VINUL DE CORCOVA – VINUL DIPLOMATILOR , GUSTAT PENTRU O ZI DE CETATENII CAPITALEI

In cadrul manifestarilor dedicate implinirii a 550 de ani de atestare documentara a capitalei Romaniei, Bucuresti, in parcul Kiseleff a avut loc pe 18 si 19 septembrie o prezentare a produselor si traditiilor specifice orasului Bucuresti si totodata a celor mai reprezentative produse pentru Romania. 

Sute de bucuresteni sau inghesuit sa guste din vinul elitelor-vinul de Corcova

In acest cadru festiv , derulat sub denumirea Bucurestiul intr-o zi. Sindrofie la sosea, domnul Serban Damboviceanu , directorul domeniilor Viticola Corcova , a oferit un cadou supriza cetatenilor urbei dambovitene, punandu-le la dispozitie in mod gratuit pentru degustare extraordinarul vin de Corcova. Cei prezenti sau putut delecta fie cu celebrul Merlot de Corcova, fie au putut gusta bucuria unui Chardonnay de Corcova sau pentru doamne un pahar de vin dulce  de Corcova.

Serban Damboviceanu-directorul Viticola Corcova care a decis : pentru o zi toti bucurestenii merita rasfatati . De Ziua Bucurestilor 

Imediat ce initiativa generoasa a domnului Serban Damboviceanu a devenit cunoscuta cateva sute de bucuresteni sau imbulzit pentru o ocazie rara , aceea de a gusta in aceasta zi de sarbatoare din vinul diplomatilor, vinul de Corcova.

Asa cum se stie vinul de Corcova a devenit din anul 2010 vinul de parteneriat al activitatilor de reprezentare internationala a Romaniei fiind oferit drept cadou reprezentativ presedintilor, diplomatilor si inaltilor demnitari ai altor state , ca un simbol a tot ceea ce inseamna traditie si valoare romaneasca.

Atentia mass-media a fost imediat  atrasa de Vinul de Corcova

Vinul de Corcova, sau vinul ambasador al Romaniei, a putut fi acum gustat intr-o traditie democratica de toti cei care au fost prezenti la manifestarile dedicate orasului Bucuresti si care sau putut astfel simti presedinti pentru o zi. Prezentarea publica a acestui vin de o calitate si puritate extraordinara a starnit interesul presei care a transmis momentul in care vinul de elita al Romaniei  a fost oferit cu generozitate ca un companion de marca la festivitatile orasului Bucuresti.

THE INFINITE HYPOCRISY OF THE WEST by Fidel Castro

THE INFINITE HYPOCRISY OF THE WEST by Fidel Castro

In defence of humanity

Although several articles on this subject were published before and after September  1st, 2010, on that day the Mexican daily La Jornada published one of great impact entitled El holocausto gitano: ayer y hoy (The gypsies’ holocaust: yesterday and today) which reminds us of a truly tragic history.  Without adding or deleting a single word from the information contained in the article, I will quote some lines referring to some events that are really touching. Neither the West nor -most of all- its colossal media apparatus have said a single word about them.

“1496: boom of humanist thinking.  The Rom peoples (gypsies) from Germany are declared traitors to the Christian nations, spies paid by the Turkish, carriers of the plague, witches and warlocks, bandits and children kidnappers.

“1710: century of Enlightenment and rationale.  An edict ordered that adult gypsies from Prague be hanged without any previous trial.  Young persons and women were mutilated. In Bohemia their left ear were cut off; in Moravia, their right ear.

“1899: climax of modernity and progress.  The police of Bavaria founded the Special Section for Gypsies’ Affairs.  In 1929, the section was promoted to the category of National Central section and was moved to Munich.  In 1937 it was based in Berlin.  Four years later, half a million gypsies died in the concentration camps of Central and Eastern Europe.”

“In her PhD’s thesis, Eva Justin (assistant of Dr. Robert Ritter of the Racial Research Section of the Ministry of Health of Germany), asserted that gypsies’ blood was extremely harmful to the purity of the German race. Someone called Dr. Portschy sent a memorandum to Hitler suggesting that gypsies should be submitted to forced labor and mass sterilization because they jeopardized the pure blood of the German peasantry.“The gypsies, who were labeled as inveterate criminals, started to be arrested en masse, and as from 1938 they were put into special blocks at the Buchenwald, Mauthausen, Gusen, Dautmergen, Natzweiler and Flossenburg camps.“In a concentration camp he owned in Ravensbruck, Heinrich Himmler, chief of the Gestapo (SS), created a space to sacrifice gypsy women who were submitted to medical experiments.  One hundred and twenty zingari girls were sterilized.  Gypsy women married to non-gypsy men were sterilized at the Dusseldorf-Lierenfeld hospital.“Thousands of gypsies were deported from Belgium, the Netherlands and France to the Polish concentration camp of Auschwitz.  In his memoirs, Rudolf Hoess (commander of Auschwitz) wrote that among the gypsies deported there were old people almost one hundred years of age, pregnant women and a large number of children.“At the ghetto of Lodz (Poland) […] none of the 5 000 gypsies survived.”“In Yugoslavia, gypsies and Jews were equally killed in the forest of Jajnice.  Farmers still remember the cries of the gypsy children who were taken to the places of execution.” “At the extermination camps, only the love of gypsies for music was at times a source of comfort.  In Auschwitz, starving and infested with lice, they gathered together to play music and encouraged children to dance.  But the courage of gypsy guerrillas who fought alongside the Polish resistance in the region of Nieswiez was also legendary.”Music was the factor that kept them together and helped them to survive, just as much as religion was for Christians, Jews and Muslims.

The successive articles published by La Jornada as from the end of August have reminded us of events that were almost forgotten about what happened to the gypsies in Europe.  After having been affected by Nazism, they were consigned to oblivion after the Nuremberg trials in the years 1945 and 1946.The German government headed by Konrad Adenauer declared that the extermination of the gypsies before 1943 was a result of the State’s legal policies.  Those who had been affected on that same year did not receive any compensation. Robert Ritter, a Nazi expert in the extermination of gypsies, was set free.  Thirty nine years later in 1982, when most of the affected persons had already passed away, the government recognized their right to compensation.More than 75 per cent of the gypsies, whose total number is estimated to be between 12 and 14 million, live in Central and Eastern Europe.  Only in Tito’s socialist Yugoslavia, gypsies were recognized the same rights as the Croatian, Albanian and Macedonian minorities.The Mexican newspaper described as “particularly perverse” the mass deportation of gypsies to Romania and Bulgaria ordered by the government of Sarkozy –a Jew of Hungarian descent-; these are the exact words used by the newspaper.  Please do not take this as an act of irreverence on my part.

In Romania, the number of gypsies is estimated to be two million.The president of that country, Traian Basescu, a US ally and an illustrious member of NATO, called a woman journalist a “filthy gypsy”.  As can be observed, this is an extremely delicate person who speaks in a polite language.

