Resolution Green-Lighting Israeli Strikes on Iran Introduced by House Republicans

Are you standing on the Rock of Salvation?

Source: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info

"Huffington Post" -- Republicans in the House of Representatives have introduced a measure that would green-light an Israeli bombing campaign against Iran. The resolution, H.Res. 1553 (in full below), provides explicit support for military strikes against Iran, stating that Congress supports Israel's use of "all means necessary" against Iran "including the use of military force". US military leaders have warned that strikes could be catastrophic to US national security interests and could engulf the Middle East in a "calamitous" regional war.

Nearly a third of House Republicans have signed onto the resolution, which has been publicly discussed and circulated by its lead sponsor, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), for months. The National Iranian American Council is leading calls to oppose the measure, urging those concerned to demand that House Republican Leader John Boehner denounce the resolution.

The introduction of the measure coincides with a pattern of renewed calls for military strikes that have escalated since President Obama signed "crippling" Congressional Iran sanctions into law. Neoconservatives who were instrumental in orchestrating the Iraq War, such as Bill Kristol, and Reuel Marc Gerecht, have led the stepped up calls for military action.

Hawkish former Bush Administration official John Bolton recently laid out the game plan to prod Israel into attacking Iran, arguing that outsiders can "create broad support" for a strike by framing it as an issue of Israel's right to self defense. Supporters for military strikes, Bolton says, should "defend the specific tactic of pre-emptive attacks" against Iran. He urges that Congress can "make it clear" that it supports such strikes and that "having visible congressional support in place at the outset will reassure the Israeli government, which is legitimately concerned about Mr. Obama's likely negative reaction to such an attack."

In spite of enthusiasm from the neocons, top US military leaders have warned of the many dangers of military strikes against Iran. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has argued, "Another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need. In fact, I believe it would be disastrous on a number of levels." Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has expressed his own serious reservations about an attack, stating, "Iran getting a nuclear weapon would be incredibly destabilizing. Attacking them would also create the same kind of outcome. In an area that's so unstable right now, we just don't need more of that." General David Petraeus has warned that a strike on Iran would be utilized by the Iranian government to unite it's otherwise divided populace.

Simulations have been conducted over the past year to assess the outcome of a preemptive military strike against Iran. One such simulation, by the Brookings Institution's Saban Center, found that strikes would draw the US into the conflict that would engulf the region into war, and would enable Iran to use the attacks as an opportunity to unite the Iranian people and dismantle its opposition. The simulation also found that the strikes could not destroy Iran's nuclear program but merely set it back a few years.

An Oxford Research Group report released recently reinforced those findings and also warned that an Israeli attack would be disastrous and would be unlikely to stop Iran's nuclear program. Instead, the report concluded attacks could convince Iran to withdraw from the international Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and to aggressively seek to develop nuclear weapons.

Iranian activists have urged that even raising the specter of war undercuts the opposition in Iran. "The mere fact that Obama didn't make military threats made the Green Movement possible," noted Akbar Ganji. "A military attack would destroy all of that."

Iran Resolution -

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Isaiah 55:6Make search for the Lord while he is there, make prayer to him while he is near:Isaiah 55:7Let the sinner give up his way, and the evil-doer his purpose: and let him come back to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for there is full forgiveness with him.
John 3:16For God had such love for the world that he gave his only Son so that whoever has faith in him may not come to destruction but have eternal life

God bless you!

ZIONISM: MONEY POWER AND IMPUNITY

Are you standing on the Rock of Salvation?

Source: http://www.iarnoticias.com (Spanish)

The great international complicity with the Israeli periodic massacres are gestating for fear of Israel, but for fear of representing the Jewish state. Israel is the most emblematic symbol, the country's territorial Zionism capitalist who controls the world without borders since the boards of the banks and corporations. Israel is basically the national representation of a Zionist world power is the owner of the State of Israel as well as the U.S. State and other States to natural resources and economic and productive systems. And who controls the planet from central banks, major media networks and military nuclear arsenals.


A) The hidden power

Israel, is the clearest geographical reference of the capitalist system which controls transnationalized from governments to productive economic systems and mass media, both in the core countries and in the developing world and peripherals.

The Jewish state, beyond its impact as a nation, is the most representative symbol of a world power in its springs controlled by minority groups critical of Jewish origin, and a structure made up of technocrats, strategists and networks operate industrial, technological, military, financial and media transnational capitalism spread throughout the four corners of the planet.

With a population of about 7.35 million inhabitants, Israel is the world's only Jewish state.

But when it comes to Israel, we speak (by extension) the most significant reference of a globalized capitalist system that controls governments, countries, productive economic systems, central banks, financial centers, nuclear arsenals and military-industrial complex.

When we talk about Israel, we speak first and foremost a strategic design of global power that protects, interactive and totaled, which is specified by an infinite network of partnerships and channels of communication between financial capital, industrial and service that makes countries managements and governments enclave.

