Home
http://lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis308.html
Chinese and
Japanese vessels prowl menacingly in the sea around the disputed
Senkaku/Diaoyu islands as Beijing and Tokyo exchange threats.
A few wrong
moves could spark a clash between China and Japan that would likely
draw in Tokyo’s ally, the United States, which, under a 1960
defense treaty, is bound to defend Japan if it is attacked.
Half way around
the globe, powerful US naval forces are cruising the Gulf and Arabian
Sea to intimidate Iran. A clash between US and Iranian naval units
or aircraft in the Gulf seems increasingly likely as heated rhetoric
on both sides increases.
Meanwhile,
Israel’s rightist prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, keeps
threatening to attack Iran, with or without US assistance.
No one can
accuse him of being a flip-flopper like his ally and admirer, Mitt
Romney.
Twenty years
ago, in 1992, Netanyahu declared Iran would deploy nuclear weapons
in 3-5 years. In 1995, Israeli officials warned Iran would have
nuclear arms by 2000. In 1998, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
warned that Iran would have intercontinental ballistic missiles
with nuclear warheads by 2003 that could strike the United States.
Netanyahu now insists Iran will have nukes within a year. US intelligence
denies this claim. Even biased UN nuclear inspectors say Iran has
no nukes.
Chinese and
Japanese vessels prowl menacingly in the sea around the disputed
Senkaku/Diaoyu islands as Beijing and Tokyo exchange threats.
A few wrong
moves could spark a clash between China and Japan that would likely
draw in Tokyo’s ally, the United States, which, under a 1960
defense treaty, is bound to defend Japan if it is attacked.
Half way around
the globe, powerful US naval forces are cruising the Gulf and Arabian
Sea to intimidate Iran. A clash between US and Iranian naval units
or aircraft in the Gulf seems increasingly likely as heated rhetoric
on both sides increases.
Meanwhile,
Israel’s rightist prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, keeps
threatening to attack Iran, with or without US assistance.
No one can
accuse him of being a flip-flopper like his ally and admirer, Mitt
Romney.
Twenty years
ago, in 1992, Netanyahu declared Iran would deploy nuclear weapons
in 3-5 years. In 1995, Israeli officials warned Iran would have
nuclear arms by 2000. In 1998, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
warned that Iran would have intercontinental ballistic missiles
with nuclear warheads by 2003 that could strike the United States.
Netanyahu now insists Iran will have nukes within a year. US intelligence
denies this claim. Even biased UN nuclear inspectors say Iran has
no nukes.