Iran
Plays Into Bush’s Hand
By Matthew Rothschild
29 March, 2007
The Progressive
This is how wars often start.
With little provocations
that escalate out of control.
When Tehran seized 15 British
sailors on Friday for allegedly being in Iranian waters, George Bush
and Dick Cheney must have let out a cheer.
This is just the kind of
thing they’ve been praying for.
Now Bush and Cheney may get
their own little Gulf of Tonkin incident.
And Blair too.
When Tehran seized 15 British
sailors on Friday for allegedly being in Iranian waters, George Bush
and Dick Cheney must have let out a cheer.This is just the kind of thing
they’ve been praying for.
He just announced that he
was prepared to move into a “different phase” if negotiations
didn’t succeed in freeing the sailors. He didn’t quite say
what that different phrase was, but his comment was ominous enough.
Hyping the tension, Bush
has sent the U.S. Navy on maneuvers in the Persian Gulf off the coast
of Iran.
This is no ordinary exercise.
There are 15 warships, more
than 100 planes, and 10,000 U.S. personnel “making simulated attacks
on enemy aircraft and shipping,” the AP reported.
Who is the enemy in the Persian
Gulf? It’s not Iraq, it’s not Saudi Arabia, it’s not
the United Arab Emirates, it’s not Qatar, and it’s not Kuwait.
That leaves only one other nation on the Persian Gulf: Iran.
“It’s for regional
stability and security,” said U.S. Navy Commander Kevin Aandahl.
I kind of doubt that.
What it’s really for
is to intimidate Iran, or better yet, from Bush’s perspective,
provoke Iran into another reckless act.
Then Bush could go to Congress
or bypass Congress, which is his wont, and go to the American people
and say, Iran has attacked us, so we’re, as we speak, bombing
Tehran.
It’s a speech I’m
sure Bush has been rehearsing.
As Professor Michael Klare
[1] has noted—and he’s studied U.S. military policy for
three decades now—the speech will probably go along these lines:
“He will speak somberly of a tireless American effort to secure
a meaningful resolution from the United Nations on Iran with real teeth
in it and his deep disappointment that no such resolution has been not
forthcoming. He will also point out that, despite the heroic efforts
of American diplomats as well as military commanders in Iraq, Iran continues
to pose a vital and unchecked threat to American security in Iraq, in
the region, and even — via its nuclear program — in the
wider world. Further diplomacy, he will insist, appears futile and yet
Iran must be stopped. Hence, he will say, ‘I have made the unavoidable
decision to eliminate this vital threat through direct military action,’
and will announce — in language eerily reminiscent of his address
to the nation on March 19, 2003 — that a massive air offensive
against Iran has already been underway for several hours.”
Given the high stakes right
now, it’s all the more important for peace activists to pressure
Congress not to go along with this madness.
© 2007 The Progressive
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