President Obama is speaking about an Iran nuclear deal.

**Eddie** · 12-17-2013, 01:47 PM

I don't see both articles as antisemitism but I can see how it can be interpreted as antisemitic. There are many types or form of antisemitism. One is called New antisemitism. Supporters of this new concept believe that criticism of Israel is antisemitic and consider anti-zionism as antisemitic.

The RT article is criticizing American imperialism

Critics of the concept view it as trivializing the meaning of antisemitism, and as exploiting antisemitism in order to silence debate and to deflect attention from legitimate criticism of the State of Israel, and, by associating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, misused to taint anyone opposed to Israeli actions and policies.
More information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisem...w_antisemitism
Source: http://baltimorechronicle.com/2007/020207LERNER.shtml

Other critics claim that supporters of Israel sometimes equate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism in a deliberate attempt to prevent legitimate criticism of Israel and discredit critics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critici...s_antisemitism

Critics of the concept argue that it conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism, defines legitimate criticism of Israel too narrowly and demonization too broadly, trivializes the meaning of antisemitism, and exploits antisemitism in order to silence debate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_ant...s_antisemitism

Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, Irfan Khawaja, and Tariq Ali have suggested that the characterization of anti-Zionism as anti-Semitic is inaccurate, sometimes obscures legitimate criticism of Israel's policies and actions, and is sometimes a political ploy to stifle criticism of Israel.[
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionism..._anti-Semitism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Zi...d_antisemitism

There are Israelis how criticize the actions of the Israel government.
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHART...t_zionism.html

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The new anti-Semitism, and the campaign to silence American critics of Israel

Despite many assaults, past and present, the First Amendment of the United States constitution broadly guarantees freedom of speech. But it is threatened by a slanderous campaign to discredit or silence American critics of the Israeli government. The Israel lobby, guided by the Israeli government, with the help of Israeli think tanks, is organizing this effort. In fact, Malcolm Hoenlein, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, has publicly announced this campaign for the 2013-14 school year.

A key component of this attack on freedom of speech is the “new anti-Semitism,” the claim that criticism of Israel is based on hatred of Jews. But the real purpose of the new anti-Semitism is to discredit and silence Israel’s critics in the U.S. and elsewhere, even though comparable criticisms are common place in Israel, especially in such renown newspapers as Ha’aretz, the “New York Times of Israel. “

A recent victim of this smear is Sadia Saifuddin, the University of California student recently appointed without any opposing votes as the first Muslim student representative to the University of California Board of Regents. Even though Ms. Saifuddin is clearly qualified, with a great resume, Israel lobby stalwarts StandwithUs, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and David Horowitz attacked her nomination. Why? Not because Saifuddin was unqualified. It is because she has opposed the Israeli government’s occupation of the territories it conquered in 1967, including the resulting dispossession of Palestinian property and violation of Palestinian human rights guaranteed through international law. For these reasons she cosponsored a divestment resolution at the UC Berkeley Student Senate, and the AIPAC types — using the template of the new anti-Semitism — then claimed she was unfit to be a UC Regent because she threatened UC Jewish students

Indeed, Jewish students and faculty were once victims of real anti-Semitism on American campuses from the early 20th Century through the early 1970s in the form of admission quotas, glass ceilings on high academic and administrative positions, and discriminatory practices by fraternities and sororities. But these types of anti-Semitic social discrimination were successfully fought and have been absent from American college campuses for over 40 years. In fact, Jewish organizations, such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) no longer measure anti-Semitic discrimination in the United States. This is why the ADL’s annual count of anti-Semitic incidents is restricted to verbal harassment, assaults, and property crimes, none of which have the slightest connection to Sadia Saifuddin.

With hardly any real anti-Semitism in sight, the Israel lobby concocted a new form of anti-Semitism: criticism of the Israeli government’s policies and practices. They argue that any criticism of Israel is really a call for the destruction of the state, the alleged secret agenda of the country’s critics. Nonsense! And the Israel lobby knows this is nonsense because nearly all American critics of Israel are driven by opposition to a nominally Western country that – on one hand – “shares our values,” while – on the other hand – has maintained a 46-year military occupation over four million people in conquered territories, depriving them of human, civil, and economic rights. Furthermore, in blatant violation of the 1949 4th Geneva Convention, Israel continues to construct illegal towns, cities, and factories in these areas. These segregated “settlements”, including their access highways, are limited to Jewish Israelis. Furthermore, these settlers are subject to Israeli civilian law, not the Israeli military law imposed on their immediate Palestinian neighbors.

