Unchallenged, America’s pursuit of global hegemony bears an eerie resemblance to the building of empires in the past. As this Administration expands its international dominance, the dictates of the Athenians to the Melians come to mind in which they are told that their submission to the rule of the Athenians would be of mutual benefit.

Melians: “And how, pray, could it turn out as good for us to serve as for you to rule?”

Athenians: “Because you would have the advantage of submitting before suffering the worst, and we should gain by not destroying you”.[i]

This is the tacit dialogue between Mr. Bush’s coalition of willing and Iran today – and Iraq before that. This is an ongoing dialogue between any free nation that stands in the way of imperialist ambitions of this White House and their neo-con cohorts. And so it is that terrorism is defined by the strong in order for ‘a war of terror’ to be declared so that the innocent may be wiped out, and their resources stolen should they fail to hand them over willingly. (Afghanistan is beyond the scope of this writer’s knowledge at present).

Not content with the failed covert operations that have been the hallmark of U.S. foreign policy, it has become necessary to use a new justification for a colonial raid, sanctions and warfare under the pretext of nuclear threat and terrorism. Intimidated by fear, propaganda, and coercion, the world body condemns the victim and puts its muscle behind the aggressor, only to realize later that it was mistake. This tardy realization that comes with the so much blood and carnage, has shame as its intimidator; forcing one to delude oneself that the decision made had been the right one. More blood continues to spill to cover the shame of flawed decisions, of a restless consciousness.

Yet, if we choose once again to abandon our intellect and remain complacent, we are equally complicit in the acts of terror carried out in our name. Professor of international law, Francis Boyle, in his book Biowarfare and Terrorism (Clarity Press), charges the Administration of "unconstitutionally usurp and nullify the right and the power of the United States Congress to declare war, in gross and blatant violation of Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution." Furthermore, according to Rutgers University molecular biologist Richard Ebright, over 300 scientific institutions and 12,000 individuals have access to pathogens suitable for biowarfare and terrorism.[ii] We are preparing for a biological warfare.

On April 9th, 2007, al-Jazeera reported that the former commander of Iraq's Republican Guard has accused the US of using non-conventional weapons when they attacked Iraq. Saifeddin Fulayh Hassan Taha al-Rawi told al-Jazeera “"The enemy used neutron and phosphorus weapons against Baghdad airport... there were bodies burnt to their bones”. [iii] Fallujah has seen the horrors of phosphorous. The following are excerpts from an Independent Media Center:


"- grenades with white phosphor have been fired on Falluja which created a wall of fire, burning all the time (phosphor flames can`t be stopped by water - phosphor creates fire by a chemical reaction).
- many people did melt; so enourmous is the heat
- Iraqi doctor Kamal Hadeethi told journalists of the Washington Post: »I`ve seen many people injured; the streets are full of crying people -and full of dead people: they even were melt down to the street.« Falluja residents told that all the streets are destroyed, houses are ruines, and at walls stick parts of human meat. [iv]”


Our Administration uses weapons of terror and spends billions building them.

In its “war on terror”, this Administration has co-opted terrorists, the Mojahadeen-e Khaleg (MEK). While the American soldiers in Iraq chauffer them around, they are being used to plant seeds of unrest in Iran in order to bring about a regime change[v].

This group is highly endorsed by neo-conservatives Raymond Tanter, Daniel Pipes and Patrick Clawson of Washington Institute for Near East Policy who praised them as U.S. allies.[vi] (Clawson had on one occasion recommended sabotaging the Iranian nuclear plants regardless of the death toll, C-Span, Woodrow Wilson Center 2005).

