- Since Iran's 1979 revolution and US hostage crisis, Washington's
been spoiling for a fight. The Carter administration considered invading
and seizing its oil fields.
-
- Washington exploited Iran/Iraq tensions and encouraged
Saddam Hussein to attack. Earlier Iran's Shah was supported. After 1979,
US foreign policy shifted.
-
- The Carter Doctrine pledged Middle East military intervention
if US interests were threatened. Reagan escalated Carter policies short
of committing US forces in combat. Saddam then got US backing. A decade
of war followed. America pretended support for both sides, but mostly gave
it to Iraq.
-
- US/Iranian relations remain tense. Washington's sought
regime change in Tehran for years. Various confrontational tactics include
on and off saber rattling, sanctions, and direct meddling in Iran's internal
affairs, perhaps including covert US Special Forces and CIA operatives
there causing trouble.
-
- Why not? They do it in dozens of countries globally,
using death squads and other destabilizing tactics.
-
- Washington also makes baseless accusations of anti-US
involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. It calls Tehran a threat to world
peace, saying its commercial nuclear program plans nuclear weapons development.
Unmentioned is Israel's known arsenal and willingness to use it preemptively.
-
- US media scoundrels regurgitate official lies and suppress
vital truths. New York Times writers and commentators play lead roles.
The latest alleged plot is laughable on its face. But it's headline news
across America, including on The Times' front page, saying "US Accuses
Iranians of Plotting to Kill Saudi Envoy."
-
- What's explained sounds more like a bad film plot, saying:
-
- Washington "accused Iranian officials of plotting
to murder Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States (Adel al-Jubeir)
in a bizarre scheme involving an Iran-American used-car salesman who believed
he was hiring assassins from a Mexican drug cartel for $1.5 million."
-
- Also allegedly involved were plans to bomb Israel's Washington
embassy and Saudi and Israeli embassies in Argentina.
-
- But there's more, a "side deal" said The Times
between Iran's Revolutionary Guard (its elite military unit) and Mexico's
Los Zetas drug cartel to smuggle opium from the Middle East to Mexico.
-
- The alleged plans "never progressed," perhaps
because there were none, just baseless accusations to further heighten
US/Iranian tensions and get hawkish congressional members to call for direct
confrontation.
-
- On October 11, Attorney General Eric Holder said:
-
- "Today, the Department of Justice is announcing
charges against two people who allegedly attempted to carry out a deadly
plot that was directed by factions of the Iranian government to assassinate
a foreign ambassador here in the United States."
-
- Accused were Manssor Arbabsair, a naturalized US citizen
holding an Iranian passport, and Gholam Shakuri, an Iranian-based member
of its Revolutionary Guard Quds Force. On September 29, Arbabsair was arrested.
Shakuri is still at large.
-
- "The complaint alleges that this conspiracy was
conceived, sponsored and directed from Iran and constitutes a flagrant
violation of US and international law...."
-
- Besides charging Arbabsir and Shakuri, Holder also said
Washington "is committed to holding Iran accountable for its actions."
-
- Both men are charged with "conspiracy to murder
a foreign official, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, and
conspiracy to commit an act of international terrorism, among other charges."
-
- According to Holder, they met a "confidential informant
from the Drug Enforcement Administration" in Mexico last May, posing
as a drug cartel member.
-
- The Washington Post said the "confidential DEA source
(called "the Mexican") was described in court papers only as
a paid informant who was once charged in the United States with a drug
offense. The charges were dropped (in return for his) provid(ing) valuable
information in a number of (sting) cases...."
-
- Allegedly, Arbasair wired $100,000 to a US bank account
"as a down payment for the attempted assassination." Holder also
claimed he confessed and provided "other valuable information"
with no corroborating evidence to prove what's clearly an Obama administration
plot to file bogus charges and heighten tensions with Iran.
-
- In fact, Arbabsiar's lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, said her
client will plead not guilty if indicted. Apparently he denies involvement
despite Holder claiming he confessed.
-
- Iran's UN ambassador Mohammad Khazaee said his nation
is "outraged" about clearly baseless charges. In a strongly worded
letter to UN Secretary-General Ban K-moon, he wrote:
-
- Iran "strongly and categorically rejects these fabricated
and baseless allegations based on the suspicious claims by an individual."
-
- President Armadinejad's spokesman Ali Akbar Javanfekr
said:
-
- "The US government and the CIA have very good experience
in making up film scripts....It appears that this new scenario is for diverting
the US public opinion from internal crises," suggesting it's connected
to diluting ongoing anti-Wall Street protests across America.
-
- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast
called Holder's accusations a "new propaganda campaign" involving
a "prefabricated scenario."
-
- Hillary Clinton said Washington is "actively engaged
in a very concerted diplomatic outreach to many capitals" to counter
Iran's denial. She added that the issue has "potential for international
reaction that will further isolate Iran," stopping short of calling
for direct action.
