Writing by persiancowboy on Sunday, 20 of July , 2008 at 10:46 am
Recent news makes it clear why it is more important than ever that we take to the streets on August 2. According to press reports, President Bush has given the Israeli military the go-ahead to prepare for an imminent attack on Iran . Israel is also using U.S. bases in Iraq to prepare for the attack.
The British Sunday Times of July 13, 2008 reported:
“Despite the opposition of his own generals and widespread skepticism that America is ready to risk the military, political and economic consequences of an airborne strike on Iran , the president has given an “amber light” to an Israeli plan to attack Iran ’s main nuclear sites with long-range bombing sorties, the official told The Sunday Times.
“Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate attack and tell us when you’re ready,” the official said.
The Jerusalem Post of July 13, 2008 reported:
“On Friday, sources in the Iraqi Defense Ministry told a local news network that IAF war planes were practicing in Iraqi airspace were landing on US airbases in the country as a preparation for a potential strike on Iran .”
Once again the most powerful forces of US corporate power – the military-industrial-petroleum complex -are using Israel as their proxy to threaten war on surrounding countries in the region. Israel is armed, financed, and politically and diplomatically supported by Washington . It can not act on its own or without explicit permission from Washington . U.S. tax dollars finance Israel wars against surrounding nations, and Israeli repression of the Palestinians, to keep the area “safe” for U.S. oil companies.
This is why it is vital to link the struggle against the war in Iraq and a potential war against Iran with the struggle of the Palestinian people for the right to return.
At the same time Washington is giving the Israeli military a go-ahead to bomb Iran , the U.S. Congress is moving ahead to escalate tensions in the region and possibly provoke an incident that would justify U.S. military action. House Resolution 362 and Senate Resolution 580 both require that the President begin blockade of Iran .
The House Resolution “demands” that the President impose “stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran .” Enforcing this would require a U.S. Naval blockade of the Straits of Hormuz, which is an act of war according to international law. Approximately one-fourth of the world’s oil, including that from Iran , Iraq , Saudi Arabia , Kuwait , Qatar and Bahrain , pass through the Straits of Hormuz, which is 21 miles across at its narrowest point (the shipping channel is less than 2 miles wide).
These two resolutions have received widespread bipartisan support from members of both Houses, and are expected to pass without debate or vote. A staffer in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office said that once the Resolution hits the floor, it will “pass like a hot knife through butter.” Some have speculated that the bill will be put on the floor under suspension — meaning that it will pass without even a vote.
Both resolutions accuse Iran of developing nuclear weapons, despite the fact that Washington ’s National Intelligence Estimate report last December that made it clear that every major U.S. intelligence agency believes that Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program.
Nor do the resolutions refer to the real nuclear threat in the region – the U.S. , which is the only country that has used nuclear weapons and currently has a massive nuclear-armed naval armada in the region. It also does not mention the apartheid settler state of Israel , which is thought to have more than 200 nuclear weapons.
At the same time, two leading Senators announced on Tuesday, July 15, that they had reached a bipartisan agreement to expand economic sanctions targeting Iran . Sens. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and Richard Shelby, R-Ala., called Iran “a threat to U.S. interests.” Dodd, a former candidate for the Democratic nomination for President, said, “This bipartisan bill strengthens economic sanctions against Iran , and authorizes divestment from companies that do business with Iran ’s key oil sector.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. is involved in “covert operations” – acts of terrorism – inside Iran . In the July 7 New Yorker, Seymour Hersh revealed that Congress has approved $400 million to fund covert operations in Iran . These operations include: providing support to armed groups opposed to the Iranian government, kidnapping members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and taking them across the border to Iraq for interrogation, the manipulation of Iran ’s currency, and other acts intended to destabilize the regime. Hersh reports that these types of operations have been ongoing at least since last year, but the recent Congressional appropriation signals a significant expansion of these actions.
It is clear that the Bush Administration is determined to push forward with its agenda of endless war to control the oil reserves of the Middle East . It is equally clear that members of Congress – both Democrats and Republicans – are collaborating with the Administration, just as they collaborated in authorizing and funding the invasion and occupation of Iraq .
