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Saturday, 2 February 2013

Iran is not the problem in the Middle East. They live there.

Posted on 14:00 by Unknown

by Richard Mellor

Leon Panetta, the US Secretary of Wars, what the US establishment refers to as a “Defense Secretary” is looking out for my interests apparently.  He warns us today in the Wall Street Journal that the “Iranian Threat Spreads”.   It’s amazing how clued in these politicians are to our concerns.  I got up this morning after a really bad night’s sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about what my life would be like if we didn’t stop the Iranians from trying to take over our country and take away our freedoms. We’re being threatened from all sides. What can we do?

The folks at the Pentagon have a spotty track record and I’m wondering if I should trust them.  They have a nose for sniffing out anti-American elements is the impression we get from the media so I’m sure they’ll discover the jump in military veteran suicides, 22 a day or one every hour or so, has something to do with the Iranians.

But in the immediate, Panetta is concerned because our trusted intelligence network says the Iranians are smuggling antiaircraft weapons to terrorists in the Middle East, Hezbollah, Hamas in Gaza and the Syrian government.

The big threat, a “serious escalation”is these antiaircraft missiles called manpads that can be carried by one person and could bring down an attack helicopter or a jet.  Can you imagine if Hamas gets these, they’ll be able to shoot down Israeli planes that bomb their homes and spray white phosphorous on them. And what good is having an attack helicopter that is a great way to kill those who have no serious means to defend themselves if they get hold of missiles that can bring US helicopters down.  Good grief, Britain’s Prince Harry could have died if the Afghans had them.

What else does Panetta say?  Oh yes, the US is going to respond to this “threat” by leading (don’t laugh) “a multination exercise in the United Arab Emirates.”.  This might sound like something multi-lateral to many Americans because so many us of haven’t a clue where or what the Emirates are.  Most people don’t realize they are just a bunch of corrupt, feudal misogynists.  The US easily bribes these guys along as they are kept in power through US taxpayer donations in the form of military hardware to keep their struggling masses (mostly imported labor) in line. The Bahrainian royal family faced a revolt from reformers that wanted democratic/religious rights and even a Republic. This was brutally suppressed including through the invasion of Saudi troops at Washington’s urging. It was all done as 30,000 US troops stood idly by.  But their job is to defend the oil industry, not democracy. In a democracy, a population would demand control over its national resources---an absolute monarchy is a safer bet.

Panetta accuses Iran of, “An intensified campaign to destabilize the Middle East” by allegedly smuggling missiles to victims of US or Israeli attack helicopters.  Had the Reuters journalist and the other civilians that a US attack helicopter mowed down, had these manpads, they might have saved their own lives.  (This is the You Tube video that Bradley Manning is facing life imprisonment for because he shared it with us.)

But wait a minute. Isn’t Iran in the Middle East?  Don’t Iranians live there? Isn’t it their part of the world?  Why would they want to destabilize everything---bring the might of the US war machine and its proxies in Israel who are armed to the teeth, down on them?
And how does this most important journal of the US capitalist class describe those in Gaza who fire homemade rockets at the right wing settlers, religious fanatics, that are the front line of the Zionist regime’s expansionary policies? “Extremists in Gaza long have used rockets in their conflict with Israel. Manpads could give them the capacity to shoot down Israeli aircraft.”  It’s incredible to any thinking person.  The occupants of the largest outdoor concentration camp in the world are “extremists”.And heavens forbid that they should have the right to shoot down US made jets that bomb their homes.

“The weapons are a major concern for Israel which borders territory controlled by Iran’s allies.” The Journal adds. The truth is that the only form of stabilization the US and the Zionist regime requires is one where ruling cliques will allow western oil companies and the coupon clippers that profit from them to continue their plunder of the region’s resources without hindrance and that only the US and Israel maintain the ability to destroy every living thing in the area.  Washington doesn’t like wars where people can fire back.

As I read this nonsense this morning I imagined the incredible anger workers in these areas must feel.  The US supports the most repressive anti-democratic regimes in the region, regimes like the Saudi’s who behead women for adultery, flog women who leave the home without a male relative’s escort and even have an official religious police who make sure you are practicing the right type of Islam. 

The US ruling class has no credibility when it talks of stabilizing anything.  There is a reason all our embassies have to be fortified, that we can’t travel to half the countries of the world anymore and that our government is so hated, and it has nothing to do with jealousy.  Iranians would not forget that the US overthrew the secular democratic government of Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953 and installed the murderous Shah.  People see how the US supports the dictatorial regime in Yemen and the absolute monarchs of Bahrain against forces fighting for democratic rights. 

It has been the British and the US and their continued support of the Apartheid state of Israel that is the major destabilizing factor in the Middle east, not just Israel, but the Arab thugs in the region as well.  The roots of terrorism and anti-American feeling lie deeply planted in US foreign policy soil.  US foreign policy is why the Mullah’s rule in Iran.

The area of activity is changing a bit as the war against terror is shifting westward to drive back the threat of marauding Tuaregs.  One thing we need to be aware of.  The increased weapons technology like drones, the increased militarization of the US population with some 20,000 border patrol officers and beefed up police and security forces, the use of these will not be confined to those opposing occupation by the imperial powers.  These will all be used domestically, against the American working class as the movement against austerity and the destruction of our living standards grows as it inevitably will. Stopping production through strikes and other forms of mass action, hurting the economy, hindering profit taking, that’s terrorism too you know, on a mass scale.

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