From: Sid Shniad, Wednesday, January 04, 2012 <http://mondoweiss.net/2012/01/mossad-chief-stop-calling-iran-an-existential -threat.html> http://mondoweiss.net/2012/01/mossad-chief-stop-calling-iran-an-existential- threat.html Mossad Chief: Stop calling Iran an 'existential threat' <http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/7d31964139b5563cb7596367a55c7dca?s=36&d=http%3 A%2F%2Fmondoweiss.net%2Fsite%2Fwp-includes%2Fimages%2Fblank.gif&r=PG> by <http://mondoweiss.net/author/paul-mutter> Paul Mutter Mondoweis on January 3, 2012 Wouldn't it be nice if the heads of our own national security agencies spoke truth to power like this? Tamir Pardo, head of Mossad, had <http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/mossad-chief-nuclear-iran-not-nec essarily-existential-threat-to-israel-1.404227> this to say to a roomful of Israeli ambassadors last week: "What is the significance of the term existential threat?" the ambassadors quoted Pardo as asking. "Does Iran pose a threat to Israel? Absolutely. But if one said a nuclear bomb in Iranian hands was an existential threat, that would mean that we would have to close up shop and go home. That's not the situation. The term existential threat is used too freely."
Not only is Pardo going on the record to say that this language, favored by the very Prime Minister who appointed him to head Mossad, is overblown, but he did it in front of a roomful of Avigdor Lieberman's people. This takes guts: Defense Minister Ehud Barak recently found <http://politicalcorrection.org/fpmatters/201111180003> himself in trouble for going off message on Iran when he suggested that Israel is not the sole motive force behind Iran's nuclear talk. Unfortunately in the U.S., the national security agencies have been relatively quiet over Iran since the IAEA's latest, and misinterpreted <http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/11/09/365206/hawks-support-iran-atta ck-iaea/> , report on Iran came out (for a debunking of such misinterpretations, see <http://original.antiwar.com/wellen/2011/11/29/no-really-iran-isnt-developin g-nuclear-weapons/> here). The 2011 NIE, which <http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/15/exclusive_new_national_i ntelligence_estimate_on_iran_complete> has not yet been made available to the public, reportedly concludes that "the [U.S.] intelligence community has not determined that Iran has made the strategic decision to build a nuclear weapon, it is working on the components of such a device." But as Ray McGovern and Elizabeth Murray remind <http://consortiumnews.com/2011/12/30/urging-obama-to-stop-rush-to-iran-war/ > us, Leon Panetta is no Mike Mullen when it comes to standing <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/21/world/middleeast/pentagon-officials-quali fy-panettas-iran-remarks.html?_r=1> down American chickenhawks <http://www.lobelog.com/panettas-iran-comments-applauded-by-aipac-played-dow n-by-pentagon/> , or Netanyahu and his Foreign Minister. The danger today, I believe, is less that Israel will act unilaterally, but that the U.S. will launch a preemptive war on Iran because Obama will be convinced he has no other choice because of the mounting <http://www.lobelog.com/?s=iran+hawk+watch> pressure from both conservative and liberal hawks (not to mention neocons) over his Israel and Iran policies in an election year. Hopefully, voices <http://www.lobelog.com/dear-president-obama-its-not-too-late-for-diplomacy- with-iran/> such as these will increasingly be heard over those clamoring for regime change and airstrikes within and without the administration. So far, though, Tehran, Washington and Tel Aviv are all off to a <http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/01/02/3090967/persian-gulf-tensions-mo unt-as-us-engages-israel-on-iran> bad start in 2012. About Paul Mutter Paul Mutter is a contributor to Mondoweiss, Foreign Policy in Focus and the Arabist. <http://mondoweiss.net/author/paul-mutter> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
