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Tuesday, August 8, 2006 |
Zaman: What Israel, Pretending to Represent the Victims of the Holocaust, is Doing is Shameful
Independent: Toll of a war that shames the world
ArabNews: India Bans Arab TV Channels Under Pressure From Israel
SundayHerald: Lebanon government joins forces with bid to have Blair tried in Scotland for war crimes
Guardian: Democrats who oppose illegal wars and torture want to reclaim the party
Noam Chomsky: The invasion itself is a serious breach of international law, and major war crimes are being committed as it proceeds. There is no legal justification.
EnergyBulletin: "At the ASPO conference a riveting presentation was delivered by Terence Ward, a writer (Searching for Hassan) who grew up in Iran and is currently a cross-cultural consultant for businesses, foundations, and governments in the Islamic World and the West. Ward believes that a US bombing attack on Tehran is nearly inevitable, and that it will have devastating consequences for the region and for the world.
In the longer term, Washington apparently wants to redraw the political and ideological map of the Middle East in ways set forth in various neoconservative planning documents, regardless of the cost to locals.
Why would the US administration want confrontation with Iran? Perhaps that country represents an essential next step, following 'regime change' in Iraq, in the project of remaking the Middle East. From a geopolitical point of view, Iran is located at the juncture of the Middle East and Central Asia. Not only are its own reserves of oil and gas considerable, but it controls access to the Persian Gulf. Iran is thus crucial to oil and gas transshipment routes to Europe, Japan, and the rest of the world.
Ward speculates that Mr. Bush may bomb before the November elections in order to preserve his Republican majority in Congress. However, the US military is already under enormous strain, and would be unable to deal with likely chain reactions following an air attack; and the likely response of the American people is difficult to gauge.
An attack on Tehran would also unleash an enormous backlash against the US in Shia areas of Iraq, possibly making the American presence in that country untenable.
Recently, General Pace, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, apparently forced the White House to agree not to use nuclear weapons in its planned bombing campaign. This rebellion by the military has infuriated the White House.
Thus the bombing of Iran could trigger wider chaos in the region, provoking not only temporary oil shortages and a global recession, but a wholesale reconfiguration of the Middle East in ways difficult to foresee.
There is considerable danger that the smoke and fire from these three geographic flashpoints - Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon - could converge in a larger regional conflagration. In light of all this potential for apocalyptic mayhem, a discussion of the oil business may seem almost frivolous. But it is important to remember that, historically, the drawing of borders in the Middle East; the establishment of British, French, and later US-backed puppet governments in these faux nations; and the rise of a radical Islamic fundamentalist movement to challenge the Western-backed regimes, have all been fueled by the wealth produced by oil, and by the need for oil on the part of importing countries.
Some commentators speculate that we are seeing the slow-motion commencement of World War III. I have no interest in fueling apocalyptic speculations. My strong wish is for a quick and peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Hezbollah-Lebanese conflict, a US stand-down from confrontation with Iran, and a speedy, voluntary US exit from Iraq.
If the scenario Ward outlined comes to pass, the public's attention will be fixated on military developments and casualties, with horrific news footage dominating nearly every moment of every television news broadcast. Oil prices will indeed soar and everyone will feel the economic pain from a crashing global economy - but few will look to geology as an explanation. Instead, they will point to the obvious proximate causes - attacks and counterattacks disrupting oil shipments, with speculators pushing prices even higher than they would otherwise go."
War pimp and propaganda messages appear daily in the newspapers now, to prepare the world for a total Middle East war. The same sources won't publish proof of the contrary.
The real carnage has not started yet.
12:04:29 PM 
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