Framing Iran

The US making all kinds of accusations towards Iran. Where is this leading? Will the Bush crowd do something crazy? How is the rest of the world dealing with the situation?

A few weeks ago, the USS Enterprise CVN-65, the world's first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, arrived the Persian Gulf to join the 2 Nimitz class carriers, the USS Nimitz and the USS Stennis, that have been there since early this year when the US had them engaged in elaborate military exercises off the coast of Iran. According to a July 11th article in the New York Sun[1], the Enterprise Carrier Group would replace the USS Nimitz Carrier Group, and the USS Stennis would also leave the Gulf by the end of the summer. According their Navy homepages[2], both the Nimitz and the Stennis have been engaged in operation Valiant Shield '07 in the Pacific near Guam between August 7th and 14th. So, the Enterprise is alone in the Persian Gulf now. According to sources quoted in the Sun, the reason for the reduction of carrier strike forces in the gulf is a draw-down, expected to produce a reduction of tensions with Iran. This would appear to be a positive development, given the intense pressure on Iran coming from the Bush Administration lately.

However a fellow anti-war activist pointed out a post made last October, someone on a popular Navy blog, stating that someone had been informed that the Enterprise would be set up in the gulf as a sitting duck, then attacked and sunk by covert forces masquerading as Iranians so as to provide an excuse for an all out attack on Iran.[3] According to the post, the Enterprise was selected because it is the oldest of the nuclear battleships in the fleet and scheduled to be decommissioned in a couple of years. At the time, the message was pretty much dismissed. The Enterprise was on a different mission, and the Carriers Nimitz and Stennis were scheduled to be stationed in the Gulf. The enormity of the atrocity was also raised because, although the Enterprise is old and it may be decrepit, it carries 5,000 passengers and crew. I might add my own reservation based on the fact that, on investigation, I found the initial source of the rumor to be racist hate-monger named Hal Turner. A lot of information has recently come out about the sinking of the USS Liberty off the coast of Egypt 40 years ago.[4] Perhaps he envisioned a re-enactment of that event.

Interestingly, people are still commenting on this blog entry. Some comments are beginning to take it seriously. One individual said that the thought they would probably just lightly damage the ship, but not sink it. Unfortunately, history would indicate otherwise. The incident where the IDF sank the USS Liberty in 1967 during Israel's "Six Day War", and the questions surrounding 9/11 would indicate that 5,000 people might might not be perceived as to high a price by the current administration, when it comes to inciting their war of choice. However, I think there are other reasonable explanations of the carrier deployments. For a while there were indications that elements of the Bush organization promoting diplomacy were gaining some traction. This would account for plans to lower the apparent threshold of threat. Also, Russia and China are taking a more active interest in the region, leading to a resurgence of cold war initiatives. It is notable that the Stennis, the Nimitz and a third carrier group are all currently stationed in the Pacific in the vicinity of Guam. This is a significant gathering of forces.

Meanwhile, the pressure is hardly off Iran. Accusations that Iran is supplying training and weapons to Iraqi insurgents for the purpose of 'killing' American soldiers are becoming more shrill every week. Since the vast majority of bombers are still Sunnis from Saudi Arabia and Egypt, it seems unlikely they are getting much help from Iran. In the most recent instance blamed on Iran, Mahdi militiamen targeted Badr Brigade Soldiers. Although the Badr Brigade is working for the Iraqi government, and therefore, with the US soldiers in Bagdad, they are the ones trained in Iran, therefore it is unlikely Iran would arm their enemies against them.[5] Prominent Israeli's and AIPAC are literally begging Bush to attack Iran.[6] The US has taken a number of Iranian prisoners in Iraq including members of the Diplomatic Delegation, and has disappeared them without a trace. Bush recently issued a "Shoot to kill" order regarding Iranians in Iraq. The Asia Times points out that his window of opportunity for action against Iran is quickly narrowing.[7]

Since then, President Bush, has issued a series of statements criminalizing dissent related to the Bush gang's Middle Eastern interests and ventures. First, Bush issued a statement making it a crime to 'interfere with' US Military actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. The pronouncement says that individuals engaged in these activities can have all their property taken by the government, and perhaps be classified as 'Enemy Combatants'. This ruling is pretty scary because it could easily be applied to local anti-war activists around the country. A number of Arab Americans have already been convicted and received severe sentences for giving money to Middle Eastern charities or advocating for the Palestinians, or having any contact whatsoever with Muslim fundamentalist movements. The story of Sami Al-Arian comes to mind.[8] This is McCarthy to the nth degree. So far, it hasn't been applied to any high profile white conservatives, so no one is complaining very hard.

