T. Belman. Ettinger is right to call for regime change in Iran but woefully wrong to refer to;
“Jordan’s pro-US Hashemite regime, ” and saying, “The toppling of the pro-US Hashemite regime would transform Jordan into a major platform of anti-US global terrorism, igniting a volcanic ripple effect in Israel, transforming its most critical and peaceful 310-mile-long Jordanian border into the most vulnerable and explosive border. ”
He is totally ignorant of the truth. Abdullah totally embraces the Muslem Brotherhood, the parent of Hamas. The King is fully behind the Oct 7th massacre. He collaborated with MBZ and Al Sisi to support the massacre. He has invited Iranian troops in to Jordan and together they have smuggled weapons into Judea and Samaria. Under his leadership, Jordan is already ” a major platform of anti-US global terrorism” and “310-mile Jordanian border” is no longer peaceful but explosive.
He has taken this position by choice as he is trying to avoid being forced to abdicate among other things. He is our eneny, not our friend.
ByAmbassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative” October 13, 2024,
The US State Department has rejected the regime-change option (which would gratify most Iranians) since 1978/79, when Iran’s Ayatollahs seized power, assisted by the State Department, which had stabbed the back of the Shah, who had been America’s Policeman in the Gulf.
Instead, the State Department has embraced the diplomatic option, which has generated hundreds of billions of dollars to the Ayatollahs – notwithstanding their systematically anti-US policies – facilitating their surge from a non-leadership regional stature in 1979 to global prominence, militarily and diplomatically in 2024. Furthermore, the diplomatic option has substantially upgraded the Ayatollahs’ support of terror entities such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.
In 2024, independent of potential nuclear capabilities, the conventional military capabilities of Iran’s Ayatollahs constitute the most critical epicenter of anti-US global terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering and the proliferation of advanced missiles and predator unmanned aerial vehicles.
The Ayatollahs’ conventional capabilities are a clear and present danger to the US homeland (e.g. proliferation of sleeper cells on US soil and the tight collaboration with Mexico’s drug cartels) and national security. Since the early 1980s, the Ayatollahs have severely eroded the US’ strategic posture in Latin America. In addition, the Ayatollahs pose an imminent lethal threat to every pro-US Arab regime, especially the oil-producing regimes (e.g., Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain), aiming to seize control of 48% of the global oil reserves.
*In 1978/79, the State Department deluded itself that Ayatollah Khomeini would be controlled by moderate advisors, distancing himself from Moscow, focusing on introducing liberty to the Iranian people, refraining from the exportation of the Islamic Revolution, evolving into an Iranian edition of Ghandi.
In 1978/79, the State Department policy doomed the pro-US Iran, transforming it into a venomous anti-US octopus with its tentacles stretched from the Persian Gulf, through the Middle East and Africa to Latin America and the US homeland.
In 2024, irrespective of the Ayatollahs’ rogue track record, the State Department is still convinced that they could be reformed. Foggy Bottom avers that diplomatic and financial bonanzas could induce the Ayatollahs to accept peaceful-coexistence with their Sunni Arab neighbors, become good-faith negotiators, and to abandon their religiously fanatical vision, which mandates the destruction of their “apostate” (Sunni) and “infidel” (Western) enemies.
*In 2024, the State Department’s rejection of regime-change in Iran could doom (any day!) Jordan’s pro-US Hashemite regime, which is increasingly besieged by the Ayatollahs’ conventional capabilities (subversion, terrorism, drug and arms trafficking), in collaboration with their Syrian and Iraqi terror proxies, Jordan-based Moslem Brotherhood terrorists, Palestinian terrorists (including Hamas) and 2 million Syrian and Iraqi refugees in northern Jordan.
*The toppling of the pro-US Hashemite regime would transform Jordan into a major platform of anti-US global terrorism, igniting a volcanic ripple effect in Israel, transforming its most critical and peaceful 310-mile-long Jordanian border into the most vulnerable and explosive border. In addition, this would pose a lethal threat to the pro-US Egypt, bolstering the anti-US and anti-Sisi Ayatollahs, ISIS and Moslem Brotherhood-controlled terrorism in the Red Sea, Sinai and Egypt mainland. It would also threaten the survival of Jordan’s southern neighbors, the Arabian Peninsula Arab oil producing regimes, which could accord the Ayatollahs control of 48% of the global oil reserves.
