by Kenneth J. Theisen
President Bush ended his eight day “peace trip” to the Middle East on January 16, 2007. During the visit he managed to increase tensions between Iran and the U.S. and make war more likely, not less. Much of the trip was dedicated to a propaganda war against Iran. He not only took verbal aim at Iran, but he also confirmed previously made deals to arm many of Iran’s neighboring nations with billions of dollars in new U.S. weapons, allegedly to strengthen these nations against Iranian power. And though he occasionally referred to democracy in his speeches, all of the governments his regime is arming are authoritarian, many run by feudal royalty.
Bush also met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. After the meeting Olmert reported to a committee of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) that he had told Bush that “Israel cannot reconcile itself to a nuclear Iran, and there is no option which we are ruling out in advance.” (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/944586.html) (The U.S. will also supply $30 billion in arms to Israel (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38791), a nation whose leaders recently said that no option is off the table in regard to Iran. Israel has over 100 nuclear warheads in its arsenal.)
In various speeches and statements on his trip, he said that Iran “seeks to intimidate its neighbors with ballistic missiles and bellicose rhetoric.” He repeatedly accused Iran of being “the world’s leading state sponsor of terror.” He again accused Iran of supporting U.S. enemies in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon. He also said that despite the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) issued in December dispelling previous Bush regime assertions that Iran had a nuclear weapons program, that Iran’s nuclear enrichment program still constituted a threat to the Middle East and the world. He further stated, on this trip, that this threat must be dealt with sooner rather than later.
At a press conference on Tuesday, January 15, 2008, Bush described a conversation he had with Saudi rulers. He stated that he told the Saudis that his regime still viewed Iran with “alarm” despite the NIE. He said, “I defended our intelligence services, but I made it clear that they”re an independent agency, that they come to conclusions separate from what I may or may not want.” In short, Bush made clear that his regime would still like to remove Iran as an obstacle to its complete control of the Middle East and world hegemony.
Israel, the leading U.S. ally in the region, also helped in sending strong messages the day after Bush left the Middle East which also increased the level of tension. It successfully tested a long-range missile that day and Israeli radio reported that the missile could be armed with nuclear weapons. This was not a mere coincidence in timing and was clearly aimed at Iran.
Asymmetrical Confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz
Another event that also was hyped by the Bush administration to coincide with Bush’s trip was the alleged naval “confrontation” in the Strait of Hormuz between three U.S. war ships and small Iranian speed boats. This “incident” allegedly occurred on January 6, 2008. The original Bush regime version claimed that Iranian speed boats manned by Iranian revolutionary guards “swarmed” around U.S. naval ships. The speed boats allegedly dropped items in the water (We were supposed to believe that these items were a danger to the U.S. Navy.). At the same time as this was supposedly happening, the Navy intercepted messages that indicated that the ships were targeted for an explosion. Serious threats to U.S. security? Clearly the Iranian regime is trying to start a shooting war with the U.S. right?
The only problem is that the Bush administration version was full of lies reminiscent of the “event” that occurred in the Tonkin Gulf. (There was an alleged similar incident between Vietnamese patrol boats and U.S. warships in the 1960s which led Congress to give then President Johnson the power to launch war against Vietnam in the so-called Tonkin Gulf Resolution. That incident also turned out to be a pack of lies leading to the deaths of millions of people.)
In the most recent event several things have come to light since the first version was put out by the Bush regime. The alleged intercept indicating that the ships were targeted for explosion may not have even happened, but if it did, it clearly did not come from the speed boats. The taped message has no background noise whatsoever that indicates it came from a boat buzzing about in the Hormuz Straight. It also appears that such “rogue broadcasts” are quite frequent all over the high seas and have been broadcast in the Persian Gulf area for years and have been regularly attributed to hoaxsters. There is no indication that such a broadcast even came from Iranian territory. Also according to Department of War Secretary Robert Gates, there have been other such naval encounters in the area between the U.S and Iranians on other occasions. At least one of these incidents resulted in the U.S. naval vessel even firing “warning” shots. Why did the Bush regime decide to hype this latest “event,” and not the others? And why did the regime rush to put out a false version in time for Bush’s trip?
It is also of interest that the mainstream media initially went along with the Bush regime version. This, despite the well established fact that Bush & Co. are proven liars, who plunged into an invasion and occupation of Iraq on the basis of lies. And why are they so upset about a few small speed boats when the U.S. for the last several years has had multiple nuclear carrier task forces with enough force to destroy the world in the area. It is okay for the U.S. to flex military muscles all over the world, but an affront to the nation if a few small boats get near the U.S. nuclear armada? Is world security threatened by Iranian speed boats or by nuclear armed armadas?
Bush Regime’s Sights Still Set on Iran
The Bush regime has set its sights on Iran even before Bush lumped in Iran as part of the “axis of evil.” But the Bush administration is constrained by its current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, by public opinion, by international reaction to its moves, and by its own military limitations. Even the NIE report has complicated the Bush agenda toward Iran. But none of this means that the Bush regime has given up its agenda for world domination, or that war with Iran could not be launched at an order from Bush, or erupt from what begins as a minor encounter in an area bristling with weaponry. .
We need to remember that wars are often started with pretexts. I have already mentioned the Tonkin Gulf incident. In 1898, “remember the Maine” was the slogan that allowed the U.S. to take over the lands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Allegedly Spain sunk the Battleship Maine while it was anchored in the Havana harbor. Now historians agree this did not happen. 9/11 became the excuse to launch the Bush regime war of terror. WMDs “allowed” the invasion of Iraq. WW II had Pearl Harbor. (See the related article about Operation Northwoods here, where the Pentagon proposed using false pretexts to launch a war against Cuba in the 60s.) People should not accept anything put out by the Bush regime to garner support for a war against Iran. It is very possible that it will use a “naval incident” to justify a war against Iran.
We also need to counter the Bush regime propaganda that it is using to justify its actions against Iran. We need to expose the Bush regime moves toward war as they occur. Yes the Iranian regime is reactionary and does not act in the interests of the Iranian people. But contrary to Bush regime claims, we know the Bush administration also does not care about the Iranian people or any of the people of the world. We have no interest in siding with our reactionary government against the Iranian reactionary government and a war between our nations will unleash unimagined calamity. We must do all in our power to drive this regime from power before it can launch any more wars.