By Kam Zarrabi, Intellectual Discourse

October is over and the sky hasn't fallen on Iran as yet. Once again the advertised deadline has come and gone and the goal posts moved back for the next "imminent" threat by Israel or its surrogate ( the roles are now reversed ), the United States, to launch a preemptive strike against the Islamic Republic.

cartoon by Carlos Latuff

But wait! The Israeli paper Ha'aretz is reporting that Prime Minister Netanyahu has begun, again, to push the Knesset to approve attacking Iran's nuclear facilities before the cloud covered winter skies over Iran would make the task more difficult; which means within the next few weeks! Meanwhile, the British paper, the Guardian, is reporting that Great Britain, another Israel surrogate, is preparing their armed forces for possible military action against the Islamic Republic. The United States is now "officially" showing concerns that the Israelis, having just successfully tested their nuke-capable long range (to reach Iran, that is) ballistic missile, might just take the initiative and strike Iranian targets rather than wait for the newly reinvigorated American imposed sanctions to work. 

Should one ever wonder how it is that a state known for aggression against its neighbors, which possesses nuclear weapons and has just tested its long range missiles, is allowed to threaten another regional state with no record of aggression or the proof of possession of such weapons, and do so repeatedly with impunity, as well as with our complacency?

Now, that should scare the daylights of the Iranian regime and, hopefully, force the ayatollahs to trade in their turbans and robes for suits and ties and go hide somewhere and wait for the sons and daughters of Kurush the Great to hand over the nation's destiny to their former masters on a silver platter.

Wishful thinking or daydreaming? Once again, Yes.  My friends, this ain't part of the plot!

Remember, whenever the pit-bull, Netanyahu, ratchets up the threats of attacking Iran, unilaterally if need be, something else is going on behind the scenes, or right up front, if we are talking about that small pie-slice of the public that is endowed with IQs above two-digits. This gangster is up to something again; he wants something and, the American public can bet their bottom tax dollars that he's going to get it.

The State Department or the Pentagon is not really "concerned" that the Israelis might strike at Iran preemptively and drag American armed forces into yet another disastrous quagmire on the eve of pulling out of the previous one in Iraq. No. The whole charade is about convincing the already well primed American public that the poor, defenseless "Chosen People" must be supported and sheltered in the face of a persistent "existential threat" posed by the only remaining member of the "Axis of Evil!"

By the way, the phrase Axis of Evil was coined by one, David Frum, another darling of the Zionist camp, Benador Associates, for George W. Bush's State of the Union address in 2002.

Anyway, the game plan calls for providing Israel with whatever, and however much, in economic, military and diplomatic aid that the Unites States could possibly afford, regardless of how that might affect America's legitimate interests in that region. Israel has never stopped, and is in the process of redoubling its efforts, to expand its illegal housing projects in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel is also about to increase its barbaric military operations in the blockaded and starving Gaza, as the world is watching powerlessly, thanks to the United States veto power in the Security Council.

So, the recent muscle flexing by Netanyahu, as convincing as it is to scare the American public into believing that another costly war might lie ahead, is no more than another ploy by the Jewish state to extort America's endorsement for its illegal and brutal activities, all with the blessing of the American Public - it is the elections times, don't forget.

The clearly phony allegations and the seemingly amateurish plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador in DC by the Iranians, which we were all told amounted to a declaration of war and deserving of the most serious retributions against the Iranians, have also fizzled out without even a whimper. What remains of the initial saber rattling by the President and his Secretary of State is the imposition of more economic sanctions against the "enemy", this time supposedly even more "crippling", but actually designed to be as ineffective as the previous menu of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Whoever concocted that ridiculous assassination scenario, or for whatever reason, didn't leave any alternative for the Administration to respond in the initial bellicose manner - it's the elections season, don't forget! In times like this, who'd want to appear less "patriotic" than the Republican candidates, the Tea Partyers or their supporting chorus of evangelical radicals?

But while these hyper-patriotic, God-loving and Christ-worshipping hypocrites dance on the stage in front of Fox News spin artists, the Administration has to indulge in a high wire trapeze act, appeasing the gullible public, while engaging in the fine art of "Realpolitik", trying to keep the Titanic from colliding with the iceberg.

What do you truly want President Obama to do? No; really!

The poor fellow has been, and continues to be, albeit somewhat more subtly, accused of being a Moslem! Look up the word 'accuse' in your dictionary. He has defended himself, I suppose you might say he had to protect his honor, by denying the accusation and proclaiming his true Chrisitianness many times! Why did he have to bow down to the inquisitors by acting so sheepishly "unpresidential"? One should wonder if we are in fact living in a secular democracy, or are we deluding ourselves when we talk about the separation of church and state in our thoughtlessly routine vernacular. Could a self-proclaimed atheist, but otherwise a highly qualified person, ever succeed in running for the office of the President of the United States, or for any other state or local office, in our country? But those who do succeed all wear suits and ties - or fashionable dresses, as the case might be.

When the current Republican front-running candidate, the Pizza Man, Herman Cain, sings (he actually sounds half-way decent as a singer) at the Press Club about how Jesus loves him, or how practically every other competitor invokes Jesus and prides himself or herself as a strong Christian and a person of deep faith, it's all very fine and dandy. But somehow it seems barbaric, archaic and downright "unmodern" when the Iranian leaders or politicians recite verbiage from their Holy Book and call on Allah for support. I guess when you are wearing a suit and a tie or a fashionable dress, your faith or religious devotion is simply another attribute you can add to your qualifications as a national leader. Not so with a turban and a cloak or with a face unshaved or without tons of makeup!

The political chess game between the Islamic Republic of Iran and its Western antagonists, meaning basically the United States and Israel, is an ongoing process until, as I have tried to explain in my previous essays, a diplomatically face-saving way is found to shift the pole of the Axis away from Iran and onto Pakistan. Even though the Iranian government has openly refused the offer by the US to open a line of communication between the two states to prevent an accidental mishap, such as might have occurred as a result of the prefabricated assassination plot, there is little doubt that channels are already being established.

We really don't need Mr. Farid Zakaria to point to the need for more open dialogues between the two states. From Beirut, Lebanon, he wrote that column making statements of the obvious. When he's back in his chair at CNN on Sundays, he sounds quite "patriotic"! Some time ago, I called him a bottom-feeding catfish who was doing everything to rise to the top of the food chain of journalism. Well, he's made it; now he is appropriately a chameleon, changing his colors and tone to fit the time and place. That's OK, too.

While the charade goes on, Iran continues to do its own "thing" with little concern for who says or threatens to do what.

As the subtitle of my new book, Iran Back in Context, says, the place I visited was "a Land and a People Seemingly Immune to Fear and Unfazed by Threats."

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