It is imperative that progressive activists and organizations, particularly in the U.S. , mobilize to stop another brutal war, and to demand an end to the illegal sanctions and covert operations targeting Iran .
Stop War on Iran , an international grassroots campaign, issued an Emergency Call to for protests, marches, and other actions on the weekend of August 2. Response to the call has been enthusiastic, and local organizers are planning events in more than 50 cities, including Los Angeles, Tucson , San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, Atlanta, Chicago, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, Jersey City, Albuquerque, Buffalo, New York City , Charlotte , Raleigh/Durham, Cleveland , Oklahoma City, Philadelphia , Houston, Salt Lake City , Virginia Beach, Washington DC , and more – an updated list is available at www.StopWarOnIran.org.
Now is the time to take to the streets, because only a massive grassroots mobilization can stop another bloody and illegal war.
In the next few days and weeks, we need to do everything we can to take to the streets to Stop a War on Iran. We have a real opportunity to help build a massive grassroots movement to oppose the warmongers in Washington.
If you haven’t done so, please consider organizing a local action on August 2 - or if there is already one in your area, contact local organizers to find out how you can help.
Also, please sign the online petition at http://stopwaroniran.org/petition.shtml and help us spread the word. Signing the petition will send messages to President Bush, Vice President Cheney, the Board of Directors of Halliburton, and the media.
In the next few days, we will be preparing placards and banners, printing leaflets and educational materials, and holding organizing meetings to prepare for the August 2 protests. Please consider making a donation at http://stopwaroniran.org/donate.shtml to help us with the enormous expenses of mobilizing a national response to Bush’s war threats.
Category: Politics, Iranian Americans
Writing by persiancowboy on Friday, 11 of July , 2008 at 6:32 pm
Is your representative a cosponsor?
Call the Congressional switchboard at 202-225-3121 and ask to speak with your member of Congress.
Feel free to use these talking points during your call:
1. H.Con.Res. 362 is a call for war. Section 3 calls on the President to prohibit “the export to Iran of all refined petroleum products and “demands” that the president impose “stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran.” To do this, the United States would have to impose a naval blockade- which is universally recognized under international law as an act of war. Passage of this resolution would signal to the world that the US would rather resort to war than invest in diplomacy.
2. By blocking all traffic entering or departing Iran, Congress is targeting the people of Iran, not the government. Sanctioning Iran’s refined petroleum imports lets the Iranian government off the hook for its own corruption and economic mismanagement. Tehran maintains its costly gasoline subsidies because it feels the Iranian people would not tolerate higher prices. This resolution would give the government of Iran the window it needs to raise the price of gas and put the blame on the United States.
Category: Politics, Iranian Americans
Writing by persiancowboy on Saturday, 5 of July , 2008 at 1:19 pm
Happy Independence Day - Let’s put the
Constitution back on the table!
“As we once again celebrate our Independence as a nation, let us celebrate freedom from fear and pledge that government ‘of the people’ will survive in this land that we love.”
- Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Some Democratic Leaders say Impeachment is off the table.
So, let’s set a new table for our nation, upon which we place the Constitution and where we demand that all those who have taken an oath to defend it … keep their promise and protect our nation from the threat within.
Please go to kucinich.us now and sign the petition, which calls for impeachment. This is the one petition that will make a difference because I will be personally delivering it to your member of congress. Please circulate word of this petition far and wide, to all your friends and family. This is the one opportunity that we have right now to actually change events in this country.
Two hundred and thirty-two years ago, our nation was conceived in liberty. We have once again reached a moment of truth, one that Lincoln recognized at Gettysburg as to whether “this nation or any nation so conceived or so dedicated can long endure.”
Through the ashes of the civil war, Lincoln prayed that “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom … and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
This Fourth of July, 2008, we face a different kind of war; one which is trying our souls … a war based on lies. But with the power of truth and the power of the people we can achieve a new birth of freedom, standing up for what is good in America, insisting on the rule of law, demanding adherence to the Constitution, and supporting the impeachment of a President who lied to take us into a war against Iraq.
Be the answer to Lincoln’s Prayer. Please pledge your support now to restoring the rule of law in America. As we once again celebrate Independence Day, let us celebrate freedom from fear and pledge that this government of the people will survive in this land that we love.
