Lew Rockwell Institute

The ongoing pundit discussions whether or not the US attack destroyed the three Iranian nuclear facilities, which might or might not have been involved in developing a weapon, with many challenging the Trump administration’s report that all three facilities were destroyed, is stupid and even dangerous.  The whore media, incapable of thought, is desperate to do Trump in on any and every thing. Why are intelligent analysts keeping the issue alive for the biased media?  I won’t name them, but they need to think before they speak.

Why?  At this time based on the information I have been able to gather, Gilbert Doctorow appears to be correct that the Trump administration’s claim, whether true or not, has eliminated Netanyahu’s only reason for war with Iran.

We should be thankful.

War with Iran is more dangerous than Washington, Moscow, Beijing, Tel Aviv, and Tehran know. Iran is a more formidable opponent than the five Muslim countries Washington has destroyed for Israel. Iran can do damage to Israel, to US bases and naval assets in the region, and to world economies by closing the Strait of Hormuz and raising the oil price by restricting the supply.

Additionally, Iran is a strategic buffer for Russia. If Iran is put into chaos, inflow the CIA’s jihadists into the Muslim provinces of the Russian Federation.

If Iran’s oil falls under US control, China is cut off from an important part of its energy supply.

So far, Russia and China are standing apart from Iran.  But what happens when China doesn’t want to lose another round of oil investments like Washington caused China in Libya when Gaddafi was overthrown?

What happens when Putin realizes, if he ever does, that the demise of Iran opens Russia to CIA jihadists?

Having foolishly stood aside, Russia and China would have to enter the conflict.

What would be the consequences?

How much better if Russia and China had prevented the conflict by placing Iran under their nuclear umbrella or by publicly announcing a mutual defense treaty among the three countries.  But there was no vision.

Russia and China, having failed in their responsibility, left the problem with President Trump. On our side, let us not discredit Trump’s claim and, by doing so, resurrect Netanyahu’s justification for war with Iran.  It would be difficult for Trump to resist Netanyahu’s pressure given Israel’s extraordinary influence in the US. Let’s pre-empt Israel’s pressure for more war by supporting Trump’s statement that there is no longer a nuclear threat from Iran.

The post Let Trump Save Us From War With Iran appeared first on LewRockwell.

What can an Iranian learn from Syria?

Iranians must understand (and many no doubt do) that the Western political class has been criminalized.

Just as the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)(1)  is a corrupt agency which enabled the downfall of Syria and the installation of an al Qaeda junta, so too is the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) corrupt.

Video by Fox News, March 12, 2021

Transcript:

LeaAnn Duncan

June 14 at 12:43 PM

WikiLeaks: US intelligence assessed just weeks ago that #Iran is not building a nuclear weapon

“The IC [Intelligence Community] continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamanei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.

The IC is monitoring if Tehran decides to reauthorize its nuclear weapons program.” – Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, 25 March 2025

Then there is the question of opposition.  In Syria, Washington and allies installed an al Qaeda junta.  In Syria, Washington and allies pretended that the opposition was moderate when  in fact they were supporting al Qaeda and ISIS all along. Al Qaeda and ISIS were the “opposition”.  Iran needs to be aware of these deceptions.

The ”New Syria” has been committing genocide(5) against Alawites, and now Christians are once again being targeted.

The West does not want democracy or freedom in Iran.  It wants a puppet government just like its al Qaeda puppet in Syria.

Washington wants Iran’s oil(6) and resources and its subservience in its drive for geopolitical hegemony, and full spectrum control. Remember Wesley Clark: 7 countries in 5 years.  Iran is on the list.

Washington’s world conquest,(7) its permanent warfare and its pre-planned Supreme International crimes are consistent with the label Fourth Reich.  It acts like a global dictator imposing its supremacist will beneath waves of war propaganda.

The Third Reich ended badly, but the supremacist ideology which disregards and corrupts international law, which has criminalized the Western political class, which wages permanent warfare based on war propaganda, lives on.

