Tuesday, May 13, 2008

What is the Bush Administration after, really?

I am looking from the corner of my eye at the new saber rattlings against Iran, and I am totally baffled what the objective of the recent undiplomatic Western behavior is.

Here are some interesting views:

Us Misses Iran Opportunity
Dr Kaveh Esfandiari argues that in the light of Iran's recent contribution to de-escalating the tension between the Iraqi government and the shiite militia; the US has the best opportunity to resume direct talks with Iran. Instead, Bush is travelling to Egypt and Jordan to offer them candy and seek their alliance against Iran; thus raising the oil prices; locking Us out of nuclear negotiations; and most importantly diverting the world's attention from Israel's activities in the west bank.

IRAN: Can P5+1 Offer Break the Nuclear Stalemate?
Dr. Trita Parsi (the author of the award winning Treacherous Alliance: The secret dealings of Israel, Iran and the US) explains why the so called diplomacy of the "secret incentive package" offered by the P5+1 group is doomed to fail: First, because it is happening amidst an escalation of rhetoric between Washington and Tehran over allegations of Iranian meddling in Iraq, although Americans have officially retracted from these accusations. Second, because Iran has learned a lesson from previous negotiations that the security council does not keep their end of the bargain; and show little appreciation for inches given away by Iran. Parsi refers to the statements of several diplomats and politicians who regard this new pretense of diplomacy rather pessimistically, and blame Washington's behavior for the nuclear deadlock with Iran.

Iraq: The elusive Iranian Weapons
the LA Times correspondent Tina Susman in Baghdad: "A plan to show some alleged Iranian-supplied explosives to journalists last week in Karbala and then destroy them was cancelled after the United States realized none of them was from Iran. A U.S. military spokesman attributed the confusion to a misunderstanding that emerged after an Iraqi Army general in Karbala erroneously reported the items were of Iranian origin. When U.S. explosives experts went to investigate, they discovered they were not Iranian after all." These allegations, together with Iran protesting to US's killing innocent civilians in Basra, has further deadlocked the chance of negotiations over Iraq security.

Something tells me that not only should the Bush administration be taken to the Hague for crimes against humanity; but they should also be tried in the US for treason!




3 comments:

billie said...

i keep asking myself that question too- because it obviously isn't about peace and stability in the region. perhaps because russia is on the rise? or the ever elusive oil? it could be anything with them really- i mean they already make obscene profits from the iraq and afghanistan wars. not being a neo con- i am working on the issue as a normal person would-- and coming up short.

Naj said...

Betmo,

One cannot overlook the fact that Exon has reported 1.5 times more profit compared to last year.

These people KNOW that they will not get their hands on the Iranian land; or one drop of Iranian oil. Iran is a huge country; with 70 million people who are a)very young; and b)very educated; and c)very resilient (as they have had to be, growing under 30 years of sanctions, 30 years of theocracy, 30 years of adversity, and yet aspiring for the BEST; and having turned the country into a regional power despite all that.)

So, even aerial attacks on Iran will make but a dent. So I keep concluding that all this cold war is to finance the military and the oil industries in which the neo-cons are economically invested.

Utah Savage said...

I completely agree with you about the principals of the Bush Admin being tried as war criminals at the Hague. Our Congress has been unable to do anything since, while the democrats have a slim majority, they don't have enough support from the republicans to actually get any resolutions passed and can't even enforce the subpoenas passed to force Bush staffers to testify. It's a total mess. We are definitely in a "Throw the bums out" kind of mood here. It's why Obama is doing so well. He is the only one running for President who didn't vote for the war in Iraq. This war just may ruin our economy forever.

I doubt many of the players in the Bush administration will be doing any travel abroad, where they could be arrested and then tried for war crimes. And since we seem unable or unwilling to force anything, let alone enforce anything, I think they feel pretty safe.

I wrote a piece called "Let's Drop The Big One and See What Happens," (That is the name of a Randy Newman Song written long ago, but especially chilling today, because Bush seems just about that casual with his threats and posturing.

Naj, you're a brave woman to have read my latest post. I hope to see you back often. I'll check to see if the Randy Newman inspire post is still up. You might get a little insight into the non thinking of our current leaders.