Please go to kucinich.us now. This is your opportunity to make a difference; truly celebrate Independence Day.
Thank you and Happy 4th of July.
Dennis Kucinich
Category: Politics
Writing by Rezareza on Thursday, 3 of July , 2008 at 6:28 am
Reporters Without Borders calls on the authorities not to execute the warrant issued yesterday for the arrest of Mohammad Javad Haghshenas, the editor of Etemad Melli, a daily newspaper that is the mouthpiece of the pro-reform party of the same name. The warrant was prompted by an article critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that was previously posted on a blog.
Read More…
Category: Human Rights, Politics
Writing by persiancowboy on Wednesday, 2 of July , 2008 at 3:25 pm
Thats the title of an article from Press TV about IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei’s recent comments about the possible military attacks on Iran.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei says he will step down if major powers launch a military strike against Iran over its nuclear program.
According to Al Ahram, in an interview with Al Arabiya television, the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General, said, “A military invasion against Iran would pose great danger to the Middle East and the world,” Mehrnews agency reported.
Earlier this month, in his latest IAEA report over Iran’s nuclear program, ElBaradei certified the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in the country’s nuclear activities.
“Iran has provided the Agency with access to declared nuclear material and has provided the required nuclear material accountancy reports in connection with declared nuclear material and activities,” the report read.
The report of ElBaradei’s resignation comes amid widespread speculation that US President George W. Bush is drawing up secret plans with the help of Israel to launch a military strike on Iran before the end of his term in office.
With their blatant disregard for international reports conceding the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear activities, world powers have ramped up their rhetoric against the Islamic Republic, accusing the country of running a covert nuclear weapons program.
Iran has repeatedly asserted that as a signatory to the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it is entitled to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, adding that the country does not seek nuclear bombs as such weapons have no place in its defense doctrine.
Category: nuclear energy, Politics
Writing by persiancowboy on Tuesday, 24 of June , 2008 at 9:02 pm
Antiwar.com Action Alert - Antiwar.com
Iran War Resolution May Be Passed Next Week
Introduced less than a month ago, Resolution 362, also known as the Iran War Resolution, could be passed by the House as early as next week. The bill is the chief legislative priority of AIPAC. On its Web site, AIPAC endorses the resolutions as a way to ”Stop Iran’s Nuclear Program” and tells readers to lobby Congress to pass the bill. In the Senate, a sister resolution, Resolution 580, has gained co-sponsors with similar speed. The Senate measure was introduced by Indiana Democrat Evan Bayh on June 2. It has since gained 19 co-sponsors.
The bill’s key section “demands that the president initiate an international effort to immediately and dramatically increase the economic, political, and diplomatic pressure on Iran to verifiably suspend its nuclear enrichment activities by, inter alia, prohibiting the export to Iran of all refined petroleum products; imposing stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran; and prohibiting the international movement of all Iranian officials not involved in negotiating the suspension of Iran’s nuclear program.” “Imposing stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran” can be read to mean that the president should initiate a naval blockade of Iran. A unilateral naval blockade without UN sanction is an act of war. Resolution 362 has already gained 170 co-sponsors, or nearly 40 percent of the House. It has been referred to the Foreign Affairs Committee, which has 49 members, 24 of whom, including the ranking Republican, are co-sponsors.
The Iran Nuclear Watch Web site writes, “According to the House leadership, this resolution is going to ‘pass like a hot knife through butter’ before the end of June on what is called suspension - meaning no amendments can be introduced during the 20-minute maximum debate. It also means it is assumed the bill will pass by a 2/3 majority and is non-controversial.” Our national legislators deem it non-controversial to recommend to a president known for his recklessness and bad judgment that he consider engaging in an act of war against Iran. Those of you who consider this issue controversial can go to the Just Foreign Policy Web site and tell your representative to oppose this resolution.
For more information about this action item, media requests, donations or other information, please contact Angela Keaton at 310-729-3760 or akeaton@antiwar.com
Category: Politics, Iranian Americans
Writing by persiancowboy on Friday, 13 of June , 2008 at 2:06 pm
Kayhan newspaper reports that Qatar formally apologized for using Arabian Gulf rather than Persian Gulf.
