Noam Chomskey: US-Iran Policy Dynamics

[babylonsister]

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18235.htm

US-Iran Policy Dynamics

By Noam Chomskey

08/22/07 "ICH" -- - IN CRUDE and brutal societies, the Party Line is publicly proclaimed, and it must be obeyed, or else. What you believe is your own business, of lesser concern. In societies where the state has lost the capacity to control by force, the Party Line is not proclaimed. Rather, it is presupposed, and then vigorous debate is encouraged within the limits imposed by unstated doctrinal orthodoxy.

The crude system leads to natural disbelief. The sophisticated variant gives the impression of openness and freedom, and serves to instill the Party Line as beyond question, even beyond thought, like the air we breathe. In the ever more precarious standoff between Washington and Teheran, one Party Line confronts another. Among the well-known immediate victims are the Iranian-American detainees Parnaz Azima, Haleh Esfandiari, Ali Shakeri and Kian Tajbakhsh. But the whole world is held hostage to the US-Iran conflict, where, after all, the stakes are nuclear.

Unsurprisingly, President Bush's announcement of a "surge" in Iraq — in reaction to the call of most Americans for steps toward withdrawal, and the even stronger demands of the (irrelevant) Iraqis — was accompanied by ominous leaks about Iranian-based fighters and Iranian-made IEDS in Iraq aimed at disrupting Washington's mission to gain victory, which is (by definition) noble.

Then followed the predictable debate: The hawks say we have to take violent measures against such outside interference in Iraq. The doves counter that we must make sure the evidence is compelling. The entire debate can proceed without absurdity only on the tacit assumption that we own the world. Therefore interference is limited to those who impede our objectives in a country that we invaded and occupy.

What are the plans of the increasingly desperate clique that narrowly holds political power in the United States? Reports of threatening, off-the-record statements by staffers for Vice-President Cheney have heightened fears of an expanded war. "You do not want to give additional argument to new crazies who say, 'Let's go and bomb Iran,"' Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the BBC last month.

"I wake up every morning and see 100 Iraqis, innocent civilians, are dying."

US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, as against the "new crazies," is supposedly pursuing the diplomatic track with Teheran. But the Party Line holds, unchanged. In April, Rice spoke about what she would say if she encountered her Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki at the international conference on Iraq at Sharm el Sheikh. "What do we need to do? It's quite obvious," Rice said. "Stop the flow of arms to foreign fighters; stop the flow of foreign fighters across the borders." She is referring, of course, to Iranian fighters and arms. US fighters and arms are not "foreign" in Iraq. Or anywhere. The tacit premise underlying her comment, and virtually all public discussion about Iraq (and beyond) is that we own the world.

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http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18235.htm

[cliss]

1. We will not walk away unscathed from this.

We will end up paying for destroying Iraq. We are paying heavily right now, to the tune of $8 billion per month to wage this war. That's financially. But there's a psychic toll as well.

But - if we don't get out, this is going to destroy us as a country. As it is right now, we are tied to Iraq and the killing and destruction. I think the currently leadership is unable to get out. All they can do is escalate the war, as they become more and more entrapped in this country.

Thanks for posting.

[classysassy]

2. Amok

When mad men and women are allowed to run amok,bad things happen.

[reprobate]

3. We elected a Democratic congress to get us out of there. But what have they done?

To quote some famous philosopher or other: "They ain't done SHIT!".

And Nancy Pelosi has it within her power to put a stop to the Bush/Cheney horseshit that's been going on for the last six and a half years with just a nod of her head. Nancy, just saw "YES" to impeachment. I'll go out on a limb and predict that if this criminal conspiracy is not stopped, we WILL nuke Iran, and that will be the end of the United States as a nation of laws. Any influence we might still have left will go right down the tubes.

And this will all be YOUR fault Nancy. You can tell me afterward just how it feels to have been able to save the world, but by refusing end it.

The best moves this nation could make right now:

1. Remove Pelosi as Speaker of the House.

2. Impeach Bush, Cheney, Gonzo, Thomas, Scalia.

Take back my country!