Another case of the new anti-Semitism targeting speech on California campuses is California State Assembly Resolution HR-35. HR-35 characterizes any criticism of Israel as “cloaked” anti-Semitism. Carlos Villarreal, director of the San Francisco chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, called this resolution irresponsible and dangerous because it fails to distinguish between legitimate support for the Palestinian people and real anti-Semitism (i.e., verbal harassment and physical attacks on Jewish individuals and institutions). This is why the ADL does not include these campus political events in its annual list of anti-Semitic activity in the United States.

HR-35 did not become California law, but it has had the effect of encouraging university administrators to enact restrictions on campus political events critical of the Israeli government. Under an HR-35 inspired campus policy, some political speech would be silenced. Any person or group that stood up against an obvious human rights abuse, like Israel’s 2008-09 assault on Gaza with banned phosphorus bombs, could be charged with anti-Semitism. These bogus charges could ruin someone’s reputation and bring sanctions against university-affiliated student organizations. Most individuals and campus groups would, therefore, remain silent. After all, who wants to be identified and then punished as a bigot?

The intent of HR-35 is to undermine free speech when that speech entails criticism of Israel.

So what happens next? California is about to witness a major effort by the Israel lobby, financially supported and directed by the government of Israel, to discredit campus groups that work for the end of Israel’s direct and indirect occupation of the land it conquered in 1967. As active members of LA Jews for Peace, we strongly oppose this misuse of charges of anti-Semitism, and stand with those, Jewish and non-Jewish, who criticize the practices of the Israeli government and the support of those practices by the United States government. Attempts to muzzle groups for political speech should be stopped in the bud.

Jeff Warner and Dick Platkin are Jewish peace activists in southern California and leaders of LA Jews for Peace. They have organized many demonstrations against Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory in general and the siege of Gaza in particular. Warner has been on humanitarian missions to Gaza. He is a retired research geologist and now works on environmental and climate change issues. Platkin is a retired city planner and now works to stop “mansionization” of residential neighborhoods.

http://mondoweiss.net/2013/08/the-ne...of-israel.html

**Advertisement** · 12-17-2013 01:47 PM

**Eddie** · 12-17-2013, 05:06 PM

Shulamit Aloni is an Israeli politician. She founded the Ratz party, was leader of the Meretz party, and served as Minister of Education from 1992 to 1993.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shulamit_Aloni

**Eddie** · 01-29-2014, 08:34 PM

Iran Foreign Ministry has dismissed remarks made by US President Barack Obama concerning Iran and the region as “unrealistic and unconstructive.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said on Wednesday that Obama’s comments on Iran’s nuclear activities show his incorrect understanding of Tehran’s commitment to the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities.

She added that the US “illusion” about the effect of its anti-Iran sanctions on Iran’s motivation and willingness to engage in nuclear talks is based on a false understanding of Tehran’s commitment to dispel any doubts about the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities.

Afkham was referring to the comments Obama made during his fifth State of the Union address before US Congress on Tuesday night.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman also emphasized that highlighting the effects of anti-Iran sanctions was the result of a “totally incorrect interpretation of Iran’s willingness to create a new opportunity for Western countries to forge a different kind of relations with Iranian people and try to win the confidence of this great nation.

She dismissed Washington’s accusation about Iran nuclear energy program having a military aspect, saying that Tehran has never sought nuclear weapons.

Afkham stressed Iran’s commitment to the interim nuclear deal signed between Iran and the six world powers in Geneva in November 2013, calling on the US not to forget its obligations under the agreement.

The Iranian official also criticized Obama for labeling Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah as a terrorist group while the White House has been turning a blind eye to the crimes of foreign-backed Takfiri militants in the region.

http://presstv.com/detail/2014/01/30...s-unrealistic/

**Jolie Rouge** · 02-10-2014, 06:49 PM

Monday, February 10, 2014
Op-ed: Iranian warships close at hand and Obama does and says nothing
By: Diane Sori

“Iran’s military fleet is approaching the United States’ maritime borders, and this move has a message.”

-- Commander of Iran’s Northern Navy Fleet Admiral Afshin Rezayee Haddad

NOT good folks NOT good at all.