Notes

(1) “Tulsi Gabbard on OPCW Corruption. ” marktanliano.net website, 26 March, 2021. (Tulsi Gabbard on OPCW Corruption. – Mark Taliano) Accessed 24 June, 2025.

see also: ‘Corrupted’ ICC Is a Tool to Be ‘Used by NATO Leaders, But Never Against Them’/ By Svetlana Ekimento – Mark Taliano

(2) Saheil C. ” IAEA is doing in Iran what OPCW (Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons) did in Syria./ By Saheil C -” marktanliano.net website. 24 June, 2025 (“IAEA is doing in Iran what OPCW (Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons) did in Syria.”/ By Saheil C – Mark Taliano) Accessed 24 June, 2025.

(3) Press TV, “Secret documents seized by Iran expose IAEA chief’s close cooperation with Israel” 12 June, 2025. (Secret documents seized by Iran expose IAEA chief’s close cooperation with Israel) Accessed 24 June, 2025.

See also: How the U.S. and Israel Used Director General Rafael Grossi to Hijack the IAEA and Start a War on Iran – Global ResearchGlobal Research – Centre for Research on Globalization

(4) Saheil C. ” IAEA is doing in Iran what OPCW (Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons) did in Syria./ By Saheil C -” marktanliano.net website. 24 June, 2025 (“IAEA is doing in Iran what OPCW (Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons) did in Syria.”/ By Saheil C – Mark Taliano) Accessed 24 June, 2025.

(5) Mark Taliano,”Well-Documented Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide in Syria.” Global Research, 14 April, 2025. (Well-Documented Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide in Syria – Global ResearchGlobal Research – Centre for Research on Globalization) Accessed 24 June, 2025.

(6) Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, ” Video: U.S. and Western Allies Behind the Genocide. Israel’s Role in the U.S.-NATO War Against Iran (1953-2024)Video on the Criminalization of Politics” Substack (Video: U.S. and Western Allies Behind the Genocide. Israel’s Role in the U.S.-NATO War Against Iran (1953-2024) ) Accessed 24 June, 2025.

7. Prof. Michel Chossudovsky,”Video: War and Globalization, America’s Roadmap of Conquest, Blueprint for Global Domination: Michel Chossudovsky” Global Research, 14 June, 2025. (Video: War and Globalization, America’s Roadmap of Conquest, Blueprint for Global Domination: Michel Chossudovsky – Global ResearchGlobal Research – Centre for Research on Globalization) Accessed 24 June, 2025.

The original source of this article is Global Research.

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Both the system and the word “democracy” were invented by the Greeks, specifically the Athenians. “Demos” was the ancient word for “people,” hence the rule of the people is democracy. I’ve always preferred the selective kind, as practiced by the Brits until late in the 19th century—when one needed to own property before qualifying to vote—and the kind that made ancient Athens great, an obligatory education before being allowed to cast a ballot. That kept the demagogues in their place, because if you are correctly educated you can sniff out the fraud and duper from a mile away.

No longer. Fake news is now believed to be the truth, especially when spread by the media, experts at disinformation. Here are a few examples taken at random from the papers I have in front of me, one week before this article appears: A columnist for the Bagel Times seriously notes that Hitler in 1935 had not as yet enforced a police state in Germany but was just like Trump is today, nuanced but nevertheless bound to turn into a dictator. Now, the man writing this rubbish, Kristof, may scare some children and impress some old ladies, but anyone who knows the difference between Germany in 1935 and the USA in 2025 knows that this theory is not only childish, but written for idiotic children at that.

“American emphasis on individual freedom has come at the expense of families and communities.”

A further editorial in the paper of disinformation charges Trump with corruption and weakening American democracy by his self-dealing. No proof, just charges. In the meantime, democracy is being challenged as 10 to 12 million foreign nationals who walked into these United States during Biden’s time and joined the already 12 to 20 million illegal aliens residing here present a problem. While American citizens were required to present multiple forms in order to travel within the country, illegal entrants were flown across the nation often stealthily without any valid ID at all. If that’s democracy at work, I’m an overripe banana. In the City of Angels—ha ha—foreign flags come out while rioters against law and order burn the place down. Why? Because illegal aliens who have committed crimes are being arrested and deported. And the black female mayor of the city takes the side of the criminals, while the governor of California also plays it safe. In my not-so-humble opinion, something is very wrong here, and it’s democracy not working, nothing else.