A couple of weeks ago, Bush issued another statement criminalizing any 'interference' in Lebanese politics and elections. This is very strange because the only one meddling in Lebanese elections is the US government. It's also rather odd because the mainstream US media is only barely covering the current quagmire in Lebanon. According to Robert Fisk, Lebanon has been receiving weekly shipments of arms (nothing Israel can't best easily) since the beginning of the Nahr al Bared fiasco in May.[9] Even more military aid has been given to Israel, along with significant military packages for Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. Israel has been playing Syria over the Golan, but it looks like Bashar al Assad isn't buying. He said that without US agreement, their offer isn't credible. Instead, Syria has been building up a store of arms for self defense. Meanwhile, the US continues to pour arms into Palestine, arming Fatah to re-engage Hamas. PressTV News, an Iranian English language outlet on the web has an editorial piece comparing Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto.[10] I suppose that one might reply " At least they haven't rounded the people up, packed them in freight cars and trucked them off to death camps".

Returning to the Bush Pronouncements with regard to Iran, he is now preparing to classify the Iranian Guard (Iranian Marines, you might say) as a terrorist organization. According to Dubai TV[11], the Iranians claim they aren't very upset about this. They are accustomed being threatened by the Great Satan who should have stayed on the other side of the sea. However, technically, such a law could be used to arrest or detain members of Ahmadenijad's delegation when he comes to speak at the UN next month. [7] Meanwhile, both Nouri al Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, and Hamid Karzai, the hand picked American president of Afghanistan, are thanking Iran for helping to stabilize their nations. Isn't that what we are supposed to be doing? Bush made it very clear when Karzai was here a week ago that he did not agree with president Karzai's assessment of the Iranians, and that he thought it was a little naive. Personally, I would have thought a man in Karzai's position would be anything but naive.

Despite all these threats, the Iranians have a number fruitful affairs ongoing. They have invited the IAEA for more in-depth inspections of their nuclear sites, and are engaged in ongoing talks with them through August. Russia and China have gas and oil deals in the works with Iran, and have included Iran in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as an observer, along with Pakistan and, guess who, Afghanistan.[12] This might explain Hamid Karzai's open display of support for Iran during his recent visit to President Bush in this country. Other deals in the works are Toronto's Solitac Inc. planning a joint venture with the Chinese car producer, Chery and Iran Khodro to produce economy vehicles in (and for) Iran,[13] while Iran is collaborating with Syria to build cars in Syria. They even have gas deals pending with several EU countries, pending on the passing of the current crisis with the US.[14]

Last spring when Russia predicted a US assault on Iran, the Saudis and the U.A.E states made clear that they would not support it. Now, having been promised a bribe of billions of dollars of weapons from the US. Is this influencing affiliations in the Middle East?[15] Will Russia and/or China intervene again? It turns out that the answer is "yes", Russia is intervening in a more concrete way than before. I saw on Deutsch Welle news yesterday a feature revealing a new cooperative military venture between Russia and China that is in the works. Under what umbrella, well, the SCO, of course. Apparently, Russia is planning to begin regular reconnoisance flights over 'sensitive areas' similar to what they were doing during the cold war. Furthermore, Russia has made a deal with Syria to build a naval base there. This is all big news on the international scene, most of it coming out of an SCO summit this past week. For some reason, it was not mentioned in the New York Times, the Washington Post or the LA Times.

What are the Bush people up to? Is it their plan to kick off the Apocalypse as some religious fanatics hope. Are they setting up the next world war as secular-imperialist venture the way Hitler did in Europe in the last century? They talk about peace, but it looks like something else. Having made certain all factions in the Middle East are armed to the teeth, and completely polarized, how can one summarize their achievement? And now the rest of the world is finally stepping in. It almost looks like a chess game. It's 'Check' and 'Check' in the Middle East. Will it be 'Checkmate' or will the game come to an inglorious early ending when somebody becomes frustrated and upsets the board. Every day, the risk seems to grow.

