War
on Iran: Unleashing
Armageddon In The Middle East
By Dr. Elias Akleh
09 November, 2006
Countercurrents.org
In
mid 1970s the American Power Elite drew a “Grand Plan” to
control and to monopolize global oil and nuclear energy resources, for
he who controls energy resources determines the fate of nations. The
base of this “Grand Plan” is the invasion of energy rich
countries to directly control their resources, and to create subservient
governments that would exploit their own people as cheap labor to harvest
energy for the United States.
The collapse of the Soviet
Union had created a window of opportunity for the United States to ensure
and to affirm its global superiority through expansion and controlling
energy resources without any real opposition. The attacks of 911 were
necessary requirements for the Bush administration to wage a “global
war against terror” that would serve as a cover up for American
hegemony. President Bush borrowed Mussolini’s fascist motto of
“If you are not with me, you are against me” and turned
it into “You are either with us or with the terrorist” to
terrorize weaker nations into accepting American expansions.
Part of the “Grand
Plan”, which deals with the Arab World (Middle East) and South
East Asia, was handed down to the Bush/Cheney administration for execution.
The invasions and destructions of Afghanistan and Iraq are just the
beginning. Iran, Syria, and Lebanon are next. Controlling Iran is very
important to the American administration. Iran sits on a lake of oil
and has large deposits of uranium that, when mined and refined, could
make Iran a super global power. Controlling Iran leads to the containment
of China (America’s greatest competitor), who depends heavily
on Iranian oil to satisfy its growing hunger for energy. Geographically
Iran makes the shortest and the most economical route for Kazakhstan’s
oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea ,north, to the Persian Gulf south
with all the oil-tankers traffic. Iran also fits perfectly within the
line of American hegemony in South East Asia. Listening to Bush’s
speeches – especially his speech to the United Nation last September
2006- one can detect his “enthusiasm” for “spreading
democracy and freedom” into the “despotic Middle East”
with Iraq as an example.
The Bush/Cheney administration
started its overt aggression against Iran immediately after 911 attacks.
Bush described Iran as one of the “axis of evil” sponsoring
“terrorist” groups such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and the
Palestinian Hamas, who are in reality defending themselves against Israeli
aggression. After the American invasion of Iraq the American administration
accused Iran of instigating a civil war in Iraq by supporting Shiites
against Sunnis, and of opening its borders wide for terrorists to enter
Iraq. The administration is accusing Iran of building a nuclear bomb,
and is continuously threatening its government to abandon its nuclear
“ambitions” or else face dire consequences including nuclear
strikes (a paradox of using nuclear weapon to stop the proliferation
of nuclear weapons). Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State described
Iran as a “central bank for world terrorism” that is threatening
the stability of the Middle East.
American media had joined
the administration into demonizing Iran and its government. Iran is
described as a fundamentalist theocracy, who seeks to revive the glory
of ancient Persian Empire by establishing an Islamic “Caliphate”
in the Middle East. Iran’s leaders are portrayed as extremists,
who hate Americans for their freedom, and want to build nuclear bomb
to attack the US. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is described
as an irrational, violent, mad Hitler-like anti-Semite, who hates Jews,
denies the Holocaust, and wants to wipe Israel off the map. Ahmadinejad’s
visit to the US last September (2006) to give a speech at the UN was
received with a cold shoulder by the US. American officials in the UN
and the American media boycotted his speech, while NBC’s Brian
Williams and Newsweek’s Lally Weymouth interviewed him only to
corner him about the Holocaust and wiping Israel off the map.
Bush/Cheney administration
had rebuffed all Iranian attempts to negotiate, and refused to give
Iran any guarantees that the US will not attack Iran if it stops its
uranium enrichment. President Bush totally ignored President Ahmadinejad’s
personal letter, and his call for a debate. The Washington Post, in
June 18th 2006, reported Richard Hass, head of policy planning at the
State Department at the time, as saying that at the wake of the US invasion
of Iraq Iranian leaders offered the administration a proposal for a
broad dialogue that included full cooperation on its nuclear programs,
acceptance of the state of Israel, and halting support to Palestinian
militants. The administration rejected this proposal since they already
have plans for a regime change in Iran.