The Zionist lobby that supports and legitimizes the existence of Israel, not a State in the distant Middle East, but a system of global economic power (capitalist system) of banks and corporations with Jews dominating the majority of stock options or hegemony management decisions and directives from executive positions.

Whoever takes the trouble to investigate the names of the members of the directories or the shareholders of the large transnational corporations and U.S. and European banks that control from foreign and domestic trade to productive economic systems of countries, both central " underdeveloped "or" emerging ", you can easily check that (in an overwhelming majority) are of Jewish origin.

The directors and shareholders of the first thirty transnational mega-corporations and banks (the largest in the world) that are listed on the Dow Jones index on Wall Street, are mostly Jewish.

Megacorporations of capitalism without borders as Wal-Mart Stores, Walt Disney, Microsoft, Pfizer Inc, General Motors, Hewlett Packard, Home Depot, Honeywell, IBM, Intel Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, JP Morgan Chase, American International Group, American Express, AT & T, Boeing Co (arms), Caterpillar, Citigroup, Coca Cola, Dupont, Exxon Mobil (oil), General Electric, McDonalds, Merck & Co, Procter & Gamble, United Technologies, Verizon, are controlled and / or managed by capital and people of Jewish origin.

These corporations represent the cream of the crop of large transnational consortiums Jewish Zionists who, through the lobby pursued by U.S. and European embassies, dictate and influence the world politics and the behavior of governments, armies, or public or private global institutions.

They are masters of the invisible world: those who run countries and presidents by remote control as if they were puppets of last generation.

Those who inquire with the same criterion, in addition, media, cultural or artistic industry, business associations, social organizations, foundations, professional organizations, NGOs, both central and peripheral countries, it'll be amazed at the remarkable impact of Jewish people in the highest levels of decision.

The three major U.S. television networks (CNN, ABC, NBC and Fox), the three major newspapers (The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post) are controlled and managed (through stock options or families) Jewish lobby groups, notably New York.

Likewise, as the three most influential magazines (Newsweek, Time and The New Yorker), and consortia hegemonic Internet as Time-Warner (merged with America on Line) or Yahoo, are controlled by Jewish capital management and operating at network level and conglomerates intertwined with other companies.

Colossi of Hollywood and entertainment such as The Walt Disney Company, Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, among others, are part of this interactive network of Zionist imperialist capital.

The concentration of global capital in mega-mega-groups or companies controlled by Zionist capital, in an overwhelming proportion, allows all planetary decisions in the economy, society, politics, culture, etc. and represents the most defining aspect of globalization imposed by the global power of the imperial capitalist system.

The main objective of this expansive transnationalized Zionist capitalism is the control and domination (through wars of conquest or "democratic systems) of natural resources and economic systems - production, in an action that advocates and theorists call" policies marketplace. "

Transnational capitalism, global scale, is the owner of the states and their economic resources and productive systems, not only dependent world, but also the core capitalist countries.

Thus central governments are dependent enclave managements (for left or right) than discursive variants running the same program the same economic and strategic lines of political and social control.

This transnational capitalism "without borders" of the Zionist lobby which supports the State of Israel rests on two pillars: the computerized financial speculation (territorial seat on Wall Street) and the military-industrial technology of last generation (whose maximal expression of development focuses on the U.S. Military Industrial Complex).

The international Zionist lobby, which are based on the pillars of existence of the State of Israel, controlled by governments, armies, police, productive economic structures, financial systems, political systems, scientific and technological structures, socio-cultural structures, international media structures, to the power of world policeman sitting on nuclear arsenals, military-industrial complexes and equipment for deployment of U.S. military and the Central Powers.

At this power, and not the State of Israel, they fear the presidents, politicians, journalists and intellectuals who are silent or distort daily genocide of Israel in the Middle East fearful of being buried under the tombstone lifetime of anti-Semitism .


B) The imperial lobby

The pro-Israeli Zionist lobby, the network of hidden power that controls White House, the Pentagon and the Federal Reserve does not pray in the synagogues, but in the Cathedral of Wall Street. One detail to consider, to not confuse religion with myth and business.

When referring to the Zionist lobby (which they call pro-Israeli lobby), most experts and analysts speak of a group of officials and technocrats, in whose hands is the design and implementation of U.S. military policy.

In this lobby pressure is credited with the strategic goal of imposing permanent military agenda and political and geopolitical interests of the government and the State of Israel in U.S. foreign policy.

As a definition, the pro-Israeli lobby is a giant machine economic and political pressure that operates simultaneously on all levels of institutional power U.S.: White House, Congress, Pentagon, State Department, CIA and agencies of the intelligence community, including the most important.

Through the political use of financial power, its strategic position in decision-making centers, financial lobby groups exert influence on the domestic and foreign policy in the U.S., the first imperial power, in addition to its dominant role in financing of political parties, presidential candidates and congressmen.

