NOVANEWS
- The Iranian nuclear issue is just a red herring. If there were no Iranian nuclear program, Netanyahu would still be calling for sanctions and for the eventual destruction of Iran for the simple reason that Iran is the one player in the Middle East who can bring order to an otherwise chaotic situation.”
What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.
Press TV: Netanyahu has made no secret of his dissatisfaction with the way things are going with regards to Iran’s nuclear file. There is also this concern right now about not just Israel’s dissatisfaction but also the pressure pro-Israeli lobbies are going to put on Congress and the Senate with regards to this. What do you think?
Glenn: Well I think it would be a mistake for us to assume for a moment that Netanyahu is just putting on here and that these are just empty words.
Netanyahu is absolutely determined to see Iran destroyed in the same way that Iraq was destroyed, the same way Afghanistan and Libya have been destroyed and the way Syria has at least by proxy been destroyed as well.
The Iranian nuclear issue is just a red herring. If there were no Iranian nuclear program, Netanyahu would still be calling for sanctions and for the eventual destruction of Iran for the simple reason that Iran is the one player in the Middle East who can bring order to an otherwise chaotic situation.
As far as the pro-Israeli groups in United States, I agree with you that they are going to do what they are magnetically inclined to do which is to put pressure on elected members of Congress and the President.
However I do not know that they are going to be successful in that regard as they have been in times past. I think that because the military and the intelligence services in United States have stepped in and they are using their own leverage in this regard and they basically are telling the president look, Russia has stepped into this thing, it is a different ball game, we cannot go pushing Iran around because if we do we may wind up pushing Russia around and Russia can push back.
So there are counter pressures that are being brought to bear here, … at this point make the entire outcome of the situation basically just a big question mark.
Press TV: But Mr. Glenn, any deal, possible deal that is with Iran and the five members of the UN Security Council plus Germany will have to be ratified by the US Congress which as you have just mentioned is in the pockets of such pro-Israeli lobbies?
Glenn: Yes but as I said there are other pressures that have been brought to bear here. You know, for the last two or three months the world has been inundated with stories about what the National Security Agency has been doing in spying on American citizens.
Now that includes members of Congress. Members of Congress who no doubt have been caught in wiretaps, engaging in what was probably was absolute espionage, unquestionable espionage in giving aid and comfort to a foreign country, in this instance Israel.
And the intelligence services of United States, believe me they are not happy the fact that this kind of exposure has been brought to bear on their activities.
Now, what I am saying here is that Obama, President Obama, if he is cornered in such a way where you had these pro-Israel groups putting pressure on Congress and it looks as so this momentum may turn in the opposite direction, it is very conceivable that he would have his intelligence services put pressure in the form of threats of going public with some of these discussions that no doubt have been taking place between very important members of Congress and these pro-Israel groups.
