israeloutlook.com

This is such an incredible story, that I’m not sure where to begin.

And no, ‘the beginning’ is not the best place to begin.

Let me start it off with this:

We have been duped.

We have been led down the garden path. Hoodwinked. Hornswoggled. Bamboozled. The lying liars have lied to us. They spun a brilliant web of deceit, and we bought it.

Even I bought it, and that REALLY annoys me. I’m supposed to be, like, unHornswoggle-able – the great cynic who leads the way. Purveyor of truth to the ‘great unwashed’ – that’s me, right?

This is such an incredible story, that I’m not sure where to begin.

And no, ‘the beginning’ is not the best place to begin.

Let me start it off with this:

We have been duped.

We have been led down the garden path. Hoodwinked. Hornswoggled. Bamboozled. The lying liars have lied to us. They spun a brilliant web of deceit, and we bought it.

Even I bought it, and that REALLY annoys me. I’m supposed to be, like, unHornswoggle-able – the great cynic who leads the way. Purveyor of truth to the ‘great unwashed’ – that’s me, right?

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A new messianic star has risen in Iran.

His name is Saeed Jalili and he is the new head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and therefore the new head of Iran’s nuclear negotiation team. He replaces Ali Larijani, who resigned on October 20th.

I know what you are about to say, so I’ll say it for you: “Huh?”

I’d be as much in the dark as you are now, if it wasn’t for an interesting article (Iran’s New Nuclear Negotiator Has Messianic Ties) written by Meir Javedanfar, who is the head of Meepas and an analyst for PajamasMedia.  

A new messianic star has risen in Iran.

His name is Saeed Jalili and he is the new head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and therefore the new head of Iran’s nuclear negotiation team. He replaces Ali Larijani, who resigned on October 20th.

I know what you are about to say, so I’ll say it for you: “Huh?”

I’d be as much in the dark as you are now, if it wasn’t for an interesting article (Iran’s New Nuclear Negotiator Has Messianic Ties) written by Meir Javedanfar, who is the head of Meepas and an analyst for PajamasMedia.  

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In my piece, The Lavi Lives, I made a point that I want to hammer on again. It’s one of many themes that run through each of my articles:

Corruption Kills

Corruption killed the IAI Lavi fighter, which lead to a lesser corruption that resurrected it in China.

That was an easy statement to make, but it lacks the power that only detail can give it. So, let me add some of that detail. 

When they are creating a new weapon system, Israeli design teams have one goal that sits at the top of everything else: battlefield survivability. Everything else is secondary. Everything.

In my piece, The Lavi Lives, I made a point that I want to hammer on again. It’s one of many themes that run through each of my articles:

Corruption Kills

Corruption killed the IAI Lavi fighter, which lead to a lesser corruption that resurrected it in China.

That was an easy statement to make, but it lacks the power that only detail can give it. So, let me add some of that detail. 

When they are creating a new weapon system, Israeli design teams have one goal that sits at the top of everything else: battlefield survivability. Everything else is secondary. Everything.

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I don’t know if any of you remember the Lavi, but it was the coolest multi-role, long range fighter-bomber being designed ANYWHERE. It could out-fly and out-fight anything and anyone.

And, it was being developed by Israel.

Then, the US government killed it (at the instigation of General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin). The tiny Lavi was a threat to big business, and we just couldn’t have that.

Now, I’m going to be fair here and tell you that the Lavi was hurt also by managerial incompetence within Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI). What that means is that Israeli mistakes gave a lever to Israel’s enemies in the US. Still, without US efforts to kill the project, the Lavi would fly today.*

I don’t know if any of you remember the Lavi, but it was the coolest multi-role, long range fighter-bomber being designed ANYWHERE. It could out-fly and out-fight anything and anyone.

And, it was being developed by Israel.

Then, the US government killed it (at the instigation of General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin). The tiny Lavi was a threat to big business, and we just couldn’t have that.

Now, I’m going to be fair here and tell you that the Lavi was hurt also by managerial incompetence within Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI). What that means is that Israeli mistakes gave a lever to Israel’s enemies in the US. Still, without US efforts to kill the project, the Lavi would fly today.*

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There is something rotten in the state of…

…Kurdistan.

This one caught me a Little by surprise, but it makes so much sense… well, I don’t know why I wasn’t talking this one up. Let me try and make up for lost time.

There is something really rotten going on among the Kurds.

Kurds? Like curds, but with a K? Are we talking about spoiled milk production?

Let me give you few lines of description. This will be kinda boring, but trust me. Throw a few bits of this around at a party, and they’ll think that you’re a foreign policy guru – or nuts. (Or both)

There is something rotten in the state of…

…Kurdistan.

This one caught me a Little by surprise, but it makes so much sense… well, I don’t know why I wasn’t talking this one up. Let me try and make up for lost time.

There is something really rotten going on among the Kurds.

Kurds? Like curds, but with a K? Are we talking about spoiled milk production?

Let me give you few lines of description. This will be kinda boring, but trust me. Throw a few bits of this around at a party, and they’ll think that you’re a foreign policy guru – or nuts. (Or both)

Read Full Post »