http://www.countercurrents.org/iran-akleh091106.htm



War on Iran: Unleashing
Armageddon In The Middle East

By Dr. Elias Akleh

09 November, 2006
Countercurrents.org

In mid 1970s the American Power Elite drew a =E2=80=9CGrand Plan=E2=80=9D=

control and to monopolize global oil and nuclear energy resources, for
he who controls energy resources determines the fate of nations. The
base of this =E2=80=9CGrand Plan=E2=80=9D is the invasion of energy rich =

to directly control their resources, and to create subservient
governments that would exploit their own people as cheap labor to
harvest energy for the United States.

The collapse of the Soviet Union had created a window of opportunity
for the United States to ensure and to affirm its global superiority
through expansion and controlling energy resources without any real
opposition. The attacks of 911 were necessary requirements for the Bush
administration to wage a =E2=80=9Cglobal war against terror=E2=80=9D that=

serve as a cover up for American hegemony. President Bush borrowed
Mussolini=E2=80=99s fascist motto of =E2=80=9CIf you are not with me, you=

against me=E2=80=9D and turned it into =E2=80=9CYou are either with us or=

terrorist=E2=80=9D to terrorize weaker nations into accepting American
expansions.

Part of the =E2=80=9CGrand Plan=E2=80=9D, which deals with the Arab World=

East) and South East Asia, was handed down to the Bush/Cheney
administration for execution. The invasions and destructions of
Afghanistan and Iraq are just the beginning. Iran, Syria, and Lebanon
are next. Controlling Iran is very important to the American
administration. Iran sits on a lake of oil and has large deposits of
uranium that, when mined and refined, could make Iran a super global
power. Controlling Iran leads to the containment of China (America=E2=80=

greatest competitor), who depends heavily on Iranian oil to satisfy its
growing hunger for energy. Geographically Iran makes the shortest and
the most economical route for Kazakhstan=E2=80=99s oil pipeline from the
Caspian Sea ,north, to the Persian Gulf south with all the oil-tankers
traffic. Iran also fits perfectly within the line of American hegemony
in South East Asia. Listening to Bush=E2=80=99s speeches =E2=80=93 especi=

speech to the United Nation last September 2006- one can detect his
=E2=80=9Centhusiasm=E2=80=9D for =E2=80=9Cspreading democracy and freedom=

=E2=80=9Cdespotic Middle East=E2=80=9D with Iraq as an example.

The Bush/Cheney administration started its overt aggression against
Iran immediately after 911 attacks. Bush described Iran as one of the
=E2=80=9Caxis of evil=E2=80=9D sponsoring =E2=80=9Cterrorist=E2=80=9D gro=

Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas, who are in reality
defending themselves against Israeli aggression. After the American
invasion of Iraq the American administration accused Iran of
instigating a civil war in Iraq by supporting Shiites against Sunnis,
and of opening its borders wide for terrorists to enter Iraq. The
administration is accusing Iran of building a nuclear bomb, and is
continuously threatening its government to abandon its nuclear
=E2=80=9Cambitions=E2=80=9D or else face dire consequences including nucl=

strikes (a paradox of using nuclear weapon to stop the proliferation of
nuclear weapons). Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State described
Iran as a =E2=80=9Ccentral bank for world terrorism=E2=80=9D that is thre=

the stability of the Middle East.

American media had joined the administration into demonizing Iran and
its government. Iran is described as a fundamentalist theocracy, who
seeks to revive the glory of ancient Persian Empire by establishing an
Islamic =E2=80=9CCaliphate=E2=80=9D in the Middle East. Iran=E2=80=99s le=

portrayed as extremists, who hate Americans for their freedom, and want
to build nuclear bomb to attack the US. Iran=E2=80=99s President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad is described as an irrational, violent, mad Hitler-like
anti-Semite, who hates Jews, denies the Holocaust, and wants to wipe
Israel off the map. Ahmadinejad=E2=80=99s visit to the US last September
(2006) to give a speech at the UN was received with a cold shoulder by
the US. American officials in the UN and the American media boycotted
his speech, while NBC=E2=80=99s Brian Williams and Newsweek=E2=80=99s Lal=

Weymouth interviewed him only to corner him about the Holocaust and
wiping Israel off the map.

