Iran

What are Iran’s motives?: A guest column

Sunday, July 6th, 2008

Tom Mitchell sent me the following, cogent analysis of Iran’s nuclear weapons program –assuming it exists. I would very much like to believe that what he writes is true. The money quote:
“For understandable historical reasons, Israelis take any threats made against them literally. They should keep in mind that Mao spoke with the […]

Ackerman, Pence Deny Calling for Iran Blockade

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

The plot thickens. Politico’s John Bresnahan reports that:
Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.) have issued a letter today stating that a non-binding resolution they offered on Iran does not call for a military action against that country…
…While the resolution (I repeat, non-binding) also includes a specific denial that it authorizes use of […]

Parsi: Israel would benefit from U.S. accommodation with Iran

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

Here is a bit of sanity and reason from Trita Parsi. It has been excerpted here and there, but the only way to do it justice is to cut and paste the entire piece from Foreign Policy.
As I’ve noted before, there are perhaps 50 people in the world who have a sufficiently detailed […]

Newsflash: AIPAC (probably) isn’t pushing for an attack on Iran

Thursday, June 12th, 2008

I have read even more drivel than usual about AIPAC in the blogosphere these days, and thought I would explain a few things to those who have never attended an AIPAC Policy Conference.
First of all, AIPAC does not appear to be trying to prod the U.S. to bomb Iran. If it is, I have not […]

The peace process, Iran and the law of unintended consequences

Wednesday, December 12th, 2007

At a luncheon panel on Israel and Iran at the Century Foundation yesterday, I was taken aback by some thoughts shared by Trita Parsi, author of the new and highly regarded Dangerous Alliance -The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran and the United States, and Daniel Levy, the former Israeli negotiator who is now Director […]

Are pro-Israel doves part of the “lobby?”

Thursday, November 8th, 2007

Apologies for the recent lack of blogging activity. Too many work and family obligations, not enough hours in the day.
Last week, there was a dyspeptic attack on Americans for Peace Now by my friend Philip Weiss on his blog, MondoWeiss. (Check it out at http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2007/11/foreign-affairs.html). It deserves a belated response.
In taking on a […]

Mainstream American Jews should stand up to the preemptive war hawks

Saturday, October 20th, 2007

For all of its many flaws, the new book by Mearsheimer and Walt makes a vitally important point about the invasion of Iraq that has been obscured in the ongoing war-for-Israel debate: “There was hardly any opposition to the war among the major American Jewish organizations,” they write. That is, sadly, true.
Those who […]

“Jewish Neocons Are Dead Wrong, Not Disloyal” –My piece in the Huffington Post

Tuesday, October 9th, 2007

Please check out my new screed in Huffington Post, in which I find myself objecting to one (just one, I promise) of the accusations that are commonly hurled at Doug Feith and his fellow preemptive war fetishists. I spent a long time trying to figure out how to say what needed to be said, […]

What do Columbia U’s Lee Bollinger and the ADL have in common?

Tuesday, September 25th, 2007

On the ADL web site, there is a section called “No Nuclear Iran.” The slogan is ‘Get informed. Get active.” One page is entitled “AHMADINEJAD: IN HIS OWN WORDS.” It provides some of his most “virulent statements” about the Holocaust, Israel, etc. etc. And they are pretty horrific, disgusting statements, indeed.
Like other Jewish […]