Opinion Editorials, May 2010

Al-Jazeerah, ccun.org, May 10, 2010

Iran sanctions and worse

Paul J. Balles views the campaign by Israel lobbyists in the US administration and Congress to impose sanctions on Iran as a precursor to direct aggression à la Iraq, and the few lone voices of common sense.

On 23 April, US congressional representative Ron Paul strongly opposed a motion that would support sanctions against Iran. Unlike other members of Congress who automatically yield to the wishes of Israel, Dr Paul spurns the special interest groups who led the US and UK unto war in Iraq.

Paul says, "…it feels as if we are back in 2002 all over again: the same falsehoods and distortions used to push the United States into a disastrous and unnecessary one trillion-dollar-war on Iraq are being trotted out again to lead us to what will likely be an even more disastrous and costly war on Iran. The parallels are astonishing."

In taking his position, Paul faces the powerful Israeli lobby and their unequalled propaganda machine. However daunting his task, Paul has the facts on his side. He relates them:

"Iran, a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has never been found in violation of that treaty. Iran is not capable of enriching uranium to the necessary level to manufacture nuclear weapons. According to the entire US intelligence community, Iran is not currently working on a nuclear weapons programme."

"It is a dismaying reflection that the facilitator of major violence thus far in the 21st century have been lies told by democratic governments. The lies are continuing to be told, about the supposed 'existential' menace posed by Iran to Israel, America and (if you believe some European leaders) to Western Europe."

William Pfaff, US author

Paul scoffs at the propaganda: "We hear war advocates today on the [Congress] floor scare-mongering about reports that in one year Iran will have missiles that can hit the United States. Where have we heard this bombast before?"
Voting by members of the US Congress on sanctions against Iran would no more avert war against Iran than the sanctions on Iraq did. The major achievement of the Iraq sanctions was the death of a half million children.

Addressing the same subject, William Pfaff, author of eight books on American foreign policy, international relations and contemporary history, spoke bluntly to the Tribune Media:

"It is a dismaying reflection that the facilitator of major violence thus far in the 21st century have been lies told by democratic governments. The lies are continuing to be told, about the supposed “existential” menace posed by Iran to Israel, America and (if you believe some European leaders) to Western Europe."
 
Pfaff reminds us of "the fiction that [Saddam] Hussein’s government, during the period of UN sanctions before 2003, was able secretly to construct nuclear weapons, despite the efforts of Western intelligence to detect them or deter him, and the presence of United Nations arms control inspectors. There were none."

A major problem with avoiding similar sanctions and propaganda against Iran is US lobbying the UN Security Council to get support instead of listening to its wiser members.

The New York Times reported on 3 March: “Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on a trip to Latin America, was unable to budge Brazil from its opposition to sanctions against Iran. ‘It is not prudent to push Iran against a wall,’ [Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula] da Silva told reporters. ‘The prudent thing is to establish negotiations.’”

Brazilian officials "feared that such measures would only lead Iran to harden its position." The sponsors of sanctions know that Iran with its national pride will resist efforts to force compliance with dictum out of Israel that's moving the US ultimately to Senator McCain's "bomb, bomb, bomb" prescription.

Substantial parts of the bomb supporters overlook the fact that Iran has never pre-emptively attacked anyone. They ignore how improbable it would be for Iran to aim a nuclear missile at Israel while millions of Palestinians live there.

The treatment of Palestinians by Israelis has been the major complaint of Iran against Israel. It is entirely unreasonable that Iran would slaughter Palestinians while attempting to destroy Israel.

Sadly, both Israelis and American Zionist supporters will completely ignore rational arguments both against sanctions as well as against the so-called military option for an international disaster.

Paul J. Balles is a retired American university professor and freelance writer who has lived in the Middle East for many years. For more information, see http://www.pballes.com.