The Stockholm Bombing

UAE Ambassador Calls for Bombing Iran Nuke Facilities

Here's a key exchange between Yousef al-Otaiba, and yours truly, at the Aspen Ideas Festival. I asked him, Do you want the U.S. to stop the Iranian nuclear program by force?

And he answered: "Absolutely, absolutely. I think we are at risk of an Iranian nuclear program far more than you are at risk. At 7,000 miles away, and with two oceans bordering you, an Iranian nuclear threat does not threaten the continental United States. It may threaten your assets in the region, it will threaten the peace process, it will threaten balance of power, it will threaten everything else, but it will not threaten you."

He went on to say, "I am suggesting that I think out of every country in the region, the U.A.E. is most vulnerable to Iran. Our military, who has existed for the past 40 years, wake up, dream, breathe, eat, sleep the Iranian threat. It's the only conventional military threat our military plans for, trains for, equips for, that's it, there's no other threat, there's no country in the region that is a threat to the U.A.E., it's only Iran. So yes, it's very much in our interest that Iran does not gain nuclear technology."

The Atlantic

UAE Ambassador Calls for Bombing Iran Nuke Facilities

The United Arab Emirates' ambassador to Washington has called for bombing Iran's nuclear facilities, saying that the benefits would outweigh the short-term costs.

In unusually blunt remarks, Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba publicly endorsed the use of the military option for countering Iran's nuclear program, if sanctions fail to stop the country's quest for nuclear weapons.

"I think it's a cost-benefit analysis," Mr. al-Otaiba said. "I think despite the large amount of trade we do with Iran, which is close to $12 billion - there will be consequences, there will be a backlash and there will be problems with people protesting and rioting and very unhappy that there is an outside force attacking a Muslim country, that is going to happen no matter what."

"If you are asking me, 'Am I willing to live with that versus living with a nuclear Iran?,' my answer is still the same: 'We cannot live with a nuclear Iran.' I am willing to absorb what takes place at the expense of the security of the UAE."

Mr. al-Otaiba's comments came in response to a question after a public interview session at the Aspen Ideas Festival here. They echo those of some Arab diplomats who have said similar things in private to their American counterparts but never this bluntly in public. The remarks surprised many in the audience.

Hmmm.

Read it all. He said everything in public that we have been told Arab leaders are saying in private for the last two years. Ouch.
Israel Matzav

Killing Innocent Civilians

Bombing innocent civilians does not merit their trust for any kind of peace. Killing innocent citizens of a nuclear power requires a death wish.

Did Israel Bomb a Syrian Nuclear Reactor in 2007?

Jamal Dajani, Huff Post

"The Bush administration charged Thursday that a secret Syrian nuclear reactor was within weeks or months of completion before Israel bombed it on Sept. 6 and demanded that North Korea and Syria publicly acknowledge their collusion on a facility that could have produced plutonium for a nuclear weapon. " The Washington Post

But the Syrian Ambassador to Washington totally rejected these allegations and compared them to the Iraq WMDs fiasco. Do you believe him?

More on Syria: The Taming of the Assad (lion)

Jamal Dajani produces the Mosaic intelligence Report on Link TV

The Folly of Preemptive War

Egypt: Hossam Al Hamalawy, from Egypt, posts an email he received from Mohammad Omar, in Palestine. The message says:
Where to start…, what to talk about…? The crippling electricity shortages, affecting hospitals as well as civilians? The air strikes & on-going, daily bombings by the Israeli army, their indiscriminate targeting of civilians and police stations…? Israel ’s non-accidental, enforced starvation of 1.5 million people by closing off ALL borders and not allowing in even UN aid, let alone basic medicinal, food, and construction needs…?Shortages of fuel have re-surfaced in Gaza : most of Gaza has no electricity and even more importantly, the shortage of medicine in Palestinian hospitals continues to increase, with the Ministry of Health reporting a looming humanitarian catastrophe.Or should I begin with the bomb which just hit a wedding close to the Ministry of Interior building in Gaza City , with 15 apartment buildings within the bomb’s target range? One woman was killed and 47 others were injured –mostly children and women who had been inside their homes or playing on the street!!
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/01/21/palestine-gaza-under-seige/

At some point or other every nation must choose between guns and butter. Do we introduce our kids to classical music or to bus bombing? Do we pursue economic development, or do we invade another country to steal her property.
The people of Gaza have chosen guns, bombing and invasion. If they had succeeded in murdering all Israelis, they would be enjoying the standard of living bought by our toil and industry.
Violence is its own reward.If the Americans haven't realized this, how can we expect the Palestinians to smarten up?