The iPINIONS Journal
Commentaries on the Global Events of 2013—Volume IX
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Netanyahu, Obama’s Iago; Iran, his Desdemona Netanyahu is continuing his mercurial goading to get Obama to do his dirty (military) work. This was evident during their White House meeting on Monday when he warned Obama that he should not be misled by the peace offerings of Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, who Netanyahu caricatured, with self-righteous indignation, as nothing more than a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” To be fair, though, he understandably fears that Iran will emulate North Korea by talking peace while developing nuclear weapons. And who can blame him for becoming a little unnerved by Obama’s solicitous pursuit of Rouhani for just a photo-op handshake at the UN last week, to say nothing of the blushing way Obama trumpeted their “15-minute talk on the phone,” which he made from the White House as Rouhani was being driven to JFK airport. This is why it was hardly surprising when Netanyahu repeated his warning to Obama and caricature of Rouhani for the world to hear during his annual address before the UN General Assembly yesterday. Except that, in doing so, Netanyahu showed no regard for the fact that Obama has insisted all along that, like Reagan in his dealings with leaders of the Soviet Union, he will “trust but verify, verify, verify” everything Rouhani says. Specifically, that there will be no lifting of crippling sanctions, which have Rouhani crying uncle on behalf of his long-suffering people, until there’s concrete and verifiable evidence that Iran has dismantled all of its facilities to develop nuclear weapons. What’s more, it cannot be lost on Obama that, if he had his way, Netanyahu would have already misled him down a primrose path to war against Iran similar to the one neo-cons misled his predecessor, George W. Bush, down to war against Iraq 10 years ago…. Mind you, this is not to say that I believe anything Rouhani says about Iran’s nuclear program. It’s just that if there were any truth in anything Netanyahu says about it, Iran would have already done to Tel Aviv what the United States did to Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
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About the Book
ANTHONY L. HALL takes aim at the global events of 2013 with a unique and refreshing perspective. Here are some of the topics he addresses:
Public outrage over NSA spying
“There’s no rationalizing their outrage over the NSA monitoring their promiscuous and indiscriminate footprints (online and via telephone). For, evidently, these nincompoops think it’s okay for Google, Amazon, Yahoo, Facebook, and others to spy on them to sell them stuff, but not okay for the NSA to do so to keep them safe.”
National praise NBA player Jason Collins got for coming out
“His courageous stand is somewhat undermined by the fact that he waited to take it on his way out of the league.”
Women who’d rather pose nude than be caught without makeup
“Who would’ve thought the liberation inherent in the sexual revolution and feminist movement would devolve into a self-abnegating farce where women themselves consider it a ‘brave decision’ to go out in public without makeup?”
Mediterranean Sea becoming a graveyard for Africans migrants
“I just hope the damning irony is not lost on any proud African that, 50 years after decolonization, hundreds of Africans (men, women, and children) are risking their lives, practically every day, to subjugate themselves to the paternal mercies of their former colonial masters in Europe.”
Pope rebuking church for neglecting poor
“Nothing indicates how far mainstream Christians have backslidden quite like the pope’s good old-fashioned religion being hailed as revolutionary.”
World paying tribute to Nelson Mandela
“As you see the most powerful people in the world falling all over themselves to sing Mandela’s praises in the coming days, bear in mind that the people Mandela himself loved and admired most (outside of family members) are old comrades—most of whom you will never see on TV or social media.”
About the Author
Anthony Livingston Hall is a Washington-based lawyer licensed to practice in a number of foreign jurisdictions. He is also a syndicated columnist and the author of The iPINIONS Journal, a weblog of commentaries that provide a refreshing take on current events. Hall lives in Arlington, Virginia. Visit him online at: http://ipjn.com