Netanyahu has a new poodle

[gurey25]

El nitin aho as the egyptians say translated loosly as that dirty one (nitin) netanyahu has a new pet poodle.
and he is doing tricks.

THE ROVING EYE
Why France is playing 'stupid' on Iran
By Pepe Escobar

PARIS - US Secretary of State John Kerry has famously stated the US "is not blind" or "stupid" in its push to clinch a historic deal over the Iranian nuclear program. [1] So now that the world has been informed, he must, cryptically, have been talking about France.

The failed Geneva negotiations this past weekend over a temporary nuclear deal at least carried the merit of revealing who is really blocking it: the axis of fear and loathing composed by the Likudniks in Israel, the House of Saud, and the Francois Hollande administration in France.

Torrents of bytes have already detailed how Israel routinely hijacks US foreign policy. Here's yet one more graphic demonstration of



how Wag the Dog works. Last Friday evening, President Barack Obama called Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu asking him not to derail Geneva. Bibi then duly picked up the phone and called, in succession, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Hollande and asked them ... to derail Geneva.

Hollande was the only one who followed Bibi's marching orders. And all this after Kerry himself had been lectured by Bibi at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport on Friday morning.

Flash forward to the coda, early Sunday morning. Not by accident, Wendy Sherman, the lead US negotiator on the Iranian nuclear dossier, a certified Israeli-firster and borderline racist, [2] flew from Geneva straight to Israel to duly "reassure" her true leader, Bibi, that no deal would be clinched.

It's no secret that Bibi and the Likudniks also run a great deal of Capitol Hill. Apart from bombing Geneva, Bibi may also rack up another temporary victory, with the US Congress about to add even more sanctions on Iran by attaching them to the National Defense Authorization Act.

Meet Bandar Fabius
As far as French behavior is concerned, it is conditioned as much by the formidable Israeli lobby in Paris as hard cash from Gulf petro-monarchies.

It certainly helped that, according to The Times of Israel, French parliament member Meyer Habib - also a holder of an Israeli passport, a former official Likud spokesperson in France, and a close pal of Bibi's - called French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to tell him Israel would attack Iranian nuclear installations if the current deal on the table was clinched. [3]

Call it the AIPAC effect. Habib is the vice-president of the Conseil Representatif des Institutions juives de France, or CRIF - the French equivalent to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The ghostwriter of President Hollande's speeches also happens to be a member of CRIF.

Fabius, grandiloquent and as slippery as runny Roquefort, invoked - what else - "security concerns of Israel" to derail Geneva. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammed Javed Zarif were always extremely worried about being sabotaged by their own internal opposition, the hard line Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. So their number one directive was that no details of the deal should be leaked during the negotiations.

That's exactly what Fabius did. Even before Kerry landed in Geneva, Fabius was telling a French radio station that Paris would not accept a jeu des dupes ("fools' game").

The role of Fabius was pricelessly summed up by the proverbial unnamed Western diplomat telling Reuters, "The Americans, the EU and the Iranians have been working intensively for months on this proposal, and this is nothing more than an attempt by Fabius to insert himself into relevance late in the negotiations." [4]

Terabytes of spin have been asserting that Washington and Paris are playing good cop-bad cop on the Iranian dossier. Not exactly; it's more like the Gallic rooster once again showing off.

Hollande was gung-ho on bombing Damascus when Obama backed off at the 11th minute from the Pentagon's "limited" attack; Hollande was left staring at a stale bottle of Moet. On both Syria and Lebanon, Paris is unabashedly playing a mix of neocolonial hugs and kisses while sharing the bed with Israel and the House of Saud.

But why, once again, shoot itself in the foot? Paris has lost a lot of money - not to mention French jobs, via automaker Peugeot - because of the Iran sanctions dementia.

Ah, but there is always the seduction of Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, aka Bandar Bush, and the Gulf petro-monarchies. In a nutshell; Bandar Fabius was nothing but playing paperboy for the House of Saud. The prize: huge military contracts - aircraft, warships, missile systems - and possible construction of nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia, a deal similar to the one energy giant French Areva clinched last year with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The ghost of Montaigne must be squirming; France does not do irony anymore. Iran has no right to have its own nuclear plants, but France builds them and operates them for its Wahhabi clients.

