Scapegoating Iran
by
Chris Hedges
Truthdig
Mr. Fish / Truthdig
NEW YORK-Seventeen years of war in the Middle East and what do we have to
show for it? Iraq after our 2003 invasion and occupation is no longer a
unified country. Its once modern infrastructure is largely destroyed, and
the nation has fractured into warring enclaves. We have lost the war in
Afghanistan. The Taliban is resurgent and has a presence in over 70 percent
of the country. Libya is a failed state. Yemen after three years of
relentless airstrikes and a blockade is enduring one of the world's worst
humanitarian disasters. The 500 "moderate" rebels we funded and armed in
Syria at a cost of $500 million are in retreat after instigating a lawless
reign of terror. The military adventurism has cost a staggering $5.6
trillion as our infrastructure crumbles, austerity guts basic services and
half the population of the United States lives at or near poverty levels.
The endless wars in the Middle East are the biggest strategic blunder in
American history and herald the death of the empire.
Someone has to be blamed for debacles that have resulted in hundreds of
thousands of dead, including at least 200,000 civilians, and millions driven
from their homes. Someone has to be blamed for the proliferation of radical
jihadist groups throughout the Middle East, the continued worldwide
terrorist attacks, the wholesale destruction of cities and towns under
relentless airstrikes and the abject failure of U.S. and U.S.-backed forces
to stanch the insurgencies. You can be sure it won't be the generals, the
politicians such as George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the
rabid neocons such as Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz and John Bolton who sold
us the wars, the Central Intelligence Agency, the arms contractors who
profit from perpetual war or the celebrity pundits on the airwaves and in
newspapers who serve as cheerleaders for the mayhem.
"The failed policies, or lack of policies, of the United States, which
violate international law, have left the Middle East in total chaos," the
Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, Gholamali Khoshroo, told me when
we met in New York City. "The United States, to cover up these aggressive,
reckless and costly policies, blames Iran. Iran is blamed for their failures
in Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Lebanon."
The Trump administration "is very naive about the Middle East and Iran," the
ambassador said. "It can only speak in the language of threats-pressure,
sanctions, intervention. These policies have failed in the region. They are
very risky and costly. Let the Americans deal with the problems of the
countries they have already invaded and attacked. America lacks constructive
power in the Middle East. It is unable to govern even a village in Iraq,
Afghanistan, Yemen or Syria. All it can do is use force and destructive
power. This U.S. administration wants the Middle East and the whole world to
bow to it. This is not a policy conducive to sound relationships with
sovereign states, especially those countries that have resisted American
influence."
"The plan to arm 'moderate' rebels in Syria was a cover to topple [Syrian
President] Bashar al-Assad," the ambassador went on. "The Americans knew
there were no 'moderate' rebels. They knew these weapons would get into the
hands of terrorist groups like Daesh [Islamic State], Al-Nusra and their
affiliates. Once again, the American policy failed. The Americans succeeded
in destroying a country. They succeeded in creating bloodbaths. They
succeeded in displacing millions of people. But they gained nothing. The
sovereignty of Syria is expanding by the day. It is hard to imagine what
President Trump is offering as a strategy in Syria. One day, he says, 'I
will move out of Syria very soon, very quickly.' The next day he says, 'If
Iran is there, we should stay.' I wonder if the American taxpayers know how
much of their money has been wasted in Iraq, Syria and Yemen?"
Trump's unilateral decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, although
Iran was in compliance with the agreement, was the first salvo in this
effort to divert attention from these failures to Iran. Bolton, the new
national security adviser, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, along with
Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, advocate the overthrow of the Iranian
government, with Giuliani saying last month that Trump is "as committed to
regime change as we [an inner circle of presidential advisers] are."
"The Iran nuclear deal was possible following several letters by Ppresident
Barack Obama assuring the Iranian leadership that America had no intention
of violating Iranian sovereignty," Ambassador Khoshroo said. "America said
it wanted to engage in a serious dialogue on equal footing and mutual
interests and concerns. These assurances led to the negotiations that
concluded with the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action]. From the
beginning, however, America was not forthcoming in its dealings with us on
the JCPOA. President Obama wanted the agreement to be implemented, but he
did not want it implemented in its full capacity. Congress, on the day JCPOA
was implemented, passed a law warning Europeans that were doing business
with Iran. The staffs of companies had to apply for a visa to the United
States if they had traveled to Iran for business purposes. This began on the
first day. The Americans were not always very forthcoming. OFAC [Office of
Foreign Funds Control] gave ambiguous answers to many of the questions that
companies had about sanctions, but at least in words the Obama
administration supported the JCPOA and saw the agreement as the basis for
our interactions."
