Imposing idiot sanctions on Iran is a direct route to war
What is the difference between Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran? The answer, future historians may relate, is none. At the dawn of the 21st century, all three states were ruled by nasty undemocratic regimes to which America and its allies took exception. Antagonism began with hectoring ostracism. This led to economic sanctions, diplomatic isolation and bloodcurdling threats of “other measures”. Finally a pretext was drummed up for military intervention, for bombing, invasion, occupation and appalling destruction.
Will Iran really be on this list? At present the west, covered in blood and expense, is trying to leave Iraq and Afghanistan, yet at the same time it stumbles into an identical trap in Iran.
The casus belli is the same. There is a declared ongoing threat and this is inextricably linked to a “humanitarian” need for regime change. In Afghanistan the trigger was the harbouring of Osama bin Laden. In Iraq it was a tenuous claim that Saddam possessed a nuclear capability and was preparing to use missiles against western targets. [continued…]
Simon seems to be having trouble distinguishing between the causes of war and propaganda. Propaganda is an instrument of war; it is not the cause of anything. The causes of war are rooted in issues of power. These issues are quite real, and entirely at right angles to the pretexts that are used to sell violence to a credulous public.
Weapons inspectors in Iraq were on the verge of verifying that Saddam’s WMD had been destroyed. Sanctions were about to be lifted. US energy corporations would get a share of the profits from Iraqi oil based on competitive bidding, if at all. Violence followed in order to try for a better deal.
Negotiations with the Afghani Taliban for a US pipeline into the energy-rich regions to the north of Afghanistan fell through. Violence followed in order to move the Taliban aside in favor of a puppet regime.
An independent Iran is an obstacle to US dominance at the heart of the world’s greatest concentration of energy reserves. Violence will surely follow.
Again and again elites have used fear-mongering and attrocity stories to goad the public into war, because this is what works. Over and over, the passage of time has shown the actual motivations of these elites to revolve around issues of power, because that is what matters.