(10:00AM EST – promoted by Nightprowlkitty)
SAHIMI:There is also no question in my mind that at the bottom the issue is that, as you pointed out, both the United States and Israel do not want Iran to become a major regional power. But Iran is already a major regional power: its enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq have been eliminated; it is on the verge of having complete uranium enrichment technology; it’s making $100 billion a year from exporting its oil; it has a dynamic population of 75 million, two-thirds of whom are below the age of thirty; it has a very highly dynamic and educated population, as a matter of fact, and it is sitting in the most strategic area of the world [inaudible] on the shores of Persian Gulf, where 70 percent of all the oil produced by Middle East passes through Strait of Hormuz that is controlled by Iran. So Iran is already a major regional power.
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Iran is not Iraq. Iranian nationalism is extremely strong. If Iran is attacked by the United States and/or Israel, Iran will respond and retaliate in a very dramatic fashion. Unlike what some neocons recently said, like Patrick Clawson and people like him, Iran has full capability for retaliation. And if Iran does retaliate-and I believe it will retaliate if it is attacked-then the whole region will be engulfed in war and blood, and will spread to the rest of the world. This is not what we want. As peaceful people, this is what we want: what we want is to keep that region away from the confrontation between Iran, Israel, and the United States. And the only way to do that is not to threaten Iran, but rather to negotiate with Iran; the way to do it is not to threaten militarily or impose sanctions on Iran, rather to negotiate with Iran. I think Iranian leaders, as bad as they might be internally, are interested in negotiating and reaching a solution with the United States and through the United States with Israel. And I think we should take that path and try to reach an agreement in Iran.
Muhammad Sahimi is the NIOC Chair in petroleum engineering and professor of chemical engineering & materials science at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. In addition to his scientific research, which has resulted in over 270 published papers and five books, Muhammad has written extensively on Iran’s political development and its nuclear program. In particular, Muhammad has concentrated on the legal and technical aspects of the dispute between Iran and the Western powers regarding Iran’s nuclear energy program. He is a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists, an organization dedicated to making the public aware of the dangers of weapons of mass destruction, as well as polluting the environment.
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will eventually acquire nuclear technology just as all of them at one time or another in the past acquired fire. There is no way to stop this eventual development, short of stifling and blocking scientific and technological progress, nor would anyone who isn’t living their life quivering in fear of life want to. That has been tried in the past. One of the results was the dark ages.
This is the real reason for wanting to attack Iran – to keep them weak enough to be able to continue the foreign policy of greed that has been pursued by successive US administrations for nearly a century. Every other reason advanced by those who want to attack Iran now is smokescreen. The people who want to attack Iran want to do so because they are terrified that unless they do so now Iran will grow strong enough to fight back if attacked.
of US hegemony vs multi-polarity (regional power coalitions). I think the US will go on threatening any country that challenges our hegemony – especially if control over important resources (ie, oil) are involved. We’re on a clear disaster course unless that kind of thinking is changed.
And haven’t China and Russia said that if the US and/or Israel attack Iran that they will defend Iran?
It’s always about OIL, the dwindling supply and the conversion of the oil market away from dollars and towards the Euro is the REASON for the war in Iraq and the saber rattling towards Iran.
The excuses are many: weapons of mass destruction, Saddam’s imminent threat to the U.S., Liberation of the Iraqi people, War on Terror, Fight them there…, Yellow Cake, Booga Booga Boo!!
It’s about who controls the flow of the remaining oil. Saddam was poised to shift his oil revenue futures to the Euro in 2000, seemingly for no economically sensible reason except to kick the U.S. in the nuts with his one remaining foot for insisting on another decade of sanctions.
http://www.globalpolicy.org/na…
Seems we cannot control the world oil supply without Iran’s cooperation, so how can a despot like Bush bully his way into controlling the future flow of oil if Iran becomes a nuclear power? I suppose Mr. Bush is willing to sacrifice another 4000+ American lives to prevent that from happening.
Anyone know where I can buy a bumper mounted windmill to charge the propulsion batteries in my car while I coast down hills?
Anyone know why T. Boone gets away with claiming the solution to high gas prices is to replace coal, nat-gas and nuclear derived electricity with wind power? As if electricity is produced by oil??? WTF? No one asks the right questions, unless it’s Katie Couric asking Obama (and ONLY Obama) what it is he’s not good at.