It sure seems like Barack HUSSEIN Obama and his side-kick John 'Swiftboat' Kerry think that a deal made with the devil is better than NO deal at all. The problem is that a deal...any deal...made with Iran will always come back to haunt you...or in the case haunt the United States of America.

The traitorous duo who think they are the brokers of peace but who in reality are the harbingers of war...with their allegiances on the side of the enemy...now sees that Iran...the 'so-called' new moderate Iran...is sending warships dangerously close to our maritime borders off our Eastern seaboard, while at the same time Iranian TV is airing a video of a simulated bombing of Tel Aviv and a U.S. aircraft carrier*...and what is said or done about this...NOT a thing.

So thanks to Barack Obama's placating of and bowing down to the enemy the enemy is now a bit too close for comfort and has shown us proof positive of their true intentions...intentions 'We the People' and Benjamin Netanyahu knew all along but intentions Obama obviously condones.

Claiming the ships carry 30 navy academy cadets on a training mission in addition to the regular crew...coupled with them being on an 'unspecified' military mission (according to Iranian State TV)...should send chills down the spine of every American for 'unspecified' could mean anything from simple naval maneuvers to an act of terrorism, and still Obama and his minions remain silent.

And with Iran claiming the deployment of a (Sabalan) destroyer and a (Khark) logistic helicopter carrier is nothing but a response to U.S. naval deployments near its own coastlines (the U.S. Navy’s 5th fleet is based in nearby Bahrain... based in NOT just hanging around for a few months), why then are they remaining in place for just three months and then returning home.

I'll give you one scenario and it's NOT pretty. While one of our Ohio class or Seawolf submarines could easily take the Iranian ships out if the need arose, a time element is still involved in their arrival as the actions I am about to suggest could happen in a blink of an eye before we could even get there or even know about it. Seriously folks and this is NO joke for you all know I am NO conspiracy theorist...I would be more than a bit alarmed if over the next three months as those Iranian ships are positioned just beyond our maritime borders if high levels of toxic substances are 'suddenly' found in our seafood catches or if major unnatural amounts of dead sea life start washing up on our shores...both equating to the testing of water-delivered biological weapons.

Or...and this might seem a bit far-fetched to some but I put NOTHING...absolutely NOTHING... passed the Iranians...if suddenly an undersea explosion is picked up...as in an undersea test of a nuclear weapon for the time frame that Netanyahu laid out for Iran to have a nuclear weapon has more than passed, and Obama's dilly-dallying around with that farce of a Geneva agreement has given them even more time to secure such a weapon...a weapon that needs to be tested...and where better to test it than at the gateway to what they still refer to as 'The Great Satan.'

Now if the above scenarios are NOT the case consider that both Russia and Iran have the same geopolitical view in controlling the flow of oil...and that issue of oil with the mega-dollars involved has tied both countries together on strategic, energy-related, and regional issues. And that means regional issues that include needing Syria for both their end purposes. For Putin it means NEVER allowing Obama to remove Bashar al-Assad from office for in doing so the Muslim Brotherhood would take control in what was once secular-dominated Syria, and then he would lose Russia's much needed naval facility at Tartus (which is the last Russian military facility outside the former Soviet Union). Also remember that Putin is currently cracking down on NOT only the Muslim Brotherhood but also on islam and its followers in Russia as well.

And Iran's take on this is that both governments view the developments in Syria as a precursor of a redistribution of power in a new Middle East, hopefully free of both Israeli and America interests. And with both counties considering themselves to be pivotal power players in determining who controls the Middle East, and with both countries seeing the U.S. as standing in the way of their quest for power, Iran is more than willing to partner with Russia and do Russia's bidding if need be.

Remember also that Russia has a bit of payback to give the U.S. for Ronald Reagan's ending of the Cold War that led to the demise of the once powerful Soviet Union. And what better way than to flex what muscle they have left than to have America's enemy positioned at their door so to speak. Now add into the mix Barack HUSSEIN Obama and his Arab Spring gone horribly wrong, and the U.S. and Russia again find themselves on opposing sides. And with Obama most likely still pissed off that Putin derailed his Syrian war plans...plans that fit the Saudi and Muslim Brotherhood agendas quite well...agendas which Obama supports and Putin is against...and you have the makings of the Cold War reignited.

