Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Kerry: Netanyahu Was Wrong About Iraq–Why Trust Him on Iran?



Kerry: Netanyahu Was Wrong About Iraq–Why Trust Him on Iran?
by Joel B. Pollak25 Feb 2015
Secretary of State John Kerry told the House Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that the U.S. should be wary of trusting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s warnings on Iran, because Netanyahu had also backed the Iraq War. Kerry’s remarks were hypocritical, since he also supported the war. And they raise the disturbing suggestion, beloved of conspiracy theorists, that Israel is dragging the U.S. to war. Yet it is worth asking whether Kerry’s criticism has merit.

Netanyahu’s vehement assertion in 2002–as a private citizen, testifying to Congress–that Saddam Hussein was pursuing weapons of mass destruction certainly looks foolish in retrospect. In his defense, it is what the world’s intelligence agencies also believed. It may even have been what Saddam Hussein himself believed. It was the only conclusion to draw from Saddam’s defiance of the United Nations inspectors, and it was only the war that allowed the question to be settled.

Moreover, Netanyahu was right about a number of other things. He correctly predicted that the Iraq war could destabilize Iran, which it did in 2009 (though President Barack Obama failed to take advantage). He correctly predicted that the Iraq war would discourage other states in the region that had similar weapons programs: Libya soon gave its programs up, and Iran suspended its work towards a nuclear weapon for a time. Netanyahu also predicted the democratization of the region.

One thing that Netanyahu could not have predicted was the weakness of the next U.S. president. He stressed that the Iraq war and the war on terror would only succeed if America focused on “the three W’s — winning, winning and winning.” He could not have foreseen that Democrats would try to leave Iraq in defeat, and that Obama would later turn a victory into a loss. He could not have foreseen that the U.S. would actually promote the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran’s regional power.

Overall, Netanyahu’s support for the Iraq War actually reinforces his credibility, because so much of what he said about the region has actually transpired. Even if he had been wrong on every point regarding Iraq, that would not mean that what he is saying about Iran is untrue. In addition, Netanyahu’s warnings about Iran are corroborated even by those, like Kenneth Pollack, who oppose war as a policy option (Pollack favors a kind of containment). So Kerry’s criticism misses the mark.

Kerry’s jab at Netanyahu’s support for the Iraq War, then, deserves to be seen not as a substantive point but rather as a partisan one, a signal to fellow Democrats about which side of the argument they should back. The anti-war movement has taken over the Democratic Party, and so likening the Iran crisis to the Iraq war is an appeal to politics rather than reason.

In reality, history will judge Netanyahu’s errors in Iraq more favorably than Kerry’s errors on Iran–and elsewhere–today.

Iran
Richard M. Helms was the U.S. ambassador for Iran, and Gregory B. Craig was his lawyer.

Note: Gregory B. Craig was Richard M. Helms’s lawyer, the White House counsel for the Barack Obama administration, a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a director of policy planning for the U.S. Department of State, and is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Richard A. Debs was a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), Anwar Sadat’s pro-bono financial adviser, and is a trustee at the Institute of International Education.
Anwar Sadat’s pro-bono financial adviser was Richard A. Debs, and the president of Egypt.
Mohamed Morsi was the president of Egypt, and is the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Jon M. Huntsman Jr. is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), was a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the ambassador to China for the Barack Obama administration.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).
Ted Turner is a co-chairman for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and the founder of CNN.
Andrea Koppel was a correspondent for CNN, and is married to Kenneth M. Pollack.
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population control by involving the United States in war)
Thomas R. Pickering is a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), was the under secretary for the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. ambassador for the United Nations, the U.S. ambassador for Israel, and the chairman of review board that investigated the 2012 attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya in 2013.
Condoleezza Rice was the secretary for the U.S. Department of State, Muammar Abu Minyar Al-Qadhafi said he loved her & kept scrapbook of her photos, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Muammar Abu Minyar Al-Qadhafi said he loved Condoleezza Rice & kept scrapbook of her photos, was the leader of Libya, and a friend of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was a friend of Muammar Abu Minyar Al-Qadhafi, and a friend of Saddam Hussein.
Saddam Hussein was a friend of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, and the president of Iraq.
Iraq Study Group made policy recommendations on U.S. involvement in Iraq.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a trustee at the Institute of International Education, Antoinette Cook Bush’s stepfather, Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), was a member of the Iraq Study Group, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Lee H. Hamilton is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and was a co-chair for the Iraq Study Group.
Iraq Study Group made policy recommendations on U.S. involvement in Iraq.
Antoinette Cook Bush is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s stepdaughter, and was a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
Valerie B. Jarrett is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).  
Cameron F. Kerry is a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the U.S. Department of State secretary John F. Kerry’s brother.
Teresa Heinz Kerry is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and married to U.S. Department of State secretary John F. Kerry.
John F. Kerry is Cameron F. Kerry’s brother, married to Teresa Heinz Kerry, and the secretary at the U.S. Department of State for the Barack Obama administration.
Martin S. Indyk was the assistant secretary & Middle East peace envoy for the U.S. Department of State, a founding director at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, the U.S. ambassador for Israel, and is a foreign policy director for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Kenneth M. Pollack is a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, married to Andrea Koppel, and was a senior fellow, Middle East policy for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Saban Center for Middle East Policy is a policy center at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Haim Saban is a benefactor for the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a friend of Shimon Peres.
Shimon Peres is a friend of Haim Saban, the president of Israel, and a Nobel Foundation Nobel peace prize winner.
Benjamin Netanyahu is the prime minister for Israel, and the chairman for the Likud Party.
Menachem Begin was the founder of the Likud Party, and is a Nobel Foundation Nobel peace prize winner.
Anwar Sadat is a Nobel Foundation Nobel peace prize winner, was the president of Egypt, and Richard A. Debs was his pro-bono financial adviser.
Barack Obama is a Nobel Foundation Nobel peace prize winner, the president for the Barack Obama administration, and was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Sidley Austin LLP is the lobby firm for Israel.
Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.        
Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).  
Valerie B. Jarrett is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and her great uncle is Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
Antoinette Cook Bush is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s stepdaughter, and was a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
Gregory B. Craig is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, was Richard M. Helms’s lawyer, the White House counsel for the Barack Obama administration, a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and a director of policy planning for the U.S. Department of State.
Richard M. Helms’s lawyer was Gregory B. Craig, and the U.S. ambassador for Iran.

















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