Three months ago, I published this: “I remain hopeful that Iran will realise that there is a huge opportunity here. If Iran tactically backs down on its nuclear programme in the current circumstances, that will not be a defeat for Iran but a defeat for the neo-cons.”
That is precisely what has happened. My own Western diplomatic source with access to the talks, has told me today that he estimates 96% of the movement since December has been on the Iranian side, and only 4% on the international side. At the end, the Iranians took everyone by surprise by agreeing to take 2,000 more centrifuges out of use than anybody ever thought they would.
The Iranians have played a blinder by conceding. When Netanyahu had stripped off his thin cloak of international respectability and revealed himself to the world as an arrant racist warmonger, and Israel enjoys less popular support in the West than ever, Iran reveals itself as sensible, moderate and forward thinking in terms of its international relationships.
What is more, Iran has embarrassed and isolated its enemies. The enemies of this deal stand starkly displayed as the Saudi Arabian Royals, Israeli Zionists and United States Zionists – and a more evil combination it is difficult to imagine.
I remain strongly opposed to theocracy. Iran’s human rights record remains very poor and its treatment of gays utterly unacceptable. But by making plain that it is telling the truth in denying it is pursuing a nuclear arsenal, it is making a step in the right direction. If the West shows good faith – which I do not take for granted – and lifts sanctions, then we will see further development in Iran that I hope may produce improvement in democracy, society and human rights. But for now Iran has played a blinder.
If the congressional Zionists do manage to stymie Obama on this one, that will harm the US more than Iran as it will leave Israel and the US alone in sanctioning Iran, and almost certainly a situation where the US is sanctioning EU companies for trading perfectly legally with Iran after the EU lifts sanctions. The EU lifting of sanctions will not be conditional on the US lifting sanctions.That will drive a wedge between the EU and US. So this is a win/win situation for the world whatever Congress does.
It is worth reading the comments section on my December article, and seeing just how many commenters could not see that taking a step back would bring a victory to Iran, and that the Ahmadinejad policy of macho confrontation was deeply unintelligent. Sometimes you win by stepping back and watching your assailant blunder over.
The key passage is,”if the west shows good faith” I certainly admire your optimism even if it’s a little misplaced.
If you back the,Zionist neo-cons, into a corner,they’ll inevitably come out swinging,watch out for a major incident,that will be blamed on Iran.
There’s a good reason why Netanyahu’s, Lukid party won the most seats,in my opinion,its because Netanyahu isn’t afraid to use violence,on Israels enemies,and the Israel denizens are comfortable with that approach.
“Sometimes you win by stepping back and watching your assailant blunder over.”
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Very true.
But in this particular case : I can see that Iran stepped back but how did the states making up the other side of the negotiations “blunder over”?
In what did the alleged “blunder” consist?
One of the most insightful posts I have seen anywhere on this subject. I know little about the details, but the principles – see Craig’s final sentence – are deeply embedded in judo, a sport with oriental origins. Maybe reliance on the values and skills of football can be used to explain the rise and decline of the west.
Republicofscotland
“If you back the,Zionist neo-cons, into a corner,they’ll inevitably come out swinging,watch out for a major incident,that will be blamed on Iran.”
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I can feel your longing. 🙂
Craig, after being silent for months you’re now hitting the reader with everything from Nigeria to Nicola to nuclear (I sort of managed the alliteration there).
Keep up the good work.
And with regard to Iran, I will just add that there are all sorts of social movements going on there, but as usual they get stymied by western interference.
Is the US just doing this because it wants Iran as an ally against Isis
Miss Castello
“Habbababble @ 8:56 pm
Reading your comment – and remembering the desecration of Gaza, in the summer of 2014; (over 2.000 humans, including 571 children) needlessly slaughtered by ‘heroic’ Isra-hell, in their insatiable thirst for Palestinian blood, you are without doubt the most vile, loathsome, creature I have ever had the misfortune to ‘encounter’ on any blog. A slug beneath a stone has more appeal.”
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And very nice to be dialoguing with you too! But why are you pretending to be female?
Anyway : that figure of yours pales into insignificance when set against the total of the various innocent victims of militant Islamism, as evidenced – to take only the most recent example – by the killing of over 130 innocent people at the Kenyan university by Al-Shabab terrorists.
Any comments from you or your fellow Jew-haters about the Kenyan killings (or similar)?
No, thought not! 🙂
Craig,
You might find the attached link interesting. The zionists are organising in Scotland.
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/03/27/dont-argue-dont-engage-just-ignore/
Edmund
The reason British policy towards Nazi Germany changed so abruptly and radically in the spring of 1939 is that Nazi Germany’s bad faith and misdeeds had become so manifest that British public opinion would no longer tolerate a continuation of the policy of appeasement.