And important to note is that while Iran wants an islamic caliphate in Syria, they dare NOT cross their current Russian monetary and military benefactors. So while Iranian officials are playing games with their newly initiated...with fingers crossed behind their backs of course...charm offensive both across the Middle East and Europe, they are doing so with the hopes that those very countries will look away as they continue in the quest to become a nuclear power.

So by sending warships close to our border Iran is doing so on two accords...one at Putin's bidding to help stop Obama from supplying even more guns and weapons to the Syrian rebels who could possibly oust al-Assad if given enough U.S. firepower, as well as to bolster their own goal of becoming a nuclear power and Middle East power broker...a power broker that could very well see to it that Israel is NO longer on the map.

And as you can see none of my scenarios bodes well for our beloved America, but with Barack HUSSEIN Obama the steward of our country what would you expect. Sadly, for now at least, the days of a strong U.S. president are over...a U.S. president who our enemies feared yet respected. Ronald Reagan made nations tremble in fear of his words and George W. Bush had the respect of Putin, but we all know that NO world leader has any respect for or fear of the words or actions of Barack HUSSEIN Obama...a man who leads from behind if and when he leads at all. And when he does lead it's always to lead America in the wrong direction...and Vladimir Putin, Hassan Rouhani, and 'We the People' know that to be the very sad truth, and now the actions of a new embolden Iran prove that point all to well.

http://thepatriotfactor.blogspot.com...e-at-hand.html

SOURCES : http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/02/ne...fdbf-123435571

**Jolie Rouge** · 02-24-2014, 06:05 PM

JOHN BOLTON: Iran is taking America to the cleaners

As Iranian warships steam through the Suez Canal heading for open waters of the Atlantic Ocean near the United States, we should be reminded of an important fact:

Iran doesn't fear the United States, our allies, or international sanctions. It fears no one.

Iran's recent actions are a clear message that they are feeling quite pleased with themselves and that they have broken through the West's regime of sanctions and feel secure enough to project their power on a global scale.

Recently, we received proof when Iran's foreign minister boldly disputed claims that Iran agreed to dismantle its nuclear program. He boasted, "We did not agree to dismantle anything!"

Barack Obama does not truly see America as exceptional; instead, he sees America as just another player in an increasingly multi-polar world that includes an ascending Iran.

Imagine this - if Iran completes its nuclear weapons program those ships in the Atlantic could be carrying nuclear tipped missiles. Its radical Islamic regime could park them off of New York, Boston or Washington and directly threaten American power and security.

And why can they do this?

Because Obama has made us weak.

We must be prepared to do what it takes to protect the idea of American exceptionalism and our basic Constitutional priorities -- the preservation of which are essential not only to our security, but to our prosperity as well.

I'm done accepting second rate leadership for the best nation in the history of mankind.

Sincerely, John Bolton

**boopster** · 02-24-2014, 06:20 PM

O has no foreign policy. he draws lines and runs the other way. newest poll says that 53% of americans feel that O is NOT respected by other countries. I can see why they would not. does he care about this country? He might take more action if hollywood was threatened

**Eddie** · 03-09-2014, 09:12 PM

Iranian warships headed to the U.S. coast pose little danger to the USA, but could be a dry run for the future, according to former U.S. officials.

The ships pose almost no danger because “they have no capability whatsoever,” said Gary Samore, a former adviser to President Obama on arms control, prevention of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.

The commander of Iran’s Northern Navy Fleet, Adm. Afshin Rezayee Haddad, said Iran sent “a fleet” to the Atlantic Ocean, to approach U.S. maritime borders for the first time, according to the Associated Press, which cited Iran’s official IRNA news agency Saturday.

The news comes as the U.S. and other world powers prepare to meet Feb. 18 with Iranian diplomats in Vienna to seek a comprehensive agreement about Iran’s disputed nuclear program. Iran seeks an agreement that would eliminate economic sanctions over its nuclear program that have crippled its economy. The U.S. seek to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Iran says its nuclear program has peaceful aims.

The Iranian naval mission shows the danger Iran would pose if it possessed nuclear weapons, says John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush and an arms negotiator during the Cold War.

“It shows they could put a weapon on a boat or freighter, and if (Iran) has ballistic missiles it could put it anywhere on the U.S. coast,” Bolton said. “Down the road it could be a threat.”

The vessels had begun sailing to the Atlantic Ocean by waters near South Africa, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported.

Iranian officials last month said the fleet would embark on a three-month mission and consist of a destroyer and a logistic helicopter carrier.

