Israel must deal with Iranian threat on its own
Liberman: Israel must deal with Iranian threat on its own | The Times of Israel.
( DAMN RIGHT ! Any questions? – JW )
Ex-foreign minister says Jewish state has ‘no expectations or demands from the world,’ reiterates policy of non-involvement in Syrian civil war
Israel must deal with the Iranian threat on its own, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Avigdor Liberman warned on Tuesday.
“We rely only on ourselves. At end of the day, from 1948 onward, no outsiders protected Israel. We dealt with all threats alone. We have no expectations or demands from the world,” Liberman told Channel 2.
Liberman’s statements come as the world grapples with the Syrian crisis, with the US efforting a strike in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime on August 21 while Russia remains vehemently opposed, coming up with a deal, accepted by Syria, to have Assad’s WMD program internationally monitored.
Israel has watched closely as the US has dithered on a response in Syria, concerned that should a nuclear confrontation with Iran come to a head, the world can expect a similar American reaction.
The former foreign minister and head of the Yisrael Beytenu party also reiterated earlier statements that Israel must stay out of the Syrian civil war, which he described as the “most cruel of the 21st century.”
Assad and his circle will become legitimate targets if the Syrian regime crosses Israel’s red lines, Liberman warned on Tuesday.
“If Assad tries to drag us in [to the civil war], by attacking us, or by passing chemical weapons to Hezbollah, Israel will have to respond. The only thing that will deter [him] is the threat of losing his rule. Assad and his close circle will become legitimate targets if they fire at Israel,” Liberman said.
Earlier Tuesday, Liberman said that details of a deal to put Syria’s chemical weapons under international control are highly murky, warning that the plan could potentially serve the interests of the Assad regime.
“Assad is winning time and lots of it,” as a result of the Russian plan, he said.
Comparing the situation to that of Iran’s nuclear program, he noted that the Syrian leader could use the initiative to “buy time” and stall any real international involvement, military or other.
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WarSclerotic 
September 10, 2013 at 7:30 PM
Delusions aside, it has always been true!
September 10, 2013 at 8:51 PM
A brief analysis of the situation for the players so far:
Putin:
He is clearly the winner. An US-strike, even a small one would have changed the balance in the rebels’ favor and would have led to Assad’s fall.
Not only that but it had the potential to draw Israel in which would have ment the assured end of Assad and very likely also of the Iranian nuclear program.
Obavez already had an extremely difficult job to convince the American people, the senate and the congress. Putin’s move made it virtually impossible for him to succeed in this and it also allows both sides to save face.
If his solution is accepted it will allow his ally/proxy Assad to stay in power as he was on his way to defeating the rebels even without chemical weapons.
His masterful move raises his prestige and assures Russian influence in Syria.
Assad:
This is a win for him even if he loses his chemical toys. Their primary function was to be a deterrent against Israel and the internal opposition.
Also they could be used on behalf of Iran or to be given to Hizbollah for doing their dirty work.
But he’s not suicidal. He knows that any use of these weapons against Israel will be his end.
He knows also that Israel will not topple him from power if he behaves.
As he does not necessarily need his toys to defeat the rebels an acceptance of Putin’s plan will allow him to stay in power.
Iran:
On the one hand Obavez has completely made a joke of himself and any fear that the Iranians might have had about an US-strike against them has been turned into ridicule for obavez.
On the other hand if Putin’s plan will work, it is bad for the Iranians who cannot use the chemical thread against Israel anymore.
Israel:
Obavez, having lost all his credibility will have a very hard time arguing against an Iran-strike by Israel.
As his assurances are practiically as worthless as a whore’s assurances about her fidelity he has lost any argument he can use against Israeli action.
Also if Putin’s plan works, by removal of the chemical weapons, it will make it much more easier to deal with the Iranian business.
Obavez:
Total loss of credibility and trust in him by the world.
The cabucci theatre that he and his cabinett presented will assure them an eternal place in the hall of fame of political comedy.