The West doing Israel's bidding makes sense; after all Israel may also be interpreted as a Western aircraft carrier in the heart of the Arab Middle East. As for France doing the Wahhabis' bidding, just follow the money - from Veolia building and operating water desalination plants in Saudi Arabia to all those Rafale fighter jets to be unloaded.

Qatar, that slavery paradise presented by FIFA with a World Cup, has already invested over US$15 billion - and counting - in France, from shares in Veolia and energy behemoth Total to construction firm Vinci, media giant Lagardere, and full control of Paris Saint Germain, home of the new King of Paris, football icon Zlatan "Ibracadabra" Ibrahimovic. Not to mention that Qatar has bought virtually every significant square inch between Madeleine and Opera in Paris.

Hollande is a joke. This week he's on the cover of the Courrier International weekly (headline: "The Art of the Fall"), with pan-European media judging him "incoherent", "paralyzed" and "incompetent" (and these are the merciful epithets). On the weekend edition of the establishment Le Figaro daily, he was being destroyed because of France's (latest) credit rating downgrade by Standard & Poor's.

King Sarko The First - aka former president Nicolas Sarkozy - must be beaming; Hollande is now the most unpopular president in French history. Paris remains great - but mostly for hordes of fleeting tourists from emerging markets, not for hordes of unemployed Parisians.

So it's Bandar Fabius to the rescue! Gulf petro-monarchy cash is the salvation. In thesis, this show of "independence" should translate into billions of euros in contracts and investments. It also helps that "incompetent" Hollande is on an official visit to Israel in the next few days.

That pivot to Persia
Forget about finding details of the real reasons for this "show of independence" in French mainstream media, apart from Le Monde Diplomatique's Alain Gresh in his blog. [5]

Explanations are absolutely pathetic. France is "alone against all"; it has shown "responsibility"; it has "reaffirmed its independence". And of course all the blame lies on Kerry, who allegedly "came up with a text that nobody ever saw before". Every shill has scrambled to cast Israeli-firster Fabius as savior. And yet the Elysee Palace has stressed that Fabius was just following Hollande's orders - which, in thesis, meant renegotiating the "weak points" of the deal. Call it, essentially, "incompetent" Hollande showing Obama he's got balls.

Paris has spun that the problems with the deal concern Tehran's heavy-water reactor in Arak and its stock of medium-enriched uranium. US and Iranian diplomats had been working hard towards a compromise; Tehran would keep building the reactor over the six-month period of the interim agreement, but tests would be with dummy fuel rods and ordinary water.

Kerry was working on it until Fabius unleashed his peacock act in a long session that only finished late into Saturday morning. This led Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif to note, wryly, that the P5+1 (the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany) needed to negotiate with each other before negotiating with Iran.

The P5+1 internal mess could seriously compromise the next round of negotiations next week in Geneva. Yet Kerry, if he noticed it, managed to change his narrative to something even more theater of the absurd; he's now blaming Iran for the non-deal. [6] It's as if, after reading the French papers, he decided to atone for his sins.

Arguably Iran has proved to the whole, real, flesh and blood "international community" that it wants a deal and it is willing to negotiate. But then there are the sanctions to be approved by the US Congress - a de facto internal American sabotage. Yet these are third-party sanctions - where other countries are "punished" by the US for trading with Iran. No one will take these seriously, starting with the Asian powers, Turkey and Russia.

For the moment, no deal may seem better than a bad deal. It might happen at the next meeting, in Geneva on November 22. Most likely, a full interim deal will happen in a few months. The Obama administration wants a deal. France, for all its posture, is irrelevant.

Worse. Paris is being "blind" and "stupid" - to adapt Kerry's words - by alienating French companies, in the energy sector, nuclear energy and manufacturing, from the fabulous possibilities unleashed by a normalized relationship between Iran and the West. If the Hollande gang believes they will be "saved" by the Wahhabis, they must be on mescal.

It may take years - and it will. But Washington will inevitably find some sort of accommodation with Iran. US corporations want it. The energy-starved West wants it. Even the US hyperpower complex wants it - as it will give it way more leeway in Southwest Asia and beyond. The axis of fear and loathing of Israel, the House of Saud and France may play spoilers - but not for long. "Pivot to Asia"? Not before a pivot to Persia.