The website univision.com posted some comments about the demonstrations against the deportation of gypsies and the “xenophobia” in France.  According to AFP, around “130 demonstrations should take place in France as well as in front of the French embassies in several European Union countries, with the support of tens of human rights organizations, trade unions and left wing and ecologist parties”.  The extensive report refers to the participation of well known cultural personalities such as Jane Birkin and the film-maker Agnes Jaoui and reminded readers that Jane “together with Stephane Hessel, a former member of the resistance against the Nazi occupation of France (1940-1944), was part of the group that later on met with the advisors to the minister of Immigration Eric Besson.

“‘It was a dialogue of the deaf, but it is good that this took place, for it showed that most of the population was enraged at that nauseating policy’, said a spokesperson of the network ‘Education Without Borders…” Other news about this thorny issue come from Europe: “Yesterday the European Parliament put France and Nicholas Sarkozy on the spot for having deported thousands of Romanian and Bulgarian gypsies during a tense debate in which the attitudes of  José Manuel Durão Barroso and the Commission were described as  scandalous and ridiculous for their apparent pusillanimity and for failing to condemn Paris decisions as illegal and contrary to community rights”, according to an article by Ricardo Martínez de Rituerto published by El País.com.

La Jornada published in another article impressive social data.  Neo-natal mortality among the gypsy population is nine times as much the European average and the life expectancy rate is hardly above 50 years of age. Before that, on August 29, it had reported that “although there have been plenty of criticisms –from the European Union institutions as well as from the Catholic church, the United Nations and the broad spectrum of pro-immigrants organizations- Sarkozy insists in expelling and deporting hundreds of citizens from Bulgaria and Romania –and therefore, European citizens- using as an excuse the alleged ‘criminal’ character of these citizens.”

“It is difficult to believe that in the year 2010 –concludes La Jornada- after the terrible past Europe had with racism and intolerance, it is still possible to criminalize an entire ethnic group by labeling it as a social problem.” “Indifference, or even consent towards the actions carried out by the French police today and the Italian police yesterday –more European, in general terms- leave the most optimist analyst speechless.”

Suddenly, while I wrote this Reflection, I remembered that France is the third nuclear power in the planet, and that Sarkozy also had a briefcase with the keys required to launch one of the more than 300 bombs he had.  Is there any moral or ethical rational in launching an attack against Iran, a country condemned for its alleged intention of manufacturing this kind of weapon? Where are the good sense and the logic of that policy?

Let us assume that Sarkozy all of a sudden goes crazy, as it seems to be the case.  What would the UN Security Council do with Sarkozy and his briefcase?

What will happen if the French extreme right decides to force Sarkozy to maintain a racist policy, opposite to the norms that prevail within the European Community?

Could the UN Security Council respond to those two questions?

The absence of truth and the prevalence of deception is the biggest tragedy in our dangerous nuclear age.

 Fidel Castro Ruz

PAPUSILE HANDICAPATE ALE DOMNULUI DANIEL FUNERIU

Scrisoare deschisa adresata Dlui. Ministru al Educatiei

  Daniel  FUNERIU

 

Curriculum Vitae al Dvs. de pe Internet va recomanda ca inginer in domeniul chimiei cu studii superioare si perfectionari continue din 1991 pane in 2006 inclusiv inclusiv , in tarile Franta , SUA , Anglia , California si Japonia. Ca o recunoastere a meritelor si capacitatii Dvs. stiintifice in domeniul chimiei ati obtinut un grant de cercetare in 2006 , Marie Curie Excellence Grant , in valoare de aproximativ 2.000.000 Euro.  Dupa aceasta perioada de 15 ani de ascensiune profesionala remarcabila in domeniul chimiei petrecuta in Occident ati debutat in Romania in noiembrie 2006 in Politica , fiind membru in grupul de experti pentru elaborarea “Strategiei cercetarii din Romania intre 2007 si 2013” si vice-presedinte al Comisiei Prezidentiale pentru Analiza si Elaborarea Politicilor din domeniile Educatiei si Cercetarii din Romania.

Angrenarea Dvs. din noiembrie 2006 in Politica din Romania este puntea de legatura intre noi , eu fiind un cercetator politic independent . Acest fapt m-a determinat sa va adresez aceasta Scrisoare Deschisa ca reactie la cele doua propuneri pe care le-ati facut de curand.  Respectiv propunerea referitoare la dotarea Gradinitelor din judetele tarii si din Capitala cu papusi cu dezabilitati si cu masini si truse medicale de jucarie corespunzatoare respectivelor papusi handicapate.   Se afirma ca aceasta propunere se incadreaza in Proiectul pentru Reforma Educatiei Timpurii , adica pe romaneste spus este vorba de educatia si instruirea copiilor de varsta prescolara la nivel national.

Si a doua propunere pe care ati facut-o in Guvern de a taia fondurile destinate Academiei de Stiinte Medicale.

 In legatura cu prima propunere fac urmatoarele observatii :

 In loc de cresterea si educatia prescolarilor in conditii de normalitate , prin propunerea Dvs , acestor copii care nu au atins varsta scolara li se creaza un mediu traumatizant populat cu oameni schilozi si infirmi de maini , etc. , carora li se fac tot felul de tratamente medicale si injectii , sunt purtati in carucioare , etc. , fara speranta ca le va mai creste la loc un picior sau o mana.  Pentru istoria pedagogiei prescolare propunerea cu papusile handicapate la nivel national este o noutate absoluta pe plan mondial.  Academicianul roman Florin Constantiniu precizeaza : “ Istoria nu este o stiinta experimentala precum Chimia “.

  Consider ca daca propunerea cu papusile handicapate va deveni fapt social care va actiona zilnic si neincetat in mod declarat si general in toate institutiile prescolare din tara cu programa prescolara normala , copiii prescolari si parintii lor nu vor avea nici o posibilitate de a replica.  Am putea spune ca avem de a face cu un act de dezinformare care actioneaza intr-un singur sens , caracteristica de baza a dezinformarii.  Psihologii au atras deja atentia asupra efectelor nocive asupra psihicului copiilor care nu au atins varsta scolara daca micutilor li se vor da sa se joace cu papusile cu dezabilitati , cu papusile handicapate.

 In plus , cred ca prin folosirea lumii nevinovate a papusilor , unde Feti-frumosii si Ilenele-cosanzene au fost inlocuiti cu papusi handicapate , propunerea prin caracterul ei general la nivel national inclusa in Proiectul pentru Reforma Educatiei Timpurii, adica pe romaneste Educatia Prescolara, pe langa efectele nocive asupra psihicului prescolarilor sesizate imediat de catre psihologi asa cum am mentionat , propunerea devenita fapt social va genera si efecte ascunse care sunt descoperite numai odata cu trecerea timpului si acest lucru in cazul fericit daca organele abilitate au capacitatea sau vointa de a le depista , pentru ca alte organe sa ia masuri in consecinta , fiind vorba de un atac asupra natiunii.

