Wurmser spills the beans: Israel to bomb Iran first
We have predicted again and again that Washington will goad Israel into throwing the first punch at Iran—thereby allowing US elites to shill the blame for the adventure off on the Jews as they jump in with massive air power to "protect our ally." Now, it seems, David Wurmser has stated this stratagem openly. Steven Clemons, writing for Salon Sept. 19, portrays a struggle within the administration between pragmatists who have got Bush's ear at the moment and hardline neocons around Cheney who are still gunning for Iran. He presents lots of inside dish (one wonders where he heard it all), including this extremely ominous gem:
One member of Cheney's national security staff, David Wurmser, worried out loud that Cheney felt that his wing was "losing the policy argument on Iran" inside the administration -- and that they might need to "end run" the president with scenarios that may narrow his choices. The option that Wurmser allegedly discussed was nudging Israel to launch a low-yield cruise missile strike against the Natanz nuclear reactor in Iran, thus "hopefully" prompting a military reaction by Tehran against U.S. forces in Iraq and the Gulf. When queried about Wurmser's alleged comments, a senior Bush administration official told the New York Times, "The vice president is not necessarily responsible for every single thing that comes out of the mouth of every single member of his staff."
Clemons presents the actual quotes from Wurmser (without revealing his source), while the Times only refers obliquely to "hawkish statements" by Wurmser. The really sad thing is that Wurmser probably thinks he is really advancing Jewish interests with this scheming. Nothing could be further from the truth. Israel will be serving (in Uri Avnery's words) as America's attack dog—while perpetuating the necessary illusion that the tail is wagging the dog.
This is, of course, especially foreboding on the heels of Israel's air-strikes on Syria. Was Israel "nudged" into that one too?
We recently noted that the current neocon-pragmatist struggle in the White House has roots going back at least to the Poppy Bush administration. But we submit that both antagonists are necessary to the functioning of the anti-Semitic propaganda system. The anti-Semitic propaganda system is blatant and crude in Iran. In US political culture it is more genteel and subtle—and therefore more insidious.
See our last posts on Iran, anti-Semitism and official Jewish scapegoating.
Newsweek: Wurmser left his job
From Newsweek, Oct. 1:
Is this a sign the more hawkish line on Iran is being sidelined?:
Note that Newseek makes it sound like it would be Israel dragging the US into war:
Israeli MK Ephraim Sneh, 1992
Sneh just retired as deputy Minister of Defense. The following is from an article in Covert Action Quarterly by Israel Shahak in Fall, 1993:
Was Sneh fifteen years ago just mouthing US administration propaganda? He was just being a faithful tail?
Wittingly or unwittingly...
...he was playing his assigned role in the anti-Semitic propaganda system. I would have thought that was obvious by this point.
Did you click on the "again" and "again" links in my introductory blurb? If there weren't elements in the Israeli state who really want to bomb Iran, it would be impossible for the White House to exploit and manipulate them. When are you going to stop thinking in vulgar conspiratorial terms and start developing an appreciation of political culture? Base determines superstructure. The function of a system is what it does. Why do I have to repeat the same points over and over?
I could have sworn that somebody wrote somewhere:
But those who have no grounding in an understanding of political economy never seem to get it, no matter how many times it is spelled out for them...