Which brings me to the reasons why we need a bit of autocracy, and why we need it now. Egalitarianism seems to be the culprit of what ails these United States, the passions of the mob having taken over what once upon a time was known as civil disobedience. The passions of the mob saw an illegal migrant lighting up a sleeping American woman and watching her burn to death while he fanned the flames with his shirt. Nice. The burned woman was suffering from mental problems, but her immolation soon turned into just another statistic. Like the rape of a dead man in a New York subway by yet another illegal migrant, only arrested after the gruesome incident. Necrophilia lives among illegal aliens in New York City. So what is to be done? Easy. As previously stated above, we need some autocracy and we need it now.

The major threat to the West’s security today emanates from its own pusillanimity. Global elites and immigrants are stacked against good middle-class and working-class guys. The L.A. violence will keep expanding in the U.S. and in Europe, especially in France and the U.K. The latter will see whites in the minority in 25—yes, 25—years, and what comes next is anyone’s guess. Will sharia law prevail? It will probably be shoved up the Brit bum, and the latter will as usual say, “Thank you.”

The battle will have to be fought not only in the streets but also in the classroom. What sets fire in our streets is our complacency and the fifth column of the media. (The fifth column were the pro-German French working for appeasement back in 1939.) And then there’s the great replacement theory that argues that liberal elites are behind a conspiracy to replace white Europeans with migrants from Africa and the Middle East. The rise of non-white immigration in Europe dwarfs any other potential dangers, yet no politicians except a few like Nigel Farage in Britain seem to bother with it.

The great German academic Hans Hoppe, an acquaintance of mine, argues that universal suffrage has supplanted rule by the natural elite. In other words, the foreign criminal has as many or more rights than the law-abiding citizen. A benevolent strongman is needed, according to Hoppe—and Taki—someone who would rule efficiently and prioritize the well-being of his subjects. If I had my way, journalists would have to report the truth, not their truth, and would be prevented by the state when acting like East German Stasi, informing on citizens who didn’t agree with them. I would also abolish Pride Month, because, as Norman Mailer put it so well, “Just because you take it up the bum doesn’t mean we have to watch parades for a month that celebrate it.”

Let’s face it. Liberalism has trampled traditional values underfoot, and many of us are mad as hell and won’t take it anymore. (Sorry, Howard Beale.) American emphasis on individual freedom has come at the expense of families and communities and has turned us into non-related selves—afraid, alone, marionettes controlled by left-wing puppeteers. Egalitarianism is the bad guy wearing a black hat; an autocratic strongman is the good one, and he wears a white one.

This article was originally published on Taki’s Magazine.

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The following are two indirectly related personal experiences I have had, the first sometime in mid-2012, the second, an as-yet-to-be-resolved experience in media res.

Following the passing of my father in 2012, I shipped numerous items (including some furniture) from Los Angeles to Vienna, Austria. Among the items shipped were ca. ten large cans of freeze-dried food purchased from major disaster-preparedness food supplier, Mountain House.

The shipment went from the port of Los Angeles to a port in the UK, where it was to have been unloaded andimmediately transferred to a truck that would bring my shipment though the UK – Europe tunnel and over land to Austria.

Upon arrival of my shipment in the UK, I received an e-mail requesting some information regarding the contents of the cans of freeze dried food. I found this odd, as the contents of each can were clearly written on the outside of the cans. (And all the cans were sealed.)

Not satisfied with information provided right there on the food products, the Brits were requesting “more details” (???) After I informed them that “I had no more ‘details,” they then requested that I contact Mountain Farms so that they provide more documentation regarding the contents of the cans of freeze-dried food.

