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February 16, 2009
Sometimes a rumor is just a rumor
You know that rumor that's going around, the one I talked about yesterday?
The rumor that Israel's Minister of Defense said during his address at the Herzliya Conference that Obama was going to lift the Bush sanctions on Iran:
The United States has abandoned its policy of sanctioning companies that aid Iran's nuclear and missile program, they said.
The officials said the new Obama administration of has decided to end sanctions against Iranian government agencies or companies that aid Teheran's missile and nuclear program. The officials said Israel has been informed of the new U.S. policy.
"We were told that sanctions do not help the new U.S. policy of dialogue with Iran," an official said.
Barak confirmed the new U.S. policy. In an address to the Herzliya Conference on Feb. 3, Barak said Washington did not say whether it would resume sanctions against Iran.
The rumor that was published in that pay per view article at Geostrategy-Direct, an open source intelligence (OSINT) newsletter that is supposed to have a good track record?
Well, I had doubts, big time and it bugged me all day. So, I did a bit of investigation and now, I'm about ready to call bullshit on this one.
You see, I can tell you right now that Geostrategy-Direct most certainly did not get that information from Ehud Barak's address at the 2009 Herzliya Conference and I can tell you that with certainty because I just listened to Barak's entire presentation and Barak most certainly did not say anything about Obama lifting sanctions against Iran.
Absolutely, positively not. And if you have any doubts, you can listen to it yourself.
Now, in all fairness, I haven't seen the Geostrategy-Direct article, only the claims that say the article is based on Ehud Barak's address at the Herziya Conference. Now that we know Ehud Barak did not speak those words during his presentation at the Conference, the question is, if he really did say those words, when did he say them and why is there no confirmation of this anywhere by anyone.
After listening to what Ehud Barak did say about Obama in his presentation, I don't think he said what Geostrategy-Direct claims he said. If you listen to the presentation, you'll see what I mean.
Here's a funny thing... after thinking about it all day, I wouldn't have been surprised to find that it was true and now I almost expect that Obama will lift those sanctions, because that's the kind of man he is. But I don't think Ehud Barak expects it for the same reason, because that's the kind of man he is.
UPDATE:
I'd like to extend a warm welcome to my visitors from the NY Times:
Feel free to look around. Who knows... ya might learn something...
Posted by LindaSoG at February 16, 2009 07:51 PM
Comments
Congratulations on making the "Newspaper of Record"--at least for New York City.
Posted by: Kevin K. at February 18, 2009 09:20 PM