Waging War Against The Wrong Country
Kourosh Ziabari
Tittle-tattles regarding the possibility of a military strike against Iran are being renewed these days. President Obama, to whom I still wonder why the Nobel Peace Prize has gone, is confessing that former President Bush was right in his belief that Iran poses a serious threat to the international community; Russia is cowardly retreating from its position, joining the rest of world's tyrannical powers who favor the imposition of new sanctions against Iran; fueled up by Israel and AIPAC, American corporate media are laying the groundwork to prepare the public opinions forcefully, convincing them that Iran is the most dangerous country in the Middle East and should be disarmed as soon as possible, otherwise, it may attack Israel to wipe it off the map.
All of what's happening right now resonates with the developments which we've been a witness to two years before the invasion of Iraq . New York Times is exactly replaying the unpleasant scenario it had devised to convince us that the late dictator Saddam Hussein has had Weapons of Mass Destruction. History is being repeated once again and Iran is now subject to a backbreaking, multilateral psychological warfare in addition to the previously-running economic embargo. The very fact that Iran is still standing on its own feet demonstrates the powerful will and strong capability of this nation; however, what's really happening behind the scenes? What will happen if U.S. or its Middle East subordinate, Israel , attack Iran ?
Who made Saddam out of Saddam?
Even a 7-year-old child could simply distinguish that Saddam Hussein, who was deplorably executed by the U.S. in 2006, was a marionette of the very same United States that waged and imposed the 8-year proxy war on the newborn Iran of post-revolution days, taking the life of more than 350,000 people human beings relentlessly. Comically, this is the very same United States that perpetually drums its commitment to "human" rights and brands the other countries human right violator. Weren't those 350,000 Iranian people human beings?
In his 1991 book "The Death Lobby: How the West Armed Iraq", Kenneth R. Timmerman implies that U.S. should have sought a new puppet in the Middle East once its crony, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was ousted overnight by the Iranian people who could not tolerate their country being a pawn of the foreign powers: "Islamic revolution in Iran upset the entire strategic equation in the region. America 's principle ally in the Gulf, the Shah, was swept aside overnight, and no one else on the horizon could replace him as the guarantor of U.S. interests in the region". So they sought refuge in Iraq 's dictator and promised to support him unconditionally, provided that the dictator also sticks to his pledge of paralyzing the Iranian revolution.
In 1982, Iraq was suddenly removed from the U.S.-fabricated list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, demonstrating the falsehood and baselessness of the list. At the outset, nobody figured out that what could lead a country to be qualified to the list of States not-Sponsoring Terrorism at once; however, everything made known progressively.
President Ronald Reagan dispatched Donald Rumsfeld as his special envoy to Saddam Hussein so as to restore ties with the former "State Sponsor of Terrorism". Two cordial meetings between Rumsfeld and Saddam took place in 1983 and 1984 where they reached different agreement over the supports U.S. would provide to Iraq as to the artilleries, ballistic missiles, aviation facilities and intelligence services. Iraqi troops received tactical battlefield advice and advanced military training along with unconventional warfare schemes which were exclusive to U.S. Department of State doctrine of defense.
However, United States did not even spare sending chemical weapons to Iraq so as to be dropped on the roofs of human beings' houses. This was another representation of United States ' commitment to human rights. In May 1994, a report by the U.S. Senate Banking Committee disclosed that "pathogenic (disease producing), toxigenic (poisonous), and other biological research materials were exported to Iraq pursuant to application and licensing by the U.S. Department of Commerce."
A British expert of biological weapons and former UN inspector of chemical weapons to Iraq , David Kelly, confirmed that " Iraq purchased 8 strains of anthrax from the United States in 1985".
Anyway, U.S. did whatever it was capable of, in order to fortify and strengthen a dictator who could never foresee, even in his dreams that will be shortly eradicated by the very people with whom he shook hands affectionately.
A 2003 May report by the "LA Weekly" published a list of 41 American companies that assisted Saddam in his mission to destroy Iran and bring down the Islamic Revolution which ended in the elimination of a U.S.-backed king. Interestingly, Caterpillar Inc, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Carl Zeiss and Phillips Exports were among these companies that the LA Weekly listed.
As an instance, NRM Corp. "supplied $3,310,485 worth of tire-manufacturing machines and $950,000 worth of presses and accessories to Iraq ’s State Establishment for Heavy Engineering Equipment". One may wonder whether Saddam could have practically employed all of the facilities, apparatuses and facilities he received from a total of 150 foreign companies, introduced by the German newspaper "Die Tageszeitung"; however, the conclusion might be that the Western world consciously elevated Saddam to the position of an invincible and indomitable tyrant and then decided to being him down all at once.
The story of Iran
Iran is a different country. It endeavors to maintain its difference and distinctiveness. Iranian people don't need a foreign supremacist to decide for them. Even if a devastating civil war happens in Iran and different political groups quarrel with together severely, they won't for good seek refuge in foreign saviors to help them, because the history of Iran 's developments demonstrates the fact that foreign powers have not ever come to Iran with goodwill and pure intention. A relentless enemy which is already busy with the bloodshed it has mounted in Palestine possesses 200 nuclear warheads that are targeted towards Iran while the "human rights" activists continue keeping silent.
Iran is a country of peace. Literature and culture is intertwined with every piece of Iranian citizen's life. Iran is home to one of the world's ancient civilizations along with Roman Empire and Hellenic Empire. I'm personally opposed to any kind of weaponry; whether it's chemical, nuclear whatsoever. If all of the countries in the world put their military and armed forces aside, no war will take place and nobody will lose his life; however, we all now that such austere statements can be exclusively the ambitions of a primary school student who sees his surrounding word with the eyes of innocence and purity. If Israel 's "right of existence" and "right to self-defense" is important, then Iran 's right of "peace and tranquility" is important, as well.
As John Pilger implies in his recent article, go and seek the nuclear stockpiles of Israel, not Iran, because you don't find anything of worth in the nuclear power plants of Iran; nevertheless, if you are adventurous and are highly interested in excitement, Israel has much more to offer to you.
