I’m flabberghasted. Speaking at a Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) forum Patrick Clawson Director of Research at Institute suggests initiating a war with Iran thru implementation of a covert attack.
I frankly think that crisis initiation is really tough.
…..
I mentioned that explosion on August 17th, we could step up the pressure. I mean look people Iranian submarines periodically go down, some day one of them might not come up, who would know why? We can do a variety of things if we wish to to increase the pressure, I’m not advocating that but i’m just suggesting this is not an either or proposition (just sanctions have to succeed or other things), we are in the game of using covert means against the Iranians. We could get nastier then.
Presumably, this is from a WINEP forum held on September 24 titled ‘How to Build U.S.-Israeli Coordination on Preventing an Iranian Nuclear Breakout’.
(Hat tip MW commenter xanadou)
Clawson isn’t a Jewish name, he looks Irish.
This proves that the people inside the Israel Lobby are not all Jews. Some of the biggest higher-ups are WASPs, others are anti-Islamic Arabs(some of whom are atheists, others are Coptic Christians etc) as well as a plethora of other people.
The lobby works only for Israel, it employs people from all backgrounds and faiths.
Finally, I remember seeing another clip from another WINEP guy (WINEP is AIPAC’s think-tank for those that do not know) where he openly talked – and bragged – with a grin on his face about how to influence and ‘constrain’ members of Congress.
These people are completely and certifiably nuts. That’s why all their wars are going to hell.
“[C]risis initiation is really tough.”
What a striking comment. Of course, the US has done a lot of crisis initiation. The Bush administration initiated the post-9/11 crisis with Iraq. I’ve often thought that the cruel sanctions regimes, previously imposed on Iraq and now on Iran, are calculated to provoke the victim.
When I saw the headline here, I thought that “covert attack” war’s idolaters might have in mind would be more in the vein of old-fashioned US covert ops. During the Reagan years, the US would dress up its “advisers” and Contra terrorists in the uniforms of the Nicaraguan Sandanista soldiers, then have them commit atrocities while so outfitted. The idea, of course, was to bring down blame on the Sandanistas.
The IDF and Mossad are known to have their operatives dress up as Palestinians. Reports have noted that they are so well-trained that their accents can match regional Palestinian ones.
The caveat here is that such reports are easily misstated (over or under) and even more easily dismissed as “conspiracy theory.” Past charges by Americans (especially African Americans and Native Americans) that FBI or local police forces were infiltrating protester ranks to sow discord or provoke violence have invariably been dismissed by the likes of Man’s Greatest Newspaper, the Times. The catch is that such charges have repeatedly been shown to be true. For example, we now know that the NYPD infiltrated protester groups during the 2004 RNC and continues to do spy on Muslims and Arabs, including through planted NYPD operatives.
Seymour Hersh and others have reported on US/Israeli covert operations already underway in Iran. If these have failed to provoke the overt Iranian response that Clawson would like to see, one has to wonder why he thinks a sabotaged submarine would. My guess is he has something more drastic in mind — something like the 1988 US destruction of the Iranian Airbus, killing 290 innocents.
Great post, Annie. Eisenhower warned against the military-industrial complex, with only dark hints as to what they were up to. Operation Northwoods declassification gave some insight. Now we get to watch video on Mondoweiss. My favorite line, “I don’t think the President can get the job [starting a war with Iran] done.”
Worst historical reference: Lincoln got the war he wanted by ordering the outpost at Ft. Sumter to do exactly what the rebels said would cause them to attack. As I recall, the South gave an ultimatum to surrender the fort by a date and time certain. It was the South that initiated that war, with big but terribly naive and unrealistic plans as to how it would all turn out. Clawson is probably descended from South Carolina rebels, or some other band of naive hotheads. He should go to jail for treason. Will the press report on this advocacy to subversively get us into another war? Or is the press just the willing handmaiden to these thoroughly dangerous idiots?
Yesterday I listened to the entire Shindig. These people are going to make certain that War Happens. We are screwed – again.
smoking gun time, but so what, PNAC called for a “new Pearl Harbor” and got it with zero consequences