The plan is part of Iran’s response to Washington’s beefed up naval presence in the Persian Gulf, according to Fars. The U.S. Navy’s 5th fleet is based in Bahrain — across the Persian Gulf from Iran — and the U.S. has conducted two major naval war games in the last two years.

Samore, now executive director for research at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, said Iran has consistently objected to the U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf.

“Their position is there should be no military bases or forces in the Gulf controlled by countries (that are) not Gulf countries,” Samore said. “They say this because if there were no outside powers, Iran would be the strongest power in the region. So it’s in their interest to demand there be no external force in the Gulf.”

Iran’s military doctrine is based on asymmetric warfare, relying on a multilayered strategy the employs many kinds of low-tech weapons and a willingness to accept casualties, says Michael Connell, director of Iranian Studies at the Center for Naval Analyses, which conducts research and analysis for the U.S. government.

In the Persian Gulf, Iran hopes to employ dozens of midget submarines, land-based missile launchers and speedboats, in a strategy meant to confuse and overwhelm an adversary with superior technology and firepower, Connell wrote in an assessment of Iran’s naval doctrine.

Bolton said Iran’s ships may not pose much of a threat now, but their mission shows the Islamic Republic is building up its capabilities for the future.

“They are showing they can sail from Iran across the Atlantic Ocean and travel right up to our coast,” Bolton said.

Iran wants ship captains who’ve sailed the Suez Canal and sailed the North Atlantic in the middle of winter, to show their potential reach is far from Iran, he said.

“They’re building up capabilities. That’s what training missions do.”

http://www.airforcetimes.com/article...t-U-S-homeland

**Eddie** · 03-18-2014, 07:41 PM

Israel’s minister for military affairs says Tel Aviv must go it alone in taking action against Iran over its nuclear energy program.

“We had thought the ones who should lead the campaign against Iran is the United States,” Moshe Yaalon said during an event at Tel Aviv University on Tuesday.

“But at some stage the United States entered into negotiations with them, and unhappily, when it comes to negotiating at a Persian bazaar, the Iranians are better,” he added.

Echoing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's threats of unilateral military action against Iran, Yaalon said the US is not going to do anything to stop Tehran's nuclear activities and Israel must act alone.

Pointing to the crisis in Ukraine as an example, Yaalon further criticized US President Barack Obama for “showing weakness”.

Iran is in talks with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Russia, China, France, the UK and the US -- plus Germany to fully resolve the decade-old dispute over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

The two sides inked an interim nuclear deal in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 24, 2013. The Geneva deal took effect on January 20. The two sides are now in pursuit of a final comprehensive deal.

Netanyahu, whose regime is believed to be the only possessor of nuclear arms in the Middle East, has denounced the deal as a "historic mistake".

Israel reportedly maintains between 200 and 400 atomic warheads.

Furthermore, the Israeli regime has never allowed any inspection of its nuclear facilities and continues to defy international calls to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/0...t-iran-yaalon/

Different sources on Yaalon's comment https://news.google.com/news?ncl=d6c...ed=0CDIQqgIwAA

**boopster** · 03-18-2014, 10:07 PM

if it is true that israel has had nuclear capabilities for a long time, it proves that as a country they have been responsible is not using them. I happen to agree that the US shows weakness and therefore cannot be relied upon for support (unless support means taking out a box of crayons and drawing a line). the world sees putin as almost twice as strong as obama. why can obama not get european countries to back him up? could it be that they do not trust him to have their backs? personally if he and I were walking down a street at night and an unsavory group approached us, I think I would find myself alone in this situation because i think obama would run at the first sight of them. as a president when things are happening in a negative tune he seems to find his way to the golf course. he also does not attend meeting and relies on written reports which means he can't ask any questions of those at the meeting. when benghazi was happening, he went to bed and the next day he was in vegas....need i say more?

**Jolie Rouge** · 03-19-2014, 08:39 AM

WOW!
I woke up this morning and I thought I was living in Obamas America. Berry-the-Bright was sending Uncle Sound Bite Joe Biden to Poland for top-level negotiations and his wife is on her way to China with the girls and his Mother-in-Law.

What is this? Try all the worst ideas you can dream up first, then slowly work your way back to common sense?

