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Feb-15-2012 15:34printcomments

Syria, on the Road to Iran

Remember those dastardly WMD that Iraq did not have?

US protest against war in Syria and Iran
Photo courtesy: fightbacknews

(JAMESTOWN, RI) - The truth of the matter is that no one really knows what is happening in Syria, and anyone pretending to, is a fraud. We do know certain things that are relevant. We know there are no reliable media outlets with “boots on the ground” in Syria, and most reports that emerge are videos from unknown people with those videos ending up on YouTube.

It’s a YouTube war that is being filmed by unknown people, all of course who have an agenda. It is evident that there is a Civil War raging throughout Syria with both sides guilty of shedding much blood. We also know, but not through mainstream media, that the US has been covertly fomenting violence in Syria, and just last week an airliner from the US was found to be carrying forged passports, money, and weapons heading to Syria. This airliner was discovered by security forces in Lebanon, and the plane and its contents have been impounded by the Lebanese authorities. A story not reported in the US of course.

Despite media’s attempt to portray this as a slaughter of innocents by the Syrian government, it is clear that there is an armed resistance fighting against the Syrian government, and that the US, Turkey, and NATO nations have been arming the resistance. Credible sources have shown the US has been training the resistance since November of 2011.

By definition, an armed resistance, fighting against government forces, is a “Civil War”, and outside forces have no legal right to incite violence and contribute to the bloodshed by arming one side against another. Americans should well remember our own Civil War and how we tried to protect ourselves from outside European interference. Why was it considered wrong for nations to interfere in our Civil War, but it is acceptable for the US to interfere in other nations Civil Wars?

Which brings us to the question of just why the US is promoting and encouraging a Civil War in Syria? As usual all of our Middle East decisions are based on Israel’s wants, and its phobic hatred for Iran. In Israel’s mind, all roads lead to Iran, and Syria happens to be on the road to Iran. Israel’s obsessive compulsive behavior towards Iran has transferred itself to the US congress which is completely under control of Israel through AIPAC, the most powerful lobbying group in the nation.

Brutal sanctions against Iran, written and proposed by AIPAC to the US Congress, have all been passed without debate, and the Congress of the US has put its political interests and future, ahead of the nation’s interests. Congress has followed its marching orders from AIPAC, in rushing headlong into a war that most likely will prove disastrous for the American people, even though there is not the slightest evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program. This needs repeating.

There is no evidence whatsoever that Iran is producing nuclear weapons. The IAEA, and the National Intelligence Estimates, which consist of conclusions from all our intelligence agencies, have said there is no evidence of a nuclear weapons program in Iran.

Remember those dastardly WMD that Iraq did not have?

Israel has developed a bunker mentality, and no longer has the ability to think clearly and rationally about Iran’s non nuclear program, and many fear that the US is also developing the same attitude. Daily we are told by all kinds of media outlets that Iran has a secret nuclear weapons program, while all the facts say that is not so, but let’s not have the facts interfere with the desire for war. It’s Iraq all over again, with lies, distortions, deceptions, the tools of the warmongers.

If Israel and the US can bring about the downfall of Syria, Hezbollah will be weakened, which of course is to Israel’s advantage. Israel and the US are two of only a handful of nations that have declared Hezbollah as a “terrorist” group, but you would think from following mainstream media that the entire world considers Hezbollah as terrorist; not so. Most see it as a legitimate resistance group to Israel’s illegal occupations and attacks.

But so much for rational debate and argument; Hezbollah must be destroyed to please Israel, and taking down Syria will weaken Hezbollah who is supported by Iran. As Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said recently, Assad’s ouster could be good for Israel by creating “a fissure in the Tehran-Damascus-Beirut-Hamas axis of evil”. Taking down Syria will also bring Israel and the US one step closer down that road to Iran.

Susan Rice, the US ambassador cried “disgusting”, when the Russians and Chinese vetoed the UN resolution against Syria, because they knew full well the intent of the resolution was another US/NATO war, this time against Syria. So they vetoed the resolution that would have led to an attack on Syria.