-
- Congressional hawks and America's right wing media do
it often on their own.
-
- An October 11 Wall Street Journal editorial called the
plot "a sobering wake-up call" in America's "war on terror."
-
- "Had it succeeded, (it) arguably (would have been)
an act of war....The appalling news needs to be placed in the broader context
of Iran's behavior," involving "conspiracy to commit international
terrorism....It's past time for US policy toward Iran to reflect the reality
of what it is dealing with."
-
- Obama "underscored that the United States believes
this plot to be a flagrant violent of US and international law, and reiterated
(his) commitment to meet our responsibilities to ensure the security of
diplomats serving in our country."
-
- Bill Clinton called the accusations "well-founded."
-
- The extremist right-wing Heritage Foundation's foreign
policy director James Carafino called the alleged scheme "a belligerent
act against the US (that) as such would call for a proportional military
response."
-
- A more sober Stratfor Global Intelligence called the
plot "far-fetched." Cautioning against claims against Iran, founder
and CEO George Friedman said doing so "involve(s) substantial political
risk."
-
- "Iran has been known to carry out preoperational
surveillance in the United States, but it has not yet used this intelligence
to carry out a high-profile attack."
-
- He added that Iran has nothing to gain from committing
a terror attack on US soil and everything to lose.
-
- Former Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
PJ Crowley commented in the London Guardian, calling the alleged plot "far-fetched....(O)n
the face of it (it's) so fantastic that it begs a disclaimer....It's unclear
how much Iran would stand to gain by sanctioning or supporting this plot."
-
- Former CIA case officer Robert Baer said "the Quds
are better than this. It they wanted to come after you, you'd be dead already."
-
- Alireza Nader, Rand Corporation Iran specialist, asked
"Why would Iran want to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington?
(The plot) would be outside the norm."</blockquote>
-
- Congressional Reaction
-
- Senator Joseph Lieberman (Indep. Dem. CT) called the
alleged plot a "profound threat posed by the Iranian regime and the
reach of its terrorist activities to American soil."
-
- Senator Saxby Chambliss (R. GA) said "In addition
to allegedly sponsoring this plot, Iran has supported and provided weapons
for attacks on our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. This has continued
far too long with no repercussions."
-
- Rep. Peter King (R. NY) said "Iran's assassination
of a foreign diplomat in our country would have violated both US and international
law, and represented an act of war."
-
- Rep. Michael McCaul (R. TX) said if true "this would
constitute an act of war not only against the Saudis and Israelis but against
the United States as well."
-
- Rep. Ted Poe (R. TX) on Fox News called the alleged plot
"an act of war against the United States."
-
- A Final Comment
-
- A May 2011 study by New York University's School of Law
Center for Human Rights and Global Justice headlined, "Targeted and
Entrapped: Manufacturing the 'Homegrown Threat' in the United States."
-
- It discussed what this writer's featured in dozens of
past articles on Muslim Americans victimized by false accusations.
-
- It explained how, post-9/11, entrapment by FBI plants
led to prosecutions of over 200 individuals on bogus terrorism related
charges. Washington highlights them as proof of foiling plots that, in
fact, never existed.
-
- Nearly always innocent Muslims are targeted for their
faith and ethnicity for political advantage. Major media scoundrels regurgitate
official lies, pretending they're accurate accounts of foiled plots.
-
- That none ever succeeded is reason enough to suggest
none existed, but media reports leave that unexplained, let alone the implausibility
of some charges.
-
- They included blowing up Chicago's Sears Tower, destroying
New York landmarks, targeting US soldiers at Fort Dix, NJ, US marines at
Quantico, VA, downing National Guard aircraft with stinger missiles, and
a Pakistan ambassador's with a surface to air one.
-
- Not a shred of evidence provided proof, just the word
of FBI informants well paid to entrap and lie, then get America's media
to repeat them without questioning the validity of any charges.
-
- The likelihood that any country, let alone Iran, would
plan terror plots on US soil is preposterous on its face. Cui bono is issue
one. Clearly, Iran has nothing to gain and everything to lose by plotting
what Holder charged.
-
- Yet political Washington and major media scoundrels highlight
baseless accusations without demanding clear proof they're true. There
is none except for what a DEA agent plant (a former felon) and Holder claim.
-
- It's their word against common sense, suggesting the
implausibility of what they charge. It also highlight's iconic radical
journalist IF Stone (1907 - 1989) saying:
-
- "All governments are run by liars and nothing they
say should be believed."
-
- With his own in Washington in mind, he taught that to
young journalism students, suggesting they paste it on their bathroom mirrors
so not to forget.
-
- It makes sense, as well as avoiding major media liars
and using reliable online sites for real information and analysis.
-
- Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
-
- Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and
listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive
Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central
time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy
listening.
-
- http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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