From now on much of the world will have only ridicule for them and no one can take them seriously.
Obavez barely escaped total defeat.
And if Putin’s plan work this will spare him from going against the will of congress and the Amrerican people (many of the democrats amongst them) and it will also spare him from making him even more ridiculous, if possible, by retreating from his red line.
America:
If Putin’s plan works, America has been spared a war conducted by idiots who could not even clearly formulate a strategic goal and identify the means necessary to achieve it and communicate both of them in a convincing way to the Americans.
It is also spared the potential of boots on the ground and a repeat of the nation building bullshit that cost so many American lives and so much American money under Bush.
On the other hand America has lost a lot of credibility and trust in the world and projected weakness and confusion to the world.
Contrary to what many here believe this will not be without consequences.
Having lost trust, America’s allies will seek for new alliances, very likely with bad guys or enemies of America.
Enemies of America will become more emboldened and aggressive. America will suffer from increased terrorism in the future.
Clearly America will lose allies and influence because of this.
Unlike us, many of America’s enemies do not differentiate between Obavez and America and the democratic process, rule of law, and the fine differences and details of the American political process.
For most jhadis around the world such thinking is totally alien.
For them Obavez’ weakness is America’s weakness.
What did we also learn from all this?
We learned that another popular conspiracy theory just died a silent death.
There are those who say that obavez is a globalist or that he is controlled by globalists who want to put the US under the rule of the UN.
Well, what did he just recently do? Correct, he didn’t give a damn about the UN and was willing to completely ignore it.
Then we have Zbigniew Brzinsky, who many claim is the puppet master who pulls the strings of obavez the pupppet.
He very recently argued very vehemently that Obavez should ignore the senate and the congress and go to war anyway.
Well, what did obavez do?
There are many such details if one cares to look at them but I guess most of those people who believe in such popular theories won’t do this.
Remember, sometimes such small and unforeseen things as a mosquito can bring a mighty empire down and change the course of world history as it happened when Alexander the Great died of malaria.
And sometimes world history is changed by the careless and random remarks of a buffoon.
September 10, 2013 at 9:48 PM
Once again playing the “devil’s” (?) advocate, please forgive me
all, I can’t resist.
Who’s to say that Obama & Kerry don’t deserve a little credit here?
Look, IF, and this is a really big IF, they will succeed, along with daddy bear Putin, in snatching this Syrian snake by the head and milking it of it’s venom, so maybe y’know it’s a cool strategy and when they’re done they can move on to bigger ‘n better things, I’m sure you know what I mean? Eh?
Nothing like working together huh?
I mean like WMD in fundamental Muslim hands is not something anybody is really comfy with, right?
September 10, 2013 at 10:06 PM
I really would be happy if they succeed and I don’t want to see WMD in the hands of barbarians either.
I seriously doubt that it was the grand strategy of the ‘dynamic duo’ that brought us here. Maybe the mosquito?
As for the bigger things, I have also serious doubts about their ability to deal with Iran. But maybe there is another mosquito …
September 10, 2013 at 11:18 PM
Ha ha yes the dynamic duo has evolved into the three stoo….eh I mean the three musketeers, now if only the big panda bear from the far east would jump in we might have a fearsome foursome who could pry open the Persian pandora and presto!
Dream on…?
September 10, 2013 at 10:11 PM
Yes, it sounds good but it doesn’t work, already. The good Russians just used one of their tricks, again, before a couple of hours, cancelling an important meeting of the council. The Russians are great thieves and he who trust them is…lets say it in a light form, naïve.
September 10, 2013 at 10:19 PM
Thanks for your kindness Luis.
Maybe I am really naive and maybe much worse …
If it doesn’t work, things are much worse …
Maybe this is the Iranian tactic applied to Syria.
September 10, 2013 at 10:33 PM
Excuse me, really, if it was something bad in what I sad. Anyhow, read closely what Ira just comment, I was answering to that comment. However, sometimes, the answers aren’t in the correct places. My best.
