Israel, Obama, Iran, and Journalism (Obama Ignores Israeli Intel on Iran, "CIA Exasperated")

"During Netanyahu's visit, Israel shared intelligence with the CIA regarding the potential for a terrorist attack which will dwarf 9/11 if Iran is allowed to continue with its nuclear designs and share its outcomes with allies such as Hamas and the Hizbullah. Iranian proliferation is a direct threat to US National security.

Obama's staff is ignoring the intel (HUMINT) because they believe that it is intended to manipulate the Administration into accepting Israel's planned bombing of two facilities in Iran.

They are also ignoring intel regarding a Hamas cell in Cairo that is bent on mischief. The Israelis are shunned. The CIA is exasperated."

How reliable is this information? Can journalists be trusted not to be manipulated; not to substitute opinion and wishful thinking for facts; not to be corrupted with the trappings of power or outright pecuniary incentives?

On January 20, 2009, I appeared as a guest in the most popular political affairs program in Macedonia ("Glasot na Narodot", or The Voice of the People). I warned that Israel is willing to wait 6 to 8 months for Obama's "diplomacy" with regards to Iran's nuclear capability to show some progress. If Iran remains recalcitrant, Israel plans to bomb two facilities in Iran as it did in Iraq in 1981, I said. Refueling won't be a problem, I assured the program's host: both Egypt and Saudi-Arabia offered to help.

This and other interviews provoked speculations in Balkan media and on the Internet:

Vaknin probably had assumed that the NSA (which has a presence in Skopje, having recently moved some of its facilities there from Athens) will be monitoring the program and will report to Washington, suggested one of them.

Vaknin' sister is Sima Gil-Vaknin, the IDF's (Israel Defense Force's) Chief Censor (true) and Vaknin is a senior Israeli intelligence operative (which I deny emphatically).

Recently, the leading Balkan newsmagazine "Fokus" published a long article about the Eligibility Problem (Obama's missing original birth certificate and other personal documents). In that article, Fokus speculated that Israel may have written off Obama and has embarked on a worldwide campaign to discredit him and counter his dangerous diplomatic and military moves. Vaknin, contended the magazine, spearheaded these activities in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans in conjunction with the Hasbara's clandestine unit, which is under the direct control of the Prime Minister's office. I have since denied these rumors, too.

I am a journalist of long standing (since the mid-eighties), have lived and worked in Israel and maintain a network of top-level, unimpeachable sources. I am made privy to a lot of information and disinformation (see my articles about Macedonia's accession to NATO and the name issue). Like every journalist, I sometimes can't tell the difference and get duped. But this is one of the risks of the First Amendment.

As I see it, my job is not to block or filter content. My task is publish with appropriate disclaimers regarding the sources of my information. I should serve as an eBay of data, ranking the past performance of "vendors" of intelligence and letting the fully-informed reader make up his or her mind whom to believe and whom to discredit.

Who knows! All I can say is that someone wanted this information leaked. It could be a arrow shot across the Obama administration's bow. It could be part of a much larger picture. It could be a signal aimed at Iran. It may be a brazen fabrication. History will tell.

But one thing it is for sure: a story. Someone(s) told me, a journalist, this story. They wanted it out. The importance of a story sometimes lies not with its content, but with its very release. It is the role of the discerning reader to read between the lines, connect the dots, and come up with his or her own narrative.

If I give the other guy a free pass, then the next guy can be excused for thinking he’ll get one too.

I will not give Bush a pass on this.

I will not give the backers of Bush a pass on this.

We MUST be objective no matter who resides in the White House. Obama is an idiot to ignore Iran and let it continue to pursue nuclear weapons. Bush was an idiot to ignore Iran and let it continue to pursue nuclear weapons.

North Korea is on the verge of equaling Russia and China as a nuclear state, that can wreak havoc on the territory of the United States. Why did we allow that? What the hell were we thinking?

As Republicans we should be hanging our heads in shame for what we allowed in the last eight years. Very few people would admit that our leadership was defective. It was our guy and we were going to support our guy no matter what.

And now here we are having to deal with a nuclear state with unhinged leadership. Have we learned anything? Not really. If it’s a democrat we can be honest. If it’s one of our own, we can’t.

Is that character? Is that what Conservatism is all about?

I’ll continue to hammer away at this concept, until folks get it and promise to be level headed no matter who the leader is.

It is always perilous to IGNORE any intelligence, and particularly ONLY because you have political suspicions against the source.

Because??

Because, ALL intelligence can, in time, be tested: against other sources, against events - past, present and future, and against new intelligence.

To simply ignore an area of intelligence and take it off of the list of things that ought to be tested, ought to be counter-checked, ought to be used in considering events - past, present and future - is dangerous, stupid and potentially leads to very bad decisions.

If it is disinformation, it will, in time, be proven to be so. In the meantime, more is lost by completely ignoring it and dishonoring it than by accepting the possibility, and being willing to watch for the possibility, that something else might confirm it.

The problem for the Obamabots is they have a worldview that demands greater allegiance to the myths of that worldview than any contrary facts, or even potential contrary facts.

If what the Israelis have is intel and not disinformation, they would have better luck getting it accepted by Obama if they could have it delivered by a source from the Socialist Internationale in Europe.

I have a couple issues with your post.

First, I don’t give Bush a free pass - IMHO, many of his actions on a variety of issues paved the way for Obama to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and also contributed to the mess this country suffers from, economically speaking.

However, BUSH ISN’T THE PRESIDENT ANYMORE! He’s not entitle to make policy decisions now, Obama IS. I’m not going to get bogged down in the past (except to learn lessons from it) at the expense of the present and future.

Concentrate on what is going on now, on what has the possibility of being changed.

Second: “North Korea is on the verge of equaling Russia and China as a nuclear state, that can wreak havoc on the territory of the United States.”

