By By Alexander Baron Nov 7, 2011 in Politics London - Yesterday, Ehud Barak appeared on 'The Andrew Marr Show' where he described Iran as the sponsor of terror in the region, and refused to rule out bombing it, if it attempts to go nuclear. If this happens, we could be facing World War III. Barak said he was in favour of stepping up sanctions against Iran, but that no options should be left off the table. We are living in a tough neighbourhood where there is “no mercy for the weak”. He was not of course alluding to This bellicosity and hypocrisy is of course nothing new in either the Middle East or the United States where fortunately over the past few years a wider public has woken up to the machinations of the lobby The last US Presidential race pitted McCain against Obama. If McCain had won, we would have seen a continuation and even an escalation of the Bush Administration's policies, and between the neo-cons and their Zionist allies, the bombing of Iran and World War III. The next election could pit Obama against Cain, a In his song “...the Tsar in his great Winter Palace has called for the foreign news An archduke was shot down in Bosnia, but nothing much”. At the time, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand may have seemed like that, nothing much, certainly to the average middle class man or woman in London, Paris or elsewhere who had no particular interest in politics. It is though generally acknowledged now that this assassination was the spark that set the world alight. If you are not too hot on the history of the Great War - as it then was - you can read some of the background to its origins The First World War began on an incredible, almost insane, wave of jingoism and flag waving, and a belief that it would all be over by Christmas. They were still at it nearly two years later when on the first day of the Somme, the British Army lost over 19,000 men with twice as many casualties, a terrible price to pay for an inadequate response to an assassination of a minor aristocrat and his wife. Let us not forget either that the Somme did not end the war; the Americans didn't come in until the following year. That was of course at a time when the only weapon of mass destruction was a large quantity of dynamite, which is a poor substitute for an atomic bomb, much less a hydrogen bomb. Although both sides had chemical weapons, they were not as sophisticated - if one may use that word - as they are today. There was also a distinct lack of suicide bombers, although going “over the top” as did There is one other factor that should be mentioned: secret treaties. The first of Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points for the Treaty Of Versailles was that there should be no secret treaties between nations. It is a matter of record that our leaders in collusion with our “free press” kept the existence of the Now, what would happen if Israel were to bomb Iran? Think about it. First, let's rule out any official response, think of all the suicide bombers and madmen who would crawl out of the woodwork and attack Jews in the street, synagogues, plant bombs on buses and trains or even buy handguns and hunt people at random, Washington Sniper fashion. In July 2005, Now let's look at a higher level response, to begin with, an attack on an Iranian nuclear facility - real or imagined - or any facility anywhere - is a calculated act of mass murder. It is impossible to destroy sophisticated plant of this sensitivity without killing people. If Israel did attack Iran - an act of war - might not Iran feel obliged to respond? And might not Iran's allies, whether bound by secret treaties or not, feel obliged to respond? After Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Government invaded an unarmed flotilla and murdered nine innocent men, including an American citizen. Such perfidy is nothing new for Israel, of course, but the world has just about had enough of this sort of behaviour. The other eight victims of the The big argument of course is that Iran must not be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. America - the only nation that has ever used nuclear weapons in anger - can have them, so can Britain, France, China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and of course Israel, but not Iran. Iran can't be trusted, but Iran must trust us. How can Iran trust our governments when even we can't trust our governments? So what is the solution? The solution is sitting in the White House. Of all recent US Presidents, Obama is the one who has shown the most backbone in standing up to the Israel Lobby. Now, with the emergence of Having said that, there are things the US could do to dissuade Iran from continuing with its nuclear development. How about good old fashioned bribery? The West used this approach to Gaddafi with some success, though the people of Libya had other ideas. Then there was something called the Soviet Union, does anyone remember the original Evil Empire? Now, the USSR has not simply gone, but the new Russia is every bit as capitalist as the USA. Whatever Obama decides to do, he had better decide quick, because the last thing America or the world needs at this stage is a President who is prepared to write Israel a blank cheque for whatever action it decides to take against Iran or against any of its other perceived enemies. The consequences for Iran, for Israel, for the US, and for the entire world, are far too high even to entertain that thought. On this programme , the Israeli Defence Minister told stand-in host Jeremy Vine that regarding Israel's continued building of settlements, which has been universally condemned, no one has the right to intervene. We can't negotiate with Hamas - they are terrorists, and as for Iran, it is a major threat to the stability of the region or even of the whole world, and of course the Iranians are sponsoring terror all around the region, and are intimidating their neighbours.Barak said he was in favour of stepping up sanctions against Iran, but that no options should be left off the table. We are living in a tough neighbourhood where there is “no mercy for the weak”. He was not of course alluding to Operation Cast Lead , and the indiscriminate mass murder of over a thousand innocent Palestinian men, women and children.This bellicosity and hypocrisy is of course nothing new in either the Middle East or the United States where fortunately over the past few years a wider public has woken up to the machinations of the lobby Abraham Foxman insists does not exist. In this connection, Huffington Post correspondent MJ Rosenberg is right on the money, but the bottom line is that the one man who can stop this madness has already collected his Nobel Peace