At Imperial, the financial power of the lobby is expressed mainly by the U.S. Federal Reserve, a key agency for the assembly and reproduction of speculative capital on a global level.

The heart of the American Zionist lobby is the powerful Wall Street financial sector that has direct implication and participation in the appointment of key officials from the U.S. government and supervisory bodies of monetary policy and credit institutions (national and international) based in Washington and New York.

The economic and financial bodies such as OECD, World Bank, IMF, are under direct control of central banks and governments of the U.S. and controlled by the powers international Zionist lobby (Britain, Germany, France, Japan, among the most outstanding).

International organizations and alliances like the UN, the Security Council and NATO are controlled by the Zionist axis USA-European Union whose powers are central to ensure the impunity of the Israeli military killings in the Middle East, as happened with the last slaughter activists in solidarity with the people of Gaza.

The main lobby financial institutions (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, etc) and banks (Citigroup, JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch, etc.) decisively influence the appointment of the heads of the Federal Reserve, Treasury, and the Secretariat of Commerce, in addition to the directors of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.


C) The myth of anti-Semitism

This phenomenon of "global capitalist power" Jew, not Israel, is what they fear the presidents, politicians, journalists, and intellectuals who meticulously avoided naming newspapers condemn or Israeli military genocide in Gaza, repeating what they did during the Israeli slaughter in Lebanon in 2006.

The great international complicity with the Israeli periodic massacres are gestating for fear the State of Israel but for fear of representing the State of Israel.

It is not Israel, a Zionist state again, but the "Greater Israel", the homeland of world Jewry (with stolen land to Palestinians), which all Jews around the world are feeling lavish scattered around the world.

It is not Israel but the powerful world Jewish organizations and communities who supported the genocide block Israeli military in Gaza, who use their power and "prestige scale" (built by its historical victimization in the Holocaust) to become a social leper who dares to criticize or speak out against the extermination Israeli military in Gaza.

The governments of the capitalist world, journalists, intellectuals, trade unions and social organizations are not afraid of Israel, but to their social stoning as "anti-Semitic" (nickname he gives the facing and / or withdrawal of Jewish Zionism.)

Do not fear the State of Israel, but to the children of Israel hidden in the major decision centers of global power, especially economic, financial and media-cultural.

Politicians, intellectuals and journalists are not afraid of the system to Israel, but they fear the media, Jewish organizations and companies, and its influence on governments and economic and cultural processes Zionist capitalist system issued by all countries worldwide.

Ultimately fear that companies, universities, international organizations and foundations that fund me Zionists promote their promotions and positions in the machinery of the system's declared "anti-Semitic" and leave no job, no vacation and no pension.

That's the main reason that explains why intellectuals, academics and journalists live mulling brainy system analysis of "real" political, economic and social development without the presence of the word Jew or capitalist system that pays for their services.

While there is a group of intellectuals and left-wing Jewish militants (including Chomsky and Gelman, among others) who condemned and protested against the Israeli genocide in Gaza, the overwhelming majority of Jewish communities and organizations on a global scale explicitly supported the slaughter of civilians in Gaza, arguing that it was a "war on terrorism."

Although Israel did not invade or military genocide perpetrated in Gaza with the Jewish religion, but with F-16 aircraft, missiles, cluster bombs, Apache helicopters, tanks, heavy artillery, ships, computer systems, and a strategy and extermination plan large-scale military, who disputes that slaughter is convicted of "anti-Semitic" by the world Jewish power distributed around the world.

Although the Zionist Jewish lobby that controls Israel, as well as the White House, Treasury and U.S. Federal Reserve does not pray in the synagogues, but in the Cathedral of Wall Street, who criticize him is immediately branded as "anti-Semitic "or" Nazi "by the media and cultural structures controlled by the world Jewish power.

The campaigns against anti-Semitism with which Israel and Jewish organizations seeking to neutralize the criticism against the slaughter, address the issue as if the Jewish Zionism (support of the state of Israel) was a matter "racial" or religious, not a imperial domination system comprising interactively economic, political, social and cultural, overcoming the issue of race or religious beliefs.

The Zionist lobby does not control the world with religion: you deal with banks, corporations, economic hegemony over-production systems, control over natural resources, control of the information network and global manipulation, and management of social values through advertising, consumer culture and standardized and globalized by the media.

In short, the Jewish lobby does not represent any synagogue or racial expression, it is the structure that handles global power through control over economic and financial centers and strategic decision of the capitalist system expanded as a civilization "unique."

Rather than by religion and race, the Zionist lobby and its networks are moving through a functional political ideology: Zionism preceded imperial capitalist market, the concentration of wealth, "business policy", any philosophy that chafes the notions of "good" or "bad" understood within social parameters.

