The Civic Platform - A Political Journal of Ideas and Analysis

A free public service of the Institute for Historical Review June 10, 2008

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Middle East Pop Quiz
Charley Reese
http://www.antiwar. com/reese/ ?articleid= 12955

It’s time for another pop quiz on America’s favorite region of the world - the Middle East. Let’s get started with the subject of nuclear weapons. Which country in the Middle East actually possesses nuclear weapons? Israel … Which country in the Middle East occupies land belonging to other people? Israel, which occupies a piece of Lebanon, a larger piece of Syria, East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza … Which country in the Middle East has the most powerful lobby in the U.S.? Israel. Which country in the Middle East are most American politicians, journalists and academics afraid to criticize? Israel.

Israel Attack on Iran ‘Unavoidable, ‘ Says Israeli Minister
Reuters
http://www.thestar. com/News/ World/article/ 438436

An Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites looks “unavoidable” given the apparent failure of sanctions to deny Tehran technology with bomb-making potential, one of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s deputies said on Friday. “If Iran continues with its programme for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are ineffective, ” Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz told the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

“Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable, ” said the former army chief who has also been defence minister.

Israeli Minister Threatens Iran with Attack Over Nuclear Program
CNN
http://edition. cnn.com/2008/ WORLD/meast/ 06/06/israel. iran/index. html

An Israeli Cabinet member said the Jewish state “will attack” Iran if it doesn’t halt its efforts to develop nuclear weaponry, according to a newspaper report Friday. Saul Mofaz is Israel’s main liaison with the United States on strategic issues. “If Iran continues its program to develop nuclear weapons, we will attack it,” Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz told Yediot Ahronot, Israel’s largest mass-circulation daily. “The window of opportunity has closed. The sanctions are not effective. There will be no alternative but to attack Iran in order to stop the Iranian nuclear program.”

Oil Surges to New Heights After Israeli Warning on Iran
Agence France Presse
http://afp.google. com/article/ ALeqM5hkLCJIKdip OHqJ8bwdjN1JUZSF tA

Crude oil prices went on a record-setting surge Friday as fears of a new Middle East conflict were fanned by comments from a top Israeli official about Iran. New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, leapt 10.75 dollars a barrel — its biggest one-day jump ever — to close at a record 138.54 dollars … Compounding the dollar squeeze were remarks by Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz reported Friday by the Yediot Aharonot newspaper, analysts said. “If Iran continues its nuclear weapons program, we will attack it,” Mofaz told the daily, stressing that such an operation could only be conducted with US support.

Growing Talk of Iran Attack
Jeremy Bowen — BBC News
http://news. bbc.co.uk/ 2/hi/middle_ east/7439431. stm

… Plenty of influential people in the Middle East, Europe and the United States think an attack on Iran would have consequences potentially as disastrous as the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It would also send oil prices, already through the roof, into orbit. But the talk has started again … One scenario being discussed by Israeli analysts is that there could be an attack, by Israel or by the Americans, after the US election in November and before the new president is inaugurated in January, with the tacit consent of the incoming president. That might be easier if it is Senator Obama’s Republican rival John McCain.

Americans Are Ruder Than the French, Survey Finds
The Times (Britain)
http://timescorresp ondents.typepad. com/charles_ bremner/2008/ 06/americans- are-r.html

Who are the world’s rudest tourists? According to a new global survey of hoteliers, they are the Americans. This is a little surprising since the cliché would suggest that this prize might go to the French or possibly the Russians. The French did come second to the Americans in the least polite category of the Expedia-Harris poll of more than 4,000 hotel managers around the world. The travel firm’s survey set out to find the best tourists based on their travel traits and habits. The Japanese are the world’s easiest and most delightful tourists for hotel managers … The Americans came mid-way. I was surprised to see the British tying for second place along with the Germans.

The West’s Weapon of Self-Delusion
Robert Fisk - The Independent (Britain)
http://www.informat ionclearinghouse .info/article200 55.htm

So they are it again, the great and the good of American democracy, grovelling and fawning to the Israeli lobbyists of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), repeatedly allying themselves to the cause of another country and one that is continuing to steal Arab land. Will this ever end? Even Barack Obama - or “Mr Baracka” as an Irish friend of mine innocently and wonderfully described him - found time to tell his Jewish audience that Jerusalem is the one undivided capital of Israel, which is not the view of the rest of the world which continues to regard the annexation of Arab East Jerusalem as illegal.

Obama Capitulates - To the Israel Lobby
Justin Raimondo
http://antiwar. com/justin/ ?articleid= 12944

… The clock is ticking, and time is running out for the War Party: they must get in their licks before the most pro-Israel president, ever, leaves office … It is almost certain we will be at war with Iran before a new President is inaugurated: now that Obama has capitulated to the Lobby, nothing but Divine Providence can stop it. God help us all.

I have to say I was wrong - dead wrong — about Obama. In my eagerness to find a bright spot in a rapidly darkening world, I grasped on to his alluring rhetoric and his at-times trenchant critique of the Bush foreign policy, like a sinking man holding on to a life-jacket.

Israel Foreign Minister Was Mossad Agent in Europe
The Sunday Times (Britain)
http://www.timesonl ine.co.uk/ tol/news/ world/middle_ east/article4040 016.ece

The frontrunner to become Israel’s next prime minister, Tzipi Livni, was a Paris agent for Mossad, Israel’s overseas intelligence agency, in the early 1980s when it ran a series of missions to kill Palestinian terrorists in European capitals, according to former colleagues. They say Livni, now foreign minister, was on active service when Mamoun Meraish, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organisation, was shot dead by a Mossad hit squad in Athens on August 21, 1983.

Weber to Speak in Baltimore on July 2
Institute for Historical Review
http://www.ihr. org/news/ july08_meeting. shtml

At a special meeting on July 2 in Baltimore, Mark Weber will tackle enduring myths about World War Two, including lies about how the conflict began. Weber, who has written and lectured extensively on history and current affairs, will also pull apart the myth that World War II was a morally clear-cut fight between “good” Allies and an “evil” enemy. He’ll explain why the official US mythology about World War II, promoted in our schools and motion pictures, is not just bad history, it’s also very harmful — for America and the world. For details about the meeting, contact the IHR.

Irving, Weber to Address IHR Meeting, June 14
Institute for Historical Review
http://www.ihr. org/news/ june08_meetinga. shtml

David Irving and Mark Weber will address an IHR meeting on Saturday evening, June 14, in Orange County, southern California. Irving will provide dramatic details and first-person insights on his headline-making Nov. 2005 arrest in Austria, his sensational trial, and his 13-month imprisonment for the “crime” of expressing dissident views about World War II history. He will also take aim at World War II mythology, providing new insights based on original archival research on major players and key events of that global conflict. Weber will speak on myths about the origins and outbreak of World War II. For details, phone 949 - 631 1490.

Contact Information email: news@ihr.org phone: 949-631-1490 web: http://www.ihr. org/