Despite the rhetoric, there is no evidence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program

By Ben Cohen

As the bellicose language increases from the Bush Administration, the actual threat from Iran seems to be decreasing. With Bush telling the American public that a nuclear Iran would instigate 'World War 3', a variety of experts have certified that there is no evidence that they are trying to attain nuclear weapons.

Late last month, Bush told a room packed with journalists that:

"I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon,"

This is flatly contradicted by prominent experts directly related to the issue of nuclear proliferation.

"I have not received any information that there is a concrete active nuclear-weapons program going on right now," said IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei.

With insiders in the Bush Administration also admitting that Iran is not working on the bomb, the evidence would ultimately point to the White House beating the drums for another war.

Read more details in a very interesting article on McClatchydc.com



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David Barsamian Interview Part 3

In the final part of our exclusive interview with David Barsamian, we discuss the possible role of Israel in an attack on Iran, the Jewish population in Iran, the history of U.S/Iranian relations and much, much more. Click here to see part 1 and part 2


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David Barsamian Interview part 2

By Ben Cohen
Editor

In the second part of our interview with author David Barsamian (see part one here), the topic of conversation moves to the occupation of Iraq, the business of war, the cultural history of Iran, and the consequences of another war in the Middle East. See below for part 2 of our exclusive interview:

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Ahmadinejad: What need do we have for a bomb?

by Ari Rutenberg

In an interview with Iranian President Ahmadinejad done by CBS' 60 Minutes the Iranian President specifically refuted U.S. claims that he is attempting to develop nuclear weapons. Read the article and see the video here and read additional coverage here. Ahmadinejad also said that "it's wrong to think that Iran and the U.S. are walking towards war. Who says so? Why should we go to war?...There is no war in the offing."

So clearly the recent rhetoric from Bush, Cheney, and Sarkozy is both incorrect factually and counterproductive diplomatically.

Though I do not believe Ahmadinejad is incorrect about many things, it is not because he lies. I believe his word to be credible because he believes what he says. There is therefore no reason to question the veracity of statements whose outcomes he controls. Therefore it seems clear that drum beats for war are only coming from one religious fundamentalist government, ours.

Once again our leaders desire war for the most crass and heartless of reasons. Indeed they have poisoned the minds of the American people to the extent that a New York state Assemblyman Dov Hikind said ""He should be arrested when he comes to Columbia University, not invited to speak, for God's sake." This was said apropos of nothing. Neither this man, nor anyone else, has any hard evidence that Iran or Mr. Ahmadinejad have committed any crimes. The fact that Iraqi insurgents use their weapons is an indication of nothing, given that they use ours as well. In addition it is a reminder of the complete lack of knowledge and understanding many Americans, even those in government, have towards the outside world. It is illegal to arrest a foreign leader traveling on a diplomatic mission to the United Nations. We have granted this man a visa to enter our country and should not be making threats which are unconstitutional (because under the constitution treaty obligations are our highest law).

So then there is no reason to talk about war with Iran other than to stoke the fears of the American population. It must stop or we will find that we have become the monster so many eleive us to be. Read more!

Targeting Iran part 2

The Daily Banter is pleased to publish the second set of exclusive excerpts from David Barsamian's critically acclaimed new book 'Targeting Iran". The book contains interviews with todays leading intellectuals about the escalating conflict between the United States and Iranian governments.

Click here for part 1.

We'd like to thank David Barsamian and City Lights Books for supporting The Daily Banter.

Next week we will be publishing excerpts from Barsamian's interview with Noam Chomsky.

By David Barsamian

Under George W. Bush, U.S.–Iranian relations have deteriorated drastically. In his 2002 State of the Union address, President Bush designated Iran as part of the “axis of evil.” The speech stunned Tehran, particularly as it had just assisted the Bush administration in ousting the Taliban in Afghanistan. The “axis of evil” label was a big setback for reform president Mohammad Khatami (1997–2005), who risked much in cooperating with the United States. For Iran to be categorically grouped with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, which had waged an eight-year war against Iran (1980–88), was an additional humiliation....

