Kevin Barrett
Donald Trump is a creature of organized crime. He got his start, and learned his stuff, from Roy Cohn, who ran New York for Meyer Lansky and Lansky’s blackmailed asset J. Edgar Hoover (Hoover, who like Cohn was a closeted pedophile, was in the habit of sending Cohn names of public officials to be “taken out”). Though Trump’s mentor Cohn was nominally a lawyer, he hardly ever had to actually litigate a case. As soon as it was known he was representing someone — generally someone crooked — the opposition folded, settling on terms that were highly favorable to Cohn’s clients. Hiring Roy Cohn was the equivalent of putting a horse’s head in your opponent’s bed.
Trump’s mafia methods served him well in his business career. Like Cohn, Trump has made and lost obscene amounts of money while systematically breaking the rules that everyone else has to follow. His main weapons are threats and bullying, which he uses to extract concessions from opponents and competitors. And his willingness to launder money for all manner of crooks including the Russian Mafiya — whose western hemisphere headquarters is reportedly Trump Tower — has given “the Don” plenty of connections whose mere existence intimidates potential opponents.
The mainstream media (MSM) may be finally developing the courage to expose Trump’s crime ties. On August 10 the Washington Post published an article headlined “Trump’s resume is rife with mob connections.” The article, which rehashes material Veterans Today and other alternative media outlets have been discussing since Trump announced his run for president, notes Trump’s tweet pointedly comparing Paul Manafort to legendary mobster Al Capone. Manafort’s recent conviction on eight felony counts leaves Trump’s former consigliere with a stark choice: cooperate with Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller and possibly expose himself and his family to the wrath of the Russian mob; or risk serving the rest of his life in prison waiting for a Trump pardon that may never come.
So Trump’s presidency faces an uncertain future. Why? Simply put, because mafia methods work better in the short term than the long term, and better in the hotel and casino business than in politics. And when it comes to international politics, Trump’s crude mob-style threats and intimidation are even more likely to backfire.
Case in point: Trump’s bullying approach to Iran. The (for now) US president seems to think that by squeezing and menacing Iran’s leadership he will somehow be able to work out a “better deal” with Tehran than Barack Obama’s JCPOA offered.
There are two problems with Trump’s approach to Iran. The first is that Trump’s instinctive mob-style bullying is uninformed by the complex details of the issues involved in US-Iran relations; instead, Trump is getting simplistic, biased propaganda caricatures from people like Benjamin Netanyahu, Bin Salman, and their “American” agent, Jared Kushner, whose 666 5th Avenue real estate disaster is being papered over by Saudi cash with Israeli blessings.
So on July 30, when Trump offered to meet Iran’s leaders “any time they want to” without preconditions — an offer that was immediately “walked back” by Trump’s advisors — Iran was wise to react with skepticism. As usual, the Rahbar, Ayatullah Seyyed Ali Khamenei hit the right note, “I ban holding any talks with America… America never remains loyal to its promises in talks. America’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal is a clear proof that America cannot be trusted.”
Which brings us to the second problem with Trump’s plan to bully Iran into submission: Iran is a proudly independent nation guided by religious leadership that values honor, loyalty, trustworthiness, and resistance to oppression. Such a nation will never succumb to crude threats and vacuous promises.
When Trump tore up the JCPOA, he also tore up whatever remaining shreds of credibility the US might have had. Even if Trump were to offer Iran an acceptable “grand bargain” of the kind proposed in the early-2000s, why would Iran trust the US to abide by its terms? The Americans already showed they were untrustworthy during the final year of the Obama administration, when the US failed to make a good faith effort to implement the JCPOA’s plan to completely end anti-Iran sanctions (Obama lifted some sanctions but tightened others, disingenuously claiming that the latter were not nuclear-related).
But Trump is unlikely to propose any realistic “grand bargain.” Instead, briefed by people like Netanyahu, Bin Salman, Kushner, John Bolton, and Mike Pompeo, Trump would meet with Iran’s leaders to demand a “grand surrender.” When the Iranian leadership refused, Trump’s people would blame Iran for the diplomatic debacle. And the Zionist-dominated mainstream media would likely go along with the charade. The probable MSM spin would be: “Trump bent over backward trying to cut a deal with Iran, but the Iranians intransigently refused.” The failure of such talks would be contrasted with the “success” of Trump’s summit with Kim Jong-un of North Korea. The Zionist propaganda line would be: “Iran is run by crazy radical extremists who are even worse than the North Koreans.” None of this would help Iran’s cause, which seeks to rally global public opinion (and economic, technological, and military assistance) to its side in its dispute with the Zio-Americans.
So Iran is wise to spurn Trump’s offer. But it might consider answering Trump with a counter-offer: “We will meet you any time you are willing to discuss the issue of Zionist influence over America’s Iran policy.” In its maximal form, such an approach could result in a news article like the one below:
Iran to Trump: “Israel did 9/11”
September 9, 2018
In a joint letter to President Trump released yesterday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani blamed Israel for the 9/11 attacks. The Iranian leaders’ letter came in response to Trump’s offer to meet with Rouhani, an offer that until now the Iranian side had spurned.
The unprecedented letter from Iran’s leaders argues that Iran’s problems with the US are the result of “Zionist domination of American politics and media.” The letter states that Iran’s top leaders are willing to meet with President Trump “on the condition that the first topic of discussion is the real cause of US-Iran hostility, namely, Zionist domination of the United States.”
US President Donald Trump responded to the Iranian offer by tweeting “US under Trump NOT controlled by anybody — will meet Iranians and tell them so!” Trump’s tweet, which raised the prospect that he would accept the Iranian offer, was promptly denounced as “anti-Semitic” by a chorus of columnists and pundits. But polls showed that Trump’s position was supported by 53% of Americans, including more than 85% of Republicans.
Of course, the above “article” is a fantasy. But it is rooted in a very important reality: Iran’s long-term prospects of normalizing relations with the US depend on the US breaking free of Zionist control. So anything Iran can do to draw attention to America’s shameful position as a puppet of Zionism, and to encourage Americans to free themselves from Zionist occupation, serves Iran’s interests — and America’s too. Indeed, this is the real convergence of interests that could one day end the hostilities that have governed US-Iranian relations since 1979.
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