So: What do we mean by "anti-Semitism" or "religious anti-Judaism? What reference parameters underlying the condition of" anti-Semitic "? Who is anti-Semitic? Who criticizes the Jews for their religion or race in the societies of the world?

At best, the Jews, as is proven in the social reality of any country, not criticize them for their religion or racial status but for its excessive attachment to the status of money (also grown by other groups) and integrate structures or hierarchies of power within an unjust system of oppression and exploitation of man by man, as is the capitalist system.

Unless minority of fanatics and racist that only represent themselves in society (except the German Nazis and some exceptions) almost never were "religious or racial persecution" of Jews, if there was a Jewish association with the "worst side of capitalism, represented in the economic system and financial speculation.


In summary:

The Zionist lobby that protects the State of Israel (for "right" and "left) is formed by a structure of strategists and technocrats who operate industrial networks, technological, military, financial and media transnational capitalism spread throughout the four corners the planet.

Their networks are expressed through a multiplicity of organizations dedicated to promoting current global model, among which mainly include: The Hudson Institute, The RAND Corporation, The Brookings Institution, The Trilateral Commission, The World Economic Forum, Aspen Institute, American Enterprise Institute, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtiges Politik, Bilderberg Group, Cato Institute, Tavestock institute, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, among others.

All of these think tanks or "brain banks", bring together the best technocrats, scientists and scholars in their respective fields, graduates of U.S. universities, Europe and around the world.

The lobby does not respond only to the State of Israel (as analysts say the "right side" of the neocons) but to a Zionist world power is the owner of the State of Israel as well as the U.S. State and other States with its natural resources and economic and productive systems.

The lobby is not only in the White House but deals with all levels of the operations of capitalism at transnational level, which is in the strategic design of large charmans heads and executives of banks and multinational companies that sit on the Washington Consensus and share the planet like a cake.

Neither left nor right party to talk about this 'totaled' for the simple reason that both are fused (by way of alternatives faced falsely) to programs and strategies of transnational capitalism that controls the planet.

Therefore, and while not articulate a new strategic understanding system (a "third position" revolutionary learning and knowledge) the world power that controls the planet will continue perpetuating the false choices of "left" and "right."

And the Jewish lobby "right" of conservative Republicans continue to happen to the Jewish lobby "left" of the Liberal Democrats in a strategic continuity of the same lines guiding the global Zionist empire.

And the massacres of the State of Israel will, as before, unpunished and protected by the structures of world power system Zionist capitalist who sees it as "home territory."

(*) Manuel Freytas is a journalist, researcher, analyst structures of power, intelligence specialist and strategic communication. One of the most popular authors and referenced on the Web.
View her work at Google and IAR News

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Isaiah 55:6Make search for the Lord while he is there, make prayer to him while he is near:Isaiah 55:7Let the sinner give up his way, and the evil-doer his purpose: and let him come back to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for there is full forgiveness with him.
John 3:16For God had such love for the world that he gave his only Son so that whoever has faith in him may not come to destruction but have eternal life

God bless you!
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The Siege against Gaza: America's Ongoing Support of Israeli Military and Intelligence Operations

Are you standing on the Rock of Salvation?

11, July 2010, Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

Source: http://www.globalresearch.ca

We are dealing with a carefully planned military operation.

The Israeli Navy Commando which attacked the Marvi Marmara on May 31st had prior knowledge of who was on the Turkish ship including where passengers were residing in terms of cabin layout. According to Swedish author Henning Mankell, who was on board the Marmara , "the Israeli forces attacked sleeping civilians."

These were targeted assassinations. Specific individuals were targeted. Journalists were targeted with a view to confiscating their audio and video recording equipment and tapes.

"We were witnesses to premeditated murders," said historian Mattias Gardell who was on the Mavi Marmara.

"...Asked about why activists on the Turkish ship had attacked the Israeli soldiers, Gardell stressed "it is not as if Israel is a police officer whom no human being has the legitimate right to defend him or herself against":

"If you are attacked by commando troops you of course must have the right to defend yourself ... Many people on this ship thought they were going to kill everyone. They were very frightened ... It's strange if people think one should not defend oneself. Should you just sit there and say: 'Kill me'?" he said." (See Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, Detailed Compiled Eyewitness Accounts Confirm Cold-Blooded Murder and Executions by Israeli Military, Global Research, June 1, 2010)

“They even shot those who surrendered. Many of our friends saw this. They told me that there were handcuffed people who were shot,” (quoted by Press TV)

The Israeli Commando had an explicit order to kill.

What was the role of the United States?

The raids on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, bear the mark of previous Israeli operations directed against unarmed civilians. It is a well established modus operandi of Israeli military-intelligence operations, which is tacitly supported by the US administration.

