What goes for governance, diplomacy in 21st century Washington

DRONE
Washington's preferred
Weapon of mass destruction

The prosecutable and the scot-free

Edited, re-reported with brief comment by Carolyn Bennett

Iranian author and political analyst Ismail Salami has responded to the latest misguided, precedent-keeping “Axis of Evil-istic weapons-of-mass-destruction” declarations from another government in power. “Isn’t it strange,” Ismail Salami writes, “that Iran, which has long been a victim of terror and assassinations, should become a target of baseless U.S. allegations.”

Center image Iran - Britannica

Reuters reported yesterday U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s allegations that Iran had backed “a plot to kill Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington.”  The Attorney General further claimed the alleged plot “was the work of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is the guardian of Iran’s 32-year-old revolution, and the Quds force, its covert, operational arm.”

Convenient criminals — Allegations of convenience

History of covert operations against Iranians

“Apart from sabotaging the nuclear program in Iran,” Ismail Salami continued, “Washington has shamelessly engaged in a series of assassinations against Iranian nuclear scientists.

DRONE

“In 2010, nuclear scientist Massoud Ali Mohammadi was killed by a remote-controlled bomb in Tehran.

“On November 29, 2010, two other scientists were targeted by bombs that hit their cars in the capital. The assailants on motorcycles had stuck magnetized bombs to the victims’ cars.

“Professor Majid Shahriari was killed on the spot. Dr. Fereydoun Abbasi and his wife sustained minor injuries and were taken to a hospital. Citing French Weekly Le Canard, the Jerusalem Post carried a report “that Mossad [the national intelligence agency of Israel] had conducted the assassinations — ‘with the help of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Britain’s Secret Service, MI6.’”

In a Republican debate this year in Iowa, “[F]ormer U.S. Gov. Tim Pawlenty spoke venomously in favor of attacking [Iran] and boldly lauded the ‘good works’ of the U.S. government in assassinating Iranian scientists and the ‘good work’ of creating the Stuxnet computer virus — confirming that “the USA was behind all those atrocities.”

Now in a full-bore campaign for the U.S. presidency and tens of thousands of protesters on U.S. streets, the current government has drawn the wagons in an easy image: evil axis-foreign weapons-of-mass-destruction, continuing Washington’s strategy of “demonizing and isolating the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Rabid “diplomacy”

“‘It’s critically important that we unite the world in the isolation of and dealing with the Iranians,” Salami quotes the U.S. vice president. “‘That’s the surest way to be able to get results.’

Region targeted and in conflict 

“[Adding] more fuel to Iranophobia,” Ismail Salami writes, “U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on other countries to work together against what is becoming a ‘clearer and clearer threat’ from Iran. Referencing the “‘minds of many [unnamed] diplomats and government officials,’” the secretary reportedly said the alleged plot “‘crosses a line that Iran needs to be held to account for.’

“Some pundits believe  the U.S. move will put Iran in the forefront of global hatred [but] this will never happen,” Salami concludes, “as the U.S. and … Israel have already played similar games about Iran over and over again. … What the U.S. government has done to the Iranian nation is not easy to forget …”

Land between Iran and Russia
Azerbaijan

“Implausible” charge

Meanwhile, former U.S. CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency Officer Philip Giraldi is reported to be questioning the U.S. allegations that Iran was planning to wage terror attacks in the United States. Giraldi told Press TV he does not “‘understand how an allegedly sophisticated plot …would involve a drug gang from Mexico. It just doesn’t make any sense.’”

Calling the reports “‘implausible,’” Giraldi said he hopes the American public will “be skeptical about the allegations.”

Ghosts never die

Guantanamo prisoners 2002

Finally, under the heading of unfinished business of presidential atrocities, Amnesty International today is urging Canadian authorities to arrest and prosecute former U.S. President George W. Bush for authorizing torture in his U.S.-led war on terror. 

The former president is expected to attend an October 20 economic summit in Surrey; and when he does, Amnesty’s Susan Lee says, Canada, under its international obligations, is required “to arrest and prosecute” the former head of state “given his responsibility for crimes under international law including torture.”

Sources and notes

“U.S. playing the Saudi envoy game,” October 12, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/204218.html

“Iranians charged in U.S. over assassination plot,” October 11, 2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/11/us-usa-security-iran-idUSTRE79A5E020111011WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters)

Ismail Salami

Iranian author and political analyst Ismail Salami has written several books and articles on the Middle East some of which have been translated into more than ten languages. His analyses may be found on other online publications such as Veterans Today, Media Monitors, Global Research, Opinion Maker, Palestine Chronicle, Dissident Voice, Foreign Policy Journal, Al-Ahram, Arab News, Salem News, Intifada Palestine, Iran Review, Counter Currents, Turkish Weekly Journal, Intrepid Report and Ramallah Online.

 “U.S. allegation of Iran plot ‘implausible.’” October 12, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/204065.html

“Amnesty urges Canada to arrest Bush II,” October 12, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/204211.html

Caption: Guantánamo prisoners 2002 Photo: picture-alliance/dpa Image may be subject to copyright, http://msrb.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/spanish-prosecutors-will-investigate-guantanamo-torture/

Map images Britannica
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