 Efectele ascunse ale propunerii cu papusile handicapate tintesc sa modifice in timp imaginea realitatii in constiinta populatiei , a opiniei publice , despre sanatatea natiunii , respectiv ca natiunea romana este o natiune handicapata , o natiune bolnava.   Efectele ascunse reprezinta o alta trasatura a actului de dezinformare. In 1990 un economist american pe numele lui Jeffrey SACHS a diagnosticat economia nationala a Romaniei , care este una din atributele generale ale natiunii , ca fiind bolnava , cu toate ca era o economie in plin proces de modernizare.  Pentru aceasta economie considerata de Jeffrey SACHS bolnava , economistul american a indicat ca singurul remediu de insanatosire este aplicarea asupra economiei bolnave romanesti a teoriei sale “Terapia de soc”  sau “Leninismul rasturnat al lui SACHS”.   Aceasta teorie a inspirat toate Programele de guvernare succedate dupa decembrie 1989 ale caror politici economice au devenit fapte sociale si care au constrans astfel populatia Romaniei la transformari economice si sociale radicale provocand crizele , subdezvoltarea , mizeria , saracia si moartea. Este in logica lucrurilor ca unei economii bolnave declarata chiar de oficialitatile romane sa-i corespunda prin consecinta o natiune bolnava , o populatie bolnava.  Cum acest lucru nu a existat si nu exista , asa cum nu a existat nici o economie bolnava , se lucreaza asiduu , fatis dar si cu subtilitate , asupra constiintei populatiei.  In anul 2010 , moment de grava criza economica , de lipsuri , de nevoi si de disperare , pentru a nauci , a demoraliza si a determina in final odata cu trecerea timpului sa considere chiar ea insasi , natiunea , populatia , ca este handicapata , bolnava si deci usor de ingenunchiat , se apeleaza la propuneri antisociale cum este propunerea cu papusile handicapete.   La fel s-a lucrat si se lucreaza inca cu ideea ca natiunea romana a facut o revolutie in 1989.  Rezultatele antisociale care au decurs din acest eveniment demonstreaza ca este o afirmatie total falsa.  Deci si in acest caz ne confruntam cu un act de dezinformare a natiunii romane.  Exista riscul ca sub avalansa numeroaselor acte de dezinformare printre care si actuala propunere cu papusile handicapate sa ne trezim in fata unei situatii foarte grave pe care nu o putem inca numi pentruca ea se instaleaza pe tacute asa cum tot pe tacute , in primii 10 ani dupa decembrie 1989 s-a instalat in Romania un Capitalism Primitiv si banditesc , departe de Capitalismul dezvoltat de azi din tarile occidentale si SUA .

Situatia grava se refera la faptul ca propunerea infricosatoare , monstruoasa si violenta cu papusile handicapate urmareste ca prin intermediul lumii nevinovate a papusilor sa fie lovita natiunea romana.  Or este bine stiut ca natiunea , prin caracteristicile sale intrinsece trebuie sa fie un factor primordial de progres economic si social.  Lovind natiunea in acest moment de grea si apasatoare criza economica moralul populatiei este agresat , fapt ce conduce la diminuarea rolului populatiei ca factor de crestere economica.

Am in vedere faptul ca influenta populatiei asupra economiei nationale este dubla.  Pe de o parte populatia pune la dispozitia economiei cel mai important factor de productie , pe de alta parte populatia contribuie prin cererea sa de consum la dezvoltarea pietei interne.  In plus , rolul activ al populatiei creste in mod proportional cu ponderea in care ea , populatia ,participa in acele ramuri ale economiei nationale care sunt purtatoare ale progresului tehnic si unde productivitatea muncii este cea mai ridicata.

 Pe baza acestor cateva observatii ma solidarizez cu acei lideri de partide si de sindicate care s-au exprimat pana acum pe Internet si care au condamnat initiativa Ministrului Educatiei de a dota Gradinitele din Romania cu papusi handicapate  Cer Dlui.Ministru al Educatiei sa renunte la aceasta propunere care nu serveste natiunea romana si nu serveste interesul national.

 Referitor la propunerea de a taia fondurile destinate Academiei de Stiinte Medicale facuta de Dl.Ministru al Educatiei Daniel FUNERIU in cadrul Guvernului condus de Dl. Emil BOC , fac urmatoarele observatii :

 Propunerea de taiere a fondurilor destinate cecetarii medicale apare intr-un context in care in general rolul cercetarii creste pe masura inaintarii societatii in era cunoasterii , a informarii. In al doilea rand , in cadrul cercetarii , cercetarea madicala nu este de neglijat.  Ea priveste omul ca resursa a unei natiuni viguroase si ca important factor de productie.

In al treilea rand elita medicala a tarii este finantata in prezent de Stat cu bani putini. In al patrulea rand propunerea de taiere a fondurilor destinate cercetarii medicale apare pe fondul unei crize profunde a sistemului de sanatate. Drama din sistemul sanitar din Romania petrecuta in vara lui 2010 la o maternitate din capitala a facut inconjurul lumii , infiorand lumea. Pruncii nascuti prematur au ars de vii.  Consider ca propunerea referitoare la taierea fondurilor pentru cercetarea medicala aduce un imens prejudiciu moral intregului corp medical din Romania.

Ca urmare cer Dlui Ministru al Educatiei Daniel FUNERIU sa renunte la propunerea de taiere a fondurilor destinate cercetarii medicale.

 

Nina GEORGESCU                E-mail : georgescu.nina@yahoo.fr

Redactor Agoravox-Franta      Cercetator politic independent

THE ROMANIAN PERSONALITY OF 2010 IS PROFESSOR ANTON CARAGEA

Professor Anton Caragea is declared THE ROMANIAN PERSONALITY OF 2010.

 

The summer of 2010 brings with it, two important international recognition to the diplomatic activities organized by the Institute of International Relations and Economic Cooperation. First, Professor Anton Caragea had received from United States Biographical Institute the title of ROMANIAN -MEN OF THE YEAR 2010. The decisive element in awarding the title to Professor Anton Caragea was his part in organizing and hosting the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Bucharest conference in February 2010. The OSCE Conference hosted in Bucharest by Professor Anton Caragea was perceived universally as an unshakable support for the activities of the OSCE and for the security of all European continent. For the Awarding Committee : the security of United States is inextricable linked by the continuous activity of OSCE at European level and in this direction the efforts of professor Anton Caragea in promoting OSCE activities during 2010 where a crucial one .