The administration’s
attack plan started immediately after the invasion of Iraq. Spy stations
were erected at the Iraqi/Iranian borders. The Congress had authorized
the expenditure of $75 million to support Iranian opposition and to
finance an anti-Iranian political campaign. Scott Ritter, former UN
weapons inspector, reported in June 2005 and in his book “Target
Iran” that the US has been using terrorist organizations (Mujahedeen
el-Khalq, MEK), under the supervision of the CIA, to conduct covert
terrorist operations in Iran. MEK has been officially designated as
a terrorist organization by the US. Yet in 2004 Bush/Cheney administration
pardoned the MEK making it the first terrorist organization to receive
a “protected” status. The MEK terrorists were trained by
the CIA in an American compound northeast of Baghdad, and then moved
to Basra and established their base in Camp Habib, from which they launch
their terrorists raids against the southern region of Iran.
Israel, on the other hand,
criticized Iran’s nuclear program refusing to “live under
the threat” of nuclear Iran. Israeli officials point to Ahmadinejad’s
alleged threat to wipe Israel off the map as threat to their own existence,
and a possible justification for a pre-emptive strike as a measure of
self-defense. They continually threaten to strike Iran’s nuclear
facilities the same way Israel did to Iraq’s nuclear reactor.
Israel warned that Iran’s uranium enrichment is the red line that
Israel will react to. Israel had sent its military operatives into the
Kurdish region north of Iraq to establish training camps for the Kurds.
The Kurds want to establish their free Kurdistan that extends from north
Iran to east Turkey. Considering it their patriotic duty, and encouraged,
financed and armed by the Israelis, the Kurds send their militants to
conduct military operations into northern Iran.
Bush/Cheney administration
is adamant on invading Iran. Invasion was originally planned to take
place sometime during the end of April 2006 immediately after the end
of the grace period UN gave to Iran to stop its nuclear program. The
plan consisted of 5 days continuous aerial bombardment by joint air
planes of Israel, UK, and US that might include tactical nuclear bunker
buster bombs. Land invasion would follow from west (Iraq), from east
(Afghanistan) and from sea (Persian Gulf from west and Gulf of Oman
from south). The plan was to heavily bombard the Iranians into overthrowing
their government.
In an attempt to stop this
attack Iran flexed its military muscles in war games conducted in April
2006. Iran effectively demonstrated its capability of waging war on
land, sea, and air with sophisticated weapons. Iran also conducted other
war games in August 2006 in coordination with China and Russia on all
of Iran’s geo-strategic borders giving a warning signal that any
possible invasion of its territory would be very costly. The American
administration discovered that it had underestimated Iran’s military
power, and that Iran is a larger and a stronger country than the embargo-weakened
Iraq. Therefore the administration decided to adjust its war plans and
to bring in more allies such as EU and some Arab states.
Contrary to the misleading
American propaganda about the threat of irrational extremist Iranian
government Iranian leaders have been very pragmatic politicians, who
seek peace, stability, and nuclear-free Middle East. There is no doubt
that Iran has supported Palestinian families (victims of Israeli terror),
Shiite Lebanese south of Lebanon, and Shiite Iraqis in an attempt to
protect its own interests and to counter balance warring Israel, UK,
and US. Israel had invaded all its neighboring countries while the UK
and US had sent their troops across the globe to invade Afghanistan
and Iraq to protect its own interests in the region. For many generations
Iran was never involved in a colonial war and had never threatened other
countries. Iran was defending itself during the eight years Iraq/Iran
war of attrition that had been instigated by the US. Unlike the Israeli
and American military threatening rhetoric Iranian leaders had always
declared that they do not pose any threat to any other country, and
that Iran is only seeking peace and prosperity for its own citizens.
