by (O)CT(O)PUS of The Swash Zone
Less than 24 hours after my last post on the Bibi-Boehner connection, a Wall Street Journal report reveals the hidden devil in the details: It appears Netanyahu used Israeli intelligence resources to spy on P5+1 negotiations (full text here):
“The spying operation was part of a broader campaign by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to penetrate the negotiations and then help build a case against the emerging terms of the deal, current and former U.S. officials said … The espionage didn’t upset the White House as much as Israel’s sharing of inside information with U.S. lawmakers and others to drain support from a high-stakes deal intended to limit Iran’s nuclear program …
“If you’re wondering whether something serious has shifted here, the answer is yes,” a senior U.S. official said. “These things leave scars.”
Double Trouble. More troublesome is the fact that Congressional Republicans acted as co-conspirators to gain partisan advantage. Never before in the history of the United States has an opposition party colluded with a foreign power - in direct violation of constitutional norms and protocols. The time has come to put teeth into the Logan Act: Mutiny against the Commander-in-Chief is an act of sedition. If ‘sedition’ is one operant word, the other is …
Impeachment. Unfortunately, impeachment is a political process requiring passage by vote in the House of Representatives and a trial by vote in the Senate. Since accused criminals rarely admit to their crimes and never sit on their own juries, the prospect of 47 Senators impeaching themselves is highly unlikely.
2 comments:
I recall some weeks ago, an administration spokesperson made headlines for using an ornithological reference to “chicken shit” in describing Netanyahu. I knew instinctively what this spokesperson meant (in two parts):
1. Decades of obstruction and mutual antagonism designed to block every diplomatic initiative. From the Israeli side – posturing, announcements of new building permits and new settlements simultaneous to the announcement of new negotiations. From the Palestinian side - posturing, street violence, and lone wolf terrorist incidents. Tit-for-tat: both sides killed the infant in the cradle. This is “chicken shit.”
2. Recall Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s trip to Israel in 1977 that culminated in a historic peace agreement signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1979. This treaty resulted in a normalization of diplomatic ties and an enduring peace that has lasted to this day. This is the opposite of “chicken shit.”
Courage to envisage the possibilities of peace: This is what the unknown spokesperson meant. The example of Netanyahu – NYET! The example of Begin and Sadat – forgotten!
Republicans do not want peace in the Middle East. They are the party of war. It feeds their benefactors and fuels their campaigns.
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