War Party Says No to War in Iran (9/23/06)
With the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the whole Bush Administration foreign policy has been one of perpetual war. With a possible war coming up in Iran, now is the time to ascertain the motives of those who actually push us to invade other nations.
Who are these people? They are not the public. Hundreds of thousands of anti-war protestors jammed the streets in large U.S. cities to try to change the Administration's desire to fight Iraq, to no avail. Surprise - they are not our elected officials, either. Just as a nation cannot go to war on an empty stomach, neither can a president or a Congress actually go and fight the wars themselves. Certainly, they can influence the public, but they are lost without the proper propaganda with which to sell the wars.
There is a machine keeping the drive for war alive. The machine is composed of those who benefit the most from the decision to go to war. There are the companies that make the weapons, like Boeing, the companies that provide support to the troops, like Halliburton, the generals that live for war, the people who own stock in the defense contractor companies and others who believe that the United States must defend itself against non-existent threats.
This group of people has interests that supercede those of the rest of us. They impose their interest in war in different ways. The defense contractors contribute money to both major political parties (even liberals like Ted Kennedy get plenty of money from them) and pay heavily to lobby Congress for favorable laws and policies, the generals offer advice to the politicians about the need to fight and the stockholders put their money before their patriotism. The Rational Enquirer has said that leading defense contractors have gained almost sixty percent in stock since December 2, 2002, just before the Iraq War.
They are the War Party. Democrats and Republicans bow to them. To oppose this party means less campaign money, less support and a lingering suspicion that one is "soft on defense." Have you ever heard of a candidate for office talk about the need for a "weaker defense?"
About that propaganda that the War Party feeds to the politicians. They make certain that the public does not see any choice as between peace or war. Recall that President Bush had several reasons for going to war with Iraq. None of them stuck, but collectively the false information provided by his war advisors (about weapons of mass destruction, al-Qaeda connections, involvement in 9/11) made the majority of the public afraid to challenge the President. Just as Bush had said at 9/11, "Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists," the lies about Iraq convinced many that by opposing Bush, they would side with Hussein.
As always, the War Party had already decided that early 2001 was not the time to tangle with Iraq. Sader Hicks, author of The Big Wedding 9/11, the Whistle-Blowers and the Cover-up, recently said that "history shows us that when the [U.S.] rulers decide to go to war, they 'create' a reason." The fact that they can decide to fight first suggests that our leaders are prepared to start war at all times.
Now talk among our leaders has turned toward a possible assault on Iran. Forget about the reasons this time: they may have nuclear weapons, their President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust and wants to blow up Israel, etc. If we really believed these were valid reasons to strike Iran, we would have invaded several other nations by now.
Pakistan, China, Israel and others actually have nuclear weapons and we haven't invaded them. As far as anti-Israel or anti-Semitic beliefs go, a host of nations and people in the Middle East have made similar comments.
Whether it is time for the War Party to push the nation to war depends upon what it could gain from an invasion and occupation. We know the Iranian army is larger and stronger than Iraq's and would put up an even tougher fight. We also know we are low on troops due to Afghanistan and Iraq and could even require a draft to maintain a viable level of force.
Another losing war for our nation and a draft would hurt the image (and stocks) of these defense contractors and other military support. Their influence over the White House and Congress would diminish. They would have trouble getting new military bases in the Middle East with which to dispatch troops to put down people who challenge our hegemony. Clearly now is not the time for the War Party to take on Iran. They can always help rig the next election in favor of a pro-war candidate to make that call.