"President Trump, however, even as a candidate, called the agreement 'the
worst deal America ever made,' " the ambassador said. "He called this deal a
source of embarrassment for America. Indeed, it was not the deal but
America's unilateral decision to walk away from an agreement that was
supported by the United Nations Security Council, and in fact co-sponsored
and drafted by the United States, that is the source of embarrassment for
America. To walk away from an international agreement and then threaten a
sovereign country is the real source of embarrassment since Iran was in full
compliance while the U.S. never was."
"In 2008, the Israelis told the world that Iran was only some days away from
acquiring an atomic bomb," he said. "The Israelis said there had to be a
military strike to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. What has
happened since? During the last two years, there have been 11 reports by the
IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] clearly confirming and
demonstrating Iran's full compliance with the JCPOA. All of the accusations
[about] Iran using nuclear facilities for military purposes were refuted by
the IAEA as well as by Europe, Russia, China, along with many other
countries in Asia, Latin America, Africa. America is concerned about Iranian
influence in the region and seeks to contain Iran because the U.S.
administration realizes that America's policies in the Middle East have
failed. Their own statements about Iran repeatedly contradict each other.
One day they say, 'Iran is so weak it will collapse,' and the next day they
say, 'Iran is governing several Arab capitals in the Middle East.' "
Iran announced recently that it has tentative plans to produce the feedstock
for centrifuges, the machines that enrich uranium, if the nuclear deal is
not salvaged by European members of the JCPOA. European countries, dismayed
by Trump's decision to withdraw from the agreement, are attempting to
renegotiate the deal, which imposes restrictions on Iran's nuclear
development in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.
Why go to war with a country that abides by an agreement it has signed with
the United States? Why attack a government that is the mortal enemy of the
Taliban, along with other jihadist groups, including al-Qaida and Islamic
State, that now threaten us after we created and armed them? Why shatter the
de facto alliance we have with Iran in Iraq and Afghanistan? Why further
destabilize a region already dangerously volatile?
The architects of these wars are in trouble. They have watched helplessly as
the instability and political vacuum they caused, especially in Iraq, left
Iran as the dominant power in the region. Washington, in essence, elevated
its nemesis. It has no idea how to reverse its mistake, beyond attacking
Iran. Those both in the U.S. and abroad who began or promoted these wars see
a conflict with Iran as a solution to their foreign and increasingly
domestic dilemmas.
For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, mired in corruption
scandals, hopes that by fostering a conflict with Iran he can divert
attention away from investigations into his abuse of power and the massacres
Israel carries out against Palestinians, along with Israel's accelerated
seizure of Palestinian land.
"The most brutal regime is now in power in Israel," the Iranian ambassador
said. "It has no regard for international law or humanitarian law. It
violates Security Council resolutions regarding settlements, its capital and
occupation. Look at what Israel has done in Gaza in the last 30 days. On the
same day America was unlawfully transferring its embassy to Jerusalem, 60
unarmed Palestinian protesters were killed by Israeli snipers. [Israelis]
were dancing in Jerusalem while the blood of unarmed Palestinians was
running in Gaza. The Trump administration gives total support and impunity
to Israel. This angers many people in the Middle East, including many in
Saudi Arabia. It is a Zionist project to portray Iran as the main threat to
peace in the Middle East. Israel introducing Iran as a threat is an attempt
to divert attention from the crimes this regime is committing, but these too
are failed policies that will backfire. They are policies designed to cover
weakness."
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, facing internal unrest, launched the
war in Yemen as a vanity project to bolster his credentials as a military
leader. Now he desperately needs to deflect attention from the quagmire and
humanitarian disaster he created.
"Saudi Arabia, as part of [the civil war in Yemen], has a tactical and
strategic cooperation with Israel against Iran," the ambassador said. "But
the Saudi regime is defying the sentiments of its own people. How long will
this be possible? For three years now, Saudi Arabia, assisted by the United
States, has bombed the Yemeni people and imposed a total blockade that
includes food and medicine. Nothing has been resolved. Once again, Iran is
blamed for this failure by Saudi Arabia and the United States in Yemen. Even
if Iran wanted to help the Yemenis, it is not possible due to the total
blockade. The Yemeni people asked for peace negotiations from the first day
of the war. But Saudi military adventurism and its desire to test its
military resolve made any peaceful solution impossible. The U.S. and the
U.K. provide military and logistical support, including cluster bombs to be
used by the Saudis in Yemen. The Emiratis are bombing Yemen. All such
actions are doomed to failure since there is no military solution in Yemen.
