Thursday, May 3, 2018

Sliding into War

Notice how the US Secretary of State echoes his master's voice. No, not Trump's. Netanyahu's:

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stepped up pressure on the US to pull out of a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, holding a prime-time address on Israeli television to present what he called evidence of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program and a decade of deception... [He unveiled slides] including one that just said 'Iran lied'... The presentation probably didn't come as a surprise to Trump. The two leaders had spoken at the weekend, just as new US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Israel... Late on Monday, US time, Pompeo [said] 'Now that the world knows Iran has lied and is still lying, it is time to revisit the question of whether Iran can be trusted to enrich... any nuclear material'... ('No smoking gun' in Iran claims, Stephen Farrell, Reuters/Sydney Morning Herald, 2/5/18)

However, for those interested in the facts, as opposed to the theatrics:

"Eren Etzion, former deputy Israeli national security adviser who now heads the Israeli-European think-tank Forum of Stategic Dialogue, said on Twitter: 'No 'smoking gun' was revealed this evening, nor was it proven that Iran is today developing nuclear weaponry or violating the (nuclear deal) in any other way'." (ibid)

1 comment:

Grappler said...

Good article over at MW on his speech. And some good comments - also some risible ones from jackdaw and grover duly dealt with by the MW regulars.