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Phillip Weiss points out<\/a> the conspicuous hypocrisy of Washington: whereas North Korea’s nukes aren’t a threat, Iran’s non-existant nukes are not only a threat, they’re a threat to our existence!<\/p>\n Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) has been one of the foremost hawks on Iran, repeatedly proposing new sanctions and constantly haranguing about the threat a (hypothetical) nuclear-armed Iran would pose. At AIPAC this past weekend, as Weiss points,\u00a0Menendez declared (repeating the dominant slogan across Washington) even a nuclear capable Iran is a threat that cannot be contained and therefore must be prevented.<\/p>\n Weiss: “Then yesterday North Korea\u00a0threatened to use nukes<\/a>\u00a0to turn Washington into a ‘sea of fire,’ and Menendez\u00a0dismissed the threat as ‘absurd and suicidal<\/a>;’ if North Korea attacks us, that’s the end of North Korea.”<\/p>\n Similarly, both the White House and the State Department have advised America to disregard North Korea’s threat<\/a>. It’s basically an empty threat that is not credible, they explain<\/a>.<\/p>\n So, let’s review:<\/p>\n EXISTENTIAL THREAT:\u00a0<\/strong>Iran, which has never ever threatened to use nuclear weapons on the US or Israel, has never threatened preventive attack, and most importantly, does not have a nuclear weapons program and has so far demonstrated no intention of getting one.<\/p>\n PATHETIC NON-THREAT:<\/strong> North Korea, which has nuclear weapons and threatened to use them.<\/p>\n The Washington establishment is correct on this one: North Korea is not a threat. It’s a nuclear power that can be contained, and although its leadership behaves belligerently sometimes, they are not so irrational to use their paltry nuclear weapons arsenal on the world’s military superpower and current owner of the biggest nuke arsenal in the world. In any case, they do not have nuclear warheads that can reach the United States.<\/p>\n Iran is even less of a threat. Iran could also be contained<\/a> and also would behave rationally with weapons. But, in fact, they don’t have nukes<\/a> and have sworn upon the alter of god<\/a> they will never pursue them.<\/p>\n Two things make the difference. First, US deference to the radical alarmism of the Israelis regarding the Iranian (non)threat makes the truth about Iran virtually unspeakable in Washington.<\/p>\n