By Donald A. Collins | 4 December 2020
Church and State
The behavior of Trump in taking steps to hamper the Biden transition opens a unique chapter in American history which goes back to the founding of our republic and the Presidency of George Washington. The word insane comes to mind. The number of such Trump inhibiting instances is too numerous to report here.
One conjecture I have not seen yet occurred to me as Trump’s outrageous attacks on our democracy get exposed: I wonder who’s behind the insane assassination of Iran’s nuclear chief?
The main reported suspect is Israel, but denials have been issued which some have found questionable. The arguments favoring what was allegedly done by Israel appeared in a frightening cocksure editorial in the WSJ which you can read here.
Israel has Iran in a corner. It has shown it can kill Tehran’s most prized personnel and damage its guarded facilities, while Ayatollah Khamenei is afraid to escalate, writes @ReuelMGerecht https://t.co/C4yet2JsbH via @WSJ
— Church and State (@ChurchAndStateN) December 4, 2020
The arrogance of power in the nuclear age should shock us into understanding how close to the triggering of such an unthinkable event which could be the use of a nuclear weapon to avenge this killing.
The history of how major wars start is full of instances of inadvertency! The assassination of Franz Ferdinand triggered WW One and we just saw in that PBS documentary Rise of the Nazis how WW Two with timely leadership intervention by German President Paul Von Hindenburg could have been avoided!
From the first use of such weapons by the US to end WW Two the world has lived in fear of a repeat use of what could finish civilization as we know it on Earth.
Many nations have nukes but it only takes one insane user perhaps abetted by another insane helper who would lend Iran a bomb to create disaster.
Living in DC exposes me to asking and receiving many opinions. One came from a veteran observer of international affairs including those of Iran, whose conjecture about the possible origin of the attack was aligned with mine.
He noted that,
I am not a politician, but common sense tells me the following:
Killing Iranian Nuclear chief could be a political set-up, managed and planned by Trump and Netanyahu.
And its real purpose could be to make more difficult the president-elect from resuming diplomacy with Tehran.
And Iran will likely not make any stupid move now. They will wait for Biden’s Administration to take over and talk again to solve their problems peacefully.
This is my understanding. I could be wrong.
Of course one veteran observer strongly disagrees with the WSJ’s editorial.
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was slain Friday when a gunman ambushed him in his car near Tehran. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed revenge on Saturday, and pledged to continue the work of the man some called Iran’s Oppenheimer.
“This was a criminal act & highly reckless,” tweeted Brennan, who ran the CIA under President Obama from 2013-2017. “It risks lethal retaliation & a new round of regional conflict. Iranian leaders would be wise to wait for the return of responsible American leadership on the global stage & to resist the urge to respond against perceived culprits.”
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani blamed Israel for the attack.
Brennan said he didn’t know whether a foreign government authorized or carried out the slaying, but said, “Such an act of state-sponsored terrorism would be a flagrant violation of international law & encourage more governments to carry out lethal attacks against foreign officials.”
Former CIA chief John Brennan blasts killing of Iranian nuclear scientist https://t.co/K2RIui0YmQ pic.twitter.com/uF2oWbBgct
— New York Post (@nypost) November 28, 2020
Former CIA Director Brennan’s opinion implies my concern over history as to how major wars accidentally start.
From 1945 until now we have lived knowing of the danger of a nuclear war.
And we know from daily media coverage that the insanity of powerful errant leadership is not extinct.
If indeed Pompeo’s recent Israel visit with Netanyahu in any way encouraged this action at the start of Biden’s term we should know about it post haste!
When Biden is formally installed as President on January 20, 2020 he should get the facts and take steps to make Iran understand that this action will never characterize our behavior in his administration.
Look at the poised power of the members of the nuclear club of nations! If ever the UN had a role in pushing back the threat of such overreach it is now. Every powerful nation has a major stake in cooperation
If a major nuclear war occurs would anyone be around to find out who instigated the assassination?
Of course Biden needs to find out all the facts—which could come out even before his inauguration—and then speak with decision to separate his administration from any such future behavior.
Yes, Iran has violated its promises, but becoming a nuclear power is not becoming a nuclear attacker, an act which has not occurred since Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Wonder if this conjecture will prove to be accurate, but if true it would be by far the most dangerous on the list of Trump’s attacks on the Biden transition. Hope someone will do the investigation to see if this is correct.
Former US Navy officer, banker and venture capitalist, Donald A. Collins, a free lance writer living in Washington, DC., has spent over 40 years working for women’s reproductive health as a board member and/or officer of numerous family planning organizations including Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Guttmacher Institute, Family Health International and Ipas. Yale under graduate, NYU MBA. He is the author of From the Dissident Left: A Collection of Essays 2004-2013.
From the Dissident Left: A Collection of Essays 2004-2013
By Donald A. Collins
Publisher: Church and State Press (July 30, 2014)
ASIN: B00MA40TVE
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