*However, the Israel-Arab peace process would be dramatically advanced by a State Department’s realization that the Ayatollahs are not partners for a diplomatic option, but rather a target for regime change. Thus, a regime-change in Iran (which would advance human rights and liberty for all Iranians) would bolster the posture of deterrence of the US and Israel, remove the Ayatollahs’ machete from the throats of its Sunni Arab neighbors, and reduce the Saudi and the UAE courting of China and Russia. This would eliminate the major hurdle on the path of Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Peace Accords, possibly followed by Indonesia, Oman and even Kuwait.
*The State Department’s rejection of the regime-change option – underscored by the suspension and softening of economic sanctions and the timid response to the frequent bombings of US installations (also in Jordan) by the Ayatollahs and their proxies in Yemen, Iraq and Syria – has been interpreted, in the Middle East, as a preference for short term diplomatic convenience over long term national security. Moreover, it has been discerned by all actors in the Middle East as a suspension of disbelief, hesitancy, a non-realization that rogue entities bite the hands that feed them, while undermining the US posture of deterrence. This has energized anti-US terrorists, threatening the survival of all pro-US Arab regimes (e.g., Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt), and driving them closer to China and Russia.
*The 45-year-old State Department’s rejection of the regime-change option, in defiance of Middle East and global reality, has bolstered the anti-US capabilities of Iran’s Ayatollahs, undermining US homeland and national security, reflecting Foggy Bottom’s assumption that the Iranian leopard is amenable to changing spots, not merely tactics.
Full Article https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-820239
@Ted what you do not believe is common knowledge in the middle east and has been for a very long time. The Muslim Brotherhood is the opposition to the government in Jordan.
You are telling me not to believe things that are readily known facts and no secret nor inside information. I find this quite puzzling to be understated!
@Rafi
Don’t you believe it.
@Ted the Muslim Brotherhood is the minority in the Jordanian Parliament. They are know as the Opposition. The King has the ultimate control as he can disolve the government anytime.
The Muslim Brotherhood regularly protests what the King does and Jordan has for a longtime been in danger of the MB taking over.
To further understand Jordan and the relationship of the Muslim Brotherhood there read: https://www.memri.org/reports/jordanian-regime-furious-hamas-muslim-brotherhood-they-are-acting-foment-chaos-kingdom
@Rafi
You are wrong. The MB is in bed with King Abdullah. They depend on each other.
@EvRe1,
You mentioned US “pro-Iranian policy since 1979”, but you missed the period when Trump was a POTUS. He stopped sending money to Iran, he was pro-Israel big time.
Abdullah is a “frenemy”, (as is Al Sisi). This is by necessity, because of Jordan’s ties to the US. If that relationship were to end, or if someone else came to power who didn’t care, then the 310 mile border would become a “front” rather than just a terrorist corridor. Take your pick.
Mr. Ettinger describes the US State Dep’t’s Iran policy as “deluded.” It is nothing of the sort. It is very clear eyed and deliberate. It is and has been a pro-Iranian policy since 1979, and CENTCOM was formed to protect Iran. The reason is not that these people are deluded. They make money from war. Iran is a war-mongering state that has leaders who are no different from Adolf Hitler in wanting to destroy the Jews, and who will spend money to create havoc throughout the Middle East. This will lead to their profits and this is their business model.
I learned this from Professor Gil-White, who likewise pointed out that Neville Chamberlain wasn’t appeasing Hitler, he was a Nazi devotee! The Nazis and their supporters cover up their psychopathic murderousness by allowing others to call them “incompetent,” or “appeasers.” These people are not incompetent, these are individuals who make money by causing the deaths of many people through military conflicts.
@Liz, I am afraid Harris could be worse for Israel than Biden.
I’m no expert, just a reasonably well-informed reader, and it’s clear to me and everyone I’ve spoken to on the subject that Obama favoured Iran over Israel for reasons best known to himself and his Muslim friends. His dreadful deal with Iran paved the way for the recent unheard-of atrocities from both Iranian-backed terrorist groups and Iran itself. Biden is the puppet of Barack HUSSEIN Obama, and Harris will be just as bad. It’s high time Israel dealt the critical blow to Iran and finished her strike capabilities for the foreseeable future. Yes, there are many factors to consider in looking at the Middle East situation as a whole, but Israel can’t afford to dither. Her very existence is at stake.
The Muslim Brotherhood is known as the Opposition in Jordan. Ettinger is just saying what is common knowledge to people in the Middle East. Surprised to see Ted, saying otherwise.
Not that the Hashemites are friends of Israel but they have been holding off the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan if the King falls they could take over.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/jordans-islamists-buoyed-by-anger-over-gaza-seek-shake-up-parliament-polls-2024-09-09/