Isn't this fun? America (its government, I mean) and Iran are BOTH absolutely full of things to point one's finger at and say..."Oh! Look how bad they are!"

Anyway, here's another viewpoint to toss in the pot and stir around. Read and enjoy:


Hmmm...wait. The link doesn't work anymore. Can't do a blue clicky for some reason.

Okay, I will copy and paste it here instead then. From Keeble McFarlane's column in the Jamaica Observer, as of yesterday. Here it is:

Is the Bush League gearing up for war with Iran?

Keeble Mcfarlane
Saturday, February 17, 2007


Five years ago, George Bush the Second went before the US Congress to deliver what has become a staple of the US presidency - the State of the Union address. On that occasion, it was less about the state of the American union and much more about the state of the world - the world as the Bushlet and his coterie of neo-conservative Rasputins wished to see with their ambitious plan to reorganise parts of it to their liking. Bush let fly with a phrase which has joined the list of memorable sayings - the "Axis of Evil". Although Bush had already focused his laser beam on Iraq, from even before he secured the White House through what frequenters of RM courts across Jamaica would recognise as larceny by a trick, he had Iraq's much larger neighbour, Iran, and far away North Korea in his sights as well.

In short order, George W orchestrated all the vast and extremely powerful instruments of state at his command and launched his attack on the hapless Saddam Hussein and his malnourished and demoralised population and its equally demoralised and de-fanged armed forces. The victory was rapid, apparently complete and relatively cheap - except, of course, in the "collateral damage" suffered by Iraqis who happen to run afoul of the rampaging US military and in actual dollars, billions of which were shrink-wrapped on pallets and shipped by the tonne on US military cargo planes.

What Bush, his defence secretary, Rumpsfeldstilskin, and their hand-picked generals and admirals failed to anticipate was the staggering cost of the aftermath of their 21st century blitzkrieg. Bush is now asking the US Congress to shovel additional billions to send in several thousand more soldiers and marines in his illusionary "surge": this on top of the billions already burned through with nothing to show for it but the deaths of something like half-a-million Iraqis and more than 3000 American men and women in uniform. Not to mention the terror, disorganisation, uncertainty and degradation that every morning greets the average Iraqi, whether he or she be Shia, Sunni, Kurd, Christian or None of the Above.

Even though US voters rejected his war at their last trip to the polls in November, Bush II continues with his platitudes which sound increasingly disconnected from reality. His argument grows more hollow, and continues with repetitions and occasionally new twists on the old theme which amounts to "we have to keep on killing Iraqis and Americans because so many have already given their lives". And while this morass continues to divide his fellow-Americans, to drain their resources, immense as they are, and exasperate even his closest and most loyal allies, Bush now appears to be aiming his attention slightly to the east of Iraq - to its larger and much more powerful neighbour, Iran. And Iran is no Iraq. It has 68 million people, occupies three times the land that Iraq does, and has a muscular military which has not suffered from the decade-plus sanctions to which Saddam's Iraq was subjected. It is a democracy of a sort, with an elected president and Parliament, but with a bunch of unelected mullahs wielding an effective veto over their decisions.

This is an unfortunate, but not surprising, holdover from the Islamic revolution 28 years ago in which Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini replaced the by then totally despised Shah and his too rapid and extensive westernisation of the country. That had culminated in the takeover of the US embassy by radical Islamists and a siege which lasted 444 days. Many Americans, including, presumably, Bush and his neo-con cohorts, have never forgotten nor forgiven Iran for this. Eight members of the US military died during a disastrous rescue attempt, but the Americans conveniently forget that one of their navy ships shot down an Iranian airliner in 1988, taking the lives of 290 civilians.

The current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a bit of a loose cannon, spouting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel vitriol and vehemently denying that the Holocaust ever occurred. He's also intent on developing a nuclear capability, claiming Iran needs a guaranteed electricity supply, and just recently promising to cooperate with international bodies which seek to prevent his country from developing nuclear weapons.
(This is a country sitting on one of the world's largest pools of petroleum - but never mind that.) Iran's nuclear ambitions disturb the Israelis, as well as their principal sponsor, Washington. What chills many Middle East watchers is that Israel may decide to reprise its dazzling attack on Iraq's nuclear facilities before the first Gulf war with a similar sortie against Iran. Even more disturbing is the possibility that the Americans may decide to do the job themselves.
Don't laugh - right now the Persian Gulf is bristling with about 100 US Navy ships, and another naval battle group, comprising 20 ships, is on its way. There are a number of other signs - the Bush League has cranked up its rhetoric against Iran about working towards developing nuclear weapons; about Iran's support for Hizbollah in Lebanon; about how Iran is equipping and training Iraqis to fight against the US occupiers; its harassment of Iranian diplomats in Iraq and its orders to US forces to annihilate Iranian spies and other operatives there. Several knowledgeable observers and former high-level government employees say this latest effort in pre-emptive military action could happen quickly - perhaps within the next month or so.

Switching to the third member of that "Axis of Evil" - in spite of the high-decibel rhetoric against North Korea, the US went back to the table in Beijing with four other countries and the so-called "rogue" regime in Pyongyang to discuss the dismantling of its nuclear programme. On Tuesday it announced the beginning of a new effort towards that end.
The deal - struck by the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia - requires North Korea to begin shutting down its reactor at Yongbyon within 60 days in exchange for fuel and other aid. After that, it would receive more aid if it continued the process. Two days ago the two Koreas agreed to re-open high-level talks, paving the way for a resumption of food aid to the beleaguered and secretive country. The administration's favourite pit bull, John Bolton, decries the agreement, saying it in effect pays off North Korea for behaving badly. But Bush defends the deal - while he cautions that this is only a first step, he says the critics are "flat wrong".

And what do the North Koreans know about playing poker?