Qaboos bin Said Al Said, the Sultan of Oman started it all. He was the original initiator and architect of the Iran rapprochement. Almost three years ago, he ingeniously set up the initial peace meetings between the USA and Iran. Secret meetings that went on for six whole months right under the radars of the Mossad and every other intelligence agency on the planet. Without Qaboos’ peace-seeking visionary initiative to break the hostile ice between the two foes, America and Iran would not be here today celebrating a golden victory for peace and international diplomacy. All praise and gratitude should first go to this man who worked of his own volition; worked quietly and humbly throughout to bring an alternative to war in a region already ripped by non-state and state terrorism alike. Against virtually insurmountable obstacles, he calculated and worked on behalf of peace. He is a brave leader in a region full of narcissistic and despotic leaders. Even though I am an anti-monarchist, as I’m sure practically everyone who reads Plato’s is, I must here give credit where credit is due. Qaboos behaved honorably for the benefit of not just his country, but for the people of his region as a whole – for humanity. He is a true universalist. He is a Peace Hawk.
Praise should also be given to Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader. I have to say here that I’ve never been comfortable with such an over-privileged title – I can just about swallow the title of ‘leader’ let alone the title of ‘Supreme’ leader. But nevertheless, Mr. Khamenei was wise enough to seize on Qaboos’ initiative; was intelligent enough to pick the right Iranian team to represent his country at the negotiating table. And despite his negative ideological inclinations towards American imperialism, he leaned on his higher consciousness and reached out to make peace with a hated generational enemy. He also struck a balanced note with Iranian anti-American hardliners in his own government, allowing them haughty cynicism but simultaneously guiding them away from a destructive and impractically applied ideology. He achieved this without a trace of offence to the ‘spirit’ of their religion and hotheaded ideology. This was a most delicate balancing act that only an older and wise statesman can pull off. Drawing a constructive boundary for the hardliners and choosing the right Iranian team of negotiators was key to the success of the negotiations. Therefore I applaud Mr. Khamenei on his momentous leadership skills. He too should be called a Peace Hawk – or maybe a Supreme Peace Hawk.
Last but not least, a colossal bravo to President Obama for responding to Qaboos’ peace initiative and working it to the bone despite the Zionist and neocon chokehold on our Middle East foreign policy. Nobody took the incessant beatings and public humiliations for peace like Obama did. And a second bravo should be awarded to him for politically outsmarting all the rabid warmongers and naysayers on Capitol Hill and in Tel Aviv. Obama has literally, and finally, activated a change of course in American behaviorism in the Middle East, more aligned with our true constitutional American values. He has slayed the PNAC neocon plan at the eleventh hour and literally overnight, politically chained their large army of global warmongers to the back of the charging peace train. Even if a Republican is elected into office next year, the American public at large will not accept another war involvement in the Middle East, especially a costly, illogical and uncalled for war against Iran. President Obama is responsible for re-normalizing this collective shift towards peace, after an exhausting and abnormal dozen years of aggressive Bushism. This is indeed is a humongous socio-political feat that probably no other personality in our political arena would have been capable of. President Obama is hereby awarded the stellar title of Peace Hawk. Peace Hawk Extraordinaire.
Even though many men and women from multiple countries worked arduously and bone-crushingly hard on the Iran deal, and I thank them too for their tireless dedication to making the deal happen, I just wanted today to focus on the three leaders who truly had the hardest task and laden historic responsibility to ensure that a fair and equitable deal was reached – and not just any old slap and sign and go deal.
The powerful reverberations of this deal were felt immediately in the Levant, as indeed it was felt across the region and surrounding continents. A psychological as well as a strategic shift has already occurred on the geo-political chessboard – so many chess pieces are simultaneously and radically affected by this deal. As time passes, it will peel and unfold like a black and bitter onion for the losers of this deal.
I think it is only polite to applaud a great performance first, then critique and parse it at the bar later after the show.- so yes I intend to also write a Plato’s analysis on the historic Iran deal. Time permitting, in the next couple of days. This will also give me time to better digest the giant American-Iranian peace gumbo that I’ve just devoured.
All intellectual and culinary thinking aside, I’m smiling like a Cheshire cat to know that all the evil bastards out there are traumatized stupid.
They got punched hard. They’re stunned. They’re down. But they’re not out yet. But they sure are down real good this time and the next round coming, they should be knocked absolutely flat out – on the battlefield?
thank you taxi, just fantastic.
