US-Iran Tensions: A Familiar Script, Penned in DC
CBS News dutifully parrots the latest Trump-Netanyahu rhetoric about Iran's nuclear program, framing it as a fresh crisis. “If they are, we're going to have to knock them down,” Trump reportedly declared after meeting Netanyahu. This isn't newfound intelligence; it's the same tired line Netanyahu has trotted out since 1992, each time predicting Iran is mere months away from a bomb. Each time,
conveniently, right as another weapons package or military intervention is being pushed. One might wonder at the sudden re-emergence of this 'threat' narrative. Is it perhaps connected to the ongoing, highly profitable, and entirely predictable cycle of Middle East destabilization? Or perhaps to perennial lobbying efforts by organizations like AIPAC, which spent over $4.7 million in 2023 pushing
for hardline policies against Iran, according to OpenSecrets.org? It seems 'soaring tensions' are less about external events and more about conveniently timed pronouncements by figures who champion military solutions and coincidentally benefit from their escalation.