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به دليل استفاده از عنوان جعلي خليج عربي قطر رسما از ايران عذرخواهي كرد
وزير كار قطر با حضور در محل اقامت وزير كار ايران در ژنو، از جمهوري اسلامي ايران به خاطر بكارگيري عنوان جعلي «خليج عربي» رسماً عذرخواهي كرد.
به گزارش فارس، ضابط الدوسري وزير كار قطر، اين سوء برداشت را ناشي از اشتباه در ترجمه دانست و خاطرنشان ساخت: نام اصلي و تاريخي اين آبراه «خليج فارس» است و ما تنها اين نام را مي شناسيم.
سيدمحمد جهرمي وزيركار، در سخنراني خود در اجلاس 97 مجمع عمومي سازمان بين المللي كار در ژنو رسماً در حضور مديركل و 181 كشور عضو با تذكر به وزير كار قطر رسماً از دبيرخانه سازمان بين المللي كار خواست تا عنوان «خليج فارس» در مكاتبات و اسناد رسمي اين سازمان ثبت و همچون گذشته به كار گرفته شود.
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Category: Politics, History
Writing by KavehFarrokh on Wednesday, 4 of June , 2008 at 8:19 pm
I received this photo this morning and you may find it of interest. It is a photograph of a 13-year old Iranian solider who has captured close to a dozen pan-Arabists during the liberation of Khorramshahr:
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(see also: http://kian-abdollahi.blogfa.com/post-36.aspx)
An interesting facet of pan-Arabism in Iraq was that it brainwashed Arab conscripts into beleiving that all Iranians are cowards and would simply surrender to Saddam Hussein’s forces. Pan-Arabism is the perfect case of ideology leading to battlefield defeats. One veteran mentioned that so many pan-Arab prisoners were captured during the liberation of Khuzestan that problmes had arsien to provide transport trucks for the prisoners.
Allow me to humbly share a case of media censorship during the Iran-Iraq war. A BBC report crew was interviewing a motorized unit of Saddam’s forces and during that interview a commander claimed that all Iranian jets had been destroyed and that “the last few Iranian jets are hiding from us”. A few moments later, Iranian F-4 phantoms appeated (probably with the deadly air to ground Maverick missiles). As soon as the roar of the Iranian jets appeared, the enrire crew bailed out from their tanks and took to their heels:
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The reason this report was cencored is most likley due to the fact that Saddam Hussein was an ally of the west at the time, In additon, the media was attempting to portray the pan-Arabists as a very “western” and professional military force. In reality, many of the conscripts suffered from low morale as they has little incentive to fight the Iranians - contrary to the fantasy of pan-Arabism, the vast majority of the Arabs do not dislike the Iranian people and reject pan-Arabism. Arabs and Iranians in fact get along very well and mingle throughout southwest Iran and the entire Persian Gulf region.
Finally, note must be taken of the role that Iranian-Arabs played in supporting the Iranian army in defending Khuzestan and liberating it from Saddam’s froces in 1982. Below is a photo of an Iranian-Arab unit that commemorates the role of the Iranian-Arabs in the defense of Iran during the Iran-Iraq war
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Iranian Arabs participating in celebrations in Tehran in September 22, 2007. Iranian Arabs were among the first to defend Iran against the pan-Arabists of Saddam Hussein – their actions in Khorramshahr, Abadan and Ahwaz bought the Iranian army precious time to organize defenses in September-October 1980. The Iranian Arans also participated with the Iranian forces in ejecting Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Iran by 1982. Iranian Arabs were also seen in a rally in front of the UAE Embassy supporting the name “Persian Gulf”.
Racialism and ethno-narcissistic movements are an outdated and discredited philosophy. One of these, pan-Arabism has been both defeated and discredited. Unfortunatley, certain elements in the western hemisphere have had the tendency to support and promote racialists in the pursuit of geopolitical and economic objectives, a process continuing to this day. While such schemes may be partly effective with post-World War One, post-World War Two and post-Soviet-era states, the same schemes are doomed to failure against historical countries such as Iran. The above-cited discussion is a case in point.
Category: Politics, History