Uh, no it isn’t. Russia has thousands of nukes that can hit, or be delivered to, our territory. China has hundreds of nukes (maybe more), and dozens that can be deposited in working order to cities on the West Coast. The Norks have a few, none of which are thermonuclear, and the delivery potential simply isn’t there and won’t be for many years. Not that I diminish their potential to harm us - but this particular statement of yours is factually incorrect.
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Anyhow, I am not a subscriber to the idea that “Republican good, Democrat bad” at all times. Bush was horrid on many occasions...but he got my vote twice because he was less bad than the other two characters that he faced. What, Gore or Kerry would’ve done better vs. the Norks? Puhleeze. Did Bush f#$% up? You betcha - I’m certainly no Bushbot (nor am I the opposite - he did do quite a number of things the right way. Does acknowledging that fact help our situation in the here and now? I don’t think so. That’s something that we have to remember come 2010 and 2011, when we start looking at potential candidates for 2012.

But as for Iran, the time is NOW, NOW, NOW to do something, and Barack Hussein Obama is the person who will decide THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE.

I have a couple issues with your post. I don't have a problem with that. Let's go...

First, I don’t give Bush a free pass - IMHO, many of his actions on a variety of issues paved the way for Obama to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and also contributed to the mess this country suffers from, economically speaking. We agree on this, and I wish we didn't have to.

However, BUSH ISN’T THE PRESIDENT ANYMORE! He’s not entitle to make policy decisions now, Obama IS. I’m not going to get bogged down in the past (except to learn lessons from it) at the expense of the present and future. I want you to think about this real hard. If you do, you'll see how futile his arguement is, even if it is factually correct.

1. We couldn't bad mouth Bush because he was running to be President.
2. We couldn't bad mouth Bush because it would make it harder for him to implement policy.
3. We couldn't bad mouth Bush because he was running for re-election.
4. We couldn't bad mouth Bush because he only had a little time in which to get his agenda through.
5. We couldn't bad mouth Bush because we wanted the guy on our side to have a better change of getting elected.
6. We couldn't bad mouth McCain because he was running to be our Presdient.
7. Now we can't bad mouth Bush because he isn't responsible anymore.

Do you see a pattern here? How in the Sam Hell do you expect us to move the party back to the right?

Concentrate on what is going on now, on what has the possibility of being changed. We sure didn't believe in that for the last eight years. When some of us were making this very arguement, we were getting flack from those who supported Bush no matter what. When we tried to say we only have a limited amount of time, we were told to go pound sand.

Second: “North Korea is on the verge of equaling Russia and China as a nuclear state, that can wreak havoc on the territory of the United States.”

Uh, no it isn’t. Russia has thousands of nukes that can hit, or be delivered to, our territory. China has hundreds of nukes (maybe more), and dozens that can be deposited in working order to cities on the West Coast. The Norks have a few, none of which are thermonuclear, and the delivery potential simply isn’t there and won’t be for many years. Not that I diminish their potential to harm us - but this particular statement of yours is factually incorrect. Do you have any idea how much of our populace would be destroyed, with ten warheads? If they have even one deliverable warhead, what is the ultimate effect? We are blackmailed into doing just what we are now. Nothing. And that is precisely what Russia and China are able to do right now, use nuclear blackmail. So yes, once again you are factually correct, and unfortuantely still off the mark over all IMO. When I posted what I did, I realized you might come back at me like this. I still think it's an academic argument that you may win, but ultimately it would be a hollow debating point victory.
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Anyhow, I am not a subscriber to the idea that “Republican good, Democrat bad” at all times. Bush was horrid on many occasions...but he got my vote twice because he was less bad than the other two characters that he faced. Which is a valid point to argue, except that if you keep lowering the bar, GHWB, GWB, JSM... whatever would be next, pretty soon you've lost the whole ball of wax without the left ever holding office. Should that be our goal?

What, Gore or Kerry would’ve done better vs. the Norks? Puhleeze. There's one thing the left cannot do, without our help. They cannot destroy Conservatism. They can gnaw big time on the foundation of our nation, but at least there will be open opposition to their treachery. With John McCain, how much actual leftist policy do you think he would have reduced? Would any Republicans here have taken him to task? Would he have listened to them? Wouldn't we see infighting here constantly, as folks tried in vain to give him cover for what he was surely to want to implement? How would all of this have served our nation? Very very poorly IMO.

Did Bush f#$% up? You betcha - I’m certainly no Bushbot (nor am I the opposite - he did do quite a number of things the right way. Does acknowledging that fact help our situation in the here and now? I don’t think so. Then when do you mention it? I'd really like to know. Surely you must see the almost comical situation you are advocating? I realize that wasn't your goal, but the truth of the matter is, there is no good time to take Republican Presidential Candidates or Presidents to taks.

That’s something that we have to remember come 2010 and 2011, when we start looking at potential candidates for 2012. There you go again. If I understand you correctly, "Don't criticize our presidential candidates in 2010 or 2011.

But as for Iran, the time is NOW, NOW, NOW to do something, and Barack Hussein Obama is the person who will decide THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE. I agree. And it's now now now, and has been for a decade or more, when it comes to North Korea.

Back to the opening scoop: Is it true? Did it happen? Who knows! All I can say is that someone wanted this information leaked. It could be a arrow shot across the Obama administration's bow. It could be part of a much larger picture. It could be a signal aimed at Iran. It may be a brazen fabrication. History will tell.

My reaction is that, considereing the 0bama administration's attitude toward Israel, it has the ring of truth.

Obama is infected with "magical thinking" that would resist such a piece of information coming from Netanyahu.

He would not wish to be in Netanyahu's debt.

0bama's going to get some Americans killed, just as Clinton did.

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