The killing of civilians is intended to trigger a response by Palestinian resistance forces, which in turn justifies Israeli retaliation (on "humanitarian" grounds) as well as a process of military escalation. The logic of this process contained in Ariel Sharon`s "Operation Justified Vengeance" (also referred to as the "Dagan Plan" named after Sharon's National Security advisor) was initiated at the outset the Sharon government in 2001. This Operation was intent upon destroying the Palestinian Authority and transforming Gaza into an urban prison. (See Michel Chossudovsky, "Operation Justified Vengeance": Israeli Strike on Freedom Flotilla to Gaza is Part of a Broader Military Agenda, Global Research, June 1, 2010).

"Operation Cast Lead" resulting in the December 2008 invasion of Gaza should be understood as part of the logic of "Operation Justified Vengeance". In turn, the Israeli attack on the Flotilla must be viewed as a continuation of "Operation Cast Lead" which seeks to enforce the Siege on Gaza.

The attack on the Flotilla bears the fingerprints of a military intelligence operation coordinated by the IDF and Mossad, which is now headed by one of the main architects of "Operation Justified Vengeance", Meir Dagan. It is worth recalling that as a young Coronel, Dagan worked closely with then defense minister Ariel Sharon in the raids on the Palestinian settlements of Sabra and Shatilla in Beirut in 1982.

The Role of the United States

There are indications that the US was consulted at the highest levels regarding the nature of the military operation directed against the flotilla. Moreover, in the wake of the attacks, both the US and the UK unequivocally reaffirmed their support to Israel.

There are longstanding and ongoing military and intelligence relations between the US and Israel including close working ties between various agencies of government: Pentagon, National Intelligence Council, State Department, Homeland Security and their respective Israeli counterparts.

These various agencies of government are involved in routine liaison and consultations, usually directly as well as through the US Embassy in Israel, involving frequent shuttles of officials between Washington and Tel Aviv as well as exchange of personnel. Moreover, the US as well as Canada have public security cooperation agreements with Israel pertaining to the policing of international borders, including maritime borders. (See Israel-USA Homeland Security Cooperation, See also Michel Chossudovsky, The Canada-Israel "Public Security" Agreement, Global Research, 2 April 2008)

Several high level US-Israel meetings were held in the months prior to the May 31st attacks.

Rahm Emmanuel, Obama's White House chief of Staff was in Tel Aviv a week prior to the attacks. Confirmed by press reports, he had meetings behind closed doors with Prime Minister Netanyahu (May 26) as well as a private visit with President Shimon Peres on May 27.

May 26 meeting between Rahm Emmanuel and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu

Official statements do not indicate whether other officials including cabinet ministers or IDF and Mossad officials were present at the Rahm Emmanuel-Netanyahu meeting. The Israeli press confirmed that Rahm Emmanuel had a meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, whose Ministry was responsible for overseeing the Commando attack on the Flotilla. (Rahm Emanuel visits Israel to celebrate son's bar mitzvah - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News, 23 May 2010). The White House also confirmed that Rahm Emmanuel was to meet other high-ranking Israeli officials, without providing further details. (Rahm Emanuel in Israel for Son's Bar Mitzvah, May Meet With Officials)

"Our Man in the White House"

While born in the US, Rahm Emmanuel also holds Israeli citizenship and has served in the Israeli military during the First Gulf War (1991).

Rahm is also known for his connections to the pro-Israeli lobby in the US. The Israeli newspaper Maariv calls him "Our Man in the White House" (quoted in Irish Times, March 13, 2010). Rahm Emmanuel gave his support to Obama in the November 2008 presidential elections following Obama`s address to the pro-Israeli lobby AIPAC.

At the time of Rahm Emmanuel's confirmation as White House chief of staff, there were reports in the Middle East media of Rahm Emanuel's connections to Israeli intelligence.

The exact nature of Rahm Emmanuel's ties to the Israeli military and intelligence apparatus, however, is not the main issue. What we are dealing with is a broad process of bilateral coordination and decision-making between the two governments in the areas of foreign policy, intelligence and military planning, which has been ongoing for more than 50 years. In this regard, Israel, although exercising a certain degree of autonomy in military and strategic decisions, will not act unilaterally, without receiving the "green light" from Washington. Rahm Emmanuel`s meetings with the prime minister and Israeli officials are part of this ongoing process.

Rahm Emmanuel's meetings in Tel Aviv on May 26 were a routine follow-up to visits to Washington by Prime Minister Netanyahu in March and by Minister of Defense Ehud Barak in late April. In these various bilateral US-Israel encounters at the White House, the state Department and the Pentagon, Rahm Emmanuel invariably plays a key role.

