When "Barack" decides to head a Barrack
Kourosh Ziabari
"The continued presence of all options on the table"; this is the disappointing message which a Nobel Peace Prize
laureate dispatches internationally. In his latest interview with CBS news, American President Barack Obama refused to
rule out the possibility of a military strike against Iran by harking back to the famous catchphrase of former U.S.
President George W. Bush who once devised, regarding Iran's nuclear program, the popular sentence of "all options are on
the table".
Putting the quality and quantity of these options aside, the very "table" on which the options should be placed is as
well a matter of controversy. Who is in the position to decide the destiny of Iran's nuclear program? Which table is the
U.S. President referring to? What's wrong with Iran's nuclear program in lieu of which a 70-million nation should go on
with crippling sanctions, continued threats of military strike, isolation and economic embargo? What's the definite
answer to the simple question that "why should the U.S., France and Israel possess nuclear weapons"? Which one is more
offensive and violent? Iran's nuclear program which has been demonstrated again and again that does not have anything to
do with military purposes, or the adventurous, aggressive trajectory Washington and its European allies have begun to go
across?
Robert Parry, an award-winning American investigative journalist austerely answers the questions we have in mind. In an
April 2 article in Consortium News, he notes: "if two countries with powerful nuclear arsenals were openly musing about
attacking a third country over mere suspicions that it might want to join the nuclear club, we'd tend to sympathize with
the non-nuclear underdog as the victim of bullying and possible aggression."
As Robert Parry notes, the "bomb bomb Iran Parlor Game" has much to do with the regular psychological operations the
U.S. government ruthlessly directs against its victims and it has been seen several times during the post-World War II
era that the U.S. government has resorted to the most brutal methods of black propaganda to demonize and demoralize its
opponents.
In order to thwart Iran's efforts to achieve the zeniths of high technology and prevent the country from becoming an
influential player in the Persian Gulf region and beyond, Washington has mobilized a large number of conservative
think-tanks and pundits to direct psychological warfare against Iran multilaterally. Although the New York Times by
itself suffices to wage a spotless and perfect psy-op by running misleading and untruthful articles which get
circulated, syndicated and believed globally, numerous websites, blogs and community portals have also been activated to
function as the podium of White House so as to disseminate illusive and deceptive stories regularly and misrepresent
what's happening in Iran.
Over the past three decades and especially following the eruption of nuclear dispute with Iran, U.S. has been carrying
out media operations to incite anti-Iranian sentiments vigorously. Some recent efforts include the establishment of
websites such as "United Against Nuclear Iran" and the production of Hollywood-sponsored movies "300" and "The
Wrestler".
The American psychological warfare, however, is not limited to mainstream media outlets, NY Times and Fox News-like
stuff, campaign websites and TV shows. A number of bloggers also have been mobilized to take part in the cyber maneuver
against Iran. It means that the wave of American psychological operation against Iran has become so extensive and
far-reaching that even involves bloggers and independent commentators who run e-zines and online publications.
Above all, carrying out psychological operations is one of the most sensitive and delicate responsibilities of the U.S.
Army, CIA's Special Activities Division (SAD) and National Clandestine Service (NCS). SAD is in charge of providing the
U.S. President with "special" options where diplomacy and military action is likely to fail. U.S. President has the
authority to order the commencement of a new clandestine operation whenever necessary. Covert and intangible
intervention in foreign elections is one of the main tasks of SAD. It also carries out missions to undermine or even
overthrow a regime which does not comply with the interests of the U.S. administration. SAD has a long history of
carrying out inconceivable and paralyzing missions of psychological propaganda against different countries including
Bolivia, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran. In Iran, where people still
remember the bitter memory of U.S.-backed coup d'etat of 1953 which brought down the democratic government of Dr.
Mosaddeq and inaugurated the tyranny of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, SAD has accomplished numerous operations, several of
which have been revealed by the investigative journalists.
In July 2008, for example, the renowned American journalist Seymour Hersh published an article in the New Yorker and
revealed that the Bush administration had taken practical steps, including the authorization of a Presidential Finding
to legitimize the illegal entry of paramilitary troops into Iran, through the borders of Iraq, so as to help overthrow
the government of Iran. Based on the documents he had obtained, Hersh wrote: "Late last year, Congress agreed to a
request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran. [...] These operations, for
which the President sought up to four hundred million dollars, were described in a Presidential Finding signed by Bush,
and are designed to destabilize the country’s religious leadership."
Hersh cited the federal law of America which brands a Presidential Finding as highly classified and only available to
the Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and the Senate and the ranking members of their respective
intelligence committees. This greatly highlighted the significance of his discovery of the documents. "The Finding was
focused on undermining Iran's nuclear ambitions and trying to undermine the government through regime change, working
with opposition groups and passing money” Hersh quoted an informed, anonymous source as saying.
SAD has also carried out globally significant actions such as preventing the Italian Communist Party (PCI) from winning
the parliamentary elections in 1948 and 1960s, overthrowing the government of Guatemala in 1954 and staging the 1957
coup d'etat of Indonesia which removed from power the popular, democratically-elected President Ahmad Sukarno and led to
a terrible massacre in which almost 1 million people lost their life.
Anyway, history seems to be repeated once again. White House and its numerous teams, departments, groups, unions and
forces of psychological operation, under the decree of someone who right after winning a Nobel Prize of "Peace" began to
drum for a war of bloodshed in the Middle East, are gathering together to launch a new scenario of war game and
violence; however, they've simply forgotten an undeniable reality: Iran is a different country; different from all of
the countries throughout the world.
Dear President Obama; we know that whoever rises to presidency in your country should be first an expert of
psychological warfare and a dexterous pamphleteer; you've done your job successfully by teaching us that you have the
potentiality to be a duplicate of Mr. George W. Bush. Now you've satisfied your Zionist supervisors excellently. The
only thing which you should know is that you had better take the options off the table and save more space consequently!
ENDS