Not only the European Union direction of activity of Institute of international Relations and Economic Cooperation had attracted the attention, but also the activities destined to promote the dialogue between Europe and others civilizations area and specially the professor Anton Caragea sustained implication in promoting and constructing a dialogue among Christian and Islamic faith . To reward this long time commitment the EUROPEAN MUSLIM WOMAN CONFERENCE has invited Professor Anton Caragea  as a invite of honor to deliver a speech and he received the SPECIAL PRIZE for encouraging the inter-faith dialogue and supporting  the empowerment of woman`s in all area of life. Both of recognition, had declared Professor Anton Caragea are not address to myself, but to all the people of the Institute that proved in this time of economic havoc that they can organize actions of European echo and could sustained peace and security thru organizations such as OSCE and they could promote the Romanian voice in all the major issues of our time. The voice of Romanian cultural and academic elite will continuously be heard by the efforts of the Institute of International Relations and Economic Cooperation assured Professor Anton Caragea.         

PROFESORUL ANTON CARAGEA DECLARAT PERSONALITATEA ANULUI 2010 DIN ROMANIA

Profesorul Anton  Caragea declarat personalitatea anului 2010.

Vara anului 2010 a adus doua noi recunoasteri internationale ale importantei activitatilor de diplomatie internationala desfasurata in cadrul Institutului de Relatii Internationale si Cooperare Economica al Romaniei. Astfel profesorul Anton Caragea a primit din Statele Unite de la Institutul American Biografic titlul de MEN OF THE YEAR 2010 – Personalitatea anului din Romania. Elementul decisiv in acordarea distinctiei a fost rolul profesorului Anton Caragea in organizarea si desfasurarea la Bucuresti a Conferintei Organizatiei Pentru Securitate si Cooperare in Europa in februarie 2010. Conferinta OSCE organizata la Bucuresti a fost perceputa ca un sprijin nemijlocit pentru activitatile OSCE sip entru securitatea intregului continent. Pentru comitetul ce a luat decizia: securitatea Statelor Unite este legata de continuarea activitatilor OSCE iar rolul profesorului Anton Caragea in anul 2010 in promovarea activitatilor OSCE a fost crucial.

Nu doar activitatea Institutului de Relatii Internationale si Cooperare Economica la nivel european a atras atentia ci si mentinerea dialogului intre lumea europeana si alte spatii de cultura, civilizatie si religie si in special efortul permanent al profesorului Anton Caragea de a sustine dialogul intre crestinatate si spatiul islamic. Astfel la Conferinta Femeilor Musulmane din Europa desfasurata la Bucuresti profesorul Anton Caragea a fost invitat sa sustina o comunicare in calitate de INVITAT DE ONOARE  alaturi de alte personalitati si a primit PREMIULSPECIAL pentru incurajarea dialogului intre spatiul islamic si spatiul crestin si pentru   sprijinirea cresterii rolului femeilor in lumea actuala. Ambele recunoasteri a declarat profesorul Anton Caragea nu mi se adreseaza mie personal ci intregului colectiv al Institutului care a demonstrat ca intr-un an de criza poate organiza evenimente de impact european, poate sustine activitatea unor organisme precum OSCE si poate aduce cuvantul Romaniei in toate marile probleme ale timpului nostru. Vocea Romaniei prin elita ei culturala si academica , prin Institutul de Relatii internationale si Cooperare Economica , va continua a se face auzita.

ROMANIAN ECONOMY IS HEADING TOWARDS TOTAL COLLAPSE .

Romanian economy is heading towards total collapse. 

The economical crisis in Romania will worsen in 2011.

Is the future of Romania bright ?

 Monday 6 September at the Institute of International Relations and Economic Cooperation headquarters was held the conference: Romanian economy in 2011.  Fast forward towards collapse. The conference has joined economical experts from Romania and European Union, economical supervisors and personalities of political, economical and academic life of Romania.

 2009 and 2011 – first years of economic crisis.

 The conference started with an evaluation of economic crisis impact in the period of the first years: 2009 and 2010. In the first year of the crisis in Romania -2009- the economic crisis has affected the less important area of economic life: the collapse has started with construction industry and construction material factories, collapse started by the real estate market sinking. Others affected sectors where: insurance, banking and stock exchange and in all the financial sector was strongly shaken down. The consummation has fallen sharply and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has being reduced with 10% in 2010. The decrease in our economy has being so devastating that we are back at the 2000 level. Unfortunately the economic collapse of 2009 and 2010 has put the foundation for a crisis without equivalent in Romanian history that will affect the country in 2011 and 2012.

 2011- The year of economic earthquake.

 2011 will be without a doubt the year of economic turmoil in Romania had appreciated in one voice all the experts present at the gathering. First of all the 2011 will be the year that will pay for all the economic  collapse of the last years. The financial system will be hard hit and this will make the fragile Romanian economy to reach the breaking point. The inflation will resurface and the experts appreciate that a 10% percent yearly inflation will be unavoidable.

The resurgence of inflation will put a dramatic pressing on population economy and will make any recovery unthinkable for the next 1-2 years. The collapse in economic system, the internal and external investments will be reduced to minimum, the credit on internal market will be suspended and all this will provoke next year an economic decrease of more than 15% of GDP or even 18% of GDP after others opinions. A factor not to be neglected in amplification of the crisis in the governmental incompetence that by increasing the taxes, legislative chaos and a deliberate politics of destroying the middle class investors in the favor of big companies all did nothing ells than to aggravate the economic crisis.  

 2012 – between crisis and slowing down economy.

 The 2012 will be a decisive year to slow down the economic collapse or to direct the economy in a new catastrophic decline. It must be very clear, all economic experts underlined, that the present economic decline will last for a decade at European level, so all those opinions that declared that Romania will start a new economic growth before the next 10 years either don’t know what they are saying either is bluntly laying. All the European statistics are speaking about the lost decade of Europe between 2010 and 2020 , term referring to the blocking of economic development at continental level and the frozen of present situation for a decade. Those that are declaring that Romania will surpass in the period of economic crisis the France or Great Britain economy , are telling stories that are unbelievable , declared laughing Mihail Racaceanu – chief economist. What is important is to succeed that we have in 2012 a decrease in economy of less than 10% and in the interval between 2012 and 2015 to stop the decline and in 2020 to come back to pre-crisis year of 2007 and in 2050 at the pre-revolutionary level of 1989.

 In 2050 the Romanian economy will reach the 1989 historic year.

 This assessment was a strong one, keeping in mind that the pre-crisis governmental statistic declared that in 2025 Romania will succeed in recuperating the gap and reach the level of industrial activity prior to 1989 Revolution. This perspective is no longer feasible, a new perspective is appearing after the crisis and after the lost decade and a cumulative GDP decrease of more than 60% from 2007 economy level. This economic recession will be hard to recuperate in the context of nongovernmental involvement, the general economic climate of recession and finally the worst factor of all: the burden of external debt.

 External debt will plunge Romania into financial meltdown.