While the pro-Israeli lobby in the US influences party politics in America, Washington also influences the direction of Israeli politics. There have been reports to the effect that Rahm Emmanuel would "lead a team of high octane Democratic party pro-Israel political operatives to run the campaign for the Defense Minister Ehud Barak" against Netanyahu in the next Israeli election. (Ira Glunts, Could Rahm Emanuel Help Barak Unseat Netanyahu? Palestine Chronicle, June 2, 2010)

Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barack in Washington

The April 27 meeting between US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Defense Minister Ehud Barak pertained to "a range of important defense issues" directly or indirectly related to the status of the Palestinian territories under Israeli occupation:

"As President Obama has affirmed, the United States commitment to Israel's security is unshakable, and our defense relationship is stronger than ever, to the mutual benefit of both nations. The United States and our ally Israel share many of the same security challenges, from combating terrorism to confronting the threat posed by Iran's nuclear-weapons program.

For years, the United States and Israel have worked together to prepare our armed forces to meet these and other challenges, a recent major example being the Juniper Cobra joint exercise held last October. Our work together on missile-defense technology is ongoing, and the United States will continue to ensure that Israel maintains its qualitative military edge." (Press Conference with Secretary Gates and Israeli Defense Minister Barak, April 2010 - Council on Foreign Relations April 27, 2010)

These consultations pertained to ongoing military preparations regarding Iran. Both Israel and the US have recently announced that a pre-emptive attack against Iran has been contemplated.

Washington views Israel as being "'integrated into America’s military architecture,' especially in the missile defense sphere." (quoted in Emanuel to rabbis: US 'screwed up' Jerusalem Post, statement of Dennis Ross, who is in charge of the US administration’s Iran policy in the White House, May 16, 2010).

Targeting Iran

The attack on the Freedom Flotilla, might appear as a separate and distinct humanitarian issue, unrelated to US-Israeli war plans. But from the standpoint of both Tel Aviv and Washington, it was part of the broader military agenda. It was intended to create conditions favoring an atmosphere of confrontation and escalation in the Middle East war theater;

"All the signs are that Israel has been stepping up its provocations to engineer a casus belli for a war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Tel Aviv sees as unfinished business its inconclusive wars: the first in Lebanon in 2006, and the second in Gaza in 2008-09." (Jean Shaoul Washington Comes to the Aid of Israel over Gaza Convoy Massacre, Global Research, June 4, 2010)

Following Israel's illegal assault in international waters, Netanyahu stated emphatically "Israel will continue to exercise its right to self defence. We will not allow the establishment of an Iranian port in Gaza," suggesting that the Gaza blockade was part of the pre-emptive war agenda directed against Iran, Syria and Lebanon. (Israeli forces board Gaza aid ship the Rachel Corrie - Telegraph, June 5, 2010, emphasis added) .

Moreover, the raid on the Flotilla coincided with NATO-Israel war games directed against Iran. According to the Sunday Times, "three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline." (Israel Deploys Three Nuclear Cruise Missile-Armed Subs Along Iranian Coastline).

While Israeli naval deployments were underway in the Persian Gulf, Israel was also involved in war games in the Mediterranean. The war game codenamed "MINOAS 2010" was carried out at a Greek air base in Souda Bay, on the island of Crete. Earlier in February, The Israeli air force "practiced simulated strikes at Iran's nuclear facilities using airspace of two Arab countries in the Persian Gulf, which are close territorially with the Islamic republic and cooperate with Israel on this issue." Ria Novosti,War Games: Israel gets ready to Strike at Iran's Nuclear Sites,, March 29, 2010)

Also, in the wake of the final resolution of the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation directed against Israel's nuclear weapons program, the White House has reaffirmed its endorsement of Israel's nuclear weapons capabilities. Washington's statement issued one day before the raid on the flotilla points to unbending US support to "Israel's strategic and deterrence capabilities", which also include the launching of a pre-emptive nuclear attack on Iran:

"a senior political source in Jerusalem said Sunday that Israel received guarantees from U.S. President Barack Obama that the U.S. would maintain and improve Israel's strategic and deterrence capabilities.

According to the source, "Obama gave [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu unequivocal guarantees that include a substantial upgrade in Israel-U.S. relations."

Obama promised that no decision taken during the recent 189-nation conference to review and strengthen the 40-year-old Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty "would be allowed to harm Israel's vital interests," the sources said. Obama promised to bolster Israel's strategic capabilities, Jerusalem officials say - Haaretz Daily Newspaper)

Robert Gates and Israel's Minister of Defense Ehud Barak, Press Conference, April 27, 2010

The Turkey-Israel Relationship in Jeopardy?

The actions of Israel against the Freedom Flotilla have important ramifications. Israel's criminal actions in international waters have contributed to weakening the US-NATO-Israel military alliance.

The bilateral Israel-Turkey alliance in military, intelligence, joint military production is potentially in jeopardy. Ankara has already announced that three planned military exercises with Israel have been cancelled. "The government announced it was considering reducing its relations with Israel to a minimum."