I spoke with a representative at Mountain Farms on the phone, who thought the request beyond absurd, as it was indeedso absured as to be “surreal.” But, “okay” he said, he would provide some additional (ridiculous and nonsensical) information which I promptly forwarded on to the British officials.

After which I was informed by a British customs official that the information was “not enough.” And as there was nothing left to be done to “honor” (??) their ridiculous request for still more information, I told them this in the hope that this would put an end to their antics and that the cans of freeze-dried food would be forwarded on to me in Austria with the rest of my shipment.

And then what?

Now here is where it goes beyond the absurd, descending into something along the lines of “sado-masochistic.”

I was then informed that all ten cans of freeze-dried food were to be confiscated by the British officials, but, but, . . . in order to carry out their confiscation, they would need considerable time to go through my entire shipment (which was somewhat considerable, as I was moving a portion of my American household to Austria). The cost for their efforts? 2,000 British pounds!!

Should I not submit to their “extortion,” I was informed that they would hold on to (not release) my entire shipment. And because the shipment contained important contents of my American household, I had no choice but to submit to their quite clear “extortion.”

What are the chances that the British officials tossed into the garbage ten large “new” cans of high-quality freeze-dried food in SEALED cans? And what are the chances that one or more officials took the items home?

Despite my love of many things in the UK, I vowed at once to never again set foot inside the country. And I adhere to that to this day.

Now on to my current as yet un-resolved experience which though quite different has a similar “smell” to my British experience of 2012.

Towards the end of March this years (2025), I shipped one non-valuable (only “sentimental” value) earring to a Jewelry repair ship outside New York City. Earlier in the year, I lost one of the earrings; then in mid-March typed into the Google search box, “replacement of lost earring,” which brought me to this very nice and interesting shop outside of New York City. I sent them a photo of the one remaining earring and they then informed me that it would be possible for them to reconstruct a second near-identical earring.

And so, I shipped the one earring to the shop express mail.

While in the middle of completing my order, someone in the shop informed me that they could make, if I would like, two instead of just one duplicate. I gave them the go-ahead on that.

Soon after that I was informed that the package had been shipped express mail (UPS) and that I should be receiving it shortly.

On June 16, I received a request on my mobile phone from UPS to pay (on-line) customs’ duty for my shipment which I promptly did.

But then, . . . enter in the ridiculous and absurd.

When I went on-line (the UPS website) to track my package from its arrival in Vienna to my home in the Austrian Alps, I discovered that the package was being held up pending the need for “missing information.”

Despite the above, however, I had not received any request from UPS regarding this “missing information.” What information was being requested? And where should it be sent?

I then proceeded to contact someone at UPS, first in Austria (no success), next in Germany (no success) and then in the USA. When I finally reached someone in the USA, I was informed that they could not help me and that I must contact someone “local.” So back to square one, or shall we say, “square zero.”

I then tried the chat box on the UPS website where I was informed that they would be “happy” to help me with “any” problem/issue that I have.

But when I typed in my problem in the most simple and succinct way possible, what did I get? A “cookie cutter” reply that had zero to do with my problem. I reframed my question every which way, but nada.

Then somehow, either via another phone call or some info on the internet, I got an e-mail address ([email protected]) to which I wrote a request that they inform me as to what “information” they were “missing,” and to provide an e-mail address to which I could send this info.

I received the following e-mail reply:

Dear Madam,

In order to clear the shipment we need the original Export documents when you sent the shipment for repair.

If the package was shipped with ups please provide us with the tracking number and we will take care of it.

Thank you.

With no one signing off on this e-mail (no specified person to whom I can reply, . . . how nice!) Might I be dealing here with “AI”? Could be. Maybe I am part of some widespread “AI” testing program to help them determine where they are in its application.

So then, I was able to locate the shipping documents from when I shipped the one earring from Vienna, Austria to Long Island City, USA.

I sent them this document and explained to them that I only shipped one earring to the USA, but received three earrings back because the Jewelry shop outside of New York City had fabricated for me two new earrings as replacement for my one lost earring. I also informed them that I had already paid customs duty on my shipment (for the cost of the production of the two new earrings).