There is only a political solution. Look at the targets of Saudi airstrikes
in Yemen: funerals. Wedding ceremonies. Agricultural fields. Houses.
Civilians. How do the Saudis expect the Yemeni people to greet those who
bomb them? With hugs? The war has cost a lot of money, and Trump responds by
saying [to Saudi Arabia], 'Oh you have money. [Paraphrasing here.] Please
buy our 'beautiful weapons.' They are killing beautiful children with these
'beautiful' weapons. It is a disaster. It is tragic."
And then there is President Donald Trump, desperate for a global crusade he
can use to mask his ineptitude, the rampant corruption of his administration
and his status as an international pariah when he runs for re-election in
2020.
"Of course, blaming and threatening Iran is not new," the ambassador said.
"This has been going on for 40 years. The Iranian people and the Iranian
government are accustomed to this nonsense. United States intervention in
the internal affairs of Iran goes back a long time, including the [Iranian]
war with Iraq, when the United States supported Saddam Hussein. Then America
invaded Iraq in 2003 in their so-called 'intervention for democracy and
elimination of WMDs.' Iran has always resisted and will always resist U.S.
threats."
"America was in Iran 40 years ago," the ambassador said. "About 100,000 U.S.
advisers were in Iran during the rule of the shah, who was among the closest
allies of America. America was unable to keep this regime in power because
the Iranian people revolted against such dependency and suppression. Since
the fall of the shah in 1979, for 40 years, America continued to violate
international law, especially the Algeria agreements it signed with Iran in
1981."
The Algeria Declaration was a set of agreements between the United States
and Iran that resolved the Iranian hostage crisis. It was brokered by the
Algerian government. The U.S. committed itself in the Algeria Declaration to
refrain from interference in Iranian internal affairs and to lift trade
sanctions on Iran and a freeze on Iranian assets.
The warmongers have no more of a plan for "regime change" in Iran than they
had in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya or Syria. European allies, whom Trump
alienated when he walked away from the Iranian nuclear agreement, are in no
mood to cooperate with Washington. The Pentagon, even if it wanted to, does
not have the hundreds of thousands of troops it would need to attack and
occupy Iran. And the idea-pushed by lunatic fringe figures like Bolton and
Giuliani-that the marginal and discredited Iranian resistance group
Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), which fought alongside Saddam Hussein in the war
against Iran and is viewed by most Iranians as composed of traitors, is a
viable counterforce to the Iranian government is ludicrous. In all these
equations the 80 million people in Iran are ignored just as the people of
Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria were ignored. Perhaps they would not
welcome a war with the United States. Perhaps if attacked they would resist.
Perhaps they don't want to be occupied. Perhaps a war with Iran would be
interpreted throughout the region as a war against Shiism. But these are
calculations that the ideologues, who know little about the instrument of
war and even less about the cultures or peoples they seek to dominate, are
unable to fathom.
"The Middle East has many problems: insecurity, instability, problems with
natural resources such as water, etc.," Khoshroo said. "All of these
problems have been made worse by foreign intervention as well as Israel's
lawlessness. The issue of Palestine is at the heart of turmoil in the Middle
East for Muslims. Any delay in finding solutions to these wounds in the
Middle East exposes this region to more dangerous threats. Americans say
they want the Middle East to be free from violent extremism, but this will
only happen when the Middle East is free from occupation and foreign
intervention. The Americans are selling their weapons throughout the Middle
East. They calculate how much money they can earn from destruction. They
don't care about human beings. They don't care about security or democratic
process or political process. This is worrisome."
"What are the results of American policies in the Middle East?" he asked.
"All of the American allies in the region are in turmoil. Only Iran is
secure and stable. Why is this the case? Why, during the last 40 years, has
Iran been stable? Is it because Iran has no relationship with America? Why
is there hostility between Iran and America? Can't the Americans see that
Iran's stability is important for the region? We are surrounded by Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen. What good would come from destabilizing
Iran? What would America get out of that?"
