Time to dust off the "bomb Iran" dossier

A mere three or four years ago this blog was anticipating the imminent outbreak of hostilities between The Empire and those plucky Persians. See here and here for example.

To my surprise, the Peace Prize President managed to keep his itchy trigger-finger holstered long enough to craft the Iran nuke deal instead, wherein the Persians promised to dismantle their imaginary nuke program in return for Uncle Sam easing up on the sanctions, much to the chagrin of our allies in the only democracy in the Middle East.

Well, as you've probably noticed by now, there's a new sheriff in town, a new sheriff who at first blush appears even more amenable to taking counsel from AIPAC than the old sheriff, if such a thing can be imagined.

Trump has put Iran "on notice" that bad shit is gonna happen if the Persians don't change their double-dealing back-stabbing ways. After all we've done for them, those turbaned ingrates still insist on developing technology that will deter regional enemies (ie The Chosen People) from rendering them a post-nuke rubble field.

That's obviously a non-starter.

Maybe this is where number 45 shows the world that America is not afraid to follow through...


...and that prospect should scare everyone!

How the Netanyahu crowd has destroyed Israel

Where is Israel today?


Fighting a rear-guard action against BDS.


Continuously justifying the unjustifiable in the West Bank and Gaza.


Fighting another rear-guard action against an Iran deal that leaves the Iran nuclear program exposed to the bright sunshine while leaving Israel's nuclear program completely in the dark. Why anyone in Israel should object to such a deal is inconceivable.


Alienating Israel's one essential patron while fighting that fight.


Israel does indeed have an existential problem, and it's got nothing to do with Iran.


It's got everything to do with the Palestinians.


Before Netanyahu, there was always hope, even in the Sharon era.


Today?


Show me the hope...


When Edgar Bronfman passed, Israeli media were quick to lard on the plaudits. After all, how could they not? Mr. Bronfman, President of the World Jewish Congress for two decades, was the number one advocate for Israel for a long time.


What none of those obits mentioned, was that Edgar Bronfman ceaselessly advocated for a Palestinian state. He knew what BDS knows; Israel has an existential problem that needs to be resolved if Israel is to continue.


That's not anti-Semitism.


That's reality.

Bomb Iran crowd waxing hysterical over prospective nuke deal

 Because what America really needs most is more war!

All the usual Iran-haters are circling the wagons and warning that the doomsday clock is about to strike midnight if the Kerry negotiations reach a successful conclusion.

Here's Charles Krauthammer; he's got this pegged as the "worst deal in American diplomatic history."

Not to be outdone, fellow war-monger John Bolton introduces an international perspective by claiming this deal is "America's Munich." That's code for Kerry is the dupe Chamberlain to Rouhani's Hitler. If Bolton had his druthers he would have bombed Iran years ago.

But wait, those dastardly towel-heads are even worse than that... in fact, they are even worse than ISIS, if such a thing can be imagined! Yup, no less a fear-monger than the Greatest Leader Since Moses came up with that one!

The prospect of a deal is a little more personal for Netanyahu; he's crafted a thirty year political career out of claiming the Iranians are months away from a nuclear weapon.

Wonder what surprises he has in his tool kit to scare his country's voters going forward?

Rebranding Canada

Back in the late 50's my folks, DPs fairly recent off the boat, moved us to a sleepy town in south Ontario, where I bore the distinction of being the only kid in Grade one who couldn't speak English.

My mother tongue was German, and this was in the day when you still had ex-army dudes on mechanic's creepers sitting outside the Iroquois Hotel with their tin cups and no legs.

It was not always the best of times.

But I grew up with a certain sense of what this adopted country was all about.

My dear daddy told me many times that we ended up in Canada because it was a less militaristic society than some of the other options.

That was one thing that always stuck in my mind.

The fact that Canada, very early on, was a destination for escaped slaves instead of the place they were escaping was something that stuck with me too.

We seemed to be just a bit ahead of the curve on all sorts of compassionate causes.

We were peace-keepers, not war-mongers. We cared about the environment. We believed in free health care for everybody and we brought in gun control.

That was then.

This is now;

• Here's a story about Steven Harper praising  the new Australian PM on scuttling the carbon tax
• Here's a story about Canada weaseling loopholes into the international prohibition against cluster bombs
• Here's John Baird poo-poohing the Iran deal negotiated this weekend

There's a certain trend evident here. Where once upon a time Canada aligned herself with the progressive nations on the planet, we are now relegated to that rump of rogue states who are perpetually pro-war and anti-environment.

When did we vote for that?