It’s difficult to plumb the pure hypocrisy of this tweet (see below) from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He’s bitching about Iran breaking the JCPOA agreement limits on enriching uranium. This is an agreement which he and his boss themselves broke when they abandoned it earlier in his presidency saying it was one of the worst deals ever negotiated by a U.S. president. So now he’s complaining when Iran, which is still adhering to many provisions of the deal even after the U.S. split, breaks a deal he himself has broken.
If this isn’t the height of hypocrisy, I don’t know what is:
Iran announced it will violate all limits on nuclear research and development. The fact that Iran retains massive uranium enrichment capacity reveals a core weakness of the Iran deal.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) September 6, 2019
First, Iran did not announce it would violate all limits on nuclear research. It said it would abandon some aspects of the agreement. Media report that this is likely to include an expansion of the number of centrifuges in operation; and uranium enrichment that will increase to 4.5% and possibly as high as 20%. So much for accuracy.
The tweet reflects another bizarre aspect of U.S. complaints about Iran’s behavior. We bitch and moan to the world that Iran is conducting missile tests. Yet, the JCPOA doesn’t refer to missile tests. Why complain that Iran is doing something which no agreement bars it from doing? The proper response should be: you want to regulate or ban Iranian missile tests? Fine. Then begin a new round of negotiations and include this in the deal. But in order to get Iran’s agreement, the U.S. will have to offer Iran far more than even Obama did in the first round of JCPOA.
The U.S. position seems to be: we get something for nothing. But that’s not the way negotiations work. If you want something you need to give something. Perhaps if Iran was a dependent vassal state in olden times we could dictate terms. But Iran is a proud, independent nation with a millenia-long history. It is not cowed. Not by U.S. weaponry. Not by U.S. might.
Then we have Mike Pompeo, Israeli errand boy delivering threats on Netanyahu’s behalf to Lebanon, warning that Israel will destroy a Hezbollah missile production site in the Bekaa Valley if Lebanon itself doesn’t dismantle it. This is a neat little trick Israel plays: it doesn’t communicate directly with Lebanon. Instead it uses it’s 800-pound U.S. gorilla to do the talking on its behalf. The intent is to cow the small, relatively defenseless state of Lebanon, by warning it that the most powerful nation in the world will support turning this site into rubble unless the country does what Israel and the U.S. want:
“Pompeo said to warn Lebanon that Israel could strike Hezbollah missile factory.”
Nice to see a U.S. secretary of state acting as Israel’s messenger boy. 😒 https://t.co/dDc7pmde89— Tikun Olam (@richards1052) September 6, 2019
This neglects the fact that Arab states like Lebanon (and Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.) have endured decades, even generations of civil war and repeated invasions by Israel and the U.S. in which thousands of Lebanese and millions of others have died. The threat of yet another attack by Israel, even with U.S. blessing, is hardly frightening or intimidating. We seem to believe the world must shiver in its boots when we declare our interests. Little Lebanon must cower in a corner and beg us not to hit them. How different the world is than what we think!
Friends don’t let other friends drive drunk.
Similarly, the United States is trying to prevent Lebanon from descending further into the orbit of Iran, whose proxy in the Levant, is Hezbollah, ‘The Party of God’.
Considering how many American (and French) peacekeepers died trying to defend Lebanon’s duly elected government, back in 1982, I think Secretary Pompeo is well within his rights to issue his warning.
BTW, I think a lot of Lebanese are sick of Nasrallah and Hezbollah and do not want an Iranian missile base located on sovereign Lebanese territory.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5581480,00.html
@ Benyamin: The U.S. doesn’t give a crap about Lebanon. It only cares about doing Israel’s bidding. Whoever Israel hates, Trump hates. As simple as that.
As for proxies, Israel has and has had so many proxies I’ve lost track of them all: South Lebanon Army, al Nusra, the Village Leagues, Phalange. Not to mention militant groups like Hezbollah and Hamas which were originally created with Israeli collaboration and facilitation.
You think Mike Pompeo is carrying Bibi’s water in Lebanon because U.S. Marines died in 1982?? Really? MIke Pompeo doesn’t know shit about the history of Lebanon whether in 1982 or 2019.