 The factor that will suffocate Romanian economy in the next period will be after 2015 the foreign debt crisis. The Boc government has careless accepted more than 16 billion dollars credit and in total the private and state debt of Romania is reaching the unbelievable sum of 65 billion dollars, this only if the government will no longer accept new loans. But this perspective is an unrealistically  one as President Traian Basescu has announced new external loans for 2011 , that will surely bring Romania to being incapable to pay the foreign debt.

 The economic crisis is worsening.

 The conclusions of the most important economic experts of Romania where clear: the crisis is not over but has entered in a more difficult faze that will affect financial and banking system and economic fundaments. The economic crisis will continue until 2015 at the earliest and a coming back cycle that will last until 2020. This decade will be without a doubt the lost decade of Romania but if the necessary measures are not rapidly taken to re-establish control on economic decline than we risk that Romania will not come back economy not even in 2020.

2011- ANUL CUTREMURULUI ECONOMIC. PRABUSIREA ECONOMICA A ROMANIEI SE ACCELEREAZA

CRIZA ECONOMICA VA ATINGE VARFUL IN 2011.

PRABUSIREA ECONOMIEI ROMANESTI CONTINUA  ACCELERAT.

Viitorul Romaniei suna bine ?

Luni 6 septembrie, la sediul Institutului de Relatii Internationale si Cooperare Economica, a avut loc conferinta ECONOMIA ROMANIEI IN 2011. CRIZA SE ADANCESTE. Conferinta a reunit experti economici din Romania si Uniunea Europeana, raportori economici si personalitati ale vietii politice, economice si academice din Romania.

2009 si 2010 – anii de inceput ai crizei economice.

Conferinta a inceput cu o evaluare a impactului  crizei economice asupra economiei Romaniei in perioada anilor 2009 si 2010. Astfel daca in anul 2009 criza economica a atins domeniile marginale ale economiei precum: serviciile, turismul si sectorul tertiar , aducand o scadere de 6% a Produsului Intern Brut (PIB),  anul 2010 a fost mult mai grav, deoarece s-a inregistrat prabusirea sectorului constructiilor si al materialelor de constructii, antrenat de prabusirea sectorului imobiliar. Alte sectoare grav afectate au fost sectorul asigurarilor, bancar, bursier , intr-un cuvant sectorul financiar si a fost acompaniat de o scadere remarcabila a consumului, ceea ce  dus la o scadere cu 10% a PIB-ului in acest an. Deja aceste doua scaderi cumulate au reusit sa distruga fundamentele economiei, aducand economia noastra la nivelul anilor 2000 dinainte de cresterea economica. Din nefericire scaderea economica din ultimii ani a pus bazele unei prabusiri economice fara egal ce se va intinde pe anii 2011 si 2012. 

2011- anul cutremurului economic  .

2011 va fi fara indoiala anul cutremurului economic si anul turnesolului pentru economia romaneasca, au apreciat la unison expertii invitati. In primul rand anul 2011 va achita prabusirile economice acumulate in ultimii ani, falimentele din sistemul financiar vor fragiliza economia dincolo de capacitatea de rezistenta. Inflatia va reaparea in ritm galopant, se poate aprecia ca o inflatie deschisa de peste 10% este de ne-evitat.

 Reaparitia inflatiei va pune o presiune deosebita pe economiile populatiei, va gatui institutiile financiare si va face imposibila orice revenire economica pe termen scurt de 1-2 ani. Prabusirea sistemului financiar, blocarea investiilor interne si suspendarea creditelor pentru piata interna, toate acestea vor provoca anul viitor o scadere economica de 15% din PIB sau dupa prognozele pesimiste de 18% din PIB. Un factor deloc de neglijat in amplificarea crizei este incompetenta guvernamentala care prin cresterea impozitelor , haosul legislativ si gatuirea micilor intreprinzatori nu a facut decat sa agraveze prabusirea economica.

2012- Intre criza si incetinirea caderii.

Anul 2012 va fi anul decisiv pentru a incetinii prabusirea economiei romanesti sau pentru intrarea intr-o noua spirala de scadere economica. Trebuie sa fie foarte clar, au aratat toti expertii prezenti, ca aceasta criza economica va dura un deceniu la nivel european si cei care spun ca Romania isi va relua cresterea economica inainte de 10 ani, fie nu stiu ce spun, fie mint populatia cu nerusinare. Toate statisticile europene vorbesc, de la Paris la Berlin, despre deceniul pierdut al Europei 2010- 2020    anume despre blocarea cresterii economice la nivel continental si inghetarea situatiei actuale pentru un deceniu. Cei care spun ca Romania va depasii in perioada de criza economia Frantei si a Marii Britanii spun povesti pe care nu stiu cine le poate crede, declara razand economistul sef Mihail Racaceanu. Ceea ce este important este sa reusim ca in 2012 scaderea economica sa fie sub 10% si ca in intervalul 2012-2015 sa oprim scaderea, astfel incat in anul 2020 sa revenim la nivelul anului 2007 si in 2050 la nivelul anului 1989.

 Abia in 2050 economia Romaniei va reveni la nivelul anului 1989.

Aceasta declaratie a starnit stupoare, deoarece statisticile guvernamentale dinainte crizei declarau ca in 2025 Romania va recupera prabusirea economica si va reveni la nivelul de dinainte de 1989. Aceasta perspectiva nu mai este actuala, a declarat Mihail Racaceanu, odata cu noua criza si cu pierderea unui deceniu  are loc si o reducere cumulata a PIB-ului care va depasi 60% din nivelul anului 2007. Acesta scadere va fi extrem de greu de recuperat in lipsa unei actiuni guvernamentale sustinute, in climatul economic general de prabusire economica si mai ales ca urmare a factorului datorii externe.

Datoria externa va sufoca economia Romaniei.

Factorul cel mai grav, dupa iesirea economiei din criza, in 2015 va fi criza datorilor lasate in urma de ultimele guverne Boc, care au adus o noua datorie externa, prost negociata de peste 16 miliarde de dolari ceea ce ridica creantele de stat si private ale Romaniei la peste 65 de miliarde de dolari aceasta in conditiile in care actualul guvern nu va mai prelua noi imprumuturi. Dar deja aceasta perspectiva este indepartata deoarece Presedintele Traian Basescu a anuntat noi imprumuturi externe pentru 2011, ceea ce va aduce Romania in incapacitate de plata.

Criza economica se adanceste.

Cocluziile celor mai importanti experti ai Romaniei au fost clare: criza nu numai ca nu s-a terminat dar a intrat intr-o faza si mai dificila, ce va afecta sistemul financiar si fundamentele economice, faza de scadere economica va continua pana in 2015 cel mai devreme si cu un ciclu de revenire pana in 2020. Deceniul acesta va fi deceniul pierdut al Romaniei, dar daca nu se iau rapid masurile necesare de restabilire macar a unei prabusiri controlate a economiei atunci riscam ca Romania sa nu isi revina nici dupa 2020.  

