If
It Ain’t
Broke, Don’t
Fix It!
By Soraya
Sepahpour-Ulrich
09/07/08
"ICH" -- --
On July 7th,
U.S. navy
announced
that it
would carry
out
exercises in
the Persian
Gulf.
Commodore
Peter Hudson
claimed that
these
exercises
were being
carried out
to protect
“maritime
infrastructure
such as gas
and oil
installations”.
As the
expression
goes, ‘if it ain’t broke,
don’t fix
it’. If in
the 1980s
the United
States
managed to
fool the
world into
believing
that it was
protecting
the crude
oil passage
with its
naval build
up in the
Persian
Gulf, 20 or
so years
later it can
use the same
argument and
no one will
be the wiser
for it.
After all,
most people
think that
“relying on
foreign oil”
is a sin and
any act,
even
ensuring the
flow of
‘foreign
oil’
justifies
provocative
U.S. action.
But before
we send our
boys to
protect our
interests in
someone
else’s back
yard, lets
examine what
happened in
the 80s that
makes these
brave men
report for
duty so
readily, and
confident in
their
success.
It has
always been
the U.S.
position
that it
should be
the only
country
allowed to
dominate the
region,
notwithstanding
Israel of
course. When
the war
between Iran
and Iraq
broke out
(1980-88),
it gave
Regan the
perfect
pretext to
send the
navy to
‘protect the
passage of
oil’. Later
however, a
Congressional
report found
that during
1981-1987,
the U.S.
naval
buildup had
made
shipping
more
dangerous[i].
The
aggressive
naval
buildup in
the Persian
Gulf was to
provoke Iran
into war in
order to
secure
alliances in
the region.
It was no
accident
that in
1987, the
U.S. fired
on a UAE
fishing boat
thinking it
was
Iranian[ii].
Furthermore,
while the
U.S. has
often
declared
that the
shooting
down of a
civilian
Iranian
airliner and
the killing
of all 290
passengers
by the
Vicennes was
an accident,
the
commander of
another U.S.
ship in the
Persian Gulf
has said
that while
"the conduct
of Iranian
military
forces in
the month
preceding
the incident
was
pointedly
non-threatening,"
the actions
of the
Vicennes
"appeared to
be
consistently
aggressive”.
The Vicennes
inclination
to kill
ruthlessly
earned it
the nickname
“Robo
Cruiser”[iii]
At the cost
of innocent
lives,
prompting
the
continuation
of the
Iran-Iraq
war which
many blame
solely on
Khomeini--
thanks to
Washington,
the U.S.
reached its
main
objective.
The tensions
caused the
Arab states
to turn to
the United
States for
security and
protection
in return
for which,
the U.S.
built bases
for
expanding
its empire
and was paid
for it. On a
per capita
basis, the
Persian Gulf
states are
the biggest
spenders of
“protection
money’.
Bahrain pays
a total of
$53.4
million,
Kuwait 252.9
million,
Qatar 81.3,
and United
Arab
Emirates
$217.4
million[iv].
Mr. Bush is
following in
Reagan’s
footsteps.
With Israeli
military
maneuvers
threatening
war and
provoking
Iran without
any protest
from the
international
community,
Mr. Bush has
ordered a
naval
buildup in
the Persian
Gulf for
‘protecting’
the safe
flow of oil.
No doubt,
the U.S.
navy will be
hard at work
provoking
Iran and the
tension
caused will
enable the
U.S. to
demand more
‘protection
money’ from
the Arab
states; even
though they
have been
amply armed
by the
biggest
arm-dealer
in the world
– the United
States.
Should Iran
fail to
respond to
America’s
provocations,
no doubt a
false flag
operation
will be
substituted.
The navy is
off to
protect the
$140 per
barrel of
oil which
before the
Iraq
invasion was
under
$30/barrel.
If history
is any
indication,
the naval
buildup,
Israel’s
bellicose
and
expansionist
policies,
the Iraq
war, and Mr.
Bush’s
personal
history of
repeated
failures,
all
implications
are that
America is
headed for
disaster,
taking with
it all those
who ‘are
with us’,
and
destroying
all those
‘who are
with them’.
Soraya
Sepahpour-Ulrich
is an
Iranian-American
studying at
the
University
of Southern
California.
Her research
focus is
U.S. foreign
policy and
the
influence of
lobby
groups. She
is a peace
activist,
essayist,
and public
speaker.
NOTES
[i] War in
the Persian
Gulf: The
U.S. Takes
Sides, staff
report to
the
Committee on
Foreign
Relations,
U.S. Senate,
1987.
[ii] Ronald
O'Rourke,
"The Tanker
War" (1988)
[iii]Stephen
Shalom “The
United
States and
the
Iran-Iraq
War: 1990”
[iv]
Chalmers
Johnson
‘Commission
on Review of
Overseas
Military
Facility
Structure,
Report p.Mp’
|