Political tensions with the United States have sharply escalated in 2006–7. United States allies Israel, India, and Pakistan all possess nuclear weapons but have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Washington gives those countries a free pass, but not Iran, which is a signatory to the NPT and has come under intense scrutiny. As a signatory to the treaty, it is permitted to enrich uranium. However, it is accused by the Bush administration, with some European support, of enriching uranium to develop nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency, based in Vienna, referred the issue of Iranian compliance or noncompliance with the NPT to the UN Security Council in New York. In December 2006, the Security Council voted to impose limited sanctions on Iraq. More comprehensive sanctions, with the United States pressing the issue, are on their way. Interestingly, the United States is also a signatory to the NPT and, as such, is obliged to draw down its nuclear weapons arsenal. Despite their importance for understanding the crisis, it is virtually impossible to find mention of these key facts in most U.S. media reporting on the issue.

The central tenet of U.S. policy is: What we say goes. To make certain Tehran understands this basic principle of statecraft, in February 2007 Washington has dispatched yet another aircraft carrier battle group to the Persian Gulf to join the already deployed Eisenhower group. The new armada is led by the carrier USS John C. Stennis.

One can only imagine the response from Washington if Iranian naval vessels were deployed offshore from New York or Seattle.

The U.S. position on talking with Iran is: Give us what a negotiation would produce before the negotiations start. You concede, and then we can sit down and talk. This posture is a nonstarter as far as the Iranians are concerned. On February 27, 2007, Iran’s foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, restated his country’s position: “Demands that Iran halt enrichment are illegal and illegitimate.” That will “never” happen, he said. However, he added, Iran is prepared to negotiate about its nuclear program “without any preconditions.”

Although the Bush administration says it has no intention to invade Iran, the New Statesman and the BBC, on February 19 and 20, 2007, revealed detailed plans of what an American attack would look like. The BBC reported that two triggers would cause U.S. military action: (a) any confirmation that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon or (b) if Iran were responsible for a high-casualty attack against U.S. forces.


Shirin Ebadi, Iran’s 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, in an opinion piece in USA Today, has this advice for Americans and the regime in Washington: “The Iranian people are exceedingly proud of their 2,500-year history and culture. Iran as a country is larger and greater than its rulers and exists apart from any government in power at any particular time. If America attacks, however, Iranians will unite, forgetting their differences with their government, and they will fiercely and tenaciously defend their country.”

David Barsamian is the award winning founder and director of AR (Alternative Radio) and author of 14 books. To purchase a copy of the book 'Targeting Iran', click here, or go to the link at the top of the page.
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UN believes war with Iran is imminent

By Ben Cohen

In an alarming statement, the United Nations chief nuclear weapons inspector gave stark warning against the use of force against Iran. Mohamed ElBaradei called the increasing aggression against Iran "out of control" and said he "hoped everybody would have gotten the lesson after the Iraq situation, where 700,000 innocent civilians have lost their lives on the suspicion that a country has nuclear weapons."

Having failed at virtually every aspect of his presidency, Bush is looking to divert attention by beating the drums for another war with renewed relish. With aggressive statements now coming from the French Government (which was opposed to the invasion of Iraq), it appears the west is gearing up for another confrontation with the Middle East. With Iran's steadfast desire to attain nuclear capability, the march to war is gaining speed rapidly.

Obviously rattled by the Iranian governments increasing influence in the Middle East, the issue here is almost certainly not about Nuclear weapons. After all, Israel, Pakistan and India have nuclear weapons in the region and are not the target of U.S/Western aggression. Iran knows Iraq is a weak spot for the U.S, and is using its power to gain leverage in the region. While all the other major powers in the region have submitted themselves U.S control, Iran will not, and it is reaping the consequences. It's petulance simply won't do and the West is seeking to keep Iran in its place.

This is cause for serious concern, as the cost of war, human life and terrorism will be enormous. People must raise awareness of this issue to stop our governments from marching us blindly into another conflict we do not fully understand. The gall of our leaders to even suggest another war is beyond rational explanation given their atrocious track record in recent years. But they are lulling us to sleep again with stories of 'imminent threats' and 'mushroom clouds'.