NETANYAHU IS A FASCIST – ATTACKS FIDEL CASTRO

The opinion of an expert by Fidel Castro.

 

If I were to be asked who best knows about Israeli thinking, I would answer that without question it is Jeffrey Goldberg. He is an indefatigable journalist, capable of having dozens of meetings to ascertain how some Israeli leader or intellectual may think. He is not neutral, of course; he is pro-Israeli, no ands ifs or buts.  When one of them does not agree with the policy of that country, that too is not done halfway. For my aim, it is important to know the thinking that guides the main political and military leaders of that State.

I feel that I have the authority to have an opinion because I have never been anti-Semitic and I share with him a profound hatred of Nazi-Fascism and the genocide perpetrated against children, women and men, young or aged Jews against whom Hitler, the Gestapo and the Nazis took out their hatred against that people.  For the same reason, I abhor the crimes committed by the fascist government of Netanyahu which kills children, women and men, young and old in the Gaza Strip and on the West Bank. In his illustrated article “The Point of No Return” that will be printed in The Atlantic journal in September 2010, now available on the Internet, Jeffrey Goldberg starts his more than 40-page paper; I am taking the essential ideas from it in order to enlighten the readers. “It is possible that at some point in the next 12 months, the imposition of devastating economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran will persuade its leaders to cease their pursuit of nuclear weapons. […]It is possible, as well, that “foiling operations” conducted by the intelligence agencies of Israel, the United States, Great Britain, and other Western powers— […]—will have hindered Iran’s progress in some significant way. It is also possible that President Obama, who has said on more than a few occasions that he finds the prospect of a nuclear Iran “unacceptable,” will order a military strike against the country’s main weapons and uranium-enrichment facilities.” “I am not engaging in a thought exercise, or a one-man war game, when I discuss the plausibility and potential consequences of an Israeli strike on Iran. Israel has twice before successfully attacked and destroyed an enemy’s nuclear program. In 1981, Israeli warplanes bombed the Iraqi reactor at Osirak, halting—forever, as it turned out—Saddam Hussein’s nuclear ambitions; and in 2007, Israeli planes destroyed a North Korean–built reactor in Syria. An attack on Iran, then, would be unprecedented only in scope and complexity.”  “I have been exploring the possibility that such a strike will eventually occur for more than seven years,  […] In the months since then, I have interviewed roughly 40 current and past Israeli decision makers about a military strike, as well as many American and Arab officials. In most of these interviews, I have asked a simple question: what is the percentage chance that Israel will attack the Iranian nuclear program in the near future? Not everyone would answer this question, but a consensus emerged that there is a better than 50 percent chance that Israel will launch a strike by next July.  […] But I tested the consensus by speaking to multiple sources both in and out of government, and of different political parties. Citing the extraordinary sensitivity of the subject, most spoke only reluctantly, and on condition of anonymity.  […]The reasoning offered by Israeli decision makers was uncomplicated: Iran is, at most, one to three years away from having a breakout nuclear capability […]and the most crucial component of Israeli national-security doctrine, a tenet that dates back to the 1960s […]is that no regional adversary should be allowed to achieve nuclear parity with the reborn and still-besieged Jewish state.” “In our conversation before his swearing-in, Netanyahu would not frame the issue in terms of nuclear parity— […]Instead, he framed the Iranian program as a threat not only to Israel but to all of Western civilization.”

“‘…When the wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins of power and the weapons of mass death, then the world should start worrying, and that’s what is happening in Iran.”’ “In our conversation, Netanyahu refused to discuss his timetable for action, or even whether he was considering military preemption of the Iranian nuclear program. […]Netanyahu’s belief is that Iran is not Israel’s problem alone; it is the world’s problem, and the world, led by the United States, is duty-bound to grapple with it. But Netanyahu does not place great faith in sanctions—not the relatively weak sanctions against Iran recently passed by the United Nations Security Council, nor the more rigorous ones being put in place by the U.S. and its European allies.” “But, based on my conversations with Israeli decision-makers, this period of forbearance, in which Netanyahu waits to see if the West’s nonmilitary methods can stop Iran, will come to an end this December.” “The Netanyahu government is already intensifying its analytic efforts not just on Iran, but on a subject many Israelis have difficulty understanding: President Obama. The Israelis are struggling to answer what is for them the most pressing question: are there any circumstances under which President Obama would deploy force to stop Iran from going nuclear? Everything depends on the answer. ”

“Iran demands the urgent attention of the entire international community, and in particular the United States, with its unparalleled ability to project military force. This is the position of many moderate Arab leaders as well. A few weeks ago, in uncommonly direct remarks, the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States, Yousef al-Otaiba, told me— […]that his country would support a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. […] he said. “Small, rich, vulnerable countries in the region do not want to be the ones who stick their finger in the big bully’s eye, if nobody’s going to come to their support.” “Several Arab leaders have suggested that America’s standing in the Middle East depends on its willingness to confront Iran. They argue self-interestedly that an aerial attack on a handful of Iranian facilities would not be as complicated or as messy as, say, invading Iraq. “This is not a discussion about the invasion of Iran,” one Arab foreign minister told me. “We are hoping for the pinpoint striking of several dangerous facilities. America could do this very easily.” “Barack Obama has said any number of times that he would find a nuclear Iran “unacceptable.” […]A nuclear Iran would be a game-changing situation, not just in the Middle East, but around the world. Whatever remains of our nuclear nonproliferation framework, I think, would begin to disintegrate. You would have countries in the Middle East who would see the potential need to also obtain nuclear weapons.” “But the Israelis are doubtful that a man who positioned himself as the antithesis of George W. Bush, author of invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq, would launch a preemptive attack on a Muslim nation.”

“We all watched his speech in Cairo,” a senior Israeli official told me, referring to the June 2009 speech in which Obama attempted to reset relations with Muslims by stressing American cooperativeness and respect for Islam. “We don’t believe that he is the sort of person who would launch a daring strike on Iran. We are afraid he would see a policy of containing a nuclear Iran rather than attacking it.” ““Bush was two years ago, but the Iranian program was the same and the intent was the same,” the Israeli official told me. “So I don’t personally expect Obama to be more Bush than Bush.” “If the Israelis reach the firm conclusion that Obama will not, under any circumstances, launch a strike on Iran, then the countdown will begin for a unilateral Israeli attack. “a strike on Iran, Israeli intelligence officials believe, could provoke all-out retaliation by Iran’s Lebanese subsidiary, Hezbollah, which now possesses, by most intelligence estimates, as many as 45,000 rockets—at least three times as many as it had in the summer of 2006, during the last round of fighting between the group and Israel.) “…Netanyahu is not unique in his understanding of this challenge; several of the prime ministers who preceded him cast Iran’s threat in similarly existential terms. […]“He has a deep sense of his role in Jewish history,” Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, told me.”