There’s a good article by Gareth porter on how Iran got the US to agree to this deal:
https://blog.hddmp.com/index.php/2015/07/16/how-a-weaker-iran-got-the-hegemon-to-lift-sanctions/
Another nice piece of work, Taxi! To be honest, I had never heard of Qaboos bin Said Al Said, or the machinations that went on behind the scenes to bring about this historical agreement. I had often wondered about how the meetings had been initiated. It seemed unlikely that Obama would have risked his neck to make the first move, and the Iranians did not have access to initiate it either. I thought maybe the Russians had initiated it, but that would have been rebuffed by our government. So, it had to be someone who was allied with both sides and in such a position as not to draw flak for starting the talks. The Arab league couldn’t do it since they would be hostile to Iran. Frankly, the Sultan of Oman would have been the last candidate to cross my mind. Live and learn.
Have to hand it to Kerry/Obama for having played this hand so artfully like chess masters, leaving Netanyahu playing checkers. While it still needs to be endorsed by congress, the deal has captured the imagination of the world. Netanyahu and his cohorts in congress are left looking like children and fools as they find themselves completely unable to attack the deal from a platform of logic. I guess big thanks are also due to Bibi Netanyahu for having cried wolf so many times, and for performing that ridiculous speech to congress without executive blessing, and showing the bomb cartoon to the UN, that nobody takes his admonitions about Iran seriously, and it was funny to watch Kerry dismiss his odious bleating so unceremoniously today.
The biggest joy for me in all this is that we are finally debating Israel on the national stage. Obama kept mentioning our “unprecedented support for Israel” several times in today’s press briefing, and it had to have made many Americans quizzical as to why they are deserving of this level of support when none of our other “allies” receive this – not even our closest ally and neighbor, Canada. The next 60 days will have their ups and downs, but I am hoping the “downs” will educate Americans about the parasite that is Israel and make them question all the blood we have spilt fighting its wars, both those of our children, and also of the millions of innocent victims in the Middle East and West Asia.
It’s a new day for the world. Ramadan greetings to all Iranians.
Britain hopes to re-open Iran embassy by year-end: Hammond
REUTERS LONDON | BY ESTELLE SHIRBON AND WILLIAM JAMES
Britain hopes to re-open its embassy in Iran before the end of the year, foreign minister Philip Hammond said on Wednesday following an agreement between Iran and six major world powers over Tehran’s nuclear program.
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…and we are off to the races. It didn’t take them long to drop the pretense. I love the smell of desperation in the air!
AIPAC Drops Pretense Of Supporting Iran Deal, Urges Congress To Vote It Down
WASHINGTON — The American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Wednesday issued its first public direction to Congress to reject the nuclear agreement that was finalized the previous day between Iran, the U.S. and five world powers.
“After more than 20 months of negotiations, the United States and its negotiating partners announced a nuclear agreement with Iran. Throughout the negotiations, AIPAC outlined five critical criteria for a good deal,” read a page on AIPAC’s website. “Unfortunately, the proposed agreement is fundamentally flawed in each of these vital areas. Urge your senators and representative to oppose the agreement.”
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Heh!
Bibi is really getting creamed by everyone now!
Who is afraid of Bibi Netanyahu?
OBAMA: ONLY ALTERNATIVE TO IRAN DEAL IS WAR
British Foreign Secretary: Israel Just Wanted Permanent Standoff
A day later, world leaders are starting to fire back with surprising openness, lashing Netanyahu for his insincerity. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond insisted no deal would’ve been good enough for Netanyahu, and that what he really wanted was a “permanent standoff” with Iran.
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Looks like Bibi is playing a very dangerous game (for him and Israel). Apparently, Obama has been trying to buy off his support with billions in military aid (like those dud F-35 jets), but Bibi is playing coy in the hopes of increasing the amount of bribes he receives in order not to provoke his minions in congress to torpedo the Iran deal.
As Jason Ditz reports, there is a good chance that this will backfire on him. Here’s hoping…
Bibi’s Grand Gamble
After Iran Deal, Obama Seeks Talks on Buying Israel’s Acquiescence
Israeli PM Seen Gambling by Refusing to Negotiate Sooner
Israeli officials have admitted as much in local media, though of course much of the deal is contingent on them not publicly having to disavow their previous stance. There has even been semi-public debate between the foreign and defense ministries over the deal, with the military wanting to get the deal done soon, and the foreign ministry believing they can get more by holding out.
In his conversation with Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu today, President Obama is said to have brought the matter up directly, hoping to get the ball rolling on the deal. Netanyahu was not interested in talking, in part because he wants to keep the negotiations quiet.
But Netanyahu is also seen favoring the Foreign Ministry’s argument, that Israel can get more billions out of the US by holding out and threatening to kill the deal with lobbying to the US Congress. This is a risky gamble, however.