Bush/Cheney administration had rebuffed all Iranian attempts to
negotiate, and refused to give Iran any guarantees that the US will not
attack Iran if it stops its uranium enrichment. President Bush totally
ignored President Ahmadinejad=E2=80=99s personal letter, and his call for=

debate. The Washington Post, in June 18th 2006, reported Richard Hass,
head of policy planning at the State Department at the time, as saying
that at the wake of the US invasion of Iraq Iranian leaders offered the
administration a proposal for a broad dialogue that included full
cooperation on its nuclear programs, acceptance of the state of Israel,
and halting support to Palestinian militants. The administration
rejected this proposal since they already have plans for a regime
change in Iran.

The administration=E2=80=99s attack plan started immediately after the
invasion of Iraq. Spy stations were erected at the Iraqi/Iranian
borders. The Congress had authorized the expenditure of $75 million to
support Iranian opposition and to finance an anti-Iranian political
campaign. Scott Ritter, former UN weapons inspector, reported in June
2005 and in his book =E2=80=9CTarget Iran=E2=80=9D that the US has been u=

terrorist organizations (Mujahedeen el-Khalq, MEK), under the
supervision of the CIA, to conduct covert terrorist operations in Iran.
MEK has been officially designated as a terrorist organization by the
US. Yet in 2004 Bush/Cheney administration pardoned the MEK making it
the first terrorist organization to receive a =E2=80=9Cprotected=E2=80=9D=

The MEK terrorists were trained by the CIA in an American compound
northeast of Baghdad, and then moved to Basra and established their
base in Camp Habib, from which they launch their terrorists raids
against the southern region of Iran.

Israel, on the other hand, criticized Iran=E2=80=99s nuclear program refu=

to =E2=80=9Clive under the threat=E2=80=9D of nuclear Iran. Israeli offic=

to Ahmadinejad=E2=80=99s alleged threat to wipe Israel off the map as thr=

to their own existence, and a possible justification for a pre-emptive
strike as a measure of self-defense. They continually threaten to
strike Iran=E2=80=99s nuclear facilities the same way Israel did to Iraq=

nuclear reactor. Israel warned that Iran=E2=80=99s uranium enrichment is =

red line that Israel will react to. Israel had sent its military
operatives into the Kurdish region north of Iraq to establish training
camps for the Kurds. The Kurds want to establish their free Kurdistan
that extends from north Iran to east Turkey. Considering it their
patriotic duty, and encouraged, financed and armed by the Israelis, the
Kurds send their militants to conduct military operations into northern
Iran.

Bush/Cheney administration is adamant on invading Iran. Invasion was
originally planned to take place sometime during the end of April 2006
immediately after the end of the grace period UN gave to Iran to stop
its nuclear program. The plan consisted of 5 days continuous aerial
bombardment by joint air planes of Israel, UK, and US that might
include tactical nuclear bunker buster bombs. Land invasion would
follow from west (Iraq), from east (Afghanistan) and from sea (Persian
Gulf from west and Gulf of Oman from south). The plan was to heavily
bombard the Iranians into overthrowing their government.

In an attempt to stop this attack Iran flexed its military muscles in
war games conducted in April 2006. Iran effectively demonstrated its
capability of waging war on land, sea, and air with sophisticated
weapons. Iran also conducted other war games in August 2006 in
coordination with China and Russia on all of Iran=E2=80=99s geo-strategic
borders giving a warning signal that any possible invasion of its
territory would be very costly. The American administration discovered
that it had underestimated Iran=E2=80=99s military power, and that Iran i=

larger and a stronger country than the embargo-weakened Iraq. Therefore
the administration decided to adjust its war plans and to bring in more
allies such as EU and some Arab states.

Contrary to the misleading American propaganda about the threat of
irrational extremist Iranian government Iranian leaders have been very
pragmatic politicians, who seek peace, stability, and nuclear-free
Middle East. There is no doubt that Iran has supported Palestinian
families (victims of Israeli terror), Shiite Lebanese south of Lebanon,
and Shiite Iraqis in an attempt to protect its own interests and to
counter balance warring Israel, UK, and US. Israel had invaded all its
neighboring countries while the UK and US had sent their troops across
the globe to invade Afghanistan and Iraq to protect its own interests
in the region. For many generations Iran was never involved in a
colonial war and had never threatened other countries. Iran was
defending itself during the eight years Iraq/Iran war of attrition that
had been instigated by the US. Unlike the Israeli and American military
threatening rhetoric Iranian leaders had always declared that they do
not pose any threat to any other country, and that Iran is only seeking
peace and prosperity for its own citizens. Iranian officials recognized
that war is knocking on their doors when American troops invaded Iraq.
They attempted to approach Bush/Cheney administration with dialogue and
cooperation, but they were rebuffed violently.

The Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does not conform =E2=80=9C..to =

picture of a madman=E2=80=9D the American administration and media portray
him to be, wrote Fareed Zakaria in his Newsweek (10/2/2006) article
=E2=80=9CWhat Iranians Least Expect=E2=80=9D. =E2=80=9CHe was smug, even =

sometimes offensive, but always calm and intelligent=E2=80=9D continued
Zakaria. Ahmadinejad is not the Jew-hater, Holocaust denier, intent on
wiping Israel off the map as Bush keeps describing him. Ahmadinejad
pointed to the Iranian Jewish community, who are living peacefully
within Iran as any other Iranian citizens. Iran is the home for the
largest Jewish community (25 thousands) in the Middle East outside
Israel, who lived there for the last 3 thousand years since the rule of
Cyrus the Great. Iranian government recognizes the Jews as a religious
minority to be protected and represented by a PM, Maurice Mohtamed, in
Iranian parliament. Iranians make a distinction between Jews and
Zionists.

When Newsweek=E2=80=99s Lally Weymouth (October 2nd 2006) asked Ahmadinej=

about the Holocaust he acknowledged it as a historical event by stating
=E2=80=9CWe know this was a historical event that happened. But why is it
that people who question it are persecuted and attacked?=E2=80=9D He also
questions the reasons why the Palestinians have to pay their country
and their lives for what the Europeans had done. He questions the
exploitation of the Holocaust to justify the usurpation of Palestinian
land, their evacuation from their homeland and the destruction of their
civilian homes, the targeted assassination of their freedom fighters,
and the abduction and jailing of their democratically elected
officials. =E2=80=9CThe Palestinian people, their lives are being destroy=

today under the pretext of the Holocaust. Their lands have been
occupied, usurped. What is their fault? What are they to be blamed for?
Are they not human beings? Do they have no rights? What role did they
play in the Holocaust?=E2=80=9D Ahmadinejad answered NBC=E2=80=99s Brian =

who asked him about the Holocaust during an interview in September
20th, 2006. His acceptance of the Holocaust as a reality could not be
any clearer than in his statement reported by the Washington Post
December 9th 2005 =E2=80=9CIs the killing of innocent Jewish people by
Hitler, the reason for their (the Europeans=E2=80=99) support to the
occupiers of Jerusalem?=E2=80=9D

Ahmadinejad=E2=80=99s plans to build a nuclear bomb and use it to inciner=

and =E2=80=9Cto wipe Israel off the map=E2=80=9D as Tzipi Linvi =E2=80=93=

Foreign Affairs Minister and Vice Prime Minister- likes to keep
reminding the world of, is totally baseless. It is an intentional
misinterpretation and distortion of Ahmadinejad=E2=80=99s speech. In the =

York Times of June 11th, 2006 Juan Cole, a Middle East specialist at
the University of Michigan, stated that =E2=80=9CAhmadinejad did not say =

was going to wipe Israel off the map, because no such idiom exists in
Persian. He did say he hoped its regime i.e. a Jewish-Zionist state
occupying Jerusalem, would collapse.=E2=80=9D Ahmadinejad was not threate=

Israel; rather he was calling for the end of Zionist occupation of the
city of Jerusalem. He =E2=80=93 and the Iranian government- are intellige=

politicians, who understand that striking Israel with one atomic bomb
would lead Israel to shower Iran with its 200, or more, nuclear bombs,
some of which are ready to be launched from submarines.

To avoid the seemingly inevitable war Iran had followed the diplomatic
path with no avail. It opened all its nuclear facilities to the
strictest and most detailed inspections by the IAEA, who stated that
there was no evidence that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon. Iran
proposed to halt its nuclear program if the US halts its threatening
postures and gives guarantees that it would not attack Iran. The
Bush/Cheney administration refused to give Iran any guarantees
insisting that all options, including nuclear, are on the table.
Ahmadinejad also called for peaceful negotiations and a nuclear-free
Middle East in his speech to the UN in his September visit. Yet his
speech was boycotted by the American officials and ignored by the
American media. Lately Iran proposed to have an international
consortium to supervise uranium enrichment in Iran to guarantee that
its nuclear program is really for peaceful purposes only. This proposal
was rejected by the EU for they all are aware of the American plans to
invade Iran.