You might call this discussion a conspiracy theory, but the facts are merely facts. No conspiracy has been played out unless you want to call the shameless tunnel vision of the American press a conspiracy to blind the people to real context of our government's actions. When I heard the Deutsch Welle report, and saw nothing in the US press the next day, it gave me pause. What are they waiting for? It occurred to me that they are waiting for the Bush Administration to process the issue and tell them what to say. How's that for independent media. When I became aware of the source of the Enterprise rumor, I thought about leaving it out of the story. But, the Enterprise is stationed alone in the Persian Gulf during a time of accelerating pressures in the neighborhood. The Nimitz and the Stennis have not been sent home as expected, but instead are engaged in Major Military Exercises outside of China's territorial waters and in a location with a clear path to the Russian coastline. The New York Times finally mentioned the Russian renewal of recon flights over the ocean this weekend. They said the Russians were flying over Guam, in effect, buzzing our guys. What they failed to mention is that the U.S. was engaged in major military exercises at the the time, and the Russians knew it even if you and I did not.

I don't know what we can do about all this, but I think that at least people should know what is really going on. I had to do a lot of investigation to come up with the basic facts here. But, for me, it was worth the trouble. In the course of researching it, I found more reasons to be hopeful for the future than I started with. It appears that there is a possiblity of detente emerging. The sum total of problems of imperialism will not be solved magically and instantaneously. I don't yet see a solution emerging for the disastrous occupation in Palestine or Iraq. But perhaps if the world can come to balance, and the necessity of serious diplomacy and negotiation is grasped, then progress can once again be possible. If we can somehow manage not to slide of the edge of the precipice in the next year or so, then the self healing capacity of nature will prevail. On the other hand, if unfettered madmen are allowed to continue to make the decisions controlling the largest economy, and the largest military in the world, followed by a ignorant, fearful and passive populace, then we could be in for a very bad ride.

1. The information is in the New York Sun, and also on the ABC News website

2. Navy Websites for the Carriers U.S.S Enterprise, U.S.S Nimitz, and U.S.S John Stennis.

3. Blog entry posted nearly a year ago on a forum suggesting the U.S.S Enterprise would be abandoned in the Persian Gulf.

4. In 1967, the U.S.S. Liberty was alone off shore of Gaza when it was attacked and destroyed by the IDF using massive force including fighter planes and gunships. The official story was that the attack was accidental, and the ship had been mistaken for an Egyptian ship, but the claim is disputed by Liberty crew members and officers who survived the attack.

5. Juan Cole's excellent Iraq Blog Informed Comment Juan is a College Professor in Middle Eastern Studies who reads Arabic and is very informed about Iraq and Iran. He tracks the Iraq news in Arabic and then reports daily on what is being talked about there, as well as presenting his own opinions and other related news articles. I have found others of my favorite news websites on his blogroll.

6. This is all over, but Mosaic News had a very scary interview with Norman Podhoretz, recipient of the Guardian of Zion Award, from IBA in Jerusalem on the subject.

7. From an Asia Times feature on August 18, by Kaveh L Afrasiabi. The Asia Times is an independent, international, Singapore based news source.

8. Sami Al Arian is a Palestinian American who has been arrested,and tormented in relation to largely unsubstantiated charges of conspiring with terrorists. His family is still fighting for him and a film was made in Norway about his case..

9. From an Asia Times feature on August 18, by Kaveh L Afrasiabi. Robert Fisk on the current status in Lebanon says "The Lebanese army is about the only institution still working in this country". I disagree with his subtitle. See my next post to find out why.

10. Iranian English News outlet PressTV News Editorial. The title is a little off the wall, but the content strikes a nerve.

11. Mosaic News report from Dubai TV , on 8/16 on Iran's reaction to having the US pronounce thier military a "Terrorist Organization".

12. The SCO is an organization that deals with security, energy and trade issues affecting it's members. The primary Members are China, Russia, The Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. Observing members include Pakistan, Afganistan and Iran. Russia was considering admitting Iran to full membership this spring, but apparently China vetoed the idea for the time being.

13. Solitac, Chery and Khodro sign off on Iran Auto Manufacturing Deal. Interesting bits of information show up in the strangest places online. I first heard about this on Thom Hartman's Air America radio show.

14. Ex. In April of this year, Austrian Oil Giant OMV signed a "Declaration of Intent" to buy Natural Gas from Iran. The U.S. threatened sanctions over the deal and stalled it.

15. Informed Comment Global Affairs has a discussion on August 17th from an Egyptian Talk Show where an Egyptian, an Iranian and an American discuss reactions to the mega Arms Deals announced by Condoliza Rice to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Israel.