With only 220 out of 251,287 cables released so far, who knows what surprises lie ahead, but it seems striking and noteworthy that Israel has managed to be the subject of so little attention. Considering the tensions between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government that have been so widely reported, it’s strange that in the first collection of cables we would see little or no evidence of this discord. At the same time there is an abundance of ammunition provided to those who want to push for war against Iran.
At face value, Wikileaks if not serving can at least be said to have been very obliging in advancing Israel’s agenda — and giving the neocons cause for celebration.
Meanwhile, as the media’s attention is riveted by Wikileaks, assassins — presumably operating under the direction of Mossad — have been active on the streets of Tehran, murdering one nuclear scientist and injuring another.
The Guardian reports:
Assassins on motorbikes have killed an Iranian nuclear scientist and wounded another in identical attacks this morning. They drove up to the scientists’ cars as they were leaving for work and attached a bomb to each vehicle which detonated seconds later.
The man who was killed was Majid Shahriari, a member of the engineering faculty at the Shahid Beheshti in Tehran. His wife was wounded. The second attack wounded Fereidoun Abbasi, who is also a professor at Shahid Besheshti University, and his wife.
They are senior figures in Iranian nuclear science. Abbasi was a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, or Pasdaran, and once taught at the Pasdaran-run Imam Hossein University. He was hailed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad three years ago as Iran’s academic of the year.
This is shocking, if not surprising since it’s been at least a year or two (maybe more) that we heard about operatives in Iran trying to take out scientists with knowledge of how to do the nuclear fuel-to-weapon-grade cycle.
I just read an interesting article over at the Middle East Policy Council by Scott McConnell called “The Special Relationship with Israel: Is It Worth the Costs?” Mostly it’s a drawing together of past and present history that most everyone knows, but his conclusion is unsettling: it’s called “No Exit.” (The article has a bogus date of December 31, 1969 on the print-version page, so ignore that.)
http://www.mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/special-relationship-israel
A big thanks to Delia Ruhe for the link to the McConnell article. Since the US has the prime responsibility for creating the monster that is Israel, the US has the prime responsibility to de-fang it — all 200 warheads.
The article is also the most compelling confirmation of that truism that most terrifies Israel and the Israeli lobby — the Israeli tail does wag the American dog. No American could accept the continuation of this if his nose is rubbed in it.
As for the WikiLeaks scant reportage of US-Israel documents, I think the strategy of waiting until the suspense has become overwhelming is a good one. It always works in the thrillers.