Susan Rice, in the language unbecoming and never used by diplomats, accused the Russians of all kinds of nasty things such as defying world opinion and having blood on their hands. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who like Ms. Rice, has a dirty diplomatic mouth, accused Russian and China of “neutering” the Security Council, with its veto. Perhaps someone in mainstream media might have refreshed Ms Rice’s and Hillary’s memory, that no nation has used the UN veto power more times to defy world opinion than the US with 83 vetoes, 42 of which were to protect Israel from world opinion, but of course media does not do such things.

It merely parrots the words of the administration without ever daring to challenge or seriously question. Meanwhile Russia has used its veto power a mere 13 times and China has used its veto power only 8 times. So in retrospect perhaps a debate on who “neutered” the Security Council by excessive use of the veto power might be constructive.

The pretext being used by the US and Israel to make war on Iran, is the accusation of Iran secretly trying to produce nuclear weapons, despite the fact that no intelligence agency has uncovered a shred of evidence that Iran in developing nuclear weapons, or is diverting any enriched uranium to a weapons program, but once again the facts be damned. The pretext is a ruse and becomes very transparent when the facts are recalled.

In 1974 Iran called a “Nuclear Free Middle East Zone”, but the call was rejected by Israel and the US. In addition there have been several other appeals, most recently one put forward by the Saudi’s, to make the Middle East a Nuclear Free Zone, with once again Israel and the US in opposition. This is because Israel already has between 200-400 nuclear bombs in its own secret program, and has refused to allow inspections or participate in the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.

Originally the Obama administration supported the idea of a Nuclear Free Middle East but was taken to the proverbial woodpile by the Israeli’s, and the administration then argued they made a “mistake”. In May of 2010 the UN General Assembly ratified a resolution calling for a Nuclear Free Middle East after all 189 member nations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty had supported the concept of a Nuclear Free Middle East. Israel blatantly dismissed the will of the world, and was protected by the US. In 2003 Syria called for a Middle East Zone that would be free of all WMD, and the US position was: “As a close ally of Israel, the United States will block any attempts to adopt the resolution -- even if it is called upon to exercise its veto powers.''

So upon investigation it is apparent that the nuclear issue is just a false pretext with the real goal of overthrowing the regime in Iran. The hope is that Iran would be thrown into chaos or civil war which would obviously weaken Iran, and therefore please Israel. US involvement in Middle East nations always has as its goal to bring about instability, and readers need only to look at the instability of Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Afghanistan, and the effort to cause turmoil and Civil War in Syria, as evidence of US strategy.

A complicating factor is throughout its history Iran has been a peaceful nation and has not invaded anyone for about 600 years. This is an interesting contrast with the military record of the US who is constantly at war with someone. Iran did of course fight a brutal 8 year war with Iraq and during that bloodbath the US was arming both sides to insure a long bloody war.

The US currently is trying to provoke Iran into some kind of retaliation so that there might be at least some pretext for attacking Iran. The latest provocation is the US sending into the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s back yard, a US aircraft carrier, an act that Rear Admiral Roy Shoemaker admitted to the BBC, “The presence of this ship is provocative.” The hope of course is another Gulf of Tonkin incident so we can claim being attacked, and have our next war.

A final question of who benefits from war is important. Israel believes they will benefit but in the long run a war with Iran will make Israel less safe, and certainly the oil companies will exploit the situation by using the war as and excuse for exploiting the public with tremendous rise in prices of oil and gas. Keep your eyes open for the quarterly oil company profits which will be released in the near future.

The US public once again will be the big losers, for not only will the costs of war will rest on the public’s shoulders, but they will also be severely punished at the gas pump. But that’s what happens when a government puts the interests of another nation ahead of that of its own citizens.

_________________________________

Salem-News.com Writer Joe Clifford, who lives in historic Jamestown, Rhode Island, has contributed a number of articles relating to foreign policy to newspapers in the Rhode Island area for years.

He graduated from Providence College earning both an undergraduate and graduate degree, and after a lengthy career as a high school teacher he turned to the study US foreign policy, and then to writing as a means of expressing an alternative perspective. His reading and research on foreign policy is broad and extensive, especially as the policy relates to the Middle East. His interest in foreign policy was inspired by the American misadventure in Vietnam. You can write to Joe at this address: jc41@verizon.net




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