We do have Mr. Roark and Tattoo looking for ‘Z Plane, Z Plane” and of course we are threatening Russia with cutting off travel to the US by Putin’s Cabinet, come on Berry you cant even keep illegal South and Central Americans from crossing our border, you think you can keep a Russian Politicians 700 pound wife or Fashion Model Girlfriend out of New York Fashion Week if she wants to ‘spend hard currency’? Dream on.

What’s next Berry? Are you going to take him off your Christmas Card List? Re-gift him an 8-year-old Fruit Cake? Un-friend him on Facebook?
Its crazyville and the inmates are running the asylum.

Berry this isn’t Naked and Afraid and you can’t tap out when it gets too tough.

Where are YOU flying on Spring break? It seems like wherever the pilot wants to take you.

I’m still holding the line on mechanical fault, because everything else sounds like the plot of a Tom Clancy book. Sometimes the boy who cries wolf actually sees a wolf. This afternoon the blogs were all heated up with the hijack theory. Some of it started to make sense. Pakistan is still mad at us for killing Bin Laden in his compound next to their version of West Point and they have the technical ability to fly that Malaysian plane below and behind the Korean Air Flight that was just ahead of the probable flight path of the missing flight.

Sometimes there is a glimmer of truth in every lie.

I’m NOT sure I believe the story claiming the pilot was a NASCAR fan because the only turns the plane made were lefts.

A North Carolina woman who worked as a pizza delivery driver was delivering a pie to a house on her regular route when a man comes up behind her and ordered her to hand over her money. She acted like she was reaching into her purse for the cash when she produced a handgun. She said she quipped with the would be robber that she only had 380 (a play on the caliber of the gun a .380) and they ran off. She said the incident got her heart beating. DOJ is looking to charge her with a hate crime.

The population has shifted so much in California with Immigration and Corporate/Affluence Migration out of the High Tax State that Latinos now out number Whites in the state 37 to 36%. Or more accurately, they will this spring. That leaves the 14% Asian, 7% African American and 6% other in the driver's seat as to where the power is going to be.

In a sign of ‘how its going to be’ after an attempt to repeal fairness in admissions in the states colleges, the oriental block flexed their muscles and forced the state senate to drop repeal of the states fairness in education law. This law puts more weight on admissions testing than on statewide population makeup.

17 year old robs & kills a man for his phone in Seattle Washington. He is arguing as his defense that…he had to kill him because “he saw my face.” In the twisted reality we live in you can see how that is the way they do it on TV, but then this fellow made me proud that I spend a large amount of my income on taxes to educate, feed, and support those who have a sense of entitlement when he said ‘It wasn’t even a nice phone’. You have to admire his sense of value. Good Lord!

Federal Government has been shut down for the last 7 days... due to weather. Non-essential personnel didn’t have to show up…

More computer ‘glitches’ this time in administering the Common Core Tests. What is that now, Obama Care, Common Core, and the VA, all with computer problems? You know I’m not the smartest guy, but maybe a visit to the Apple Genius Bar and not so many to the Martini Bar and this problem could be solved.

--

Ted Forcht
03 18 2014 Tuesday

**Jolie Rouge** · 04-01-2014, 05:02 AM

Hostage-Taking Past of Iran’s UN Pick a Dilemma for Obama
By Kambiz Foroohar and David Lerman March 30, 2014 11:00 PM CT

Iran has forced a foreign policy dilemma on the Obama administration by choosing as its next United Nations ambassador an official who belonged to the group that held 52 Americans hostage in Tehran for 444 days.

Iran’s government has applied for the U.S. visa required for Hamid Aboutalebi to take the UN post in New York, Bloomberg News reported March 29. Aboutalebi, Iran’s former ambassador to Belgium and Italy, was a member of the group of radical students that seized the U.S. embassy on Nov. 4, 1979.

The Iranian move poses a headache for President Barack Obama’s administration as it tries to balance international negotiations aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program against skepticism at home about whether the Islamic Republic has changed its ways, said Michael Singh, managing director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

“Denying a visa to Iran’s ambassador-designate could upset President Obama’s still-delicate diplomatic re-engagement with Iran,” Singh, a former senior director for Middle East affairs at the U.S. National Security Council, said in an e-mailed statement. “But granting the visa will prove controversial in the U.S. and will reinforce the impression among regional allies that Washington is willing to ignore Iranian misbehavior in our pursuit of a nuclear accord.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani chose Aboutalebi to serve at the UN, which is headquartered on international soil in New York, after an interim nuclear deal between Iran and six international powers was forged on Nov. 24.

