon is governed by a multi-ethnic arrangement that includes a number of
religious and political factions. Hezbollah is one and it has close ties to
Iran, but it is stretching the truth to say that Iran “dominates” Beirut or
Lebanon.
Similarly, in Sanaa, the Houthis, a Shiite-related
sect, have taken control of Yemen’s capital and have reportedly received
some help from Iran, but the Houthis deny those reports and are clearly
far from under Iranian control. The Houthis also have vowed to work with the
Americans to carry on the fight against Yemen’s Al-Qaeda affiliate, which has
benefitted from a brutal Saudi bombing campaign against Houthi targets, an act
of real aggression that has killed hundreds of civilians and provoked a
humanitarian crisis.
Indeed, Iran and these various Shiite-linked movements
have been among the most effective in battling Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State,
while Israel’s Saudi friends have been repeatedly linked to funding and
supporting these Sunni terrorist organizations.
So, there is little truth and much exaggeration to
Netanyahu’s depiction of what is going on in the Middle East. Yet, the U.S.
mainstream media mindlessly reprises Netanyahu’s falsehood about Iran “gobbling
up” nations.
Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the
Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can
buy his latest book, America’s Stolen Narrative, either in print here or
as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com).
You also can order Robert Parry’s trilogy on the Bush Family and its
connections to various right-wing operatives for only $34. The trilogy includes
America’s Stolen Narrative. For details on this offer, click here.
C 2015 Reader Supported News
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has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
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lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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