I think Israel’s bad faith and misdeeds are now headed for a similar tipping point.
“It is worth reading the comments section on my December article, and seeing just how many commenters could not see that taking a step back would bring a victory to Iran, and that the Ahmadinejad policy of macho confrontation was deeply unintelligent.”
But they hate the West, and macho confrontation with the West is what they want, no matter how unsavoury the assailant. Any old fascist, theocrat, or communist will do
“Anyway : that figure of yours pales into insignificance when set against the total of the various innocent victims of militant Islamism, as evidenced – to take only the most recent example – by the killing of over 130 innocent people at the Kenyan university by Al-Shabab terrorists.
Any comments from you or your fellow Jew-haters about the Kenyan killings (or similar)?”
——————–
Absolutely none.
Because while the precise details of every little event in Israel are known and circulated by the Jew-haters by way of their formidable stockpiles of links, not one of the ongoing daily atrocities committed throughout the Islamic world are ever even so much as mentioned by them. That’s why I can’t take them seriously.
The Iranians have plenty of reason to hate the West:
decades of British imperalism;
the 1953 U.S.-UK coup;
decades of support of the Shah’s tyranny;
encouraging Saddam’s launching the Iran-Iraq War;
providing support to Saddam during that war;
shooting down the Iranian Airbus;
rejecting Iran’s grand bargain offer in 2003
and lots more.
@Lysias
I meant half the contributors to this blog.
Can we trust them ( us i mean, and the usa )
Some additional info Re Iran
” Obama Overruled?
Secretary Clinton got her UN resolution and put the kibosh on the arrangement that Brazil and Turkey had worked out with Iran. The Obama administration celebrated its victory in getting the UN Security Council on June 9, 2010, to approve a fourth round of economic sanctions against Iran. Obama also signed on to even more draconian penalties sailing through Congress.
It turned out, though, that Obama had earlier encouraged both Brazil and Turkey to work out a deal to get Iran to transfer about half its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for more highly enriched uranium that could only be used for peaceful medical purposes. But wait. Isn’t that precisely what the Brazilians and Turks succeeded in doing?
Da Silva and Erdogan, understandably, were nonplussed, and da Silva actually released a copy of an earlier letter of encouragement from Obama.
No matter. The tripartite agreement was denounced by Secretary Clinton and ridiculed by the U.S. mainstream media. And that was kibosh enough. Even after Brazil released Obama’s supportive letter, the President would not publicly defend the position he had taken earlier.
So, once again. Assume you’re in the position of an Iranian negotiator. Trust, but verify, was Ronald Reagan’s approach. We are likely to find out soon whether there exists the level of trust necessary to start dealing successfully with the issue of most concern to Iran – lifting the sanctions….
Ray McGovern
Full Piece @
http://www.globalresearch.ca/why-iran-distrusts-the-us-in-nuke-talks/5440559
And the other thing Anon is that they are incapable of seeing that the West is not a monolith but a collection of democracies where different views can prevail. Much of the credit for this welcome deal belongs with Obama and Kerry as well as the Iranians (it is nearly always a truism that compromise is needed from both sides to reach agreements) but I very much doubt that the Eminences will offer any praise in that direction or shift one inch in their views towards the US.
I suppose the other thing that we should be whispering gently is that Nicola Surgeon ( and my guess Craig as well) would prefer a Tory led government after the General Election.
I think Habbabkuk has got his knitting knotted up. Miss Castello’s comment was on another thread. Must try harder. 🙂
Bil Blum’s latest Anti Empire Report #138
Cold War 2.0 Parts 1, 2 and 3.
Torture via Sanctions
IAEA etc
http://www.williamblum.org/aer/read/138
Chelsea Manning is now on Twitter from Fort Leavenworth prison, Kansas. Handle = @xychelsea
She is thanking all those who gave their help and support.
35 years in prison. Unimaginable.
And Cheney and Bush and Yoo and countless others remain out of jail. Like Blair and Straw.
“I suppose the other thing that we should be whispering gently is that Nicola Surgeon ( and my guess Craig as well) would prefer a Tory led government after the General Election.”
Oh dear, le shit seems to have hit la fan.
Iran is another market. The Yanks are the immediate beneficiaries of this deal. US/western and eastern investors are going to need all the stable acquisitions they can muster. There has been a policy since the dollar became the major currency in the world for the US through the World Bank and IMF to give aid with ties to other countries until their debt is acceptable to the US and these debtors can be manipulated. Countries which succumb to this often have to buy worthless Federal Reserves in exchange for real wealth (goods and services) as well as having to honour a confetti debt to the IMF or World Bank. Iran’s national debt to GDP is about 10%. The US national debt is out of control. Iran is one of the few countries without a Rothschild Central Bank. What the Yanks do not want is a stable economy if they can do something to change that. That is the purpose of the agreement as I see it.