Iranian officials recognized that war is knocking on their doors when
American troops invaded Iraq. They attempted to approach Bush/Cheney
administration with dialogue and cooperation, but they were rebuffed
violently.
The Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad does not conform “..to the picture of a madman”
the American administration and media portray him to be, wrote Fareed
Zakaria in his Newsweek (10/2/2006) article “What Iranians Least
Expect”. “He was smug, even arrogant, sometimes offensive,
but always calm and intelligent” continued Zakaria. Ahmadinejad
is not the Jew-hater, Holocaust denier, intent on wiping Israel off
the map as Bush keeps describing him. Ahmadinejad pointed to the Iranian
Jewish community, who are living peacefully within Iran as any other
Iranian citizens. Iran is the home for the largest Jewish community
(25 thousands) in the Middle East outside Israel, who lived there for
the last 3 thousand years since the rule of Cyrus the Great. Iranian
government recognizes the Jews as a religious minority to be protected
and represented by a PM, Maurice Mohtamed, in Iranian parliament. Iranians
make a distinction between Jews and Zionists.
When Newsweek’s Lally
Weymouth (October 2nd 2006) asked Ahmadinejad about the Holocaust he
acknowledged it as a historical event by stating “We know this
was a historical event that happened. But why is it that people who
question it are persecuted and attacked?” He also questions the
reasons why the Palestinians have to pay their country and their lives
for what the Europeans had done. He questions the exploitation of the
Holocaust to justify the usurpation of Palestinian land, their evacuation
from their homeland and the destruction of their civilian homes, the
targeted assassination of their freedom fighters, and the abduction
and jailing of their democratically elected officials. “The Palestinian
people, their lives are being destroyed today under the pretext of the
Holocaust. Their lands have been occupied, usurped. What is their fault?
What are they to be blamed for? Are they not human beings? Do they have
no rights? What role did they play in the Holocaust?” Ahmadinejad
answered NBC’s Brian Williams, who asked him about the Holocaust
during an interview in September 20th, 2006. His acceptance of the Holocaust
as a reality could not be any clearer than in his statement reported
by the Washington Post December 9th 2005 “Is the killing of innocent
Jewish people by Hitler, the reason for their (the Europeans’)
support to the occupiers of Jerusalem?”
Ahmadinejad’s plans
to build a nuclear bomb and use it to incinerate and “to wipe
Israel off the map” as Tzipi Linvi – the Israeli Foreign
Affairs Minister and Vice Prime Minister- likes to keep reminding the
world of, is totally baseless. It is an intentional misinterpretation
and distortion of Ahmadinejad’s speech. In the New York Times
of June 11th, 2006 Juan Cole, a Middle East specialist at the University
of Michigan, stated that “Ahmadinejad did not say he was going
to wipe Israel off the map, because no such idiom exists in Persian.
He did say he hoped its regime i.e. a Jewish-Zionist state occupying
Jerusalem, would collapse.” Ahmadinejad was not threatening Israel;
rather he was calling for the end of Zionist occupation of the city
of Jerusalem. He – and the Iranian government- are intelligent
politicians, who understand that striking Israel with one atomic bomb
would lead Israel to shower Iran with its 200, or more, nuclear bombs,
some of which are ready to be launched from submarines.
To avoid the seemingly inevitable
war Iran had followed the diplomatic path with no avail. It opened all
its nuclear facilities to the strictest and most detailed inspections
by the IAEA, who stated that there was no evidence that Iran is pursuing
a nuclear weapon. Iran proposed to halt its nuclear program if the US
halts its threatening postures and gives guarantees that it would not
attack Iran. The Bush/Cheney administration refused to give Iran any
guarantees insisting that all options, including nuclear, are on the
table. Ahmadinejad also called for peaceful negotiations and a nuclear-free
Middle East in his speech to the UN in his September visit. Yet his
speech was boycotted by the American officials and ignored by the American
media. Lately Iran proposed to have an international consortium to supervise
uranium enrichment in Iran to guarantee that its nuclear program is
really for peaceful purposes only. This proposal was rejected by the
EU for they all are aware of the American plans to invade Iran.
