The Iranian Obsession

The world has been spared from the horrors of a third world war this week, not because of a sudden change of heart by the draconian chicken hawks that squat in our Executive Branch, but by our Intelligence Community, who were not going to be the scapegoats of an administration run amok again.

This Iranian war obsession by the Bush administration can be traced back to the invasion of Afghanistan, where it was actually the Iranians themselves who pointed out to the then U.S. Representative to the Bonn Conference, James Dobbins, that the original version of the Bonn Agreement, (the plan for Afghanistan after the U.S. and it's NATO allies invaded), contained no mention whatsoever about the little things, such as freedom, democracy, or fighting terrorism. It was only due to the "professionalism of the Iranian diplomats", that these goals were set in place in the Bonn Agreement according to Dobbins' own words.

It was after this Conference that the Iranians tried to set up a rapport with the U.S., giving Dobbins a letter to bring back to the United States, which he did. He gave it to then Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, who rejected it out of hand, saying the Iranians were nuts. Yeah, that's professional.

Even after the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, the Iranians made a second attempt at overture to the United States through the Swiss Ambassador. They offered up a broad range of negotiations, including the recognition of Israel, dropping their support for the radical Palestinians, and putting their nuclear programs on the table. The offer was swiftly belittled by Bush's White House, who actually berated the Swiss Ambassador for bringing the offer to them.

Why wasn't the public made aware of any of this? Well, because that wouldn't serve the interests of the defense contractors who own the media, now would it?

So, even after we get the admission from the Intelligence Community on matters that many of us knew all along were baloney, this President still insists that Iran is a danger to the world, but specifically to the United States. Why in the world would he continue along this phony line of reasoning? It couldn't be because the Israelis are fuming mad about the release of this information, as now they'll have to figure out a way to attack Iran by themselves now would it? Even today, in the N.Y. Times, Israeli Defence Minister Barak said this: “But we cannot allow ourselves to rest just because of an intelligence report from the other side of the Earth, even if it is from our greatest friend.” And with the Israeli lobby in Washington pressuring us from all sides, it's no wonder Bush didn't know what to do, and so chose the easiest way out, which was to plan a bombing run on Iran.

The ramifications of such an attack would have been swift and horrible. Iran, unlike Iraq, hadn't been subjected to the partitioning of their country into no fly zones, or a decade long bombing campaign every time they got out of line. Their Qods force is quite formidable, and their alliances with radical groups that lie under cover within Iraq are extensive. Had an attack occurred the retaliation would have been swift and severe. Our men and women in Iraq would have suffered the brunt of it, and any gains made in Iraq would have been utterly wiped away. Although, even those gains are suspect, as bombs continue to kill Iraqi civilians by the day. But since it's only Americans who aren't getting killed as swiftly, it must count as gains, since in the minds of many, the Iraqi people getting killed don't count. Maybe that was the plan all along. The 100 year war, remember?

This government is not intended to be the personal Big Brother to the state of Israel. Just because the Israelis feel threatened by a stronger Iranian presence in the Middle East, doesn't mean they should have such influence in our government that we would allow our government officials, from the President on down, to lie us into another war, one that could have had the potential of setting the entire world on fire, just to make the Israelis feel better.

It is time for us to sit down at the table with the Iranians. Despite public appearances, we've done it through back channels before when it suited our purposes. Now, with this latest sham foisted on us by an administration that has absolutely no credibility left, it's time to do so openly and publicly. And it's high time that this Congress tie this President's hands. It's time for this Congress to impeach this President for lying once more to the American people about a grave subject that had and still has the potential to get a lot of Americans killed. We can no longer afford to shrug off the feeble attempts at explanation by a mad man or his insane neo-con cronies, who want nothing less than to drag the entire world into a never ending war in order to feed the military/industrial complex. What's next? Will another threat emerge suddenly now? Say like, Syria? The war obsession must stop, and we must demand it, or we are all complicit in the consequences. Batmanchester