Notes:
1. Iran nuclear talks: US 'not stupid' - John Kerry, BBC News, November 10, 2013.
2. The DNA of Iranians and Under Secretary Sherman, Counterpunch, November 4, 2013.
3. Israel will attack Iran if you sign the deal, French MP told Fabius, Times of Israel, November 10, 2013.
4. Iran nuclear deal unlikely as split emerges in Western camp: diplomats, Reuters, November 9, 2013.
5. Click here (in French).
6. Iran balked at Geneva nuclear deal, says John Kerry, The Guardian, November 11, 2013.

Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War (Nimble Books, 2007), Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge (Nimble Books, 2007), and Obama does Globalistan (Nimble Books, 2009).

He may be reached at pepeasia@yahoo.com.

(Copyright 2013 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

[LeJusticier]

France's sabotage of a compromise agreement on Iran's nuclear program is a textbook case of how the new Saudi-Israel alliance can disrupt President Barack Obama's strategy for resolving Middle East disputes through diplomacy, not war.

Over the summer, Saudi officials including intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, visited European capitals dangling financial deals and energy concessions to countries if they would line up behind Saudi and Israeli desires for military intervention in the Syrian civil war and heightened economic warfare against Iran.

The carrots were particularly appealing to the French who are struggling with a sluggish economy, high unemployment and a recent credit downgrade. So, the flash of Saudi petro-dollars got the attention of the French government.


Just last month, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian celebrated the signing of a $1.5 billion deal with Saudi Arabia to overhaul six of its navy ships. In July, Saudi Arabia's ally, United Arab Emirates, signed a $913 million deal with France to buy two high-resolution Helios military satellites.

Other lucrative arms deals are reportedly in the works between France and Saudi Arabia (and its Sunni allies). Saudi Arabia also has deployed its money to bolster France's sagging agricultural and food sectors, including a Saudi firm buying a major stake in Groupe Doux, Europe's largest poultry firm based in Brittany.

The Saudis, however, had less success with other countries. In a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bandar reportedly offered cooperation on oil and natural gas interests as the carrot for getting Putin to abandon the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.

But it was Bandar's implicit stick of renewed violence by Chechen and other Saudi-backed Islamic militants that backfired. Putin reacted angrily, according to diplomatic accounts of the meeting, and adopted an even tougher stance against Saudi desires in the Middle East.




Putin also stepped up his cooperation with President Obama in searching for negotiated settlements to longstanding disagreements in the Middle East, including a U.S.-Russia-brokered deal to get the Syrian government to give up its chemical weapons, a joint push for Syrian peace talks in Geneva and a plan to resolve the Iranian nuclear dispute.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Saudi royals favor a more belligerent approach to these conflicts -- wanting the United States to bomb Syria and "degrade" its military, demanding the immediate removal of Syrian President Assad, and insisting on a complete capitulation by Iran under threat of crippling economic sanctions or a U.S.-Israeli aerial bombardment.

Last weekend -- as an interim agreement with Iran was about to be signed by the five United Nations Security Council members plus Germany -- the French rushed to the rescue of the Israeli-Saudi alliance, showing up at the last minute to unravel the deal that had been painstakingly knitted together.

To the apparent surprise of the Obama administration, the Russians and other governments working on a compromise with Iran over its nuclear program, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius joined the talks late and prevented the accord from being signed.

Much of the subsequent commentary has focused on why the French were coming to the aid of the Israelis in blocking the interim agreement that Netanyahu has denounced in apocalyptic terms. But France's interest in undercutting the deal can perhaps best be understood by factoring in the Saudi money.

Indeed, the logic behind the behind-the-scenes Saudi-Israeli alliance has been that the two former adversaries now view their interests as mostly aligning, especially their contempt for Iran's Shiite government and its influence extending along the Shiite Crescent from Tehran through Baghdad and Damascus to Beirut.

Israel and Saudi Arabia agree that Iran is the greatest threat to their regional interests. Both countries have indicated that they want the Iranian-backed government in Syria to be overthrown even if that means it will be replaced by Saudi-backed Sunni jihadists linked to al-Qaeda. [See Consortiumnews.com's "Israel Sides with Syrian Jihadists."]

Israel and Saudi Arabia also took the same side on the Egyptian military coup d'etat which ousted elected President Mohamed Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. Though the Muslim Brotherhood is Sunni -- like the Saudis -- it represents a populist movement that the Saudi monarchy considers a threat to its anti-democratic structure. Israel views the Muslim Brotherhood as sympathetic to Hamas in Gaza.

