Does anyone
remember all the lies that they were told by President Bush and the �Main Stream Media� about the grave
threat to America from weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? These lies were
repeated endlessly in the print and TV media despite the reports from the
weapons inspectors, who had been sent to Iraq, that no such weapons existed.
The weapons
inspectors did an honest job in Iraq and told the truth, but the mainstream
media did not emphasize their findings. Instead, the media served as a Ministry
of Propaganda, beating the war drums for the US government.
Now the
whole process is repeating itself. This time the target is Iran.
As there is
no real case against Iran, Obama took a script from Bush�s playbook and
fabricated one.
First the
facts: As a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran�s nuclear
facilities are open to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency,
which carefully monitors Iran�s nuclear energy program to make certain that no
material is diverted to nuclear weapons.
The IAEA
has monitored Iran�s nuclear energy program and has announced repeatedly that
it has found no diversion of nuclear material to a weapons program. All 16 US
intelligence agencies have affirmed and reaffirmed that Iran abandoned interest
in nuclear weapons years ago.
In keeping
with the safeguard agreement that the IAEA be informed before an enrichment
facility comes online, Iran informed the IAEA on September 21 that it had a new
nuclear facility under construction. By informing the IAEA, Iran fulfilled its
obligations under the safeguards agreement. The IAEA will inspect the facility
and monitor the nuclear material produced to make sure it is not diverted to a
weapons program.
Despite
these unequivocal facts, Obama announced on September 25 that Iran has been
caught with a �secret nuclear facility�
with which to produce a bomb that would threaten the world.
The Obama
regime�s claim that Iran is not in compliance with the safeguards agreement is
disinformation. Between the end of 2004 and early 2007, Iran voluntarily complied with an additional protocol (Code
3.1) that was never ratified and never became a legal part of the safeguards
agreement. The additional protocol would have required Iran to notify the IAEA
prior to beginning construction of a new facility, whereas the safeguards
agreement in force requires notification prior to completion of a new facility.
Iran ceased its voluntary compliance with the unratified additional protocol in
March 2007, most likely because of the American and Israeli misrepresentations
of Iran�s existing facilities and military threats against them.
By accusing
Iran of having a secret �nuclear
weapons program� and demanding that Iran �come clean� about the nonexistent program, adding that he does
not rule out a military attack on Iran, Obama mimics the discredited Bush
regime�s use of nonexistent Iraqi �weapons
of mass destruction� to set up Iraq for invasion.
The US
media, even the �liberal� National
Public Radio, quickly fell in with the Obama lie machine. Steven Thomma of the
McClatchy Newspapers declared the non-operational facility under
construction, which Iran reported to the IAEA, to be �a secret nuclear facility.�
Thomma,
reported incorrectly that the world didn�t learn of Iran�s �secret� facility, the one that Iran
reported to the IAEA the previous Monday, until Obama announced it in a joint
appearance in Pittsburgh the following Friday with British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Obviously,
Thomma has no command over the facts, a routine inadequacy of �mainstream media� reporters. The new
facility was revealed when Iran voluntarily reported the facility to the IAEA
on September 21.
Ali Akbar
Dareini, an Associated Press writer, reported, incorrectly, over AP: �The presence of a second uranium-enrichment site that could potentially
produce material for a nuclear weapon has provided one of the strongest
indications yet that Iran has something to hide.�
Dareini
goes on to write that �the existence of
the secret site was first revealed by Western intelligence officials and
diplomats on Friday.�
Dareini is
mistaken. We learned of the facility when the IAEA announced that Iran had
reported the facility the previous Monday in keeping with the safeguards
agreement.
Dareini�s
untruthful report of �a secret
underground uranium enrichment facility whose existence has been hidden from
international inspectors for years� helped to heighten the orchestrated
alarm.
There you
have it. The president of the United States and his European puppets are doing
what they do best -- lying through their teeth. The US �mainstream media� repeats the lies as if they were facts. The US �media� is again making itself an
accomplice to wars based on fabrications. Apparently, the media�s main interest
is to please the US government and hopefully obtain a taxpayer bailout of its
failing print operations.
Dr. Mohamed
ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a rare
man of principle who has not sold his integrity to the US and Israeli
governments, refuted in his report (September 7, 2009) the baseless �accusations that information has been
withheld from the Board of Governors about Iran�s nuclear programme. I am
dismayed by the allegations of some Member states, which have been fed to the
media, that information has been withheld from the Board. These allegations are
politically motivated and totally baseless. Such attempts to influence the work
of the Secretariat and undermine its independence and objectivity are in
violation of Article VII.F. of the IAEA Statute and should cease forthwith.�
As there is
no legal basis for action against Iran, the Obama regime is creating another
hoax, like the non-existent �Iraqi
weapons of mass destruction.� The hoax is that a facility, reported to
the IAEA by Iran, is a secret facility for making nuclear weapons.
Just as the
factual reports from the weapons inspectors in Iraq were ignored by the Bush
Regime, the factual reports from the IAEA are ignored by the Obama Regime.
Like the
Bush Regime, the Middle East policy of the Obama Regime is based in lies and
deception.
Who is the
worst enemy of the American people, Iran or the government in Washington and
the media whores who serve it?
Paul
Craig Roberts [email
him] was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President
Reagan�s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has
held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair,
Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University,
and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He was
awarded the Legion of Honor by French President Francois Mitterrand. He is the
author of Supply-Side
Revolution : An Insider�s Account of Policymaking in Washington; Alienation
and the Soviet Economy and Meltdown:
Inside the Soviet Economy, and is the co-author with Lawrence M.
Stratton of The
Tyranny of Good Intentions : How Prosecutors and Bureaucrats Are Trampling the
Constitution in the Name of Justice. Click here for
Peter Brimelow�s Forbes Magazine interview with Roberts about the recent
epidemic of prosecutorial misconduct.