 Jeffrey Goldberg goes on for several pages to tell the story of Netanyahu’s father, Ben-Zion, whom he considers to be the most outstanding historian in the world on the subject of the Spanish Inquisition and other important merits, and who recently celebrated his 100th birthday. “Benjamin Netanyahu is not known in most quarters for his pliability on matters concerning Palestinians, though he has been trying lately to meet at least some of Barack Obama’s demands that he move the peace process forward.”At the end of this part of his article, Goldberg carries on with the analysis of the complex situation.  At times he is rather tough analyzing a 2001commentary by the former president of Iran, Hashemi-Rafsanjani, in which he is certainly speaking about a bomb that would destroy Israel; a threat that was criticized even by the left-wing forces that are Netanyahu’s enemies. “The challenges posed by a nuclear Iran are more subtle than a direct attack, Netanyahu told me. […] ‘Iran’s militant proxies would be able to fire rockets and engage in other terror activities while enjoying a nuclear umbrella. […]Instead of being a local event, however painful, it becomes a global one. Second, this development would embolden Islamic militants far and wide, on many continents, who would believe that this is a providential sign, that this fanaticism is on the ultimate road to triumph..”

““You’d create a great sea change in the balance of power in our area,” he went on.  “Other Israeli leaders believe that the mere threat of a nuclear attack by Iran—combined with the chronic menacing of Israel’s cities by the rocket forces of Hamas and Hezbollah—will progressively undermine the country’s ability to retain its most creative and productive citizens.. […] ‘The real test for us is to make Israel such an attractive place, such a cutting-edge place in human society, education, culture, science, quality of life, that even American Jewish young people want to come here.” “Patriotism in Israel runs very high, according to numerous polls, and it seemed unlikely to me that mere fear of Iran could drive Israel’s Jews to seek shelter elsewhere. But one leading proponent of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Ephraim Sneh, a former general and former deputy defense minister, is convinced that if Iran crossed the nuclear threshold, the very idea of Israel would be endangered. “These people are good citizens, and brave citizens, but the dynamics of life are such that if someone has a scholarship for two years at an American university and the university offers him a third year, the parents will say, ‘Go ahead, remain there,’” Sneh told me when I met with him in his office outside of Tel Aviv not long ago. “If someone finishes a Ph.D. and they are offered a job in America, they might stay there. It will not be that people are running to the airport, […]The bottom line is that we would have an accelerated brain drain. And an Israel that is not based on entrepreneurship, that is not based on excellence, will not be the Israel of today.”

“One Monday evening in early summer, I sat in the office of the decidedly non-goyishe Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, and listened to several National Security Council officials he had gathered at his conference table explain—in so many words—why the Jewish state should trust the non-Jewish president of the United States to stop Iran from crossing the nuclear threshold. ”  “One of those at the table, Ben Rhodes, a deputy national-security adviser who served as the lead author of the recent “National Security Strategy for the United States” as well as of the president’s conciliatory Cairo speech, suggested that Iran’s nuclear program was a clear threat to American security, and that the Obama administration responds to national-security threats in the manner of other administrations. “We are coordinating a multifaceted strategy to increase pressure on Iran, but that doesn’t mean we’ve removed any option from the table,” Rhodes said. “This president has shown again and again that when he believes it is necessary to use force to protect American national-security interests, he has done so. We’re not going to address hypotheticals about when and if we would use military force, but I think we’ve made it clear that we aren’t removing the option of force from any situation in which our national security is affected.”

“…Emanuel, whose default state is exasperation […](A former Bush administration official told me that his president faced the opposite problem: Bush, bogged down by two wars and believing that Iran wasn’t that close to crossing the nuclear threshold, opposed the use of force against Iran’s program, and made his view clear, “but no one believed him).” “At one point, I put forward the idea that for abundantly obvious reasons, few people would believe Barack Obama would open up a third front in the greater Middle East. One of the officials responded heatedly, “What have we done that would allow you to reach the conclusion that we think that a nuclear Iran would represent a tolerable situation?” “Obama administration officials, particularly in the Pentagon, have several times signaled unhappiness at the possibility of military preemption. In April, the undersecretary of defense for policy, Michele Flournoy, told reporters that military force against Iran was “off the table in the near term.” She later backtracked, but Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has also criticized the idea of attacking Iran. […]“In an area that’s so unstable right now, we just don’t need more of that.”

“…President Obama has by no means ruled out counterproliferation by force.. […]Gary Samore, the National Security Council official who oversees the administration’s counterproliferation agenda, told me that the Israelis agree with American assessments that Iran’s uranium-enrichment program is plagued with problems.” “‘…we can measure, based on the IAEA reports, that the Iranians are not doing well,” Samore said. “The particular centrifuge machines they’re running are based on an inferior technology. They are running into some technical difficulties, partly because of the work we’ve done to deny them access to foreign components. When they make the parts themselves, they are making parts that don’t have quality control.” “Dennis Ross, the former Middle East peace negotiator who is currently a senior National Security Council official, said during the meeting that he believes the Israelis now understand that American-instigated measures have slowed Iran’s progress, and that the administration is working to convince the Israelis—and other parties in the region—that the sanctions strategy “has a chance of working.”

“The president has said he hasn’t taken any options off the table, but let’s take a look at why we think this strategy could work,” […]Last June, when they hadn’t responded to our bilateral outreach, the president said that we would take stock by September.” “Ross […]the sanctions Iran now faces may affect the regime’s thinking. “The sanctions are going to cut across the board. They are taking place in the context of Iranian mismanagement—the Iranians are going to have to cut [food and fuel] subsidies; they already have public alienation; they have division in the elites, and between the elites and the rest of the country.”

“One question no administration official seems eager to answer is this: what will the United States do if sanctions fail? Several Arab officials complained to me that the Obama administration has not communicated its intentions to them, even generally.” “Obama’s voters like it when the administration shows that it doesn’t want to fight Iran, but this is not a domestic political issue,” the foreign minister said. “Iran will continue on this reckless path, unless the administration starts to speak unreasonably. The best way to avoid striking Iran is to make Iran think that the U.S. is about to strike Iran. We have to know the president’s intentions on this matter. We are his allies.” (According to two administration sources, this issue caused tension between President Obama and his recently dismissed director of national intelligence, Admiral Dennis Blair. According to these sources, Blair, who was said to put great emphasis on the Iranian threat, told the president that America’s Arab allies needed more reassurance. Obama reportedly did not appreciate the advice.)”

“In Israel, of course, officials expend enormous amounts of energy to understand President Obama, despite the assurances they have received from Emanuel, Ross, and others.” “Not long ago, the chief of Israeli military intelligence, Major General Amos Yadlin, paid a secret visit to Chicago to meet with Lester Crown, the billionaire whose family owns a significant portion of General Dynamics, the military contractor. Crown […] ‘“I share with the Israelis the feeling that we certainly have the military capability and that we have to have the will to use it. The rise of Iran is not in the best interest of the U.S.’”