But what makes the Saudi-Israeli alliance so influential is the complementary strengths of the two countries. Israel has extraordinary skills at lobbying and propaganda, especially in influencing Official Washington and Capitol Hill. Saudi Arabia has vast financial resources that can turn the heads of defense officials in Paris, oil men in Houston or investment bankers on Wall Street. Together these strengths can make the negotiation of any good-faith compromise with Iran or Syria difficult, if not impossible.

Between Netanyahu pulling the strings of his political and media marionettes in Washington and the Saudis manipulating the French government and others with financial inducements, it will take toughness and savvy for the Obama administration to guide the process to a peaceful resolution. And, toughness and savvy are not attributes that the administration is known to have in great supply.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Why-Fr ... 1-555.html

[FAH1223]

An Iran deal will get done and all Israel and Saudi will do is b1tch and cry.

[LiquidHYDROGEN]

What I don't understand is why Iran doesn't use the Nuclear issue to bargain the removal of most of the sanctions whilst performing enrichment deep underground? It must get nuclear-capability if the regime wants to survive.

[gurey25]

What I don't understand is why Iran doesn't use the Nuclear issue to bargain the removal of most of the sanctions whilst performing enrichment deep underground? It must get nuclear-capability if the regime wants to survive.

iran is using the nuclear issue to push for removal of all sanctions, which goes against what many in the US and Isreal want which is regime change and
"democracy" brought to iran like iraq and libya.

Iran big strategy is to put giving up its rights to enrich uranium which are provided to every nation that signs the NPT, in exchange for lifting of sanctions.
Rouhani believes he can make a deal, while extremists in the US and IRAN view the chances of a deal unlikely and dont trust each other.
Once it gets a deal, it will be admitted into the Shanhai cooperation organization and china and russia will get its back.
meaning they will ignore all sanctions and activley oppose the remaining sanctions while beefing up irans millitary.

iran can then in 10 years restart its nuclear weapons program with no fear of isreali or US interferance.
it will be like India and Pakistan, the US and EU will put new sanctions and make angry faces , none of which will hurt iran which has shielded itself from further economic blackmail.



by agreeing to a deal the Isrealis are right to be pissed of, because you acknowledge the independence and the middle power status to Iran in the future.

[Basra-]

Neta will NOT rest until the Iranians are completely and totally subdued. PS I find Neta extremely ugly politician. He looks like his wife. Both of them look like two adorable pigs.

[gurey25]

there is little that el nitin can do, other than beg the US to attack Iran for him, and threaten to go solo on Iran to stop any diplomatic progress.
Iran does not fear an isreali attack, because they know no long term daamage can be done..
and some in iran have expressed the desire for a solo isreali air raid, to gain political benefit from this and embrass the isrealis, and using this as and opening to weaken sanctions.

[LeJusticier]

I found another interesting facts

Turkey hosted the Iranian foreign minister in Ankara on Nov. 1, hinting at the end of a period of cold ties.

Turkey explores options for friends beyond U.S.

by Soner Cagaptay

The Washington Post

Nov 14, 2013

WASHINGTON – Two years ago, I argued in a Washington Post opinion piece that Turkey was pivoting toward the United States ["A blossoming friendship; Obama, Erdogan are restoring their countries' bond," Nov. 13, 2011].

This policy has not ushered in what Ankara wanted: American firepower to oust the Assad regime in Syria. And feeling alone, Turkey has started to seek other allies, including Beijing.

When the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish officials toyed with the idea of being a stand-alone actor in the Middle East. By 2011, they had realized that the Arab Spring would create long-term instability in their neighborhood and would position Iran against Turkey in Syria. Turkey adeptly pivoted toward the U.S.

The two nations worked with other countries to oust Moammar Gadhafi in Libya that year and, early on, coordinated policies against the Assad regime.

Even more important for U.S.-Turkish relations, President Barack Obama and Erdogan hit it off. The two leaders spoke often and were eager to listen to each other about Middle East issues. The convergence was so apparent that in September 2011 Turkey abandoned its rhetorical hedging that Iran “has the right to pursue nuclear energy research for peaceful purposes” and joined NATO’s missile defense shield.

This is why Turkey’s recent announcement that it would buy air defense systems from China — a first for any NATO member — was a shock. If finalized, this deal would deal a serious blow to Turkey’s relations with the U.S. and with NATO, opening the alliance’s security umbrella to potential Chinese snooping.