Iran had also turned to the
international community – mainly anti-American countries- for
political support through economical trade and common political interests.
In 2004 Iran struck an oil deal with China Petrochemical Corp. (SINOPEC
Group) to sell it 51% stake in Iran’s Yadavaran oil field near
the border of Iraq. Iran also became Russia’s most important weapons
customer. Iran had also gained the political support of at least 118
countries during the summit of the Nonaligned Movement (NAM) in Cuba
in mid September 2006.
Iranian government, like
any other prudent government in its place, has no alternative but to
seriously consider the Israeli and American continuous military threats
to its security and to prepare for the inevitable coming war. In a deterrent
attempt Iran had conducted war games in April and August 2006 hoping
that the American administration would reconsider its plans. It also
positioned its weapons strategically on its borders and sea. Iranian
arsenals include Iranian and Russian made submarines carrying their
own mini submarines and submarine-to-ship missiles. Iranian naval forces
had been updated with the latest military equipment and weaponry with
its naval airborne forces including helicopters, minesweepers and the
sophisticated fast Chinese “Silkworm” and “Sunburn”
anti-ship missiles with the speed of 225 miles per hour. Iranian Patrol
Torpedo Boats (PT) – such as the “Jashan PT”- are
small boats designed to attack larger warships and are equipped with
latest electronic systems and missiles with a range of 100km. Iran’s
navy also has the largest hovercraft fleet in the world. On the land
Iran has long range missiles (Shehab) and land-to-sea missiles (Kowsar)
that can evade electronic jamming systems. Some of Iranian missiles
are reported to be invisible to radar and can have multiple warheads
with multiple payloads to hit multiple targets simultaneously.
Iran has also recently modified
its air defense shield in order to shoot down incoming missiles and
invading warplanes. Iran has about 20 Russian “Tor” and
“S300” antiaircraft systems. Besides Russian warplanes Iran
has manufactured its own warplanes with laser-guided missiles and whose
capabilities are still unknown and could surprise any invading enemy.
Iran also has its own fleet of unmanned militarized drones.
The eight-year Iraq/Iran
desert war had given Iranian army the longest experience in ground and
desert warfare far exceeding any other army. The Iranians learned to
manufacture their own weapons such as tanks, missiles, torpedoes, helicopters,
submarines and warplanes. This gave them independence and strength.
Attacking Iran will disrupt
oil traffic in the Persian Gulf. In an obvious and expected move Iran
will close the Straits of Hermuz blocking all military and supply in-traffic
and all oil out-traffic. American military bases in the Gulf States
will be targeted, and there is the possibility of also targeting oil
wells. To exacerbate the ensuing oil crises Syria and Iran may also
target the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline carrying oil from the Caspian
Sea to Europe through Turkey. Venezuela, an Iranian ally, would stop
the flow of its oil to the US. The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez,
has warned that Venezuela would not sit idle if Iran and Syria were
attacked. An energy crisis might devastate Western countries. China
might also enter the conflict to protect its own oil assets in Khuzestan
province that the Iranian had armed heavily to protect its oil resources
and to assure the supply of crude oil to its own allies.
Recognizing that Iran, unlike
Afghanistan and Iraq, is a big country with a military power including
strong aerial defense that is well ready for the anticipated heavy Western
aerial strike, and that it has a military outreach towards the whole
region that might disrupt the flow of oil, the American administration
decided to postpone its attacks until it creates a “war oil reserve”,
forms a large alliance of “willing countries”, and sends
a military armada to the region to guarantee victory.
The American administration
influence on the UN and NATO can be seen clearly by the types of resolutions
the UN adopts, and by the NATO troops becoming an American proxy occupier
of Afghanistan. To avoid internal political crisis the administration
needs to spare the lives of the American troops as much as possible
by convincing more countries that it is in their own economic interest
to send their own troops to the Middle East to “keep” the
oil flow to their countries. UN resolution 1701 was the best cover to
send military personnel and equipment to the region. 15 thousand armed
UNIFEL troops are stationed on the Lebanese southern borders to protect
Israel from any Hezbollah’s attacks. An armada of NATO battleships
is crowding the eastern shores of the Mediterranean allegedly to stop
arm shipments to Hezbollah. The real purpose of this armada is to protect
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Oil Terminal during the war against Iran and
Syrian, and to guarantee the flow of oil to Europe.