It's time to wake up, and it's time to speak out. We won't be fooled again.

END


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France gets into the mix with Iran

By Ben Cohen

For some reason, the western world believes it has the right to lecture everyone else on their rights to have nuclear weapons. Now France has warned Iran that it will go to war if they do not stop the progression towards having nuclear capability. Let's use the wonderful tool of perspective and look at it from a different angle. As a concerned person, I believe that any country that possesses nuclear capability is a threat to peace and stability. Therefore France should be invaded promptly for is possession of the lethal weapon, and Iran should be the country to do it. Anyone up for it? Of course not. France is a sovereign nation, and no one has the right to invade them even if they have granted themselves the right to have nuclear weapons.

To boot, France is a nation with white people, and they would never actually use the bomb. It's those pesky underdeveloped nations that have historically used Weapons of Mass Destruction anyway......

Please post comments below- this is a serious issue, and warrants much discussion.
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The Drums Of War

By Peter Bauer

Here we go again. FOX News is once again beating the drums for war with Iran in the same way that they beat them for Iraq.

In an interview on Fox, former recess appointed Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton said he hoped we would attack Iran in the next six months.

The Bush Administration has been adamant in their stance that Iran must not obtain nuclear capabilities, and are now asserting that Iran is actively involved in attacks in Iraq and the rest of the Persian Gulf. What is important to keep in mind is that the Bush Administration has systematically distorted and mislead the United States to war, and therefore have lost all credibility in their assessment of proper military action. WMD's anybody?

Here's a side by side comparison of FOX News Coverage of the Iraq war, and build-up to war with Iran.

The issue of the media's lock step compliance in drumming up covering war and then reporting on it's bloody aftermath for higher ratings and more advertising dollars has been discussed at great length in a recent film called War Made Easy by Norman Solomon. This film compares talking points, rhetoric, and media coverage of every war of the Television Era. Consider this essential viewing for anyone committed to actively subverting the Dominant Media Paradigm.

This propaganda is systematic and coordinated, and must be rejected wholesale by the American public before this nightmare gets any further out of hand.

Click here to watch the video.
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Cheney wants war with Iran

By Ben Cohen

Not content with master minding the biggest military blunder in U.S history, Dick Cheney apparently has his sights firmly set on dragging the U.S into another war with Iran. It is an incredible feat of will power for the vice president to convince himself that 1. He was right about Iraq, 2. He is right about invading Iran, 3. Anyone takes him seriously anymore.

One would have thought that Cheney's phenomenally low approval rating (lower than Bush's 25%) would put the brakes on his war fantasies, but no. Cheney is convinced the U.S must stretch it's nearly broken military even further, and commit another heinous war crime against a sovereign nation.

Having deferred from military service five times during the Vietnam war, Cheney's posturing on Iran is again, completely laughable. The ultimate 'Chicken Hawk', Cheney's credibility is probably lower than zero on the topic, and he would do well to disappear from public life as much as possible.

But given his track record on creating disasters, the country would also do well to keep an eye on him. END

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Bush announces Middle East peace proposal, but no one cares.

By Ben Cohen

Apparently George Bush now wants peace in the Middle East. Having invaded two countries in the region, and funded another (the Israeli invasion of Lebanon), Bush is casting himself as a leader dedicated to ending the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Announcing a Middle East Peace conference, Bush said:

"We can help them prove to the world, the region and Israel that a Palestinian state would be a partner, not a danger".

"We can help them make clear to all Palestinians that rejecting violence is the surest path to security and a better life,"

Rejecting violence? Is he serious? Given the United States has systematically ignored the plight of the Palestinians and bankrolled an Israeli military that has caused thousands and thousands of illegal deaths, not to speak of its own murderous policy in the region, it is beyond ridiculous that Bush would even attempt to speak about the issue.

With the death toll in Iraq rising, and a war with Iran being discussed, the United States has zero credibility when it comes to matters of peace.

Bush has 18 months left in office, and he should probably spend the time on issues he is better able to cope with. Walking his dog and running around the park take skill and dedication, something Bush would be well advised to concentrate on.


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