Two issues are driving Ankara’s pivot away from Washington. First, Turkey aspires to build its defense industry and has been disappointed that U.S. companies would not transfer technology in return for weapons purchases. Turkish officials see turning to China as a way to enhance their bargaining power with U.S. companies.

Second, Turkey is signaling its disappointment with the Obama administration’s Syria policy — or lack thereof. Turkey has pursued regime change in Damascus since 2012, providing weapons and haven to the Syrian opposition. Ankara has tried to persuade Washington to join its efforts and significantly support the opposition. The U.S. has done neither.

Turkey’s sense of abandonment was heightened following the chemical weapons deal that U.S. and Russian officials brokered in September, which, in Turkish minds, provided a lifeline for the Assad regime.

Turkey foresees two grave eventualities in Syria: an Iran-backed hostile rump state at its border — whose leaders will not forget Ankara’s support for the Syrian rebels — and al-Qaida-controlled enclaves.

Whichever way Syria goes, Turkish officials expect that the outcome is likely to be unfavorable for them and that they will need allies to mitigate the fallout.

The Turkish government’s heavy-handed treatment of protesters this summer also affected the relationship. When the police cracked down on a small pro-environment gathering in Istanbul, millions of Turks took to the streets to demand respect for freedom of assembly and liberal democracy — and were met with a more violent government reaction.

Before these protests, Erdogan and Obama chatted often. Since then, Washington has been mostly deaf to Turkish appeals on Syria.

For the past decade, Turkey has been surrounded by mostly troubled neighbors. By comparison, it has looked like an island of stability. Istanbul’s financial markets have attracted international capital in excess of $40 billion annually, driving record-breaking growth.

The Syrian civil war changes this context. With a weak and divided state next door and al-Qaida at its border, Turkey’s image as the region’s stable nation is eroding, and its economic growth could be undermined.

This could complicate, or even derail, Erdogan’s plans to run for president next year. He is likely to be elected again only if Turkey continues growing.

So after failing to get a U.S. commitment on action in Syria, Turkey is flirting with the Chinese and, potentially, the Russians to lock in additional long-term security.

Eyeing the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, Turkish officials could seek their own deal with Tehran over Syria. Turkey hosted the Iranian foreign minister in Ankara on Nov. 1, hinting at the end of a period of cold ties.

Ankara is trying to ameliorate its relations with Iraq, which soured over Baghdad’s objection to warm ties between Turks and the Iraqi Kurds. Turkey needs Iraq, one of Syria’s other neighbors, as an ally to contain a Syrian meltdown if it cannot bring an end to the Assad regime.

The honeymoon in U.S.-Turkish ties is over. Turkey is out to gather as many friends as it can line up in the Middle East. The U.S. might be just one of them.

[gurey25]

Turkey and India are the 2 main countries that officially accept sanctions against iran but unofficially are its biggest trade partners.
They are irans best sanction busters.
The sanctions against Iran are hurting the dollar and Euros long term stability because they have encouraged countries like Iran, Turkey, India, Pakistan, China and Russia to trade with each other using currency swaps in their mutual currencies and gold.
This is one of China's many small moves towards the end of dollar hegemony over the world economy, they have been quietly yet furiously encouraging this behind the scenes.

If obama wants to derail China's long term plans to destroy dollar hegemony and give it a couple more decades to survive,
he needs to make a deal and let the sanctions against iran go.
Irans business community (bazaaris)are powerful and influential over the government and they are susceptible to seduction by the world financial elite / AKA parasites.

[LeJusticier]

Turkey and India are the 2 main countries that officially accept sanctions against iran but unofficially are its biggest trade partners.
They are irans best sanction busters.
The sanctions against Iran are hurting the dollar and Euros long term stability because they have encouraged countries like Iran, Turkey, India, Pakistan, China and Russia to trade with each other using currency swaps in their mutual currencies and gold.
This is one of China's many small moves towards the end of dollar hegemony over the world economy, they have been quietly yet furiously encouraging this behind the scenes.

If obama wants to derail China's long term plans to destroy dollar hegemony and give it a couple more decades to survive,
he needs to make a deal and let the sanctions against iran go.
Irans business community (bazaaris)are powerful and influential over the government and they are susceptible to seduction by the world financial elite / AKA parasites.

They call this approach local-currency swap deals with trading partners