It should be understood that Israel and Turkey are partners and major actors in the US-NATO planned aerial attacks on Iran, which have been in the pipeline since mid-2005. The rift between Turkey and Israel has a direct bearing on NATO as a military alliance. Turkey is one of the more powerful NATO member states with regard to its conventional forces. The rift with Israel breaks a consensus within the Atlantic Alliance. It also undermines ongoing US-NATO-Israel pre-emptive war plans directed against Iran, which until recently were endorsed by the Turkish military.

From the outset in 1992, the Israeli-Turkish military alliance was directed against Syria, as well as Iran and Iraq. (For details see See Michel Chossudovsky, "Triple Alliance": The US, Turkey, Israel and the War on Lebanon, Global Research, 2006)

In 1997, Israel and Turkey launched "A Strategic Dialogue" involving a bi-annual process of high level military consultations by the respective deputy chiefs of staff. (Milliyet, Istanbul, in Turkish 14 July 2006).

During the Clinton Administration, a triangular military alliance between the US, Israel and Turkey had unfolded. This "triple alliance", which in practice is dominated by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, integrates and coordinates military command decisions between the three countries pertaining to the broader Middle East. It is based on the close military ties respectively of Israel and Turkey with the US, coupled with a strong bilateral military relationship between Tel Aviv and Ankara.

Starting in 2005, Israel has become a de facto member of NATO. The triple alliance was coupled with a 2005 NATO-Israeli military cooperation agreement which included "many areas of common interest, such as the fight against terrorism and joint military exercises. These military cooperation ties with NATO are viewed by the Israeli military as a means to "enhance Israel's deterrence capability regarding potential enemies threatening it, mainly Iran and Syria." ("Triple Alliance": The US, Turkey, Israel and the War on Lebanon).

The Issue of Territorial Waters: Gaza's Offshore Gas Fields

Israel's blockade of Gaza is in large part motivated by the broader issue of control of Gaza's territorial waters, which contain significant reserves of natural gas.

What is at stake is the confiscation of Palestinian gas fields and the unilateral de facto declaration of Israeli sovereignty over Gaza's maritime areas. If the blockade were to be broken, Israel's de facto control over Gaza's offshore gas reserves would be jeopardy. (See Michel Chossudovsky,War and Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gaza's Offshore Gas Fields, Global Research, January 8, 2009. See also Michel Chossudovsky, The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil, Global Research, July 23, 2006)

British Gas (BG Group) and its partner, the Athens based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC) owned by Lebanon's Sabbagh and Koury families, were granted oil and gas exploration rights in a 25 year agreement signed in November 1999 with the Palestinian Authority.

The rights to the offshore gas field are respectively British Gas (60 percent); Consolidated Contractors (CCC) (30 percent); and the Investment Fund of the Palestinian Authority (10 percent). (Haaretz, October 21, 2007).

The PA-BG-CCC agreement includes field development and the construction of a gas pipeline.(Middle East Economic Digest, Jan 5, 2001).

The BG licence covers the entire Gazan offshore marine area, which is contiguous to several Israeli offshore gas facilities. (See Map below). It should be noted that 60 percent of the gas reserves along the Gaza-Israel coastline belong to Palestine.

The BG Group drilled two wells in 2000: Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza Marine-2. Reserves are estimated by British Gas to be of the order of 1.4 trillion cubic feet, valued at approximately 4 billion dollars. These are the figures made public by British Gas. The size of Palestine's gas reserves could be much larger.

Who Owns the Gas Fields

The issue of sovereignty over Gaza's gas fields is crucial. From a legal standpoint, the gas reserves belong to Palestine.

The death of Yasser Arafat, the election of the Hamas government and the ruin of the Palestinian Authority have enabled Israel to establish de facto control over Gaza's offshore gas reserves.

British Gas (BG Group) has been dealing with the Tel Aviv government. In turn, the Hamas government has been bypassed in regards to exploration and development rights over the gas fields.

The election of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001 was a major turning point. Palestine's sovereignty over the offshore gas fields was challenged in the Israeli Supreme Court. Sharon stated unequivocally that "Israel would never buy gas from Palestine" intimating that Gaza's offshore gas reserves belong to Israel.

In 2003, Ariel Sharon, vetoed an initial deal, which would allow British Gas to supply Israel with natural gas from Gaza's offshore wells. (The Independent, August 19, 2003)

The election victory of Hamas in 2006 was conducive to the demise of the Palestinian Authority, which became confined to the West Bank, under the proxy regime of Mahmoud Abbas.

In 2006, British Gas "was close to signing a deal to pump the gas to Egypt." (Times, May, 23, 2007). According to reports, British Prime Minister Tony Blair intervened on behalf of Israel with a view to shunting the agreement with Egypt.

The following year, in May 2007, the Israeli Cabinet approved a proposal by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "to buy gas from the Palestinian Authority." The proposed contract was for $4 billion, with profits of the order of $2 billion of which one billion was to go the Palestinians.

