If you plan to start the week with a smile on your lips and optimism in your heart, then don’t read this article. On the other hand, if you’d prefer to be realistic, and know when the time is right to bend over, put your head between your legs, and kiss your arse goodbye – read on.
Often, the news no-one wants you to know about is best located away from the great national tomes like the Washington Post or the New York Times. Small, provincial newspapers around the world have some the sharpest, keenest, journalists. They’re usually young, and out to make a name for themselves.
Hence, it was to the Scottish Herald and Rob Edwards that I turned my computer mouse this weekend, and a story that should, frankly, turn your blood to ice.
In the last post I wrote that one of my pet hates today was politicians. They’re supposed to be representatives of the people, but that’s no longer their job. Instead, they now serve much more powerful masters than John Doe or Fred Bloggs.
Long before the events of 9/11/2001, a plan was devised to conquer the world. At the heart of that plan was subjugation of the Middle East. Certain nations in that region were troublesome to the US and if it were to take control of the region armed force would be required to contain these errant governments.
One of those nations was Iraq, but the real obstacle to Middle East domination was Iran.
There was no way an army could march into Iran overland. Saddam Hussein was in the way, and while he held no love for his Iranian neighbors, he’d not welcome US army boots on Iraqi soil.
9/11/2001 provided the perfect excuse to invade Iraq, get rid of Saddam, and install a puppet government. Now, there are American army boots in Iraq, and Prime Minister Maliki is in no position to dictate how they’ll be used.
The island of Diego Garcia lies just south of the Equator, slap in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
It was secretly leased to the British by Mauritius in the 1960’s, and the whole population of the island was forcibly expelled, all 2,000 of them.
In 1971, the US began building a huge airbase on the island. Many of the aircraft that bombed Iraq, both in 1991 and 2003, flew from Diego Garcia.
Now, according to Rob Edwards of the Scottish Sunday Herald, Diego Garcia is about to become active once more.
The US government signed a contract in January to transport 10 ammunition containers to the island. According to a cargo manifest from the US navy, this included 387 “Blu” bombs used for blasting hardened or underground structures.
Experts say that they are being put in place for an assault on Iran’s controversial nuclear facilities. There has long been speculation that the US military is preparing for such an attack, should diplomacy fail to persuade Iran not to make nuclear weapons.”[1]
What is happening at this moment is unnervingly reminiscent of the events just prior to the invasion of Iraq, back in 2003. The unanswered question is: can America sustain an attack on Iran, given its military commitments elsewhere?
According to Dan Plesch, Director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at the University of London and co-author of a recent study on US preparations for an attack on Iran, they can if they flatten Iran from the air before committing troops on the ground.
They are gearing up totally for the destruction of Iran. US bombers are ready today to destroy 10,000 targets in Iran in a few hours.”
Plesch thinks Obama may decide it’s better for the US to strike Iran, rather than have Israel do it first.
The US is not publicising the scale of these preparations to deter Iran, tending to make confrontation more likely. The US … is using its forces as part of an overall strategy of shaping Iran’s actions.”
The US war machine is once more grinding into action. The ‘plan’, drawn up by that right-wing think-tank known as the ‘Project for the New American Century’ a decade ago is still on the table. The PNAC was publicized as ‘dead in the water’ after Iraq. The truth is it’s still very much alive.
George W Bush dreamed of instigating a war with Iran – part of his imaginary ‘Axis of Evil’ – but the Iraq conquest took too long. Now, it’s left to the next President of the United States to instigate ‘Stage Two’.
The face on the marionette may have changed. The puppeteers have not.
[1] “Final destination Iran?” Scottish Sunday Herald, March 14th 2010
Filed under: Hardly transparent government, is it?
The one and only consoling and consistent thought I have, RJA, is that the USA is utterly and completely bankrupt and in the month of February alone spent $2,000 more that they took in taxes for every US man, woman and child.