‘Procedural Hurdle’

The State Department hasn’t responded to the visa application, according to an Iranian diplomat who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity. There is no deadline for the U.S. to act.

The department is likely to take its time investigating the application, said Suzanne Maloney, an Iran analyst at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based public policy research organization.

“This is now a procedural hurdle for both sides,” Maloney said. “It will not just be approved without an appropriate debate at the State Department.”

Hamid Babaei, a spokesman for Iran’s UN Mission in New York, declined to comment. Aboutalebi has said in the past that he acted mostly as a translator and negotiator during the embassy occupation.

“We don’t as a matter of practice comment on visa applications.” said Marie Harf, deputy State Department spokeswoman. Asked if the U.S. is aware that Aboutalebi was a member of the hostage-taking group, Harf declined to comment.

“Anyone can submit a visa application, and it will be evaluated as we do all visa applications, in accordance with our procedures,” she said. “We don’t speculate on what the outcome might be.”

‘Not Buried’

Rouhani has offered the world an image of greater Iranian moderation, a process that began with his first speech to the United Nations in September. At the same time, he has to contend with hard-line forces at home, including those who are hostile to any rapprochement with the U.S.

A decision to grant a visa to Aboutalebi could spark opposition in the U.S. Congress and beyond because memories of the 1979-1980 hostage ordeal remain raw, according to Maloney. “This is not buried history,” she said.

Michael Metrinko, a former diplomat and hostage who endured beatings and interrogations during his 444 days of captivity, said it was “really stupid” and ironic for Iran to pick someone associated with taking diplomats hostage to become its top diplomat at the UN.

“The Iranian government officials have never understood that they did anything wrong,” Metrinko said of the hostage crisis. “It was the most egregious violation of diplomatic norms and protocols.”

‘Torture’ Compensation

“There’ll not be any rapprochement with Iran until hostages are compensated for their torture,” said Tom Lankford, an Alexandria, Virginia-based lawyer who’s been trying to win compensation for the hostages since 2000. “It’s important that no state sponsor of terror can avoid paying for acts of terror.”

The U.S. is obliged to grant entry visas to representatives of UN member-states in accordance with an agreement signed in 1947. Still, this is not the first time the U.S. has had to grapple with a controversial visa request for a prominent Iranian official.

In 2005, Iran applied for a visa for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when allegations surfaced that he was one of the hostage-takers. The Department of Homeland Security initially found Ahmadinejad ineligible for a visa to enter the U.S., only to have the State Department grant the visa months later after interviewing former hostages.

Cuba to Africa

Some U.S. foes have received visas in the past, said Gary Sick, the top Iran specialist on President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Council staff during the hostage crisis.

“All kinds of leaders from Cuba to Africa who could be accused of horrible crimes and opposing U.S. policies have received visas,” Sick said. “There is no way to know why some people get the visa and some don’t.”

Aboutalebi has said he didn’t take part in the initial occupation of the embassy, according to an interview he gave to the Khabaronline news website in Iran.

“On a few other occasions, when they needed to translate something in relation with their contacts with other countries, I translated their material into English or French,” Aboutalebi said, according to Khabaronline. “I did the translation during a press conference when the female and black staffers of the embassy were released, and it was purely based on humanitarian motivations.”

He referred to the release of some embassy staff members during the first few weeks of the crisis in November 1979.

Photo Displayed

Although Aboutalebi downplays his involvement, his photograph is displayed on Taskhir, the website of the Muslim Students Following the Imam’s Line. Taskhir can mean both capture and occupation in Persian.

According to Mohammad Hashemi, one of the students who led the occupation of the embassy, Iran’s revolutionary government sent Abbas Abdi, another architect of the occupation, and Aboutalebi as emissaries to Algiers. The Algerian capital at that time was a mecca of third-world liberation movements, including the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Some of the students who took the hostages formed the backbone of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry, according to the book “Guests of the Ayatollah,” by Mark Bowden.

Others have had extended political careers. Masoumeh Ebtekar, a former spokeswoman for the hostage-takers, is a vice president in Iran under Rouhani and head of the Department of Environment.

Not all have survived the shifting political developments in Iran. Abdi, one of the first to enter the embassy compound, became the editor of reformist newspaper Salaam, which was shut down in 1999. He was sentenced to five years in prison in 2003, and released in 2005.

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