09.18.2013 original publish date
03.14.2015 repaired/ replaced broken links
U.S. Leadership Continually Has Been Wrong on Iran’s Intent
original article written by Net Advisor™
WASHINGTON, DC. The Obama Administration has said that Syria is a threat to U.S. National Security. Let’s take a look at the real regional threat to the Middle-east: Iran.
In 2009, we published, “Are Your Smarter than a Terrorist,” that included Iran. In 2012, we published a new report on Iran and their nuclear activities.
U.S.: False Perception On Iran
Some in the U.S. leadership including then Hillary Clinton’s State Department and the White House was under the false promise that Iran’s past President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or new President, Hassan Rouhani would somehow be ‘Western-friendly.’
Whomever came up with this notion that Iran – after decades of state sponsoring terrorism against the West, and currently arming Assad’s Syria against the U.S. was somehow going to be ‘Western Friendly’ should have their head examined.
In April 2009, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden advised Israel not to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. Under U.S. advisement, Israel held back waiting for some magic miracle from the White House on how to deal with Iran.
Iran’s False Promise
Shortly after, Iran said it would cooperate on its WMDs (in this case) nuclear weapons development. Then Iran continued saying that the ‘West should not try to force Tehran to stop uranium enrichment.’ In other words, Iran won’t budge on its nuclear weapons plans.
The Obama Administration’s “economic sanctions” on Iran have little to no impact. Russia, China and others have helped pick up the slack. Since then, Iran has become stronger militarily wise, and arguably seeks to become a major player in the Middle-east.
Cold War 2.0
A CIA report in 2009 suggested that China and Russia are helping Iran (Cold War 2.0), “move toward self-sufficiency in the production of ballistic missiles.” In 2010, Iran reportedly test-fired some new missiles. By 2011, Iran reportedly fired two long-range [1,900 km or 1,180 miles] ballistic missiles into the Indian Ocean.
Iran’s former nuclear chief said that Tehran has 18,000 centrifuges for uranium enrichment.
In 2012, Iran wanted to show its new power by saying it could destroy U.S. bases in minutes.
“Haji Zadeh said 35 U.S. bases were within reach of Iran’s ballistic missiles, the most advanced of which commanders have said could hit targets 2,000 km (1,300 miles) away.
“We have thought of measures to set up bases and deploy missiles to destroy all these bases in the early minutes after an attack,” he added.”
— Source: Reuters
In June 2013, Iran reportedly sent over 4,000 troops to support Syria’s President Assad [Report, Point 17]. By August 2013, Iran threatened to attack Israel if the U.S. launched an attack on Assad’s Syria.
“The day of reckoning is near,” according to Hossein Shariatmadari, the chief editor of Keyhan newspaper, an outlet controlled by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
An Op-Ed penned by Shariatmadari Tuesday warned that the impending confrontation between the West and Syria would “provide the long-awaited opportunity for revenge against Israel and America.”
— Source: World Net Daily
How President Obama is Helping Russia to Defend Iran
In May 2010, the Obama Administration probably made the second worst foreign policy move ever. The worst right now is allowing Iran to continue develop technology toward nuclear weapons.
In order to supposedly get Russia’s “help” with sanctions on Iran, the White House agreed that Russia could continually sell arms to Iran to defend their nuke program from foreign air strikes!
The Obama Administration also removed sanctions from several Russian companies.
“The United States has reached an agreement with Russia that will allow Russian arms sales to Iran in return for Russian support on sanctions against the Islamic Republic…
…The deal also agrees not to ban the sale of the Russian S-300 air defense system to Iran.”
— Source: Russia Today (RT.com). [Additional Sources: Reuters and The Washington Post]
That’s right you read that correctly. The Obama Administration allowed Russia to bypass international sanctions and sell military weapons – specifically S-300 missiles to Iran.
By August 2010, Russia created this illusion and agreed that they would not sell S-300 missiles or “materiel, connected with the above weapons, including spare parts” to Iran.
Three years later (2013), Russia now plans to sell new S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, AND help build another nuclear reactor.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin will offer to supply Iran S-300 air defense missile systems as well as build a second reactor at the Bushehr nuclear plant, the Kommersant business daily reported Wednesday.
Putin will renew an old offer to supply Iran with five of the sophisticated ground-to-air missile systems at a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rowhani on Friday, Kommersant said, quoting a source close to the Kremlin.”
— Source: AFP/ Business Insider 9-11-2013 Additional Source: Fox News.
The Obama Administration was so focused on these trivial sanctions against Iran it completely overlooked that Russia could and did renege on any promise and just go ahead with Cold War 2.0 (Middle-east nuclear arms race). And Russia is helping Iran build another nuclear reactor, HELLO Mr. President?
I call this Cold War 2.0 because Russia has been working to arm countries in the Middle-East, and so is the United States. During the first Cold War, Europe got all the arms and defenses. The new Cold War 2.0 is in the Middle-East, and by the look of things, there already is war going on – Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, Libya, Egypt, Syria.
The West Will Lose Any Ideological War in the Middle-East
Iran’s new President Hassan Roughani is not interested in Obama’s social causes, climate change, fuel efficient vehicles, let along the notion of liberty for its people. President Roughani is driven by the Islamic religion. Roughani supports Shia Islam over Sunni Islam. This conflict between these two Islamic religious views has been ongoing for over 1,000 years.
Thus, the U.S. is not going to persuade Iran to do anything unless Iran wants the U.S. to think they are cooperating. In fact, Iran has led the United States under two Administrations on this ten-year long fantasy journey that Iran would somehow seek to stop their nuclear ambition. The UN threatened sanctions on Iran for developing nuclear power back in 2003. Even President Obama’s sanctions have not swayed Iran to give up their nuclear plans either.
The U.S. needs to understand that Iran is about as cooperative as a two-year-old in a candy store.
While the U.S. creates headline news over a Syria, that pose no threat to the U.S., Iran is getting help from Russia and China to become a more formidable (and nuclear) power in the Middle-east.
Eventually, in the case of untamed Iran, there will be a time where it will be too late to stop their nuclear weapons development. No UN or U.S. threat of sanctions has ever stopped Iran from achieving their means to an end. A nuclear-armed Iran is far more dangerous to Middle-East stability than any Syrian chemical weapon could ever be.
Photo Credits: As noted.
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