As for what you think Lebanese feel about Hassan Nasrallah or Hezbollah–it’s isn’t worth a bucket of warm piss. And why would you think Ynet knows any better what Lebanese think than you do?
“But that’s not the way negotiations work”
That is an absurd sentence. There is no way how negotiation work. Two people, companies or countries can come to a negotiation with extremely different strategies and tactics, they then sit to the table and something comes out on the other side. Even between people or companies, there are very few rules about what is allowed and what isn’t, as long as the sides agree on the final agreement.
When you speak about countries, there are even less rules. If there were any rules, I’m pretty sure the first one would have been “Thou shall not develop a nuclear weapon to gain advantage in negotiation”.
And if the nuclear program is so crucial for Iran, it shouldn’t even be on the table. Many argue, it exist only for negotiation purposes.
@ Joshua: And you’re an expert on negotiations how, exactly? There are, contrary to what you claim, protocols about negotiation. And the U.S. violates them all. Witness, the mess Trump has gotten us into with the CHinese and North Koreans. Trump wouldn’t know how to negotiate himself out of a paper bag.
As for countries ‘developing a nuclear weapon in order to gain advantage in a negotiation’…you seem to have forgotten North Korea. Exhibit A proving the stupidity of your claims.
Lebanon should give a crap about what Secy. Pompeo is saying.
Pompeo’s warning is a shot across the bow of the Lebanese ship of state, to wit; US sanctions on Hezbollah might deepen and broaden until they reach Hezbollah allies in the Lebanon, which would cause some chaos in the Lebanese economy.
A friendly, but firm warning.
Israel’s history of proxies, is irrelevant. What matters are current events.
I would hope Secy. Pompeo knows a shit more about the history of Lebanon. After all, he is the Secretary of State of the United States, not to mention the former Director of the CIA.
Pompeo would, or should know that in 1985, CIA Beirut station chief, William Buckley, was kidnapped and tortured to death by Iran’s Arab proxy, Hezbollah.
https://www.deseret.com/1988/9/28/18779491/cia-official-tortured-to-death-gave-secrets
@ Benyamin: The U.S. has no leverage over Lebanon. It offers Lebanon nothing. There is little trade or commerce between the two countries. The U.S. does nothing for Lebanon except provide cluster munitions when the IDF invades periodically. So ho-hum to that.
How can U.S. sanctions on Hezbollah or Lebanon harm either? Neither is tied into the international economy in any substantial way.
Israel’s history of proxies is quite relevant, especially when a hypocrite like you tries to claim Iran’s proxies are an egregious affront to decency.
Donald Trump is the president of the United States. He doesn’t know where he took a shit yesterday, let alone what happened to U.S. Marines in 1982. As for Pompeo, he isn’t as stupid or mentally defective as Trump and he was a CIA agent. So I presume he has a working brain. But all of that doesn’t matter since he’s Trump’s toady. When Trump says jump, Pompeo says: “How high?”
Pompeo also should know that the U.S. shot down a civilian Iranian airliner killing 300 in 1988. He should also know that the Shah’s SAVAK was a creature of both the Mossad and CIA and tortured IRanians en masse. He should know that Kermit Roosevelt of the CIA orchestrated the overthrow of the democratically elected Mossadegh government in 1953. DOes he know any of these things? If he does, does he care? Of course not. So please stop the faux outrage against Iran. It isn’t convincing.
You are done in this thread.
Love the harsh language. I guess it really makes you feel like you have the upper hand.
“There are…protocols about negotiation” – please support that with a source. Even if there are broad guidelines, the fact most negotiations happen behind closed doors and their protocols are concealed for decades
You are probably going to deflect the next question with a “it’s none of your business idiot”, but what business does Iran has developing this kind of bomb grade uranium when their leader says it is against Islam to build a bomb? Iran is a sovereign nation and it can do so, same as Israel. I just don’t get the stupid game of – “it isn’t a military operation” pretense.
@ Joshua Tartekovsky: Aw, did I hurt your feelings? I didn’t know you were so sensitive…
There are entire academic programs devoted to the art of negotiation. If you think there aren’t established protocols for such things, you’re either an idiot or ignorant. Which is it?
Further, give me a single example of two parties who were diametrically opposed before a negotiation began, and when it ended successfully, one side did NOT offer the other a substantial concession. Aside from an unconditional surrender in wartime of course.