I sent them this information yesterday and as of today, I am still informed on the UPS website that my shipment is still being held in some warehouse pending the receipt of “missing information.”

We are not talking here about some expensive earrings made of gold and with precious stones or anything of that nature. We are talking about earrings of silver (with minimal silver) and a small moonstone for each earring. For which I paid ca. $30 in the late-1990s.

The shop charged me $470 for procuring all the earring components + the hand-fabrication of two new earrings, not exactly an amount to garner much attention (one would think) in connection with the crossing of borders.

So what is this all about then?

Could be that at one level here, we are dealing with “AI,” and if that be the case then I am part of a “test” as I believe that we are in an important stage of their AI rollout where they are testing it from and in many different perspectives.

But in the case of the earrings, it is surely not about the “money” (i.e., any charges that can be accrued from any additional customs’ fee add ons, which at this point would be insignificant). Nor is it about attempted violation of any law on my part, or of me simply being up-to-something-not-good via this shipment from the USA to Austria (i.e., trying to secure some illegal type item, like, for instance “Ivermectin”!!)

To understand what is going on here, we have to return to my earlier British experience of 2012. Okay, in the case of Brits, yes, they were extorting me for the handsome sum of 2,000 pounds, something that does not enter into the current situation.

The British incident was about the untold pleasures of extortion, it was a gleeful shout out that “we can do whatever we want.” It is to put it more precisely about “harassment.” Yes, it is the “harassment” that lies at the heart of both the British and the current experience.

When it comes to the rules and the bureaucratic details that are in play in Austria today, it is most surely not Austria that is speaking here. It is the EU. And 2012 in the UK was pre-Brexit, so EU operating there too. Leaving outside “the Great Reset,” “build back better” and all that, the EU is all about creating maximum suffering for EU citizens, particularly the middle class from top to bottom. It is about destruction for the sake of destruction.

I think that most would agree that in addition to a culling of the global population, it was the intention of the “Covid” operation (Psy-Op) to weaken a large sector of those not killed by the bio-weapon masquerading as a “vaccine.”

One way that large swaths of the global population have been “weakened” is through ruined health, but there has alsobeen financial/economic devastation and countless other forms of human devastation.

I am completely convinced that the “harassment” fits right in with this. It is just another way in which human beings across the globe are being significantly “weakened.” As this kind of “harassment” becomes more and more widespread, as it is becoming, it begins to effect people’s health. People weaken.

The only reason I have chosen to publicly present the above experiences is to call attention to the kinds of experiencesthat many are having today (across the globe, but more and more in the West) and which may seem at best anecdotally interesting (and annoying) but of no great significance.

But when taken cumulatively in the lives of each and every one of us and then again taken cumulatively on a global scale, it may be that such “anecdotal” individual experiences are playing perhaps a more important role than we think when it comes to our health and well-being.

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Iran is the kid on the playground that isn’t intimidated by the bully and is willing—and able—to fight back.

President Donald Trump not only attacked a sovereign foreign state (Iran) without provocation, without congressional approval and without constitutional or moral justification, he has also joined the likes of Joe Biden and G.W. Bush in the ranks of war criminals.

I doubt that anyone in America is more qualified to speak to constitutional and legal (and unconstitutional and illegal) acts than legal scholar Judge Andrew Napolitano. In a recent interview with USMC Major/UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter, Judge Nap said the following:

What the president of the United States did was profoundly unconstitutional, absolutely unlawful, was an impeachable offense and was a war crime. Under our Constitution only the Congress can declare war, not the president. And Congress can only declare war on a country that poses an immediate and grave military threat to the United States of America. President Trump has started a war with Iran, which poses no threat—let alone immediate or grave—whatsoever to the national security of the United States of America. Under an unconstitutional statute, but still the law, the War Powers Resolution, the president is required to give notice to Congress and give Congress an opportunity to respond before he attacks a foreign country. He can carry out the response, but he has to tell Congress and give Congress an opportunity to respond. He not only ignored the Constitution, he ignored that law. As unconstitutional as it is—it hasn’t been tested by the courts—it is still the law. The president ignored it. Killing people and destroying property in another country without a just cause is a war crime. It is the moral and legal equivalent of a high crime and misdemeanor. It is an impeachable offense. And it is time for the American public and the Congress to do something about it.

