Fresh from ‘ethnic cleansing,’ Israel Project teams up with AEI on Iran western scare

by Philip Weiss on July 13, 2009 · 6 comments

My friend JK writes:
Have you seen today's Washington Post story about the purported "huge embassy" Iran is building in Nicaragua? The only problem: there is no monster Iranian embassy in Managua.

But that didn't stop Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from making an embarrassing statement in May: "The Iranians are building a huge embassy in Managua," she said. "And you can only imagine what that's for." One would like to think our Secretary of State has solid, vetted intelligence before making such a statement…. Apparently not.

So who is spreading such stories and has Hillary's ear? Well, there's the hawkish right, but they're not briefing Hillary. This includes dudes like the reliably wrong Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute, who's declared "Iran's embassy in Managua is now the largest diplomatic mission in the city." But even if Rubin and people at the Center for Security Policy aren't Hillary's advisors, they can help the story percolate in D.C.

Perhaps more relevant is the bi-partisan Israel Project, (named here, and last week's providers of the "ethnic cleansing" rationale for maintaining Israelis settlements in the West Bank) who organized a conference call with reporters in which Rep. Connie Mack (R-FL) said that "the growing influence of Iran in the Western Hemisphere reminds me of the relationship between Russia and Cuba when we dealt with the Cuban missile crisis."

Second, the people at State who traffic in clash with Iran (and other Muslim countries) are trusted by Clinton. I always have hope that she can think independently… but I think ultimately she likes loyalists, and in Democratic, pro-Israel hawks she's hired at State, she has toadies.

The Post's reporters tiptoe around the neo-con issue of who's spreading this false information, designed to stoke clash. They simply won't state the Israel connection. But, at least they give facts from which others can draw conclusions. Hillary's conclusions???

(Two points: note the echo of zany cold war hysterics over Nicaragua from the 1980s, when President Reagan said Nicaragua's just a 48-hour drive from Brownsville, Texas. Now it's the Iranian evil empire. And who does have a bona fide "huge embassy" in Managua? The U.S. Not to mention the huge embassy we've built next door to Iran, in Baghdad. But how dare Iran be concerned about such things.)

Related posts:

  1. Israel lobby group says removing settlements is ‘ethnic cleansing’
  2. Jane Harman urges ethnic division in Iran
  3. Jane Harman urges ethnic division in Iran
  4. Jane Harman retracts comments advocating the ethnic division of Iran
  5. Michael Rubin is accused of mistranslating Persian to present Iran as eternal enemy

{ 6 comments }

1 Nth Republic July 13, 2009 at 4:46 pm

… the people at State who traffic in clash with Iran (and other Muslim countries) are trusted by Clinton … she likes loyalists, and in Democratic, pro-Israel hawks she's hired at State, she has toadies. That's precisely the reason why no amount of political capital gained by Obama in appointing Clinton to Secretary of State can outweigh the damage she does in that position. Hers is one of, if not the single worst such appointment he's made in the formation of his government.

2 DICKERSON3870 July 13, 2009 at 7:13 pm

RE: "The Iranians are building a huge embassy in Managua," – Hillary Clinton MY COMMENT: "We create reality." – Bush/Cheney Administration

3 Jake in Jerusalem July 13, 2009 at 8:02 pm

Let's see now. Hillary Clinton beats up on Israel and later trips on her own words about something entirely unrelated, way off in Central America. Have to blame someone. Let's blame the Jews! This is what MondoLies is all about!

4 Snarla July 13, 2009 at 10:20 pm

Do we have embassy envy? Are we afraid somebody else'll build an embassy bigger than our 104-acre behemoth in Iraq, built on the most valuable property in the country, from which we stand and laugh at the natives?

5 Tenma July 13, 2009 at 11:15 pm

The daily bombardment of Iran propaganda has completely and utterly failed. The constant caterwauling about Iran's threat to Israel has only served to illustrate for the masses the complicity of our politicians and media in subverting America's interests at the behest of a foreign power.

6 Sand July 14, 2009 at 5:43 pm

Does a leopard change its spots? Clinton Consulted With Republicans, Neocons On Big Foreign Policy Speech http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-giordano/lobbyis... Oh and Lanny Davis is back… one wonders if she's brought him on the State Dept's payroll as well? Lobbyist Lanny Davis Seeks a Rematch with Obama over Honduras Coup http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-giordano/lobbyis...

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