07 July 2010
By Shamus Cooke
When
the UN refused to agree to the severe sanctions that
the U.S. wanted, Obama responded with typical Bush
flair and went solo. The new U.S. sanctions against
Iran — signed into law by Obama on July 1st
— are an unmistakable
act of war.
If
fully enforced, Iran’s economy will be potentially
destroyed. The
New York Times outlines the central
parts of the sanctions:
“The
law signed by Mr. Obama imposes penalties on foreign
entities that sell refined petroleum to Iran or assist
Iran with its domestic refining capacity. It also
requires that American and foreign businesses that
seek contracts with the United States government
certify that they do not engage in prohibited business
with Iran.” (July 1, 2010).
Iran
must import the majority of its oil from foreign
corporations and nations, since it does not have the
technology needed to refine the fuel that it pumps
from its soil. By cutting this refined oil off, the
U.S. will be causing massive, irreparable damage to
the Iranian economy — equaling an act of war.
In
fact, war against
Japan
in
WWII was
sparked by very similar circumstances.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt spearheaded a
series of sanctions against Japan, which included the
Export Control Act, giving the President the power to
prohibit the export of a variety of materials to
Japan, including oil. This gave Roosevelt the legal
stance he needed to implement an
oil embargo, an
obvious act of war. Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor
simply brought the war out of the economic realm into
the military sphere.
Iran
is facing the exact same situation. Whereas the Obama
Administration calmly portrays economic sanctions as
“peaceful” solutions to political problems, they are
anything but. The strategy here is to economically
attack Iran until it responds militarily, giving the
U.S. a fake
moral high ground
to “defend” itself, since the other side supposedly
attacked first.
But
the U.S. is provoking militarily too. According to
the New York Times: “The Obama administration is
accelerating the deployment of new defenses against
possible Iranian missile attacks in the
Persian Gulf,
placing special ships [war ships] off the Iranian
coast and antimissile systems in at least four
[surrounding] Arab countries, according to
administration and military officials.” (January 30,
2010).
The
same article mentions that U.S.
General Petraeus
admitted that, “… the United States was now keeping
Aegis cruisers on patrol in the Persian Gulf [Iran’s
border] at all times. Those cruisers are equipped with
advanced radar and antimissile systems designed to
intercept medium-range missiles.” Iran, as well as the
whole world, knows full well that “antimissile
systems” are perfectly capable of going on the
offensive — their real purpose.
Iran
is completely surrounded by countries occupied by the
U.S. military, whether it be the mass occupation in
Iraq and
Afghanistan,
or the U.S. puppet states that house U.S. military
bases in
Arab nations
(not to mention Zionist
Israel, a U.S.
cohort in its war aims against Iran). Contrary to the
statements of
President Obama,
Iran is already well contained militarily.
It
remains to be seen how closely U.S. allies will follow
the new oil sanctions; they will be under tremendous
pressure to do so. The
European Union has already signaled that
it will follow Obama’s lead.
Ultimately, the march to war begun by Bush is picking
up momentum under Obama. Congressional Democrats and
Republicans gave the President their overwhelming
support in passing these sanctions, proving that the
two party system agrees to the necessity of more
war.
Uniting the U.S. anti-war movement is crucial if
current and
future wars are
to be stopped. A step in this direction will take
place at the
National Peace Conference,
in
Albany, New York,
July 23-25.
(http://nationalpeaceconference.org/Home_Page.html).
Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade
unionist, and writer for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org).
He can be reached at
shamuscooke@gmail.com
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