David Swanson: Iranian Irony

"When it came to pinning the terrorist label on the Saddam Government," Dilip Hiro wrote in 2004 ("Secrets and Lies," p. 381), "all the Bush administration had to do was point a finger at the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, People's Mujahedin). An anticlerical Iranian group opposed to the regime in Tehran, the MKO, placed on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations in 1997, had located its headquarters in Baghdad since 1986. Its National Liberation Army was trained and armed by the Iraqi military, and it engaged in self-confessed terrorist activities against the Iranian government."

Self-confessed terrorist activities against the Iranian government? Hmm. Who is it that is currently proposing to engage in some of those? Wait, don't tell me. Oh, yeah: the Bush administration. That's right: the same religious fanatics who pointed to the MKO as a justification for attacking Iraq are now preparing to attack Iran – the same activity the MKO was guilty of.

Well, that and being pleased by the attacks of September 11. Hiro continues:

"Moreover, while MKO representatives around the world publicly condemned 9/11, inside Iraq the MKO rejoiced….Yet the MKO's political wing, the National Resistance Council of Iran, even though listed as a terrorist organization after 9/11, continued to function openly in the United States, with its head office in Washington."

…where guess who else was rejoicing? Whose entire agenda had been set on hold until a new Pearl Harbor?

Remember this?

"[T]he process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event—like a new Pearl Harbor."

—"Rebuilding America's Defenses, Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century," Project for a New American Century, September 2000

And this?

"The Pearl Harbor of the 21st century took place today."

—Diary entry of President George W. Bush, September 11, 2001

That's right. The magical justification for everything from illegal wars to tax cuts for the wealthy had just arrived in the form of mass murder.

There are a lot of theories out there about who was behind 9/11, but what I don't understand is the lack of interest in documented evidence about who is behind the proposed conflict with Iran.

James Risen just won a Pulitzer Prize for work at the New York Times that was only forced into that paper because Risen published it in a book called "State of War," a book with several other major stories (other than illegal spying) that have never seen the light of newsprint or television.

One story Risen reports in his book is a detailed account of how the CIA gave Iran plans to build a nuclear bomb.

Do I have to say that again? The CIA gave Iran plans to build a nuclear bomb. And now the Bush administration is proposing to attack Iran because (1) September 11th happened and that justifies anything, damn it, and (2) Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb.

Ironically, if we can stand any more irony here, U.S. intelligence says it'll take Iran 5 to 10 years to get there, even if its president's recent bragging and threatening proves true. He apparently understands that coming clean about how far away he is from having WMDs won't save him from a U.S. attack; his only hope is to bluff that he's already got the bomb.

Wow, this seems like something the Bush administration would want to have a serious talk with Ahmadinejad about.

Ironically, no. The U.S. refuses to talk to Iran about it. Representatives of the two countries are meeting to discuss Iraq, and the U.S. is refusing to discuss Iranian nukes or plans by the U.S. to launch military strikes against Iran.

Ironically enough, Iran does not seem to yet be in violation of any treaties, but it is difficult to find any that the United States is NOT blatantly violating. And any actual attack on the U.S. by Iran would likely result in the complete obliteration of Iran. So, of course, Iranians appear confident, and Americans are running scared, panicked, and ready for "preemptive" war.

The only way I see to keep any sanity in the middle of such a muddle of lies and confusion is to ignore anything our so-called leaders say and look only at what they do. The Bush administration's actions point to a desire to conquer the Middle East and control its oil or wreak enough havoc to bring Jesus back, whichever comes first.

Before we're backed blindly into World War III, let's raise our voices and some hell. Start by signing this petition:
http://www.dontattackiran.org

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