Prize. The question is, can he now earn it?The last US Presidential race pitted McCain against Obama. If McCain had won, we would have seen a continuation and even an escalation of the Bush Administration's policies, and between the neo-cons and their Zionist allies, the bombing of Iran and World War III. The next election could pit Obama against Cain, a Christian Zionist who says if you mess with Israel, you mess with the US. Such uncritical support in the White House at this point in time would be a prescription for Armageddon. No one should think otherwise, especially in view of some of the bellicose pronouncements emanating from not just Barak but the Netanyahu Government. Look at the historical perspective.In his song Manuscript , Al Stewart includes the following lines:“...the Tsar in his great Winter Palace has called for the foreign newsAn archduke was shot down in Bosnia, but nothing much”.At the time, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand may have seemed like that, nothing much, certainly to the average middle class man or woman in London, Paris or elsewhere who had no particular interest in politics. It is though generally acknowledged now that this assassination was the spark that set the world alight. If you are not too hot on the history of the Great War - as it then was - you can read some of the background to its origins here ; it was a case of one thing leading to another, one country makes demands of another, the response is deemed insufficient, there is a declaration of war, and everyone feels obliged to rally to the defence of his neighbour.The First World War began on an incredible, almost insane, wave of jingoism and flag waving, and a belief that it would all be over by Christmas. They were still at it nearly two years later when on the first day of the Somme, the British Army lost over 19,000 men with twice as many casualties, a terrible price to pay for an inadequate response to an assassination of a minor aristocrat and his wife. Let us not forget either that the Somme did not end the war; the Americans didn't come in until the following year.That was of course at a time when the only weapon of mass destruction was a large quantity of dynamite, which is a poor substitute for an atomic bomb, much less a hydrogen bomb. Although both sides had chemical weapons, they were not as sophisticated - if one may use that word - as they are today. There was also a distinct lack of suicide bombers, although going “over the top” as did Harry Patch was as good as.There is one other factor that should be mentioned: secret treaties. The first of Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points for the Treaty Of Versailles was that there should be no secret treaties between nations. It is a matter of record that our leaders in collusion with our “free press” kept the existence of the Bilderberg Group and other power elites secret from us for decades, so really we have no idea what secret treaties may exist between say Iran and China or Iran and Turkey.Now, what would happen if Israel were to bomb Iran? Think about it. First, let's rule out any official response, think of all the suicide bombers and madmen who would crawl out of the woodwork and attack Jews in the street, synagogues, plant bombs on buses and trains or even buy handguns and hunt people at random, Washington Sniper fashion.In July 2005, four Islamist fanatics caused mayhem in London with a budget of at most a few hundred pounds. In addition to their own lives, the 7/7 cell killed 52 innocent people and left hundreds injured. Two weeks later, another four fanatics went for an encore, and it was only by sheer luck that no one else was killed. If their bomb-making skills had been the equal of their enthusiasm for mass murder, we could have seen another 52 or even more people dead.Now let's look at a higher level response, to begin with, an attack on an Iranian nuclear facility - real or imagined - or any facility anywhere - is a calculated act of mass murder. It is impossible to destroy sophisticated plant of this sensitivity without killing people. If Israel did attack Iran - an act of war - might not Iran feel obliged to respond? And might not Iran's allies, whether bound by secret treaties or not, feel obliged to respond?After Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Government invaded an unarmed flotilla and murdered nine innocent men, including an American citizen. Such perfidy is nothing new for Israel, of course, but the world has just about had enough of this sort of behaviour. The other eight victims of the Flotilla Massacre were Turkish citizens, Turkey being about Israel's only ally in the Islamic world, or it was up until that point. If people treat their friends like that, best not to extend the hand of friendship.The big argument of course is that Iran must not be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. America - the only nation that has ever used nuclear weapons in anger - can have them, so can Britain, France, China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and of course Israel, but not Iran. Iran can't be trusted, but Iran must trust us. How can Iran trust our governments when even we can't trust our governments?So what is the solution? The solution is sitting in the White House. Of all recent US Presidents, Obama is the one who has shown the most backbone in standing up to the Israel Lobby. Now, with the emergence of Stop AIPAC and the realisation by many American Jews that the David and Goliath scenario of Israel v the big bad Iranian wolf is not tenable, Obama can put an end to this decades long farce. The problem is not Iran; the problem is Israel.Having said that, there are things the US could do to dissuade Iran from continuing with its nuclear development. How about good old fashioned bribery? The West used this approach to Gaddafi with some success, though the people of Libya had other ideas. Then there was something called the Soviet Union, does anyone remember the original Evil Empire? Now, the USSR has not simply gone, but the new Russia is every bit as capitalist as the USA.Whatever Obama decides to do, he had better decide quick, because the last thing America or the world needs at this stage is a President who is prepared to write Israel a blank cheque for whatever action it decides to take against Iran or against any of its other perceived enemies. The consequences for Iran, for Israel, for the US, and for the entire world, are far too high even to entertain that thought. This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com More about Iran, Israel, ehud barak, Obama, stop AIPAC Iran Israel ehud barak Obama stop AIPAC World war iii Operation cast lead Flotilla Massacre