There you have it: What Trump did in attacking Iran was not only unconstitutional, but it was also a war crime, “the moral and legal equivalent of a high crime and misdemeanor,” which is an impeachable offense.

Military scholar Scott Ritter followed the judge’s statement with his own analysis. Ritter said:

What they [the U.S. military] did is carry out an illegal war of aggression. It’s a war crime. It’s not just a war crime, Judge Jackson from the Nuremberg trial period, lead prosecutor of the Nazi war criminals, asserted that the war of aggression is the ultimate war crime, because from this war of aggression all other crimes emanate. This is what we did. I don’t know why Americans are proud of this. This is an act of perfidy, a surprise attack, an undeclared act of aggression that had no foundation in justification. Again, to justify something like this, which is the equivalent of what we would say a preemptive act of self-defense, so there needs to be an imminent threat, an imminent threat, that can only be dealt with through this act of aggression.

Iran was in the process of negotiations that would resolve all of the issues that could be perceived as a threat. So, there is no imminent threat.

Moreover, we know that the sites that had been targeted—three nuclear sites: Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow—were empty, that these strikes would have zero impact on an Iranian nuclear program that had long since been evacuated from these sites and sent to other locations. It’s come out that this strike plan, which was done in cooperation with Israel, was something that had been planned more than a year ago and actually been practiced by the United States and Israel. So, this was a pre-planned strike against three designated sites that had no military value. So, this is purely an act of theater, and any military commander that puts American lives at risk to carry out an act of political theater should literally have their commissions revoked and be drummed out of the service. There was no justification for this.

As I have documented in past columns, Donald Trump likes to portray himself as an emperor, and now he is acting like one.

Here is my four-minute statement on Trump’s unlawful attack against Iran from last Sunday.

Trump has now proven to the world that 1) He was a bald-faced liar when he told the American people he wanted to be a peace president, 2) He remains a bald-faced liar by attacking a country while his administration was in the process of negotiating a peace settlement with that nation, and 3) He is nothing more than a paid lackey of the Zionist government in Tel Aviv and the Israel lobby.

Virtually everything America does in the Middle East is at the behest of Israel. This U.S. attack against Iran was no different. As former CIA analyst Larry Johnson said, “Netanyahu calls the shots.”

The idea that Israel wants peace is ludicrous! Israel has been the world’s greatest destabilizing force since its inception in 1948. And it has also been the most belligerent military aggressor in the world since its inception.

Netanyahu himself will NEVER agree to peace, because keeping Israel at war is the only way that he can stay out of prison. If peace were to ensue in the Middle East, Netanyahu and his wife would immediately be tried and convicted of mass corruption and bribery charges and would spend the rest of their lives in prison. The only way Netanyahu stays out of jail is to keep his country at war.

And by keeping Israel at war, Netanyahu keeps America at war, because 1) Israel has zero military superiority in the Middle East without the backing of the United States, and 2) Netanyahu knows that the Israel lobby controls the politicians in Washington, D.C., including Donald Trump.

The nations of the world know that the Zionist government in Tel Aviv is a rogue government. It always has been and always will be. Its actions are constantly outside the rule of law: judicial, Natural, moral, civil and international. And it does so with impunity because the United States constantly runs interference and provides cover for it.

And now the combined administrations of Joe Biden and Donald Trump have turned the government in Washington, D.C., into a rogue state of its own. These two presidents—and the Congress that turns a blind eye to their unlawful conduct—have turned America’s foundational principles upside down.

