Iran, quick notes:
1. Call now, write now to stop war with Iran. First time? Scripts available: http://act.winwithoutwar.org/
2. All out tomorrow (Sat. Jan 4) to stop war with Iran and get troops out of Iraq. Check the listing for a city near you: https://www.codepink.org/
3. Two years ago, when I got back on Facebook after an eight-year hiatus, my very first post was from retired Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, one of the few top people from the Bush era to fully own our crimes and not just say "Mistakes were made." I re-share his piece here from Feb. 2018 (https://www.nytimes.com/20…/…
4. I support impeachment, but let's remember that our war-making is the larger crime (I get the narrow Ukraine-gate legal strategy; I don't believe condemnation should be zero-sum or "what about?"; it should be equal opportunity condemnation). Analogously, let's remember Watergate was pretty "small potatoes" compared to Cambodia/Laos/Vietnam (https://chomsky.info/
5. "Wag the Dog" anyone? Great flick (1997).
6. Can't call or march or protest? Donate to AboutFace (https://aboutfaceveterans.
VeteransForPeace (https://www.veteransforpeace.
7. To argue against war with Iran is not to argue that Iran is a good actor. Iran certainly has its own transgressions. But, a, our transgressions in the region are far, far greater (plus it's not our region in the first place); we are the worse actor. And b, the biggest threat Iran poses is to its own people (see the protests a couple weeks ago or in 2009, for instance). But, let's not pretend we give a damn about the Iranian people. I wish we did, but history proves otherwise.
8. To condemn the extrajudicial targeted assassination of Suleimani is not even to defend his career or policy (in Iran, in Syria, in Iraq, or elsewhere). But, it is to uphold the rule of law, to not escalate into war, and to have perspective (consider our "Suleimanis" over the years).
9. There are many easily accessible histories of Iran and US-Iran relations (One example: https://theintercept.com/…/
a. at the behest of the UK and the precursor company to British Petroleum, the CIA helped overthrow the democratically elected Mohammed Mossadegh, 1953.
b. For 26 years, we fully supported the dictator, Shah, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, until he was thrown out by the mullahs/new dictators we didn't like.
c. In the Iran-Iraq war, 1980s, we gave Saddam Hussein (remember him?) chemical weapons to use against Iran. But, playing both sides, we also gave Iran weapons in that nifty Iran-Contra scheme.
d. In the 1980s, my former employer shot down an Iranian passenger jet, Iran Air Flight 655, killing 290 civilians on board. We said it was accidental (I'll give the benefit of the doubt that it was), but our war-like posture that led to it was not accidental, and we never apologized.
e. In 2002, we said Iran was part of an "axis of evil." Declassified and leaked documents show that Pentagon planners (and business partners) have been salivating at the prospect of war with Iran for decades. This put it back on our radar: "Iran is evil."
f. Economic sanctions and warfare against the Iranian people for the past two decades: a tried and true strategy used in Chile, e.g., to make its "economy scream" (H. Kissinger).
g. Positive step: Iran nuclear deal, 2015
h. Despite international observers and even our own intelligence community reports that the deal was working relatively well, President Trump pulls out of the nuclear deal, 2018. Who is the "rogue state"? (https://www.jacobinmag.com/…/
i. Military and economic squeezing of Iran in the meantime, with the help of UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. With the goal of external or internal provocation. This is classic "how-you-start-a-war."
10. The masters of war in these United States of Amnesia are counting on us not caring, not acting, not knowing our history. Let's prove them wrong!
11. After stopping this one, let's rebuild this movement so it's not just reactive: https://www.thenation.com/…/
12. Speaking of "masters of war," a little Dylan to take us out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
(13. Time to write this? On paternity leave and Caroline napping, believe it or not.
14. Thanks, Dad, and maybe one other, for making it this far. Love, T)
Addendum:https://nonzero.org/post/suleimani-assassination-moralism
1. Call now, write now to stop war with Iran. First time? Scripts available: http://act.winwithoutwar.org/
2. All out tomorrow (Sat. Jan 4) to stop war with Iran and get troops out of Iraq. Check the listing for a city near you: https://www.codepink.org/
3. Two years ago, when I got back on Facebook after an eight-year hiatus, my very first post was from retired Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, one of the few top people from the Bush era to fully own our crimes and not just say "Mistakes were made." I re-share his piece here from Feb. 2018 (https://www.nytimes.com/20…/…
4. I support impeachment, but let's remember that our war-making is the larger crime (I get the narrow Ukraine-gate legal strategy; I don't believe condemnation should be zero-sum or "what about?"; it should be equal opportunity condemnation). Analogously, let's remember Watergate was pretty "small potatoes" compared to Cambodia/Laos/Vietnam (https://chomsky.info/
5. "Wag the Dog" anyone? Great flick (1997).
6. Can't call or march or protest? Donate to AboutFace (https://aboutfaceveterans.
VeteransForPeace (https://www.veteransforpeace.
7. To argue against war with Iran is not to argue that Iran is a good actor. Iran certainly has its own transgressions. But, a, our transgressions in the region are far, far greater (plus it's not our region in the first place); we are the worse actor. And b, the biggest threat Iran poses is to its own people (see the protests a couple weeks ago or in 2009, for instance). But, let's not pretend we give a damn about the Iranian people. I wish we did, but history proves otherwise.
8. To condemn the extrajudicial targeted assassination of Suleimani is not even to defend his career or policy (in Iran, in Syria, in Iraq, or elsewhere). But, it is to uphold the rule of law, to not escalate into war, and to have perspective (consider our "Suleimanis" over the years).
9. There are many easily accessible histories of Iran and US-Iran relations (One example: https://theintercept.com/…/
a. at the behest of the UK and the precursor company to British Petroleum, the CIA helped overthrow the democratically elected Mohammed Mossadegh, 1953.
b. For 26 years, we fully supported the dictator, Shah, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, until he was thrown out by the mullahs/new dictators we didn't like.
c. In the Iran-Iraq war, 1980s, we gave Saddam Hussein (remember him?) chemical weapons to use against Iran. But, playing both sides, we also gave Iran weapons in that nifty Iran-Contra scheme.
d. In the 1980s, my former employer shot down an Iranian passenger jet, Iran Air Flight 655, killing 290 civilians on board. We said it was accidental (I'll give the benefit of the doubt that it was), but our war-like posture that led to it was not accidental, and we never apologized.
e. In 2002, we said Iran was part of an "axis of evil." Declassified and leaked documents show that Pentagon planners (and business partners) have been salivating at the prospect of war with Iran for decades. This put it back on our radar: "Iran is evil."
f. Economic sanctions and warfare against the Iranian people for the past two decades: a tried and true strategy used in Chile, e.g., to make its "economy scream" (H. Kissinger).
g. Positive step: Iran nuclear deal, 2015
h. Despite international observers and even our own intelligence community reports that the deal was working relatively well, President Trump pulls out of the nuclear deal, 2018. Who is the "rogue state"? (https://www.jacobinmag.com/…/
i. Military and economic squeezing of Iran in the meantime, with the help of UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. With the goal of external or internal provocation. This is classic "how-you-start-a-war."
10. The masters of war in these United States of Amnesia are counting on us not caring, not acting, not knowing our history. Let's prove them wrong!
11. After stopping this one, let's rebuild this movement so it's not just reactive: https://www.thenation.com/…/
12. Speaking of "masters of war," a little Dylan to take us out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
(13. Time to write this? On paternity leave and Caroline napping, believe it or not.
14. Thanks, Dad, and maybe one other, for making it this far. Love, T)
Addendum:https://nonzero.org/post/suleimani-assassination-moralism
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