Dear Folks,
I have been asked by a couple of people to convey some thoughts regarding the recent US decision to, once again, do Israel’s bidding and launch fresh attacks on Iran which, as of this writing, have resulted in the deaths of the Ayatollah, other Iranian leaders, perhaps hundreds of of Iranian school children and other civilians, with more to come, perhaps much more.
The response to this latest war of choice has been interesting; positive responses from the Iranian community on the streets of Los Angeles and from some members of the US Congress, along with endless prevarications from a White House which has long-ago stopped talking forthrightly to US citizens while promoting the view that US aggression constitutes some form of providential redemption and that what Israel wants is more important than what any of what remains of our multilateral frameworks can assimilate.
There has been tepid global response in support of the US-Israeli operation, response which recognizes, as we all probably should, that the Trump Administration has no interest in what any of us thinks about any of this. “Getting behind” the operation seems to be the only viable option even for sovereign governments which have seen for themselves the relentlessness of current US military operations, the single mindedness of this administration in advancing the joint US-Israeli agenda and, of course, the burning desire to keep the Epstein Files out of the headlines.
The relative success with which the US is currently achieving its objectives in Iran while mobilizing the “holy warriors” narrative should remind us that this trend has not run its course. The speed, surprise and violence characteristic of “Epic Fury” will not be limited to Iran which, despite some claims to the contrary, did not attack the US in the first instance.
Many expect Cuba to be next in line for a “righteous” assault. Whether or not, there will most assuredly be a “next.” The righteousness attached to this US will to “project force on a global scale” is rightly questioned, but the ability of the US to “sustain one fight after another” is not completely apparent, regardless of whether that fight has been provoked or merely chosen.
The US goal here is to remind the global community that while international law and multilateral cooperation may be crumbling, the law of force in the form of US-Israeli collaboration is locked and ready, more so than we have seen a military alliance in some time. This alliance is powerful, relentless, amoral, deceptive, abusive and largely non-negotiable.
The US will surely continue to “play act” its concern for Security Council resolutions and other manifestations of multilateralism. But this sustained attack on Iran and the growing number of sycophantic leaders who condemn not the US-Israeli aggression but only the Iranian response leads one to presume that, behind the veil of statecraft, concessions have been made which are only likely to accelerate the “nationalizing” of international law and its incumbent responsibilities.
For us, this is a tragic erosion that we will do all within our very limited powers to reverse. I have certainly had many concerns about the Iranian government in its current incarnation. But in the larger picture, it is aggression and war itself which are the greatest of all current threats to the human race. No amount of deceptive policy bravado or high- tech weaponry changes that equation. Those of us who witness this erosion must commit ourselves anew to shifting the arc of our current, dangerous narrative as best we are able.
gapwblog 