[Peace-discuss] another acute article from Scott Ritter: "The Big Lie: 'Iran Is A Threat'"

[Stuart Levy]

Published Oct 8th by commondreams.org:

    http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/08/4404/

It opens with:

    Iran has never manifested itself as a serious threat to the national
    security of the United States, or by extension as a security threat to
    global security.  At the height of Iran’s “exportation of the Islamic
    Revolution” phase, in the mid-1980’s, the Islamic Republic demonstrated a
    less-than-impressive ability to project its power beyond the immediate
    borders of Iran, and even then this projection was limited to war-torn
    Lebanon.

and goes on to rebut each of the claims that our blasted Administration
has made against Iran.  For example,

    Iran as a nation represents absolutely no threat to the national security of
    the United States, or of its major allies in the region, including Israel.
    The media hype concerning alleged statements made by Iran’s President
    Ahmadinejad has created and sustained the myth that Iran seeks the
    destruction of the State of Israel. Two points of fact directly contradict
    this myth. First and foremost, Ahmadinejad never articulated an Iranian
    policy objective to destroy Israel, rather noting that Israel’s policies
    would lead to its “vanishing from the pages of time.” Second, and perhaps
    most important, Ahmadinejad does not make foreign policy decisions on the
    part of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is the sole purview of the
    “Supreme Leader,” the Ayatollah Khomeini. In 2003 Khomeini initiated a
    diplomatic outreach to the United States inclusive of an offer to recognize
    Israel’s right to exist. This initiative was rejected by the United States,
    but nevertheless represents the clearest indication of what the true policy
    objective of Iran is vis-à-vis Israel.

This would be a good article to send to our congresspeople.
Including Durbin.

   - Stuart