We cannot allow the Bush administration to use the “war on terrorism” or its brand of “democracy” as an excuse to attack Iran, whether with sanctions or military force.
Iran has not attacked anyone. The claims that Iran is developing nuclear weapons are no more believable than the claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction before the U.S. invasion.
The truth is that many in U.S. ruling circles, particularly the U.S.-based oil multinationals who have such good friends in the Bush-Cheney White House, have never accepted Iran’s nationalization of its oil industry in 1951 under then-Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh.
It is widely acknowledged that the U.S. orchestrated a 1953 coup d’etat that removed Mossadegh. The multinationals are now busy trying to dismantle Iraq’s state-owned oil industry and steal that country’s oil wealth. They would love nothing more than to do the same with Iran. The more oil they grab, the more money they can make.
Every time Bush talks tough on Iran or Iraq, the price of oil stock goes up. The price at the pump for Americans goes up even more. Americans know that all of these “wars for oil” are wars for oil profits.
It is up to the Iraqi and Iranian people to decide, however, what they will do with their oil and who their leaders should be.
Differences among nations must be resolved through diplomacy. Shoot-first-and-think-later policies are disastrous, as we see in Iraq. By contrast, negotiations have proven very successful on North Korea’s nuclear weapons issues.
It’s shocking that this administration, which so outrageously misled the public before, would try to do it again. But if we don’t speak out loud and clear, they could get away with it, again. Contact your senators and representatives and the presidential candidates now, and tell them “No war with Iran. We want a new foreign policy based on diplomacy and international cooperation.”
Comments