While the Patriot Act is robbing our freedoms under the myth of protecting us from terrorists, terrorists are being hired by our government to wage war on a sovereign nation. In a report prepared on March 15, 2005 by ‘Center for Policing Terrorism’, the terrorist acts of this group, including but not limited to the killing of Americans, their involvement in the 1979 American Embassy takeover and subsequent hostage crisis, the bombing of 11 Iranian embassies around the globe, and other involvements has been described.[vii]. Yet this Administration, in his ‘war on terror’, would like these terrorists to be his foot soldiers and to sabotage the regime in Iran, the alleged state sponsor of terrorists.

Having lost their faith in the MEK foot soldiers, or perhaps prompted by impatience, they decided to diversify. Mr. Cheney decided to visit Pakistan and solicit more terrorists in order to cause mayhem in Iran, tear her apart, and separate her children. Pakistani government sources say the secret campaign against Iran by Jundullah was on the agenda when Vice President Dick Cheney met with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in February. It seems that the U.S. government has secretly encouraged, advised, and paid for a series of deadly guerrilla raids inside Iran since 2005[viii].

Charges of terrorism aside, the United States has led a campaign charging Iran with allegations that it intends to build a nuclear bomb. Contrary to these allegations, the IAEA has found no evidence of Iran diverting its nuclear energy program to weaponization, yet the US has coerced the UN Security Council into sanctioning Iran.

An indisputable fact of globalization and modernization is that sophisticated technologies transferred to the third world countries are controlled by transnational companies and/or governments. This has led to the concept of ‘self-colonization’ or acceptance of Western values and superiority; which deems that third world countries look to the West for research and development instead of self-reliance (Hveem, 1983). Iran escaped this trap due to the disdain felt towards it as a result of the 1979 revolution and the isolation forced upon it during the Iran-Iraq war. Iran learned self-reliance and escaped self-colonization.

It is in pursuit of its legal right under the NPT that it is pursuing nuclear fuel to satisfy its domestic needs for energy and clean air. However, the US, insisting on its global expansion, needs to use this as yet another pretext to bring ruin to Iran and attack it.

A country that in spite of a CIA-backed coup, the downing of the passenger jetliner which took 290 innocent lives, the support of the US for the enemy in an 8-year with Iraq in which the United States supplied Saddam Hossein satellite guidance, weaponry and chemical weapons, but also persuaded the United Nations to look the other way while Iranians were being subjected to chemical weapons for 3 years, a nation which under sanctions and threat of war, still bears good will towards the American people, and a true ally in the region, if attacked, will produce a disaster of unimaginable consequences

So as a subject of this world, I am asking all Americans, hyphenated or not, to defend their birthright, humanity, and justice. We must determine our own destiny today lest someone robs us of our future with their actions. America cannot afford to lose the battle for peace, justice and humanity because humanity has not found a place in this Administration. In the American ‘Dialogue’, we are the ‘strong’, for we have the power of the people, justice, and above all, the Constitution of the United States of America.


Impeach Bush & Cheney for Peace - www.marchofthepeople.org


* Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich has lived and studied in Iran, the UK, France, and the US. She obtained her Bachelors Degree in International Relations from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. She is currently pursuing her education in Middle East studies and Public Diplomacy. Soraya has done extensive research on US foreign policy towards Iran and Iran’s nuclear program. She can be reached at  sorayau@earthlink.net




Notes:


[i] Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, The Melian Dialogue (Book 5, Chapter 17), Translated by Richard Crawley. Electronic text from the Internet Classics Archive at MIT: downloaded April 6, 2007  http://classics.mit.edu/Thucydides/pelopwar.5.fifth.html

[ii]  http://www.peaceworkmagazine.org/node/479

[iii]  http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BA8304F2-89FE-49DC-8FB0-2212FE7889F7.htm
[iv]  http://www.indymedia.org/or/2004/11/864368.shtml

[v]  http://www.campusactivism.org/server-new/uploads/can_no_more_wars12_20.pdf

[vi]  https://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa578.pdf pp 6-7

[vii]  http://www.cpt-mi.org/pdf_secure.php?pdffilename=MeK

[viii]  http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/abc_news_exclus.html