It’s a major error to project what I’m going to do or say. Don’t do it. Since Moses the age of prophecy has died and you ain’t no prophet.
Iran isn’t developing bomb grade uranium. Uranium enriched to 20% can only be used to create medical isotopes. Uranium has to be developed to over 90% for bomb grade. And Iran is nowhere near that (yet). But you tell Don to keep up the pressure and continue to insult and attack Iran, while refusing to negotiate or re-enter the JCPOA. Then Iran may be forced to do what you’re falsely claiming it’s doing now.
There is absolutely no evidence Iran has, or is planning to create a nuclear weapon. In fact, it ceased a program specifically designed to do that in 2003 as verified by the IAEA and CIA.
Don’t offer your opinions as fact. If you offer false claims I will sniff them out and ridicule you for your ignorance or stupidity. And do tell your masters at Hasbara Central that we require a higher grade of hasbara than what we’re getting here from you.
You are done in this thread.
Agree and disagree
Agree in that the only games in Trump’s playbook are bullying or payoffs. Now these can sometimes work if they are part of an overall strategy with clear goals and in cooperation with other players. Trump shows neither of these. Perhaps his tactics worked with other New York real estate tycoons in business, but not in the realm of politics and international diplomacy.
Disagree in that in progressive politics, you automatically hold hold Muslim/Arab countries as blameless victims of US (and allies’) aggression and oppression, without agency or responsibility. So in this theory, Iran is what it is because of a whole litany of wrongs inflicted upon it. Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and Egypt have all descended into either failed state status or tribal disintegration, because of Western colonialism or Israeli aggression.
Like any narrative, there are elements of truth to it which should be acknowledged when discussing historical context. But it does not absolve these parties of ultimate responsibility. Just as Jews/Israelis cannot use the holocaust or antisemitism as an excuse for everything.
@ DrS:
The idea that someone who is an apologist for a right-wing extremist government is going to tell me what progressives believe about the Muslim-Arab world is ludicrous. When the U.S. kills thousands of civilians in these countries who have nothing to do with Islamist militants; when the U.S. kills over a million Iraqis in decades of war; when the U.S. overthrows a democratically elected Iranian government; when our CIA trains and sets loose SAVAK on the Iranian people to kill and torture; when the U.S. offers no constructive approach to the Arab-Muslim world that engages with them in a serious, ongoing way–then hell yes, I’m going to focus on the evil that the U.S. has unleashed in this region.
Much of the failure of these states you decry (and as you yourself note) came about because of colonialist meddling in their internal affairs. In every one of the countries you listed there is a long history of colonial interference and intervention which conspired to set tribes against each other, to build up minority tribes to dominate majority sects and tribes. And I include in that list the aggression of both Israel and the U.S., whose meddling has done incalculable harm.
Your confusion of the Holocaust with colonialism is ridiculous. Colonialism directly caused the failure of these states. The Holocaust has no bearing whatsoever on why and whether Israel became an apartheid state. Those decisions were made by Israeli extremist leaders. They can try to exploit the Holocaust to deflect blame. But it’s a failed claim.
@Benyamin My, how sensitive you are about Hizbollah! They actually torture and kill!!!??? Wow, how beastly!
I don’t suppose you are aware of the tens of thousands of people IOSRAEL has killed and the about three MILLION the US has killed from Pakistan to Yemen and Libya?
Oh, “TORTURE!” how barbaric! Israel would never torture, nor would the US!
I love your blind-eye sense of humor!
I WISH Iran would develop some nukes! Then everyone would back off and calm down, just like they have over N Korea.
Pompous’ twitter post is beyond bizarre, it is actually schizoid in its “logic”.
The USA has declared an end to “the Iran Deal”.
It could not have done so any less emphatically.
So why even refer to “the Iran Deal” at all since, by definition, the USA insists that the deal is no more?
Why insist that Iran is violating anything since, du’oh, the USA insists that there is nothing to violate?
Simply declare that what Iran is doing is unacceptable to the USA because, um, err, well, harrumph, the USA considers what Iran is doing to be something that the USA can not accept.
Because in all honesty that is the only standing that the Trump Administration has on this issue.