"President Obama has a full court press under way to stop Congress from passing new sanctions legislation that could–could, not will–impose sanctions on Iran one year from now if negotiations break down or Iran cheats. The idea seems to be that passage of the bill would signal mistrust of Iran, or would break the spell of sincerity being cast at the negotiating table.
But what is Iran doing while the president woos legislators? Laughing at us all. Yesterday, Iran’s foreign minister–one of the reputed moderates in the Rouhani camp–was in Beirut and laid a wreath at the grave of Imad Mughniyeh [1962-2008; read all about him here].
Mughniyeh was the Hezbollah terrorist who had killed more Americans than any other man until the attack on 9/11. Mughniyeh was involved in bombing the Marine barracks in Beirut, the bombings of US embassies, the torture and killing of CIA station chief William Buckley in Beirut, the hijacking of TWA 847 and the murder of Navy diver Robert Stethem–among other acts of terror. He was also indicted in Argentina for the bombing of the Israeli embassy and Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.
So what does the urbane Zarif do when in Beirut? He lays a wreath at Mughniyeh’s grave ..."(Read more here and here)
Having just read Elliot Abrams's article, which sends (as it should) a chill into the pro-Israel heart, I'm grateful to reader Ian G of the the Almond Rod blog, for alerting me to the existence of this video. It appears on his blog, but I can't resist also posting it here. As Ian wrote to me:
"This is not a heavily political story. It's quite sunny - literally! But it counters some of the myths, lies and prejudices that have grown up around Israel I think the video is worth watching."
Yes, it is sunny, as warming as the present sweltering heatwave in south-east Australia!
I hope and pray that your readers and mine will be encouraged and cheered by the video. I'm glad that we both were.
ReplyDeleteThanks for alerting me to it, Ian.
DeleteObama is the ultimate western liberal white man. He gazes down on the adorable primitive brown people and wonders if his concerns are theirs.
ReplyDelete"The idea seems to be that passage of the bill would signal mistrust of Iran, or would break the spell of sincerity being cast at the negotiating table."
ReplyDeleteWell, hey, what dya know, they've spotted the minefield the Senate is laying. Because the Senators surely don't trust Iran: "past behaviour predicts future behaviour" has always been a pretty good guide as to what to expect from the powerful. And the Ayatollahs are certainly powerful.
Last I saw, 58 Senators had signed the Bill before them. Only needs another 17 for a 2/3rds majority, and a repeat of that in the House would mean the Pres is wasting his time vetoing the Bill and the Ayatollahs are put on notice to behave, or else...