The cooperation of Gulf Arabian
States was also needed. Condoleezza Rice traveled to Egypt early October
and met with foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation
Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and
the United Arab Emirates. Rice followed the usual American tactics of
dandling the resolution of the Palestinian/Israeli issue in order to
gain cooperation from these Arab leaders. To put more pressure on these
leaders President Bush divided them into “moderate vs extremists”.
Israel had also courted these “moderate” Arab leaders during
September United Nations meeting in New York, where Israeli officials
held some private meetings with officials from Persian Gulf Countries
(The Wall Street Journal, October 3rd). There was also a rumor about
an Israeli/Saudi secret private meeting in Jordan’s King Abdullah’s
palace at the end of September. The talks aimed to form some kind of
secret intelligence and military alliance between Israel and the US
on one side and the “moderate” Arabic regimes on the other
hand against the Iranian nuclear threat and the so called “Shiite
Crescent” –Iran, Syria and Lebanon- in the north. After
all, these Sunni Gulf rulers had supported and financed Iraqi Saddam
Hussein during his eight years war against Iran. They had sent Moslem
fighters as an American proxy army to fight the Russians in Afghanistan.
They had, for fifty eight years, stood silent about the Israeli terror
against Palestinians, and finally had criticized Hamas and Hezbollah
resistance as foolish and uncalculated useless adventures. Some of these
Gulf States had joined actively into the American war games off the
Iranian coastline in October 31st while others joined as observers only.
The US and NATO countries
had amassed the largest military armada in the Middle East. The US armada
consists of Carrier Strike Group 12 led by nuclear powered aircraft
carrier USS Enterprise, Eisenhower Strike Group – another nuclear
powered aircraft carrier with accompanied military vessels and submarines,
Expeditionary Strike Group 5 with multiple attack vessels led by aircraft
carrier USS Boxer, the Iowa Jima Expeditionary Strike Group, and the
US Coast Guard. Canada has sent its anti-submarine HMCS Ottawa frigate
to join the American Armada in the Persian Gulf. On October 1st the
USS Enterprise Striking Group had crossed the Suez Canal to Join NATO
armada at the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
The NATO force is composed
of troops and naval vessels from several countries and is lead by Germany.
It includes Garman command naval forces, Italian navy, 2 Spanish warships,
3 Danish warships, 10 Greek Warships, 2 Netherlands warships, and French,
Belgium, Turkish and Bulgarian troops in South Lebanon.
This is the largest amass
ever of military power in the region, and it is gathering for a reason.
The US had started its military
provocation on October 30th with its “Leading Edge” war
game across the Iranian shores. Iran responded with a 10 days military
maneuvers “Great Prophet” taking place in Gulf, Sea of Oman,
and several provinces of the country test-firing dozens of its long-range
missiles capable of reaching Israel and American military bases in Gulf
States. The powder keg is ready and all it needs is a match to ignite
it. This could come in the form of an “arranged” terrorist
act in Lebanon – e.g. another political assassination or toppling
of government- to be blamed against Syria and Iran. American warnings
of such an act are already in the media.
The present American administration
is an extremist theocratic apocalyptic neoconservative Christian-Zionist
war mongering law-breaking power hungry administration with a bragging
“war president” adopting the doctrines of “pre-emptive”
strikes and perpetual war against “global terror”. This
war will take place far away from the American home-land, and will generate
large profits for the American military corporations. The war against
Iran will engulf the whole Middle East and may overflow to its neighboring
countries. Controlling Iran is a very important strategic move to assure
American global hegemony. This war is scheduled to start between February
and April of 2007, and it seems that there is nothing to stop it.
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