Biden and Trump have taken the nation that was called the “City upon a Hill” by Puritan preacher John Winthrop—who penned this moniker to his sermon in 1630 to describe America as a bastion of hope, faith and freedom to the world, the nation whose birth certificate (the Declaration of Independence) announces its parents as being “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God”—and turned that nation into a lawless, murderous lapdog of the rogue iniquitous State of Israel.

And what Netanyahu and his Zionist extremists in Israel want is to turn Iran into another Libya. They have said this openly and often. In other words, their goal is the total destruction of Iran. Why? Because Israel cannot control Iran, and this is unacceptable. Israel’s goal is total regional hegemony.

Israel is the elementary school bully that wants every kid on the playground in total submission to his will. Iran is the kid on the playground that isn’t intimidated by the bully and is willing—and able—to fight back.

In fact, by committing these war crimes against Iran, Israel and the U.S. are making it more likely that Iran will pursue a nuclear weapon, as this might be the only way Iran is assured of its own survival.

A case for a nuclear Iran 

Kenneth Waltz, one of the most influential realist thinkers in international relations, argued in a controversial 2012 Foreign Affairs article titled “Why Iran Should Get the Bomb” that a nuclear-armed Iran might actually stabilize the Middle East, rather than destabilize it.

Waltz’s theory is rooted in neorealism (or structural realism), which sees the international system as anarchic, and posits that states act primarily to ensure their own survival. From this perspective, nuclear weapons are the ultimate deterrent, and their spread, under specific conditions, can actually lead to greater stability. Consider North Korea: since developing nuclear weapons and delivery systems, its behavior has arguably become more calculated and status-quo-oriented. It also encouraged Trump to extend an olive branch to Kim Jong-un.

Israel remains the sole nuclear power in the Middle East, a monopoly fostering strategic imbalance and absolute impunity. The emergence of a rival nuclear-armed state, even with minimal second-strike capability, would force belligerent sides to act with greater caution. Conflicts would likely be reduced to face-saving precision strikes, as seen with nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. Despite hosting radical militant groups, Pakistan has behaved as a rational actor within the nuclear matrix.

Similarly, a nuclear Iran could reduce its reliance on asymmetric proxy strategies – such as its support for Hamas or Hezbollah – because its security would primarily rest on deterrence.

Some critics however warn that if Iran acquires nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia may rapidly follow suit. A moot point, except that Riyadh bankrolled Islamabad’s nuclear weapons program under America’s watch during the 1980s Soviet-Afghan War which featured beloved “anti-Soviet warriors” like Osama bin Laden!

There are also persistent reports which suggest that some Pakistani nuclear assets may already be stationed in Saudi Arabia, under the command of senior Pakistani officers. In the event of a regional nuclear escalation, Riyadh can simply request transfer at will.

Historical precedents also do not support alarmist non-proliferation fears. When North Korea acquired nuclear weapons, neither South Korea nor Japan followed suit. Deterrence, once established, tends to cool ambitions, especially when the cost of escalation becomes too high.

            (Source)

The discussion that is NEVER broached publicly is: Why can a belligerent/aggressor state such as Israel have nuclear weapons (which technology it stole from the United States) but a mostly passive state such as Iran cannot?

Remember that the only reason Iran has not tried to build a nuclear weapon to date (confirmed by National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard only weeks ago) is due to the fact that such a weapon is seen as a violation of Shia Islamic law by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

However, the flagrant acts of international aggression demonstrated by Israel and the U.S. of late may indeed persuade Khamenei that the only way Iran can survive is that it has the deterrence of a nuclear weapon at its disposal. Notice that the U.S. is not using South Korea as a proxy for war with North Korea. Why not? Because North Korea has nuclear weapons.

Plus, Iran might not need to build a nuclear weapon in order to obtain one.

I have read reports that say several countries including Russia and Pakistan have already said they could provide Iran with some of their nuclear arsenal (as apparently Pakistan has already provided nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia). This kind of military support between Sunni and Shia Muslims has the potential of putting the belligerent bully of the Middle East (Israel) permanently in its place.