September 10, 2013 at 10:16 PM
‘cabucci’ theatre? Really? Didn’t Tony Soprano haul out a 10-lb toilet plunger and whack Don Cabucci around the 40-minute mark in Episode Four of Season 2?
The current mess is partly attributable to Obama’s inability to take the collective pulse of US citizens, and concomitant blown PR staff work that fails to sense a fundamental change in Americans over the age of fourteen. Think Wikileaks. Think Snowden. Think of a globe made privy to once-sacrosanct secrets divulgence of which would quickly land one before a firing squad or sent to the slam for life. Without judging either individual for their acts, America is tired of twelve years of war, skeptical of most pronouncements from several generations of government, and feels an increasing entitlement to being given real facts: not the broad-brush ex-cathedra shit that worked for the past century, but real source data. If Obama has proof, he has yet to prove it to the only constituency that matters, that of the U.S. population. If that means producing 1-3-5 minutes of sensor data, so be it. Without hard proof made available to all, the success of this (and future) initiatives is moot.
September 10, 2013 at 9:13 PM
“Total loss of credibility and trust in him by the world.
The cabucci theatre that he and his cabinett presented will assure them an eternal place in the hall of fame of political comedy.”
Not so sure, thAT spidy sensor tingling thing again…
September 10, 2013 at 9:19 PM
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/US-joined-by-France-and-UK-to-table-a-resolution-to-the-UN-on-the-Syria-crisis-325756
September 10, 2013 at 9:19 PM
Spidy sensor?
September 10, 2013 at 9:25 PM
Never seen Spider Man?
September 10, 2013 at 9:26 PM
Nope.
September 10, 2013 at 9:33 PM
Debka..
“President Barack Obama’s two climb-downs on a US strike against Syria over its use of chemical weapons are turning out to be part of a deal which he forged secretly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Obama is presenting it as a US-Russian accord for stripping Bashar Assad of his chemical arsenal, while Putin is using it as an expedient for saving the Assad regime in Damascus. Both are ready to sacrifice the Syrian rebel movement to their détente.”
September 10, 2013 at 9:47 PM
Debka is the proof that one becomes an idiot if he tries too hard to understand another idiot.
“Both are ready to sacrifice the Syrian rebel movement to their détente”
I mean, really. Who are they kidding?
What a load of BS.
Why should Putin not want to sacrifice the rebels fighting against Assad?
He loves to see them wiped out.
September 10, 2013 at 10:04 PM
Keeping numb nuts Assad in power with no CW, killing off Islamic rebles, seems like a nice win for Israel.
September 10, 2013 at 10:13 PM
That was not my point.
September 10, 2013 at 10:34 PM
If Assad falls, there is no way Russia will let Syria fall into the wrong hands. My guess is they already have plans for a replacement government in which they play a major role. Furthermore, Iran could be left out in the cold. Just say’n. It could be possible.
September 11, 2013 at 1:27 AM
Tonight Obama raises the ante by listing his demands to Syria and Russia, and at the exact same time walks into the Russian trap. Putin has every intention of bringing Obama down and ripping the American public to opposing shreds based on race. He will have brought Russia out of the ashes to politically defeat the United States and will be beloved by the Russian public for generations. He hates Obama.
September 11, 2013 at 3:33 AM
Obama’s speech tonight contained no real surprises, except one. He actually said that in the event of Syrian retaliation, Israel is free to use overwhelming force.
September 11, 2013 at 7:20 AM
Of course he unleashed Israel. We’ll do the hard work here, eventually, but its ok. Its our business, after all. He who is living where Israel is placed and has neighbors from hell like we have, than he better be prepared to take them down for his survival.
September 11, 2013 at 3:37 AM
Highpoints….suspend vote, take a look at Russian proposal, keep military in place, keep heat on, Israel and others are free to defend themselves….
September 11, 2013 at 3:40 AM
More…strikes not pinprick, President can order strike, prefer Congress OK, will proceed if diplomacy fails.