I have been aware of what you have written for some time now, Iran has always been the target. And Israel is pushing this, very hard. Some of my Jewish acquaintances can hardly wait for the total annihilation of Iran.
Troubling times, my friend.
XO
WWW
I was aware of this story about a year ago by Democracy Now, Amy Goodman. This poor little island had no say in anything and the residence of this little dot are all refugees in some obscure part of the world, foreign to them… Most probably they are all wiped out!
Yet another tragedy in the human history.. 🙁
WWW – troubling times, indeed. I fear the powerful Jewish/American organizations will be happy to cough up sufficient gold to cover any venture that will cripple Iran for the foreseeable future.
Nevin – it was an evil act by a corrupt British Labour government back in the 1960’s. Many of the islanders, or their descendants, are still alive. Some live in the UK. They’re still fighting for the right to return to their homeland, and almost succeeded when, in May 2006, the British High Court ruled in their favor. An appeal by Tony Blair’s government against the ruling was dismissed, but the government took their case to the House of Lords, which of course sided with Parliament (well, it would, wouldn’t it?). I understand, as yet no decision has been taken on whether the Chagossians will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
It’s just one more example of how the governments of these ‘great’ nations of ours are nothing more than dictatorial despots with no sense of morality or conscience. They are gangsters and bullies of the most despicable kind, and alongside them the Mafia appears a benevolent institution. The latest load of trumped-up propaganda against Iran is evidence that nothing changes.
I wish I could say I was surprised about this post. But I seem to recall talking with a friend as we watched the statue of Saddam fall on the news and predicting that Iran would be next. It’s taken a few years longer than I envisaged, but I can’t imagine it will be much longer. Otherwise they will actually develop nuclear weaponry, and the US will have another North Korea (i.e. someone that they can’t actually bully because they’ve learnt how to fight back…)
The depressing thing is that if the US wants to move in the next month or so, then I wouldn’t be astonished if the UK lent a hand. A nice war would help bolster up whichever political party wins the election (Falklands anyone?) and the papers will be happy to whip up enough of a media frenzy to give them the excuse…
I think I might go and hide under the duvet now…
And a quick twist of irony – in the Google ads on the side, as well as the usual spam for shrinking your belly, is one saying:
Art in Iran Today
Wonderful Images, Commentaries, Artist Profiles and Interviews
and then two below that says:
Personal Radiation Alert
Fast Mini Nuclear Alarming Device. Keep community & family safe.
Do your ads know something we don’t? 😉
Oh heck! Yes, I dimly remember about the Diego Garcia stuff. It’s all very depressing, and even more so because the astrology of the next year broadly suggests “something nasty” – and it ain’t in the woodshed.
Iran and Iraq had such rich and interesting history, which is all but forgotten and besmirched these days. We in the west owe their people a lot, culture-wise. Sigh.
When will we ever learn?
Jo – rest assured, the ole country will be in there lending the US a hand. They already are. Diego Garcia is a joint British/US base.
At present, there is no evidence Iran is intending to produce nuclear weapons. It denies such intentions, insisting its research is entirely for energy generation. Given the history of Western efforts to manufacture ‘evidence’ as an excuse for going to war, we should all be highly skeptical of anything the western media has to say about that country.
I also doubt the British people would be quite so enthusiastic about attacking Iran, as they were over the Falklands. It may well backfire on the politicians at election time, though it’s likely both major parties would back the move, so in practical terms it wouldn’t make much difference at the polls.
Certainly, the Murdoch press will do their best to whip up a frenzy.
Google, NZ, is obviously more effective at matching ads to content, than Google, US. All I ever see alongside my frantic outpourings are Hugh Down’s artery-clearing secrets (which are a scam) and ads for cheap homemade electricity (probably, also a scam). 😉
Twilight – ‘Something nasty, and not in the woodshed’ eh? Sounds rather disconcerting.
When will we ever learn? I truly doubt we ever will.