Iran-Israel: No to the war threats from the State of Israel

The wardrums are sounding again in the Middle East. We are witnessing a concerted offensive against Iran by Israel, the United States, France and the United Kingdom. It began several weeks ago in Israel, arising out of a public debate on the need to attack Iran before it develops nuclear weapons, but since them the campaign has been taken up for example at the G20 meeting in Nice where Obama and Sarkozy appealed for unprecedented pressure against Iran, while the British press speaks about preparations for war by the USA and the UK. [Français] [Castellano]

---

Iran-Israel: No to the war threats from the State of Israel

The wardrums are sounding again in the Middle East. We are witnessing a concerted offensive against Iran by Israel, the United States, France and the United Kingdom. It began several weeks ago in Israel, arising out of a public debate on the need to attack Iran before it develops nuclear weapons, but since them the campaign has been taken up for example at the G20 meeting in Nice where Obama and Sarkozy appealed for unprecedented pressure against Iran, while the British press speaks about preparations for war by the USA and the UK. This commotion had the sole aim of creating a climate of tension leading up to the report on 8 November by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran's nuclear programme.

This report, like previous ones, adds nothing that can prove that the civilian nuclear programme is hiding a secret military programme. But unlike his predecessors, the current head of the IAEA, the former Japanese ambassador to Washington Yukiya Amano, is fully aligned to Western positions. The report mentions "information" supplied by the secret services of IAEA member countries hostile to Iran, which talk about "serious concerns regarding a possible military dimension to the nuclear programme". In the absence of hard evidence, the hawks resort to insinuation and manipulation in order to prepare public opinion for a military adventure against the Iranian theocracy.

It has been this way for years: threats of imminent attacks against Iran are regularly featured in TV news bulletins. But are today's to be taken more seriously than usual? It is mainly a matter of ensuring that China and Russia do not use their right of veto on the UN Security Council to block a new series of economic sanctions against Iran. Until now, the West's strategy has been to isolate and strangle the country to make its leadership more docile. The fiasco that was Iraq invites prudence... To the extent that Pentgon chief Leon Panetta has warned against the "unforseeable consequences" that military action against Iran could have.

But the danger of a war is far from discounted. We cannot guarantee that there will not be attempts made by extremists in Tel Aviv and Washington that could seek some sort of provocation that would suit their goals. Because the strategic situation of Israel has deteriorated greatly over recent years, creating feverishness among the military nomenclature that runs the country. On a regional level, the military alliance with Turkey has been broken, in Egypt the ever-conciliatory regime of the dictator Mubarak has been replaced by an instable regime that is less aligned with policy in Tel Aviv and Washington. Even the difficulties of the old Baathist enemy in Syria, which is allied to Teheran, are a source of worry; there could develop a situation like that in Iraq which Islamist fighter could seek to take advantage of to carry out operations in Israel. On the international level, the mobilization around the campaign of BDS (Boycott, Disinvestment, Sanctions) has had an effect, above all among traditional allies of Israel, which at national level, the powers in the country are faced with a massive social mobiliztion. There are those who dream of putting a stop to all this by means of a "victory" over Iran.

But the worst case scenario in the Middle East is by no means inevitable. We can stop the spiral of violence, but to do this we need to face the problem at its roots:

There will be no pease until the legitimate demands of the Palestinian people are satisfied.

Alternative Libertaire is opposed to nuclear energy both for civilian and for military purposes and supports denuclearization at a world level, which implies that the great powers with nuclear arsenals (France, USA, United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, China and Russia) as well as countries like Israel and Iran, must destroy their arsenals and not acquire more.

All foreign troops must be withdrawn from the region, and in particular the US bases must be dismantled.

Alternative Libertaire

16 November 2011

Translation by FdCA-International Relations Office