Peace Makers Must Defend Iran – OpEd
The United States has already declared a de facto war on Iran. The partners in crime in the European Union and the NATO alliance have joined in, and are ganging up on Iran as instructed by Washington. The EU voted to ban imports of Iranian oil and the Obama administration is attempting to extract similar promises from Asian nations.
Obama has succeeded in doing what George Bush never could. For the second time in less than one year he has managed to get nearly all Western nations on board with his plans for conquest. Regime change in Libya has not been without complications for the west, but Gaddafi was not just overthrown, he was killed, and as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pointed out, Washington could not have been happier with that outcome.
The writing is on the wall, and Americans can expect to see a presidential address within the next few months, announcing bombings, drone attacks or an outright invasion with ground troops against Iran. The thought of this crime is enough to make any conscious individual sick with anger, but with no power in the world capable of stopping the United States, the die are cast.
When George W. Bush invaded Iraq in 2003, millions of people around the world took to the streets. Bush was discredited because of his fraudulent election and his ham-fisted treatment of even allied nations. Obama is hampered by none of these complications. He is loved by Democrats who hated Bush and was likewise welcomed by people around the world who shared that antipathy to his predecessor. He was awarded a Nobel peace prize merely on the basis of having been elected president. Such accolades give him a protective Teflon coating that would have made Ronald Reagan jealous.
After claiming that an Iranian used car salesman hatched a bizarre assassination plot, and lying about Iran’s nuclear capabilities, and threatening that nation for pledging to defend itself, the question is not whether there will be an attack, but when. The other question is what the people of this country and this world will say and do when that occurs. Iran has been demonized so thoroughly that only the most ardent peace activists will come to its defense, but defend it they must.
Iran has done nothing to warrant the enmity expressed by the west and its people have the right to live free from yet another American attack on their nation and on their lives. Thirty years ago another American president, Ronald Reagan, supported Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran. This sorry episode has been largely forgotten, but it should be pointed out that more than one million people died in the decade long conflict which would not have taken place without America’s arms and money.
Who in America will speak up for the Iranian people and their government? There should be no hesitancy and no wavering. America’s violence and wars of aggressions should be condemned, and individual opinions about the nation in question should not keep anyone who marched in the streets in 2003 from doing the same thing again in 2012.
It doesn’t matter if president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed that “there are no gay people in Iran” or that Islamic law restricts women’s legal rights. Any short comings we may observe in that society don’t give Americans the right to commit war crimes and kill thousands of people. Lest we forget, Iran had a secular and democratically elected government sixty years ago and that government was destroyed by the United States and Great Britain, who are once again working hand in had to deny other nations the right to self-determination.
There should be no qualifications because of phony stories about “wiping Israel off the map.” That canard has long been discredited and in any case it is Israel that has a nuclear arsenal capable of wiping Iran off the map. It doesn’t matter who won the disputed election in 2009. The United States does not have the right to kill people based on another country’s internal disputes. We must also remember that undemocratic and even oppressive rule have never been obstacles to winning American support if the right interests want that to happen.
Libya has been laid waste because of tall tales perpetrated by the West. Tales of civilian slaughter in Benghazi are Obama’s WMD, that is to say outright falsehoods. There will be more such story telling in the coming weeks and months, but it should not matter to anyone who claims to want peace.
Peace makers must defend Iran and condemn the American government when it launches its violence. Such actions will be the true determination of who is civilized and who is not. Our government is definitely uncivilized and we shall see how many of its people also fit that description.
Madam Author of the article, I would like to bring to your kind attention that this entire threat of attacking Iran IS THE WORLD’S BIGGEST BLUFF. There will be no attack. Please read my following analysis.
You may sanction Iran to the worst possible, don’t buy oil, travel bans, whatever. Don’t go to war. Choices are stark for the United States if they attack Iran: a) Danger in hitting a Russian or Chinese working in some of the various project sites in Iran, which will be disastrous (you cant tell the Russians and the Chinese to leave Iran before any war starts) b) Yes, it is not very difficult to unblock Hormuz once or twice if there is any blockade, as Dempsey has publicly said. But for how long can you do this? One year? Two years? Four? Six? Forever? The costs and human dangers involved in such operations are catastrophic. If you bomb Iran, Hormuz blockade will be no more be state sponsored (Iran), but terrorists sponsored, and Iran will have no control on them. And then you will remember the good old days when tanker traffic would go smoothly, which is today. c) Russia will rule the world. Any ME supply cutoff will directly benefit Russia. An Iran war is a mouthwatering opportunity for them, with their crude selling at 200, 300$ whatever, which will be the new normal. Bankrupt EU will become so bankrupt that EU could come under Russian rule d) Any major involvement of world powers in ME would give opportunity for China to flex its muscles. Invade Taiwan and Australia. Overtake all countries in becoming a world superpower. This is dangerous because first thing they will do is grab oil, gas fields and other natural resources deposits in the region. e) Convert Iran into an actual terrorist state. Because if you bomb Iran, most of the top guys will be wiped out, what will remain are those millions of Basij guys who will become terrorists. This is much more dangerous than Iraq. f) Dirty bombs, know what it is ? g) Air travel could become difficult. h) ‘Allies’ the US abandoning. i) Any guesses on US economy post war ?
All these are nothing new. You went into a war for some purpose and saw the rug pulled back under your feet. The American Strategists are very very well aware of consequences. America’s leadership cannot be established by a war like those colonial days, third world countries have learnt their lessons the hard way. Which war has America won anyway ? Is’nt war talks a big drama ?