Tel Aviv, however, had no intention on sharing the revenues with Palestine. An Israeli team of negotiators was set up by the Israeli Cabinet to thrash out a deal with the BG Group, bypassing both the Hamas government and the Palestinian Authority:

"Israeli defence authorities want the Palestinians to be paid in goods and services and insist that no money go to the Hamas-controlled Government." (Ibid, emphasis added)

The objective was essentially to nullify the contract signed in 1999 between the BG Group and the Palestinian Authority under Yasser Arafat.

Under the proposed 2007 agreement with BG, Palestinian gas from Gaza's offshore wells was to be channeled by an undersea pipeline to the Israeli seaport of Ashkelon, thereby transferring control over the sale of the natural gas to Israel.

The deal fell through. The negotiations were suspended:

"Mossad Chief Meir Dagan opposed the transaction on security grounds, that the proceeds would fund terror". (Member of Knesset Gilad Erdan, Address to the Knesset on "The Intention of Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Purchase Gas from the Palestinians When Payment Will Serve Hamas," March 1, 2006, quoted in Lt. Gen. (ret.) Moshe Yaalon, Does the Prospective Purchase of British Gas from Gaza's Coastal Waters Threaten Israel's National Security? Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, October 2007)

Israel's intent was to foreclose the possibility that royalties be paid to the Palestinians. In December 2007, The BG Group withdrew from the negotiations with Israel and in January 2008 they closed their office in Israel.(BG website).

December 2008 Invasion Plan on The Drawing Board

The invasion plan of the Gaza Strip under "Operation Cast Lead" was set in motion in June 2008, according to Israeli military sources:

"Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago [June or before June] , even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas."(Barak Ravid, Operation "Cast Lead": Israeli Air Force strike followed months of planning, Haaretz, December 27, 2008)

That very same month, the Israeli authorities contacted British Gas, with a view to resuming crucial negotiations pertaining to the purchase of Gaza's natural gas:

"Both Ministry of Finance director general Yarom Ariav and Ministry of National Infrastructures director general Hezi Kugler agreed to inform BG of Israel's wish to renew the talks.

The sources added that BG has not yet officially responded to Israel's request, but that company executives would probably come to Israel in a few weeks to hold talks with government officials." (Globes online- Israel's Business Arena, June 23, 2008)

The decision to speed up negotiations with British Gas (BG Group) coincided, chronologically, with the planning of the invasion of Gaza initiated in June. It would appear that Israel was anxious to reach an agreement with the BG Group prior to the invasion, which was already in an advanced planning stage.

Moreover, these negotiations with British Gas were conducted by the Ehud Olmert government with the knowledge that a military invasion was on the drawing board. In all likelihood, a new "post war" political-territorial arrangement for the Gaza strip was also being contemplated by the Israeli government.

In fact, negotiations between British Gas and Israeli officials were ongoing in October 2008, 2-3 months prior to the commencement of the bombings on December 27th.

In November 2008, the Israeli Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of National Infrastructures instructed Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) to enter into negotiations with British Gas, on the purchase of natural gas from the BG's offshore concession in Gaza. (Globes, November 13, 2008)

"Ministry of Finance director general Yarom Ariav and Ministry of National Infrastructures director general Hezi Kugler wrote to IEC CEO Amos Lasker recently, informing him of the government's decision to allow negotiations to go forward, in line with the framework proposal it approved earlier this year.

The IEC board, headed by chairman Moti Friedman, approved the principles of the framework proposal a few weeks ago. The talks with BG Group will begin once the board approves the exemption from a tender." (Globes Nov. 13, 2008)

Gaza and Energy Geopolitics

The military occupation of Gaza is intent upon transferring the sovereignty of the gas fields to Israel in violation of international law.

If this were to occur, the Gaza gas fields would be integrated into Israel's offshore installations, which are contiguous to those of the Gaza Strip. (See Map 1 above).

These various offshore installations are also linked up to Israel's energy transport corridor, extending from the port of Eilat, which is an oil pipeline terminal, on the Red Sea to the seaport - pipeline terminal at Ashkelon, and northwards to Haifa, and eventually linking up through a proposed Israeli-Turkish pipeline with the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Ceyhan is the terminal of the Baku, Tblisi Ceyhan Trans Caspian pipeline. "What is envisaged is to link the BTC pipeline to the Trans-Israel Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline, also known as Israel's Tipline." (See Michel Chossudovsky, The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil, Global Research, July 23, 2006)

Related Articles:

War and Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gaza's Offshore Gas Fields

The Lone Ship of the Freedom Flotilla: The Rachel Corrie MV Continues to Sail Towards Gaza in Defiance of Israeli Threats

The Invasion of Gaza: "Operation Cast Lead", Part of a Broader Israeli Military-Intelligence Agenda

Global Research Dossier: The Israeli Attack on the Freedom Flotilla

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