Sanctions have never worked as Obama recently said of its blockade of Cuba. They have not worked with Iran either. And they will not work with Russia. Yes these countries have suffered to some extent in international trade, but so have all their former trading partners. In this one respect Obama is right. There are other reasons new markets are essential. All found in this interview of David Stockman, former advisor to Ronald Reagan. The US is a bust flush. It is only a matter of time.
http://www.thedailysheeple.com/david-stockman-warns-the-end-is-near_032015
I don’t agree with Stockman’s ideas at a solution but I know he’s right when he says he does not know how long the Yanks can keep kicking the can around, and that they need to reduce their defence expenditure drastically and stop intervening militarily abroad. But will they? Or will they plunge us into another war? For those not quite able to grasp what is happening this is what took place in Germany with the mighty Krupps factories. Hitler’s Germany reached a state where its economy was much reliant on defence, so much so that it decided to expand. US bases are all round the globe.
Today the US/UK/NATO alliance is trying to spark off a war in Russia, then China, for which I’m sure China is already preparing, or foolish if it is not. This attempt at world domination by the transatlantic US/UK/NATO alliance can be seen in the same terms as Nazi Germany. The forthcoming war, if commonsense does not prevail, could go nuclear and there are enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world as we know it several times over.
Resident Dissident @ 11.09 pm on 3 April: that’s a daft misunderstanding. As I read it, the SNP’s preference would be for an anti-austerity Labour Party [in your dreams] which did not wish to exit the EU. But if the Conservatives had most MPs, that would also suit the SNP since the SNP would be on the side of the anti-UKIP majority (some in the Conservative Party). Scottish voters and MPs defeating an English attempt to leave the EU would be a partial re-run of Culloden – with the Scots being better led, by realists instead of romantic reactionaries.
This is what I posted at the very useful emptywheel site:
bevin on April 3, 2015 at 1:45 pm
This puts the neo-cons in an interesting position: they have the capability to sabotage this agreement. But in doing so they would isolate the US internationally, and ensure that UN and other international sanctions would crumble rapidly. It would force allies including Europe to declare their independence-to do otherwise would lead to governments’ domestic political discrediting.
At a time when the sanctions against Russia are causing considerable embarrassment to several European governments, Washington risks the prospect of waking up in the near future with Israel and the Saudi tyranny as its only solid allies while its Atlanticist friends in Europe-carefully cultivated over three generations- slip into electoral oblivion.
No doubt Iran understands that it is using judo against a clumsy though very large opponent.
Craig stresses the very important point that, since Iran has made it very obvious that it does not want nuclear weapons, it is giving up nothing except what the warmongers have insisted it will never give up.
Bismark would be proud of the diplomatic virtuosity displayed in a process which has lasted at least six years.
Two more observations: firstly this makes Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons even more embarrassing-not to the fascists running Israel but to the enabling “friends, from France, the UK and the USA, who helped them in their acquisition. Secondly, by entrusting the clowns in the IAEA (to whom Blum as noted by Mary refers) with the grown up job of reporting what is really happening in Iran, rather than acting as a megaphone for the MEK and Mossad, it is asking Yukiya Amano to learn to act without the guidance of a puppeteer.
Fred. Ms Sturgeon has issued a categorical denial that she said anything of the sort.
Wouldn’t have worked so well had Netanyahu not made such an international laughing stock of himself, and his allies, at the UN, Paris and Congress.
Why does he do that.
Who are his allies. What’s driving him. It certainly isn’t Israel’s security. It’s something else.
Why doesn’t he listen to the former leaders of Shin Bet, Mossad, IDF Intel, when they all say that Israel’s future security is in jeopardy, as a direct result of his policies towards the Palestinians.
Why is Israel’s relationship with the US and EU now so publicly querulous.
Even The Brookings have been bitching.
And.
Why has no one mentioned Putin.
It’s surely only the dastardly Putin could conjure a plot so devious that teacher’s pet might so quickly turn to annoying little shit.
It’s either that, or, the Vegas mob are trying to take over.
They got no class.
Punks.
” Ms Sturgeon has issued a categorical denial that she said anything of the sort. ”
Well she would, wouldn’t she?
Kempe
4 Apr, 2015 – 1:50 am:
” Ms Sturgeon has issued a categorical denial that she said anything of the sort. ”
Well she would, wouldn’t she?
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Because they are all socialists hell-bent on destroying the world. DA DA DAH!
But in the real world… nah, I can’t even be bothered with political children.
Its an unwritten thing. It’s friend thing..but it is also about showing respect and ..well working out subconsciously almost the absolute limits to which you think you can’t go beyond…then my “shy” wife gets up on stage…with the band in front of rather a large number of people
and I think wtf?
