[Peace-discuss] peace-discuss

[Morton K. Brussel]

Remarks on Iran by Bill Fletcher. From

http://blackcommentator.com/344/344_cover_aw_iran_nuclear.html

This article is fan appropriate addendum to what was  discussed at the  
recent UIUC symposium on Iran.

Apropos of Fletcher's remarks on Iran and its nuclear intentions,  
which seem were right on the mark, one should only add that in view of  
threats by Israel and others, a nuclear weapon in the hands of Iran  
could only serve in a deterrent capacity. Unless Obama et al. demand  
that Israel  dismantle its nuclear arsenal and join the non- 
proliferation treaty, and that the current nuclear states delimit / 
eliminate their own nuclear weaponry, there is no morally consistent  
reason for Iran not to consider a nuclear option (not that it is, in  
fact, so considering). Of course, such an argument is not politically  
correct/acceptable.  --mkb

Cover Story: What Is Not Being Discussed In The Iran Nuclear Story -  
The African World By Bill Fletcher, Jr., BlackCommentator.com  
Executive Editor

Last week’s announcement of the discovery of a previously unknown but  
suspected nuclear research and production site became a major story in  
the Western media.  The Obama administration, along with its allies in  
Europe, saw this as evidence of Iranian duplicity on the matter of its  
nuclear intentions.  Though Iran admitted the existence of this  
facility, the manner in which it did so seemed to be directed at  
heading off the expose' from other sources.

The outrage that was expressed concerning Iran’s revelation is, at  
best, overstated.  While no one has been able to prove that Iran’s  
nuclear program is anything other than what it has claimed that it is— 
peaceful—the assertion from most of the mainstream Western press is  
that it is military in intent.  This, by the way, despite the 2007  
intelligence report indicating that Iran dropped its military nuclear  
program some years ago.

The outrage against Iran is also hypocritical.  While the focus of the  
mainstream Western media has been on Iran’s alleged intent toward a  
weaponized program, in another part of the Middle, East Israel appears  
to possess somewhere between 100-200 nuclear weapons.  No one is  
actually quite sure precisely because (1)Israel is not a signatory to  
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and (2)Israel refuses to confirm  
or deny its nuclear program.

So, as pointed out by many observers, the real nuclear issue in the  
Middle East is not Iran’s nuclear intent but none other than Israel’s  
actual possession of such weaponry.  Israel not only possesses such  
weapons but also possesses delivery systems for these weapons.  Yet,  
mainstream political and media personnel in the West refuse to discuss  
this.  In a noted exchange between iconic White House reporter Helen  
Thomas and the then newly elected President Obama, the President  
refused to answer Thomas’s questions regarding Israel’s nuclear  
program.  He did a dance around the question that would have made Fred  
Astaire proud.

Idiotic and anti-Jewish remarks by Iranian President Ahmedinejad have  
been seized upon in order to focus the world’s attention on Iran’s  
nuclear intent.  The fact that President Ahmedinejad often seems out  
of touch with reality and is cavalier in his concerns and remarks is  
disquieting.  Yet none of that speaks to the actual power structure in  
Iran and what Iran intends to do with its nuclear program.  While  
Israel used its nuclear program to support apartheid South Africa,  
nothing of the sort can be placed at the doorstep of Iran.  Iran  
occupies no one’s territories, while Israel occupies Palestinian  
territories.  While Iran has been very cagey with the International  
Atomic Energy Agency, Israel has completely ignored any and all  
international inquiries into its nuclear intent.

Once again Israel is excused by mainstream Western opinion for what it  
does because it is all justified in the name of protecting Israel, and  
by implication, Jews who were the victims of the Holocaust.  While  
Iran’s Ahmedinejad may attempt to deny or explain away the Holocaust,  
most sane individuals on this planet not only acknowledge it but have  
seen it as an indictment of Western so-called civilization and Western  
barbarism previously directed at the colonial world brought home to  
Europe.

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Yet the Holocaust does not justify the possession of nuclear weapons  
any more than the fact that US overthrew one Iranian government  
(Mossadegh in 1953); supported a criminal dictatorship (the Shah); and  
attempted to overthrow the newly formed Islamic Republic through  
support for Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi invasion of Iran in 1980, would  
justify an Iranian nuclear program today.  Yes, the Iranians have  
every reason to be suspicious of US intent toward their country and  
their region.  They additionally have every right to seek respect from  
Western nations, particularly after a history of abuse experienced at  
the hands of Western countries.

The focus on Iranian nuclear intent, however, seems completely over  
the top in terms of scale and possibilities.  A real and scary nuclear  
standoff exists between India and Pakistan yet there is anything but  
an aggressive approach towards this situation by the USA.  India,  
which, along with Israel, is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non- 
Proliferation Treaty,  has had a blind-eye turned toward it as its  
nuclear program went forward as did, by the way, Pakistan.  In fact,  
with regard to Pakistan the main concern has been not whether Pakistan  
will use nuclear weapons against India but rather whether the  
Pakistani security system can adequately protect the weapons from  
capture by terrorists.  In neither case does the West seem  
particularly concerned that both of these countries have the  
capability to turn their respective capitols into glowing mounds of  
sand.

Iran, on the other hand, knows fully well that any attempt to use  
nuclear weapons against its neighbors, not to mention against Israel,  
would result in an immediate retaliation.  There would be no  
percentage in such a game, not to mention that Iran lacks a full  
delivery system that could get its weapons across US-dominated Iraq,  
US puppet Jordan and into Israel.

Each time the focus turns to Iran and its alleged intent I become  
nervous, largely because the specter of an Israeli or US military  
strike seems a possibility.  There are those in both of those  
countries who believe that a quick air strike can teach Iran a  
lesson.  It probably would; perhaps a lesson like how to shut off oil  
from ever leaving the Persian/Arabian Gulf.  I suppose that would  
equally be a lesson for us in the West.

BlackCommentator.com Executive Editor, Bill Fletcher, Jr., is a Senior  
Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, the immediate past  
president of TransAfrica Forum and co-author of, Solidarity Divided:  
The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path toward Social Justice  
(University of California Press), which examines the crisis of  
organized labor in the USA. Click here to contact Mr. Fletcher.
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