The old saying still holds true: “Necessity is the mother of invention.” If Iran believes it is necessary to obtain a nuclear weapon for its survival, then obtaining one would be seen as its only option.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if the criminal conduct of Netanyahu and Trump to pound Iran into submission turns out to be the catalyst for Iran obtaining the ability to permanently maintain its sovereignty?

In the meantime, don’t expect Israel to abide by any ceasefire agreement brokered by Trump for very long. Again, Netanyahu needs war to stay out of prison. And Netanyahu also knows that no matter what Trump says, he is still in Israel’s pocket.

Israel’s (and thus America’s) war with Iran has just begun. Remember that Iran still has thousands of hypersonic ballistic missiles (which neither U.S. nor Israeli defenses can stop) that it can launch on Israel.

Furthermore, Iran has already inflicted so much damage in Israel that thousands of Israelis—including members of the Knesset—are fleeing the country. The truly paradoxical part of this story is that Iran has so crippled Israel economically, militarily, emotionally and financially that the Zionist state may actually be standing on its last legs.

But for America’s part, Donald Trump has allowed Israel to drag us into another “stupid” (Trump’s word) foreign war.

And, as did his predecessors, Donald J. Trump has now joined the ranks of war criminals.

Reprinted with permission from Chuck Baldwin Live.

The post Donald Trump Has Joined Joe Biden in the Ranks of War Criminals appeared first on LewRockwell.

Tim McGraw wrote:

“Wars are not made by common folks, scratching for livings in the heat of the day, they are made by demagogues infesting palaces…The very unpopularity of war makes people ready to believe, when they suddenly confront it, that it has been thrust upon them…because their own demagogues have been pretending, all the while, to be trying to prevent it.”

See here.

The post Mencken’s Forgotten Wisdom on War: James Bovard appeared first on LewRockwell.

Click Here:

The MAHA Report

The post It’s Time for the FDA to Allow Access to the Full Range of Homeopathic Medicines appeared first on LewRockwell.

Wriites Saleh Abdullah. 

We do have to consider the source, but it is safe to assume that this would be a logical play the Zionists would resort to when you consider their history. They did the 9/11 attacks to drag America into decades of wars for Israel. These Zionists will mass murder women and children so no crime or act of terrorism is beyond them.

They also have no chance to take on Iran militarily without American help as we saw over the past couple of weeks. They will absolutely try to start shit with Iran again in the future. I don’t think there is really any doubting this. So the false flag play is something to be looking out for. If something happens in America that is blamed on Iran, we should assume Israel did it.

Tehran Times

The post Israel planned false flag operation on US soil appeared first on LewRockwell.

The post The Forgotten NATO Summit appeared first on LewRockwell.

Trump has suggested changing the title of Secretary of Defense back to Secretary of War.  “We all feel like warriors” after the unprovoked bombing of Iran, he said.  Yes, let’s celebrate the “bravery” of those pilots who dropped 30,000 pound bombs on Iran from ten miles up in the sky while facing no air defense.  And don’t leave out those gallant and brave sailors who pushed buttons to launch missiles at Iran from ships anchored 400 miles away.

The post Our Brave Warriors appeared first on LewRockwell.

Jo Ann Cavallo wrote:

Dear Lew, 

I hope this message finds you well. I’m writing because I have just created a website titled Libertarian Literary and Media Criticism.

Advancing Austrian Economics and Libertarianism in the Humanities

The homepage currently has buttons to access webpages for the Libertarian Literary and Media Criticism volume in memory of Paul Cantor and a few other items, including my bibliography of books, articles, and journals that may be of interest to libertarian and classical liberal humanists. 

The site can also host blogs and announcements related to Austrian Economics and libertarianism in the Humanities.

I welcome suggestions and content for the website as well as recommended titles to add to the online bibliography to keep it current.

Would you be able to alert LRC readers to this new website by mentioning it in the LRC Blog?

Thanks so much and best wishes, 

The post Libertarian Literary and Media Criticism – a new website appeared first on LewRockwell.