Iran had also turned to the international community =E2=80=93 mainly
anti-American countries- for political support through economical trade
and common political interests. In 2004 Iran struck an oil deal with
China Petrochemical Corp. (SINOPEC Group) to sell it 51% stake in
Iran=E2=80=99s Yadavaran oil field near the border of Iraq. Iran also bec=

Russia=E2=80=99s most important weapons customer. Iran had also gained the
political support of at least 118 countries during the summit of the
Nonaligned Movement (NAM) in Cuba in mid September 2006.

Iranian government, like any other prudent government in its place, has
no alternative but to seriously consider the Israeli and American
continuous military threats to its security and to prepare for the
inevitable coming war. In a deterrent attempt Iran had conducted war
games in April and August 2006 hoping that the American administration
would reconsider its plans. It also positioned its weapons
strategically on its borders and sea. Iranian arsenals include Iranian
and Russian made submarines carrying their own mini submarines and
submarine-to-ship missiles. Iranian naval forces had been updated with
the latest military equipment and weaponry with its naval airborne
forces including helicopters, minesweepers and the sophisticated fast
Chinese =E2=80=9CSilkworm=E2=80=9D and =E2=80=9CSunburn=E2=80=9D anti-shi=

speed of 225 miles per hour. Iranian Patrol Torpedo Boats (PT) =E2=80=93 =

as the =E2=80=9CJashan PT=E2=80=9D- are small boats designed to attack la=

warships and are equipped with latest electronic systems and missiles
with a range of 100km. Iran=E2=80=99s navy also has the largest hovercraft
fleet in the world. On the land Iran has long range missiles (Shehab)
and land-to-sea missiles (Kowsar) that can evade electronic jamming
systems. Some of Iranian missiles are reported to be invisible to radar
and can have multiple warheads with multiple payloads to hit multiple
targets simultaneously.

Iran has also recently modified its air defense shield in order to
shoot down incoming missiles and invading warplanes. Iran has about 20
Russian =E2=80=9CTor=E2=80=9D and =E2=80=9CS300=E2=80=9D antiaircraft sys=

warplanes Iran has manufactured its own warplanes with laser-guided
missiles and whose capabilities are still unknown and could surprise
any invading enemy. Iran also has its own fleet of unmanned militarized
drones.

The eight-year Iraq/Iran desert war had given Iranian army the longest
experience in ground and desert warfare far exceeding any other army.
The Iranians learned to manufacture their own weapons such as tanks,
missiles, torpedoes, helicopters, submarines and warplanes. This gave
them independence and strength.

Attacking Iran will disrupt oil traffic in the Persian Gulf. In an
obvious and expected move Iran will close the Straits of Hermuz
blocking all military and supply in-traffic and all oil out-traffic.
American military bases in the Gulf States will be targeted, and there
is the possibility of also targeting oil wells. To exacerbate the
ensuing oil crises Syria and Iran may also target the
Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline carrying oil from the Caspian Sea to
Europe through Turkey. Venezuela, an Iranian ally, would stop the flow
of its oil to the US. The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, has
warned that Venezuela would not sit idle if Iran and Syria were
attacked. An energy crisis might devastate Western countries. China
might also enter the conflict to protect its own oil assets in
Khuzestan province that the Iranian had armed heavily to protect its
oil resources and to assure the supply of crude oil to its own allies.

Recognizing that Iran, unlike Afghanistan and Iraq, is a big country
with a military power including strong aerial defense that is well
ready for the anticipated heavy Western aerial strike, and that it has
a military outreach towards the whole region that might disrupt the
flow of oil, the American administration decided to postpone its
attacks until it creates a =E2=80=9Cwar oil reserve=E2=80=9D, forms a lar=

alliance of =E2=80=9Cwilling countries=E2=80=9D, and sends a military arm=

region to guarantee victory.

The American administration influence on the UN and NATO can be seen
clearly by the types of resolutions the UN adopts, and by the NATO
troops becoming an American proxy occupier of Afghanistan. To avoid
internal political crisis the administration needs to spare the lives
of the American troops as much as possible by convincing more countries
that it is in their own economic interest to send their own troops to
the Middle East to =E2=80=9Ckeep=E2=80=9D the oil flow to their countries=

resolution 1701 was the best cover to send military personnel and
equipment to the region. 15 thousand armed UNIFEL troops are stationed
on the Lebanese southern borders to protect Israel from any
Hezbollah=E2=80=99s attacks. An armada of NATO battleships is crowding the
eastern shores of the Mediterranean allegedly to stop arm shipments to
Hezbollah. The real purpose of this armada is to protect the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Oil Terminal during the war against Iran and
Syrian, and to guarantee the flow of oil to Europe.

