Friday, April 12, 2013

Israel's North Korean Present


Victor Davis Hanson wrote: “Iran's North Korean Future” but as always, he got his ideas not from what Iran is doing or neglecting to do; he got them from what Israel is doing, and projecting that into Iran's future. Hanson wrote the article in National Review Online on April 11, 2013; a piece that is also given the subtitle: “A Tehran armed with nukes can play Pyongyang's game – but with no Beijing to keep it in check.”

After an introduction in 130 words, Hanson begins the core of his argument with this: “The present crisis with North Korea offers us a glimpse of what, and what not, to expect should Iran get the bomb.” So you ask: What's the introduction about? And he answers: It's about the poor terrified analysts who cannot figure out what to do with Iran. And now you ask: What's their problem? And he answers with the two words by which he describes Iran: “unpredictable neighbor.”

Puzzled by that answer, you go over the entire article to see where he may have explained why he believes that Iran is unpredictable, but find no explanation. Instead, you encounter the possible recommendations that the confused analysts may give – recommendations which, in themselves, would represent a powerful element of unpredictability.

And when you dig deeper into this element, you find that it is closely related to Israel's own posture of “ambiguity” as to whether or not it has nuclear weapons that were never tested, as to whether or not it has the capability to bomb Iran and get away with it, as to whether or not it has the ability to bribe and blackmail enough Congress morons to drag America into a foolish act of that magnitude.

Having called Iran unpredictable, Hanson now offers this: “We should assume that the Iranian theocracy ... would periodically sound lunatic: threatening its neighbors and promising a firestorm...” What? Who is he talking about? Was it Iran that recruited thousands of Victor Hanson clones to write article after article inciting a firestorm in the region from Morocco to Iran, and from Syria to Yemen? Or was it World Jewry that owns and operates the New-York/Tel-Aviv axis of hate and incitement?

Still, to add strength to his diatribe, Hanson employs the metaphor of the proverbial nutty neighbor who pulls tricks in the neighborhood to obtain what he wants. Hanson says that North Korea is doing it now and that Iran could do it in the future. Well, maybe yes, and maybe no – but that's beside the point. What is certain is what happened in 1973 when it became obvious that Israel was loosing the war. It asked America to come to the rescue, and when America dragged its feet, Israel threatened to drop radio active material in the Nile so as to endanger the lives of Egyptians for decades to come.

And this was not the only time we know of that Israel threatened America to get what it wants. It did so again when it said it might bomb Iran so as to put itself in danger thus force America to come to the rescue. And now, my friend, you ask: Who is nutty? Who is irrational? And who is unpredictable?

Finally, when someone has gone this far into the realm of the “upside down reality,” he can imagine any fiction he wants and attribute it to the character of his choice. Thus, to prepare for the following conclusion: “If North Korea has been a danger, then a bigger, richer, and undeterred nuclear Iran would be a nightmare,” with which he ends the article, Hanson sets up an extraordinary scene.

What he does is assert: “Iran would be different from other nuclear rogue states.” To explain this point, he uses Pakistan as an example and drags into the narrative India, China, South Korea, Israel and the West. At the end of it all, says Hanson, “China does not want a nuclear war [which] means North Korea is muzzled once its barking becomes too obnoxious.”

This would not be the case with a nuclear Iran, he goes on to say, because there will not be someone to establish “redlines to its periodic madness.” And this is why Iran would be a nightmare, he concludes.

This is the reality in the Hanson realm of the upside down but not on Planet Earth where madness is expressed in Hebrew and in English, not in Farsi.

Wake up, Victor; it is time to get real.