New Gulf of Tonkin in the Persian Gulf
By Daniel Patrick Welch
February 4, 2007
Editor's Note: The Bush administration is whipping up a new war fever over
Iran despite the bloody catastrophe still unfolding in neighboring Iraq.
In his guest essay, writer Daniel Patrick Welch wonders if the United
States is about to watch a new Gulf of Tonkin ploy play out in the Persian
Gulf:
I'm putting my mother into bed and the high-pitched urgency of MSNBC's
'this just in' crisis reporting cuts through evening calm. Same on CNN,
and I don't even bother to check the other channels.
Iran, we are being told, is to blame for the Kerbala attack. We have
always been at war with Eastasia. I can't believe it is happening so
neatly, so on cue and so cutely bundled in such a familiar package.
There is absolutely nothing credible about anything that comes out of Iraq
either through the administration or the mainstream press. War-weary
Americans, who spoke loudly and clearly about the question of more war,
are known suckers for official lies.
In the aftermath of the Cold War, two long-term adversaries were waxing
nostalgic about their governments' respective propaganda. "Yes, but the
difference," said the Russian, "is that your people believed yours."
And now, having been lied to by a stream of shameless governments, having
swallowed their leaders' crap about our 'destiny' and 'greatness,' is it
even possible to imagine that we are going to let ourselves get sucked in
again?
Aside from the shrieking of the press echo chamber, the other relevant
headlines of the day include a report that the US is poised to attack Iran
from Bulgarian bases (Turkish Daily News), or that a US Navy strike group
is steaming through the Suez canal to join the general buildup of US
forces in the Middle East (Jerusalem Post). The Guardian reports that Bush
is 'spoiling for a fight with Iran.'
Leave aside the fact that the US government recently tried to fund a
project that admitted--admitted, mind you--to planting fake news stories
to achieve national policy ends. This, of course, would be in addition to
myriad black ops projects denied over the years. Never mind that the
Israeli right wing has been openly clamoring for war with Iran, leaking
stories about how it was prepared to go it alone.
Don't compare the timing of this story with the pending -- albeit
nonbinding --anti-escalation resolution now being prepared for 'rigorous
debate' in Congress.
Just look at Cheney's smug Untouchable smirking face as he tells Wolf
Blitzer that Congress "won't stop us," even as Scooter Libby is throwing
everyone in his Blackberry under the bus. Do pay attention, too, to
Blitzer's complete inability to perform his function as a journalist. That
is a very bad sign.
Also notice the $10 billion joint project announced today between Iran and
a Spanish concern for development of energy resources, and the
multi-billion dollar arms and energy agreements Iran already has with
Russia and China. Are the neocons completely crazy? Never mind--we already
know the answer.
And what the hell is wrong with us? Are we really going to let ourselves
be lied into yet another war, a much bigger one, with a much more
dangerous opponent and with even farther reaching consequences? The answer
seems to be yes.
The Democrats and the press will not save us from this one. They didn't
before, and they won't now -- they're in on the game, and they will do
nothing without an enormous shove. The fact that they are getting ready to
debate a toothless solution while the ships are sailing is chillingly
out-of-touch. Our
lives and our future are at stake, and they are looking for sound bites.
The made-in-USA tinderbox is unstable and about to blow, and the war
profiteers and their puppets lighting the fuse have no concern for us. The
enormous and dangerous forces against them only means more war, more
contracts, and more profits.
There is no way the world is going to sit back and let the US have its way
with world energy resources without a fight, and we stand warned that we
are being
dragged into a virtual Armageddon.
The antiwar movement made a good show last weekend demanding an end to the
Iraq war. It will be too little, too late unless the people wake up and
demand a halt to the war already under way against Iran.
© 2007 Daniel Patrick Welch, a writer, singer, linguist and activist who
lives and writes in Salem, Massachusetts, with his wife, Julia
Nambalirwa-Lugudde. Together they run The Greenhouse School
http://www.greenhouseschool.org. Translations of articles are available in
over two dozen languages. Links to the website are appreciated at
http://danielpwelch.com.
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/020407a.html
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