This article is part of the series: The coming war against Iran
[ 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 - 32 - 33 ]

Obama continueert Iranbeleid Bush - 3

Door Daan de Wit

'America's Pro-Israël Lobby' zoals AIPAC zichzelf noemt, houdt gisteren, vandaag en morgen in Washington de grootste conferentie in z'n geschiedenis. 'This year, the lobby has built its annual conference, and its entire lobbying agenda around the issue of Iran', schrijft Haaretz. AIPAC is oppermachtig en er is ontzag in Washington voor de lange arm van de lobby. Een van de middelen die het inzet is het Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI). Grant Smith, de directeur het Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy vergelijk het TFI met het OSP, het roemruchte Office of Special Plans ten tijde van George W. Bush in de aanloop naar de Irakoorlog.

Zoals Amerika Israël nodig heeft, heeft AIPAC Washington nodig, voor steun en financiële middelen. Zeker met betrekking tot het probleem Iran. 'When AIPAC activists mount the buses March 23 to go meet their representatives on Capitol Hill, they'll be carrying an advocacy message that emphasizes Iran as the immediate and current concern. In lobbying meetings following the conference, AIPAC will also ask members of Congress to complete the new Iran sanctions bill, which has passed both chambers and is now awaiting reconciliation between the two versions in the conference committee, schrijft Haaretz. De krant schrijft ook dat AIPAC er bij Congresleden op zal aandringen een brief aan het Witte Huis te ondertekenen. Daarin wordt de VS opgeroepen voorbij te gaan aan de VN Veiligheidsraad door sancties tegen Iran in te stellen.

Het Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
Een van de manieren waarop druk wordt uitgeoefend op Iran is het TFI, het Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Grant Smith, de directeur van IRmep, het Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy schrijft dat 'AIPAC and its associated think tank, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), were instrumental in lobbying the president for the creation of the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence unit early in 2004'. Deze eenheid zet financiële middelen in als breekijzer tegen de verdediging die Iran probeert op te houden.

Smith vertelt in een interview (4'25) dat het Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI) sinds 2004 is gehuisvest in het ministerie van Financiën. Het wordt geleid door de door Bush aangestelde, en de door Obama gehandhaafde Stuart Levey. De Wall Street Journal schrijft: '[...] Stuart Levey, will travel to Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. "We are pointing out that they face dramatic risks by doing business with Iran," Mr. Levey said in an interview Tuesday'. Smith: 'It looks as though what it's trying to do is to surround and encompass Iran and maybe, if they're really lucky, get them to leave the Non Proliferation Treaty so that Iran can become an even easier target. [...] It's rapidly proven itself to be mainly a sharp edged tool for setting a lot of these trip wires'.

'Het TFI is als het OSP, het Office of Special Plans'
Smith vergelijk het TFI met het OSP, het Office of Special Plans. Dat was de in het Pentagon gehuisveste beruchte geheime dienst die in de aanloop naar de Irakoorlog direct toegang had tot het Witte Huis. Het bureau had tot doel de gewogen inlichtingen van de CIA over Irak te vervangen met ruwe data. Die werd als bewijs van de kwade bedoelingen van Irak gepresenteerd, met alle gevolgen vandien. De ironie was dat het de CIA was die achteraf de zwarte piet kreeg toegeschoven. DeepJournal heeft over het OSP toentertijd uitgebreid gerapporteerd.
Het is vertontrustend dat Smith claimt dat onder Obama soortgelijke praktijken worden uitgevoerd. Smith zegt: 'All of the things we saw before the Iraq war... If you were an Antiwar-listener and knew a lot about the Office of Special Plans, you knew it was essentially a black box that had very little public disclosure into what it was doing around the world. You knew that it was hard wired to the Israel lobby and you knew it was also diverting the institution it was housed in [the Pentagon] away from it's mandate [... The TFI is] even less transparent than the Office of Special Plans'.

McGovern: Israël is de olifant in de kamer
Smith schrijft : 'Invited guests and members of WINEP have received many intimate briefings from TFI officials and consultants —possibly more than the entire US Congress'. Toch werd bij een recente bijeenkomst in de Amerikaanse Senaat over Iran bijna met geen woord gerept over wat voormalig CIA-inlichtingenanalist Ray McGovern de spreekwoordelijke olifant in de kamer noemt: Israël.

Het negeren van de olifant vindt volgens McGovern zijn wortels in de 'time-worn “passionate attachment” of U.S. leaders to Israel's short-term interests as if they were identical to those of the United States'. Om het in de woorden te zeggen van de Amerikaanse vice-president Joe Biden, begin deze maand uitgesproken in Israël: 'The cornerstone of the relationship is our absolute, total, unvarnished commitment to Israel's security.  Bibi, you heard me say before, progress occurs in the Middle East when everyone knows there is simply no space between the United States and Israel.  There is no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel's security.  And for that reason, and many others, addressing Iran's nuclear program has been of -- one of our administration's priorities'.

Volgens McGovern houdt Israël met betrekking tot Iran de VS in een houdgreep. Zijn oplossing: 'This politically super-sensitive issue needs to be addressed openly and without fear'. 'Otherwise, there is virtually no prospect of lessened tensions, and a near-term prospect that things can get dramatically worse — an Israeli provocation and/or a preventive strike on Iran, for example'.

CIA Seeks to Influence Opinion on Wars - 3

The first group of people to be targeted in a military conflict is the public. They are the first victims, for in a military conflict war is only one stage of the battle. The biggest battle is for the hearts and minds of the public at large.

read more

CIA Seeks to Influence Opinion on Wars - 2

The CIA Red Cell recommendations for influencing the European public into continuing their support for the mission in Afghanistan was quite remarkable. But the reality is that the contents of the document prove the rule, not the exception. From my book The Next War - The Attack on Iran - A Preview I took some excerpts that show that the CIA document is not quite unique

read more

CIA Seeks to Influence Opinion on Wars - 1

What's special about the case of the document is not so much its content, but the fact that it is now available for all to see. In a military conflict, war is only one stage of the struggle. The biggest struggle is for the hearts and minds of the public at large.

read more

Obama continues Bush's Iran policy - 3

'America's Pro-Israel Lobby', as AIPAC calls itself, holds the biggest conference in its history today, yesterday and the day before in Washington. 'This year, the lobby has built its annual conference, and its entire lobbying agenda around the issue of Iran', writes Haaretz. AIPAC is very influential, and Washington fears the long arm of the lobby. One of the resources it employs is the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI).

read more

Obama continues Bush's Iran policy - 2

The battle against Iran has already begun. War is only one phase of this process - just as it was with Iraq. The preparation is the most important part of the battle. Whoever thought that the preparation for war ended when Barack Obama took office is advised to take note of the views of critical thinker Noam Chomsky in the previous installment of this DeepJournal series. He says that Obama's policy on Iran is a continuation of the policy of his predecessor, President Bush. Anyone who cares to look at the facts will see that he is right.

read more