The cooperation of Gulf Arabian States was also needed. Condoleezza
Rice traveled to Egypt early October and met with foreign ministers
from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Rice
followed the usual American tactics of dandling the resolution of the
Palestinian/Israeli issue in order to gain cooperation from these Arab
leaders. To put more pressure on these leaders President Bush divided
them into =E2=80=9Cmoderate vs extremists=E2=80=9D. Israel had also court=

=E2=80=9Cmoderate=E2=80=9D Arab leaders during September United Nations m=

New York, where Israeli officials held some private meetings with
officials from Persian Gulf Countries (The Wall Street Journal, October
3rd). There was also a rumor about an Israeli/Saudi secret private
meeting in Jordan=E2=80=99s King Abdullah=E2=80=99s palace at the end of =

The talks aimed to form some kind of secret intelligence and military
alliance between Israel and the US on one side and the =E2=80=9Cmoderate=

Arabic regimes on the other hand against the Iranian nuclear threat and
the so called =E2=80=9CShiite Crescent=E2=80=9D =E2=80=93Iran, Syria and =

north. After all, these Sunni Gulf rulers had supported and financed
Iraqi Saddam Hussein during his eight years war against Iran. They had
sent Moslem fighters as an American proxy army to fight the Russians in
Afghanistan. They had, for fifty eight years, stood silent about the
Israeli terror against Palestinians, and finally had criticized Hamas
and Hezbollah resistance as foolish and uncalculated useless
adventures. Some of these Gulf States had joined actively into the
American war games off the Iranian coastline in October 31st while
others joined as observers only.

The US and NATO countries had amassed the largest military armada in
the Middle East. The US armada consists of Carrier Strike Group 12 led
by nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, Eisenhower Strike
Group =E2=80=93 another nuclear powered aircraft carrier with accompanied
military vessels and submarines, Expeditionary Strike Group 5 with
multiple attack vessels led by aircraft carrier USS Boxer, the Iowa
Jima Expeditionary Strike Group, and the US Coast Guard. Canada has
sent its anti-submarine HMCS Ottawa frigate to join the American Armada
in the Persian Gulf. On October 1st the USS Enterprise Striking Group
had crossed the Suez Canal to Join NATO armada at the eastern shores of
the Mediterranean Sea.

The NATO force is composed of troops and naval vessels from several
countries and is lead by Germany. It includes Garman command naval
forces, Italian navy, 2 Spanish warships, 3 Danish warships, 10 Greek
Warships, 2 Netherlands warships, and French, Belgium, Turkish and
Bulgarian troops in South Lebanon.

This is the largest amass ever of military power in the region, and it
is gathering for a reason.

The US had started its military provocation on October 30th with its
=E2=80=9CLeading Edge=E2=80=9D war game across the Iranian shores. Iran r=

with a 10 days military maneuvers =E2=80=9CGreat Prophet=E2=80=9D taking =

Gulf, Sea of Oman, and several provinces of the country test-firing
dozens of its long-range missiles capable of reaching Israel and
American military bases in Gulf States. The powder keg is ready and all
it needs is a match to ignite it. This could come in the form of an
=E2=80=9Carranged=E2=80=9D terrorist act in Lebanon =E2=80=93 e.g. anothe=

assassination or toppling of government- to be blamed against Syria and
Iran. American warnings of such an act are already in the media.

The present American administration is an extremist theocratic
apocalyptic neoconservative Christian-Zionist war mongering
law-breaking power hungry administration with a bragging =E2=80=9Cwar
president=E2=80=9D adopting the doctrines of =E2=80=9Cpre-emptive=E2=80=

perpetual war against =E2=80=9Cglobal terror=E2=80=9D. This war will take=

away from the American home-land, and will generate large profits for
the American military corporations. The war against Iran will engulf
the whole Middle East and may overflow to its neighboring countries.
Controlling Iran is a very important strategic move to assure American
global hegemony. This war is scheduled to start between February and
April of 2007, and it seems that there is nothing to stop it.

Email: