According to Chomsky, the main goal of Netanyahu’s visit is to torpedo President Barack Obama’s ongoing talks with Iran.
“For both Prime Minister Netanyahu and the hawks in Congress, mostly Republican, the primary goal is to undermine any potential negotiation that might settle whatever issue there is with Iran. They [Netanyahu and the GOP] have a common interest in ensuring that there is no regional force that can serve as any kind of deterrent to Israeli and US violence – the major violence in the region.”
Republican House Speaker John Boehner invited Netanyahu without consulting the White House, just the latest in a long line of GOP snubs to the president, Chomsky said.
“For the Republicans in Congress, there’s another interest, namely: to undermine anything that Obama – you know, the antichrist – might try to do.”
Chomsky said if Iran is developing nuclear weapons, it is solely to deter an attack from another nation, and they would never actually launch them.
“According to U.S. intelligence, their strategic doctrine is to try to prevent an attack, up to the point where diplomacy can set in. I don’t think anyone with a grey cell functioning thinks that they would ever conceivably use a nuclear weapon, or even try to. The country would be obliterated in 15 seconds. But they might provide a deterrent of sorts. And the US and Israel certainly don’t want to tolerate that.”
Chomsky also dismissed Netanyahu’s warnings that Iran is planning a new Holocaust against Israel.
“US satellite surveillance knows everything that’s going on in Iran. If Iran even began to load a missile – that is, to bring a missile near a weapon – the country would probably be wiped out. Whatever you think about the clerics and the Guardian Council, there’s no indication that they’re suicidal.”
Then Chomsky called Israel an audacious hypocrite.
“The striking aspect of this is the chutzpah involved. Israel has had nuclear weapons for probably 50 years or 40 years. They have, estimates are, maybe 100 or 200 nuclear weapons. They are an aggressive state. Israel has invaded Lebanon five times. It’s carrying out an illegal occupation that carries out brutal attacks like Gaza last summer. And they have nuclear weapons.”
Netanyahu is seeking to prevent Iran from acquiring such weapons “because he doesn’t want to have a deterrent in the region. That’s simple enough. If you’re an aggressive, violent state, you want to be able to use force freely. You don’t want anything that might impede it.”