I asked the Professional..you must have caught that??
She is my Wife..
I asked the organiser ..well is it on or what?
He said Yes..if we get a turnout like this…well how would you know?
My Girlfriend sent me a text message..but I could hardly invite her..it was her Ex’s kid walking..and I know she still loves him..and my wife and me…
So how is Nicola Sturgeon Getting On?
Is She Going To Turn Up at Cambridge Rock Festival..and meet us lot?
Sorry for breaking all the rules. I mean no harm, and I haven’t betrayed anyone.
My Girlfriend comes from Lancashire Too..and No I Haven’t..I call her My Sister..and She calls me Brother..but fkin ell
My wife tells me and her..I think you have incestuous thoughts about your sister…
She is not my sister..and I love her to bits..
She is so lovely…as is my wife..but she didn’t turn up tonight..our friend who she fancies did..and she is texting me..Its up to you girl..why didn’t you invite me??
I did..
Sorry if you don’t understand this and it is conflicting with your political agenda.
Maybe you should get out and meet some real people with a common interest..like music..it cuts though all the nonsense…you make friends..
Tony
My Grandfather was born in Scotland and He taught Music at St. Dunstan’s College in Forest Hill, London..
And World War 1 started in 1914
He immediately Volunteered..He was an Officer and a Gentleman
He had made love to my Grandmother..and My Mum was born in 1915…
Now you would think after 4 years in The Trenches..In The Somme..some cunt would have killed him..but No ..He was still there..after herding loads of Kids To Their Deaths..Including Most Of Accrington…
But He had done it for so long..he couldn’t do it any more..and he just walked away..and he brought up his youngest – My Mum as a Peasent Girl In Northern France..and he had wriiten this song..certain he was going to die..and my Niece played it to my Mum on her 80th Birthday..
So Don’t Tell Me about Fucking War..and All This Shit..that you think ain’t going to happen until it does…
Why Is The British Government Such an Embarrassment To Me…about what is happening in The Ukraine…
Are You Completely Stupid Evil Fuckers Or What??
Why won’t hardly Anyone Write The Truth..That THE USA is Attacking Europe…
They Are Going For Us in Europe..under The Guise of Attacking Russia…
Why can’t you see it and write about it…whilst you are going on about sone Scootish Referendum..and all the Rest???
Are You So Blind..That You Can’t See..and Help Us Defend Ourselves From These Evil Bastards.
Do You Really Want a Nuclear War???
Cos These Cunts in Washington Do.
Is anyone in The UK Going To Say No??
Tony
Well Edit it ..and wake up..do you think I am an evil person???
Don’t you realise what is going on???
I Care..and I Love and I Make Friends..when they all look at me…well rather drunk and a bit stoned..if anyone had anything..just a whiff..I ain’t got fuck all mate..But I am writing what I write..What have I got to be afraid of..I accept the future..and I don’t know what is going to happen..I just love my wife, my children and my friends..I know the last moment of my lfe is going to happen..but that is O.K.
Dan & Glenda..Who’s Side Are You On??
Tony_0pmoc
4 Apr, 2015 – 3:18 am
My Grandfather was born in Scotland and He taught Music at St. Dunstan’s College in Forest Hill, London..
And World War 1 started in 1914
He immediately Volunteered..He was an Officer and a Gentleman
He had made love to my Grandmother..and My Mum was born in 1915…
Now you would think after 4 years in The Trenches..In The Somme..some cnt would have killed him..but No ..He was still there..after herding loads of Kids To Their Deaths..Including Most Of Accrington…
But He had done it for so long..he couldn’t do it any more..and he just walked away..and he brought up his youngest – My Mum as a Peasant Girl In Northern France..and he had wriiten this song..certain he was going to die..and my Niece played it to my Mum on her 80th Birthday..
So Don’t Tell Me about Fcking War..and All This Shiit..that you think ain’t going to happen until it does…
Why Is The British Government Such an Embarrassment To Me…about what is happening in The Ukraine…
Are You Completely Stupid Evil Fckers Or What??
Why won’t hardly Anyone Write The Truth..That THE USA is Attacking Europe…
They Are Going For Us in Europe..under The Guise of Attacking Russia…
Why can’t you see it and write about it…whilst you are going on about some Scottish Referendum..and all the Rest???
Are You So Blind..That You Can’t See..and Help Us Defend Ourselves From These Evil Bast@rds.
Do You Really Want a Nuclear War???
Cos These Cnts in Washington Do.
Is anyone in The UK Going To Say No??
My Girlfriend From Accrington says..Tony …Waste The Cnts
Tell Them Like it Is…
So I Try
Or They Will Kill Us All
Tony