Maritime Morning - Andrew Krystal

The Iranian President’s visit to the UN and Columbia University today has sparked outrage by Jewish groups and others who feel that hatred is his only contribution. He has been demonized in the American media as a fire-breathing anti-Semite (which he seems to be) and a terrorist leader (which, by those same criteria, Bush would be too).

Here we go again. It is now, officially, 2003 all over again as the U.S. prepares for war with Iran; selling it to us — again — as a necessary destruction of an “evil-doer”. The difference this time is that Iran really does have a nuclear program and will, eventually, have the technology in place to deliver it.

Iran claims nuclear energy is for peaceful purposes. Actually, nuclear fuel would help because the Iranian economy is inefficient. Nuclear power, utilized peacefully, would free up more oil exports as well as provide valuable energy for Iranian industry. It is, however, inconceivable that Iran would not build nuclear weapons too. When Iranian leaders say they won’t, they are liars.

Iran is a centuries-old civilization that would like to have its own regional hegemony. Presently, Iran is surrounded by American forces in the Persian Gulf (Kuwait,Qatar, Bahrain and the 5^th Fleet in the gulf itself), as well as in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, and Turkey.

This huge deployment of U.S. forces and projection of military might is intended to cow Iran, and this is nothing new. Historically, Iran has seen the British and CIA overthrow its democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammed  Mosaddeq in 1953 and insert the dictatorship of the Shah, who, himself, was finally overthrown by the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. The Shah was instated by Britain and The U.S. to keep the oil fields open to Western interests – and to keep the prices cheap.

When Iran started winning its war against Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, the U.S. helped guide chemical munitions on Iranian military lines. These weapons are unconventional, inhumane, and illegal. In 2004, in Iraq, the U.S. used chemical white phosphorus on the civilian population of Fallujeh – not playing nice at all.

The U.S. has supported terrorist groups around the world when it has suited them to counter-balance the power of other rivals – think of the U.S. funding of Osama Bin Laden via Pakistan against the secular, non-fundamentalist, Soviet puppet regime in Kabul in the 1980’s. Just as the U.S. sewed the seeds of Afghan fundamentalism, so support for repressive and cruel dictators (not just in the Middle East and there are far too many for me to list), has also exacerbated tensions in the region, a region where young, urbanized males are without work and are now resisting their authoritarian overlords.

Simply put, the U.S., when it comes to the use of violence, covert and overt, has no moral authority in the modern world. An honest argument based on American self-interest, fine. But to say the U.S. claims a moral high ground in the rough and tumble world of competing states, just does not stand up to serious scrutiny.

The fact remains however, that I could not write this blog in either Iran or China; for all of the Arab criticism of Israel, it is an extremely open, successful, pluralistic society and a model of democracy in a region that has no history of it.

Allowing the Iranian President to speak to the students of Columbia and address the West, not just at the United Nations, is open and democratic. There are no “ideas” that should make anyone afraid or overly challenged.

Exposing sly anti-Semitism today when Ahmadinejad called for the continuing “study” of “the truth” of the holocaust is patently transparent and ludicrous.

But the West is also responsible, and must itself account for much of the radicalization and hatred in the region. For the most part, U.S. policies have been violent, anti-democratic and self serving.

Even today, the Iraqi puppet government, that is allegedly democratic, cannot have its way when it tries to protect its citizens by asking for the private security firm “Blackwater” to be kicked out after it killed 20 civilians in a big daylight shootout. In fact, “Blackwater”, and other private security firms, cannot be prosecuted by either military law or Iraqi law. Iraq is a lawless, humiliated, conquered, victim state.

Iraq is an American rape victim.

The fact that Iran is assisting Iraqi resistance movements, supplying arms and expertise and money, is not any different than American support for guerilla and U.S. resistance movements against competitive states elsewhere.

What Columbia University was about today was political grandstanding for the Iranian President. Domestically, many in Iran cannot stand Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Real power rests with the Mullahs in that country anyway. Many young people in Iran actually like America.

What is happening is that Ahmadinejad would love a fight with America which would cement hardliner power there. The talk of the Holocaust is classic baiting.

The coming war will consist of aerial bombing and cruise missile strikes after which the dust will settle, the U.S. would look like an even worse imperial power, and Iran’s nuclear program will resume.

Of course having the United States and her allies bluster along while Iran endures sanctions would be easier, but is not the only outcome desired; and playing rope-a-dope with a punched-out America that takes its best shot and loses would make Ahmadinejad an Islamic hero.

Strong elements of the U.S. government, U.S. government lobbies, the American military, Israel, and other allies in NATO would also love a war — and they can attack with military impunity. Oil prices will shoot up, some ships might take silkworm missile hits in the straight of Hormuz, but, otherwise, you can kick Iran and run away. 

And America wants to demonize Ahmadinejad and Ahmadinejad wants to be a devil.

Everybody wins.