““I support the president,” Crown said. “But I wish [administration officials] were a little more outgoing in the way they have talked. I would feel more comfortable if I knew that they had the will to use military force, as a last resort. You cannot threaten someone as a bluff. There has to be a will to do it.”“Several officials even asked if I considered Obama to be an anti-Semite. I answered this question by quoting Abner Mikva, the former congressman, federal judge, and mentor to Obama, who famously said in 2008, “I think when this is all over, people are going to say that Barack Obama is the first Jewish president.” I explained that Obama has been saturated with the work of Jewish writers, legal scholars, and thinkers, and that a large number of his friends, supporters, and aides are Jewish. But philo-Semitism does not necessarily equal sympathy for Netanyahu’s Likud Party—certainly not among American Jews, who are, like the president they voted for in overwhelming numbers, generally supportive of a two-state solution, and dubious about Jewish settlement of the West Bank.” “Rahm Emanuel suggested that the administration is trying to thread a needle: providing “unshakeable” support for Israel; protecting it from the consequences of an Iranian nuclear bomb; but pushing it toward compromise with the Palestinians. […] he past six Israeli prime ministers—including Netanyahu, who during his first term in the late 1990s, to his father’s chagrin, compromised with the Palestinians—to buttress his case. “Rabin, Peres, Netanyahu, Barak, Sharon, Olmert—every one of them pursued some form of a negotiated settlement, which would have been in Israel’s own strategic interest,” he said. “There have been plenty of other threats while successive Israeli governments have pursued a peace process.”

“…Israel should consider carefully whether a military strike would be worth the trouble it would unleash. “I’m not sure that given the time line, whatever the time line is, that whatever they did, they wouldn’t stop” the nuclear program, he said. “They would be postponing.” “It was then that I realized that, on some subjects, the Israelis and Americans are still talking past each other.” “IN MY CONVERSATIONS with former Israeli air-force generals and strategists, the prevalent tone was cautious. Many people I interviewed were ready, on condition of anonymity, to say why an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites would be difficult for Israel. And some Israeli generals, like their American colleagues, questioned the very idea of an attack. “Our time would be better spent lobbying Barack Obama to do this, rather than trying this ourselves,” one general told me. “We are very good at this kind of operation, but it is a big stretch for us. The Americans can do this with a minimum of difficulty, by comparison. This is too big for us.”

“These planes would have to return home quickly, in part because Israeli intelligence believes that Iran would immediately order Hezbollah to fire rockets at Israeli cities, and Israeli air-force resources would be needed to hunt Hezbollah rocket teams.” “…in the event of a unilateral Israeli strike on Iran, his mission would be to combat Hezbollah rocket forces. […]to keep Hezbollah in reserve until Iran can cross the nuclear threshold.“…Hezbollah ‘“lost a lot of his men. […]  That is one reason we have had four years of quiet. What has changed in four years is that Hezbollah has increased its missile capability, but we have increased our capabilities as well.” He concluded by saying, in reference to a potential Israeli strike on Iran, “Our readiness means that Israel has freedom of action.”“America, too, would look complicit in an Israeli attack, even if it had not been forewarned. The assumption—often, but not always, correct—that Israel acts only with the approval of the United States is a feature of life in the Middle East, and it is one the Israelis say they are taking into account. I spoke with several Israeli officials who are grappling with this question, among others: what if American intelligence learns about Israeli intentions hours before the scheduled launch of an attack? “It is a nightmare for us,” one of these officials told me. “What if President Obama calls up Bibi and says, ‘We know what you’re doing. Stop immediately.’ Do we stop? We might have to. A decision has been made that we can’t lie to the Americans about our plans. We don’t want to inform them beforehand. This is for their sake and for ours. So what do we do? These are the hard questions.”

“Many Israelis think the Iranians are building Auschwitz. We have to let them know that we have destroyed Auschwitz, or we have to let them know that we tried and failed.”“There are, of course, Israeli leaders who believe that attacking Iran is too risky. […]“We don’t want politicians to put us in a bad position because of the word Shoah,” one general said.” “After staring at the photograph of the Israeli air-force flyover of Auschwitz more than a dozen different times in more than a dozen different offices, I came to see the contradiction at its core. If the Jewish physicists who created Israel’s nuclear arsenal could somehow have ripped a hole in the space-time continuum and sent a squadron of fighters back to 1942,…”

“Benjamin Netanyahu feels, for reasons of national security, that if sanctions fail, he will be forced to take action. But an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, successful or not, may cause Iran to redouble its efforts—this time with a measure of international sympathy—to create a nuclear arsenal. And it could cause chaos for America in the Middle East. […]Peres sees the Iranian nuclear program as potentially catastrophic, […]When I asked if he believed in a military option, he said, “Why should I declare something like that?”

“Based on months of interviews, I have come to believe that the administration knows it is a near-certainty that Israel will act against Iran soon if nothing or no one else stops the nuclear program; […]Earlier this year, I agreed with those, including many Israelis, Arabs—and Iranians—who believe there is no chance that Obama would ever resort to force to stop Iran; I still don’t believe there is a great chance he will take military action in the near future—for one thing, the Pentagon is notably unenthusiastic about the idea. But Obama is clearly seized by the issue. […]Denis McDonough, the chief of staff of the National Security Council, told me, “What you see in Iran is the intersection of a number of leading priorities of the president, who sees a serious threat to the global nonproliferation regime, a threat of cascading nuclear activities in a volatile region, and a threat to a close friend of the United States, Israel. I think you see the several streams coming together, which accounts for why it is so important to us.”

“When I asked Peres what he thought of Netanyahu’s effort to make Israel’s case to the Obama administration, he responded […]his country should know its place, and that it was up to the American president, and only the American president, to decide in the end how best to safeguard the future of the West. The story was about his mentor, David Ben-Gurion.  ““Shortly after John F. Kennedy was elected president, Ben-Gurion met him at the Waldorf-Astoria” in New York, Peres told me. “After the meeting, Kennedy accompanied Ben-Gurion to the elevator and said, ‘Mr. Prime Minister, I want to tell you, I was elected because of your people, so what can I do for you in return?’ Ben-Gurion was insulted by the question. He said, ‘What you can do is be a great president of the United States. You must understand that to have a great president of the United States is a great event.’”

“Peres went on to explain what he saw as Israel’s true interest. “We don’t want to win over the president,” he said. “We want the president to win.”
“Jeffrey Goldberg” “Jeffrey Mark Goldberg is an American-Israeli journalist.  He is one of the writers and staff journalists on The Atlantic journal. Previously he worked for The New Yorker.  Goldberg mainly writes on international subjects, preferring the Middle East and Africa.  Some have called him the most influential journalist-blogger on matters dealing with Israel.”

 

Fidel Castro Ruz

August 25, 2010