by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
The U.S. deal with Iran – based on assumptions about an Iranian nuclear weapons program that American intelligence agencies have twice concluded does not exist – allows the U.S. to concentrate on provoking Russia and China while continuing to threaten Iran with destruction. Global peace is no closer than before, since “America’s insistence on imperialism and control of other countries is the cause of every catastrophe.”
Freedom Rider: The Iran Deal Reality
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
“The United States inflicts most of the terror in the Middle East, having destroyed Iraq and Libya and given strength to jihadists it claims to dislike.”
The nuclear energy agreement between Iran and the P5+1 nations has finally concluded and the moment is bitter sweet. Iran’s sovereignty should have been respected and it should not be forced to make concessions for doing what it always had a right to do. Iran has as much right as Israel or any other country to produce nuclear material or even nuclear weapons. But it was impossible to withstand the onslaught of crippling sanctions and the loss of $100 billion in funds that were frozen under pressure from the United States.
Israel is the logical suspect in the murder of Iranian scientists, and along with the United States hacked nuclear production computer systems with a malicious worm. Iran was unable to import food and medicine because the United States and other western nations not only imposed sanctions but pressured other countries to follow suit. This war by other means should not be forgotten because Obama now wants to use Iran in his effort to weaken Russia.
The deal was ultimately done because times change and Barack Obama had to choose who to fight and who to make up with. The need to counter Russia and China made continued enmity with Iran foolish. So did the desire to replace Europe’s dependence on Russian natural gas with energy from Iran. Ever the imperialist, Obama realized that a deal was in America’s interests.
“The need to counter Russia and China made continued enmity with Iran foolish.”
Iranians are overjoyed that sanctions will be eased although over a period of many years. It is difficult to throw cold water on their celebration but it is necessary to take a hard look at their government’s concessions. Iran will be subject to inspections for up to twenty-five years and will be restricted in how much nuclear material it can enrich. If the United States or any of the five other signatory nations ever accuses the Iranians of violating the agreement, sanctions can be imposed again.
In making the case for his deal president Obama relies on repeating American lies that Iran is a state sponsor of terror and threatens other nations in the region but is now pacified. Of course the United States inflicts most of the terror in the Middle East, having destroyed Iraq and Libya and given strength to jihadists it claims to dislike. Syria hangs on after four years of devastation wrought by the United States and their gulf monarch allies, but Obama’s rationale for a deal with Iran always includes condemnations useful for internal propaganda purposes.
Every bomb, refugee crisis, civilian death toll and jihadist success can be laid at America’s doorstep but Iran is made out to be the villain. America’s insistence on imperialism and control of other countries is the cause of every catastrophe. Those disasters won't disappear now and the sick co-dependence between the United States and Israel continues. In exchange for being able to “punk” Obama Israel will get even more American aid above the $3 billion it gets every year. Heads Israel wins, tails the U.S. loses.
All parties get some of what they want but Iran gets the short end of the stick and the United States is still the main threat to world peace. Obama has shown that he can turn on a dime as circumstances change. He can be in league with Israel and Saudi Arabia even as he is prepared to anger them in order to fulfill some other imperial goal.
“Cynical and stupid presidential candidates out-do one another bragging about how quickly they would attack Iran.”
The corporate media and some easily fooled “liberals” hail the agreement as ending a threat of war when in fact any threat existed only because of America and Israel. Iran gets to make money but is forced to accept intrusive inspections for up to 25 years. Saudi Arabia and Israel are angry and will do their own deals in defiance of Washington.
If Obama thinks that Iran will now be compliant he must think again. It isn’t only the American congress than insists on approving the agreement. Iran did not withstand decades of American warfare by other means only to capitulate like a grateful supplicant. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made clear that Iran would not change its foreign policy positions and the Iranian parliament will vote to approve the agreement, just as some members of American’s congress insist on doing.
None of America’s objectives have changed because this agreement was reached. The United States and NATO will not remove heavy weaponry from Russia's borders. The United States decided it was more advantageous to have a deal than not but its imperatives are the same.
Now Americans must watch as cynical and stupid presidential candidates out-do one another bragging about how quickly they would attack Iran. The agreement is significant in some ways, but changes nothing in others.
All of the treaties in the world mean little when there is only one superpower. The United States once respected boundaries and wouldn’t violate other spheres of influence. Now this government is emboldened as it recreates Manifest Destiny, the belief that America has the right to control any place in the world at any time. Iran is just the latest of many victims.
Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well as at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com.
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