I’m not entering into any kind of conspiracy theories here. I just want to make a note of something. I’ve read several articles about the weird plot by a couple of Iranians to hire members of a Mexican drug cartel to blow up the Saudi ambassador to the United States in a Georgetown restaurant (including this one). And in none of these articles has anyone made even the slightest effort to explain why the Iranians are so angry with the Saudi ambassador. Is it personal? Did Amb. Adel Al-Jubeir do something that particularly displeased some important Iranians? Or is he just an innocent bystander in a dispute between Saudi Arabia and Iran? Is it even about Saudi Arabia? Or is it more about carrying out an attack on U.S. soil?
I’m not saying that I don’t believe our government’s story. I neither believe it nor disbelieve it. I know too well that the intelligence game is played above my level. It could be true. It might not be. I’m more interested in why no one asks the obvious questions. I mean, what’s the motivation?
I don’t know the motivation either, unless someone’s convinced PBHO that we need a war with Iran, but I get a sinking feeling when I read stuff like this:
How do we talk about hypocrisy regarding the Arab Spring when Saudi Arabia sends troops to Bahrain to club and stab and smite protestors there and we don’t utter a peep? Is anybody in the Arab world going to read this and take it seriously?
And then I read that PBHO has vowed to completely wipe out medical marijuana in California within the next 45 days, despite his original promise to respect state laws.
I’m starting to wonder if one of Cheney’s plants at the Pentagon might have slipped one of those worms from the Wrath of Khan into Obama’s ear when he was distracted. This behavior just seems bizarre and unforced.
Obama has been far worse than Bush on that issue (medical marijuana). He started off good (not exactly respecting state laws, but about where I expected him to be), and then in 2010 got on Bush’s level. Now it’s beyond him.
I’m still muttering WTF to myself about the medical marijuana jihad from Washington. Can’t see what’s behind it, unless there’s pressure from the liquor industry lobby, maybe. Seems counter productive almost, given that its an election year coming up, by perhaps that’s only my DFH POV.
In the past some of the lobbyists against legalization of Marijuana in general have come from the timber industry, as hemp (which we all know isn’t marijuana, but is often kept in the same category) is a good substitute for many timber products. But it seems unlikely this is the case now as I’ve heard nothing about it, and anyway, they’ve always been more allied with the GOP.
The prison industry is certainly another suspect in terms of who is pushing for this. They’ve been more evenhanded in their influence.
But the real explanation might be simpler – that there are people in that organization who want to make a name for themselves, and who are pursuing this, and Obama doesn’t feel like confronting them.
The article I linked to suggests that it’s pressure from the pharmaceutical industry, and that makes sense given the “medical” branded marijuana. Probably it’s a whole slew of industries pulling a version of the Koch Bros Hail Mary: if people are allowed to get too comfortable with MedMarj it will be too late to roll back.
I’ve heard practically nothing about this anywhere else. You’d think it’d be a big deal in CA. Wonder how they’re gonna take it.
With all this al-Qaeda head-hunting lately there’s some vacant real estate emerging in the jihadist/terrorist frequency bands. Seems to be a lot of jockeying for position going on in the Middle East and South Asia just now, not least us fingering the ISI. The “Arab Spring” would be a faint memory if Pakistan went pear-shaped, for example. The endpoint of US involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan is already pencilled in to everybody’s diary. I’m surprised it isn’t worse already.
had rattled sabers at Iran over a supposed plot to hire a Mexican hit man to murder an ambassador on American soil you’d have ridiculed it as an attempt to get us into yet another war.
Perhaps a better question would be, why would the United States wish to increase tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia? I’ll bet people in other countries are asking this.
Don’t know about this Saudi Ambassador. Is this the one that took over for the one that had been there a long time?
Prince Bandar.
Yes, this is the one.
motivation – eye-ran is doing it for the lulz.
I presume you follow Juan Cole, but just in case you haven’t seen it, he’s written about why he finds the allegations of US against Iran absurd: http://www.juancole.com/2011/10/wagging-the-dog-with-irans-maxwell-smart.html
Frankly, this feels a lot like the lead up to the war with Iraq, where the US made all sorts of accusations without any evidence, and whenever people investigated the allegations they fell apart. The US lost the right to be given the benefit of the doubt when it makes these sorts of allegations, and so far as I know, they’ve presented no hard evidence to back them up.
You all sound absurd. We are not going to war with Iran. At least not in the Obama administration. Get a frigging grip.
Just woolgathering. I mean c’mon, the official story is absurd on its face. You have to be asleep not to be wondering what’s really going on here.
^Replace “you have to be asleep” with “you’d have to be asleep.” I wasn’t trying to suggest that you personally must be asleep.
If we’ve learned anything over the past decade (and from the looks of things, we haven’t) it’s that anything the CIA or the FBI claims needs to be taken with a very large grain of salt until there’s some actual incontrovertible evidence their allegations might have some truth in them.
From the “slam dunk” info before we invaded Iraq to the anthrax investigation, there’s simply nothing that engenders any confidence at all when it comes to these two organizations’ allegations and charges.
For now, I ain’t buying what they’re selling, not that I can’t be persuaded. But frankly, the whole thing simply doesn’t make much sense. I’ll take Juan Cole’s and Emptywheel’s views over and above the government’s (and the MSM, which uncritically parrots anything they’re told by just about anyone except progressives) any day of the week.
Shrug The Arabs (Arabia/Iraq) and the Persians (Iran/parts of Aphganistan) have been fighting for Millinia. For all we know, if true, the reason for this could have been revenge for defeat in some battle or other 400 years ago. These things make little or no sense to outsiders. Similar stuff drove the Vietnam War as well., Which is one of the reasons the west failed in its meddling.
It does rather look like a setup. And indeed a setup in all probability intended to “go wrong”, as it did. But then, it’s not clear just who would have set it up: there are so many candidates.
I thought this was a good piece:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/10/whats-behind-the-iranian-plot.html