The US War Against Iran

Samir writes:

First, thanks for all the wonderful work you put out. I think you’ve pretty perfectly explained what a nightmare and crime it would be to do what we plan to do (and apparently have DONE given the spydrones) in Iran. My question is: when this really gets serious, will the public and Congress really approve another ill-advised and insane war?

As I wrote in last week’s column, I don’t believe a ground invasion is currently in the offing. The Bushists plan “surgical airstrikes” (either directly or using Israel as our proxy) against Iranian military targets. But as I also wrote then, Iran will likely counterattack against Israel. War will begin, and both sides will be able to argue that the other started it. In my opinion, however, it’s clear that the blame for escalating tensions is 99% the White House’s. Iran, after all, has been asking for full diplomatic relations with the US for years and even provided military assistance to the US in its war against the Taliban in 2001-02.
Will the US public go along? At the beginning, yes. It’s reflexive; Americans fall into line when war begins and start expressing their doubts once it’s underway. Stupid, yes, but history shows that what we do. The drumbeat for war against Iran will be assisted by our recent history, namely the hostage crisis, which many ignorant members of the electorate view as as-yet unavenged humiliation. “Finish the job,” they’ll cry; never mind that the Ayatollah Kholmeini is dead or that the Carter Administration sparked the crisis by admitting the hated Shah to the US (in the Panama Canal Zone, I believe).

If Iran draws blood in retaliation to our current transgressions, they could make it easy. But if they don’t, does the White House cabal really have the currency to pull this off? My thinking is they have
this brief shining glow of the “wins” of the Iraqi election and they’re trying to get their work done now before we remember how miserable the Iraqi situation actually is. But in any scenario, I have to hope there’s some line the public won’t let George cross.

We all hope that. But if the Nazi experience is any guide, there probably isn’t. The American people, after all, sat on their hands while Bush bullied his way into a presidency he clearly lost. Once you lose your democracy, you’re no longer vested in what your leaders do.

Mathew writes:

Sending aircraft over a country is provocative behaviour (I seem to remember that this was actually being talked about some weeks ago), although if the aircraft are not armed this is slightly less so. The country involved would, of course, be fully entitled to defend its airspace by shooting the aircraft down. However, this is not an act of war. That, surely, would involve some damage to life or property. It seems clear that the U.S. government is planning to damage life and property in Iran, but those plans may be shelved or derailed. I hope so, anyway.

Mathew, you’ve been reading American state media for far too long. A foreign nation sends a military plane into your airspace. That’s an invasion. If Mexico or Canada did that to us, we’d probably attack them. It would certainly be a major crisis. The only reason Iran has to suck it up is because we’re a superpower and they’re not; we can hit them and they can’t hit us. But it’s still an act of war.

John writes:

1) It’s frightening that so many people think that criticizing Bush is criticizing America, and 2), That so many Americans completely discount our aggressive actions. I picture a stranger barging into my house, splattering everything with paint, then berating me for not being grateful to be liberated from my bad taste.

The United States is one of the few great (former) democracies to have liberated itself from its former colonial power without a real revolution, one that redistributed power and wealth. As such we have no national personality that causes us to rebel in any meaningful way. Italy, for instance, has seen four general strikes since 2001. We haven’t had one since 1947. And because we don’t reflexively distrist authority as do the citizens of intelligent countries, we reflexively trust it. We have a lot of German ancestry, and the Cult of the Leader is not foreign to us.

Alan Keyes, Violent Loony

Berl writes:

Regarding your entry about Alan Keyes: I looked up the original source of his comment, and it seemed clear to me that he wasn’t seriously proposing that you be shot or arrested – he was making it clear, clumsily, that he sees you as dangerously disloyal to your nation. Your paraphrasing of his remarks was technically accurate, but not truthful. It was an intellectually – and, I suspect, intentionally – dishonest attempt to make Keyes look like a rabid, violent loony. It makes me wonder about the truthfulness of your work as a whole.

I stand by my previous comments. I welcome everybody to Google the original source of his essay about me, comments that sparked condemnation from a variety of politically neutral sources and free speech advocates. Substitute the words “President Bush” for “Ted Rall” throughout the essay and I guarantee you that Keyes would have faced a very uncomfortable visit from the Secret Service. I read a lot of political invective, but I have rarely if ever seen this kind of “won’t someone rid me of this meddlesome priest?” rhetoric. But that’s my opinion, and others can and will see things differently. And yeah, I’m extremely biased when it comes to whether or not I should be shot, jailed, or censored by the government (Keyes explicitly called for the last). Keyes is a violent loony, and as such should be jailed and/or censored by the government…oh. Never mind.

Pat Tillman Again

Mark writes:

Why do you have to be such an asshole??? Before the Muslim murderers killed almost 3000 people on September 11 you were a really funny guy. Since then you’ve become just as big an asshole as The Ditzy Chicks, Streisand, Baldwin and that dumbass Springsteen (whom I used to really respect until he showed his asshole colors),

So I was funny when I was mean to Bill Clinton. But when I’m mean to the guy Mark voted for, I’m an asshole. That’s what cuts it for me; people who relate humor to their partisan politics. Dude, I haven’t changed but the country sure has. Concentration camps are but one small clue.

You’ve insulted Pete Tillman and his family. Tillman may have done something that a materialistic little prick like you and your friends might not understand, but that’s what made him an honorable man. That’s probably something that you don’t have the testosterone to understand.

Yes, Tillman gave up a $3.6 million football contract to go kill Iraqis and Afghans. This is cited as evidence of principle and integrity, and I suppose that within a narrow band of ideological imagination it is. But he fought and died for an evil cause under a lying, thieving dictator who stole the presidency because the people refused to elect him to it. Yes, he sacrificed money for that “principle.” But the cause was wrong, which should have made his decision directly the opposite: to stay home and care for his family. Tillman is an American tragedy, at best a man who made a stupid decision that got him killed for Bush’s oil cronies, at worst a violent thug who wanted to kill Muslims after 9/11–any Muslims, anywhere–rather than go after the real criminals in Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Tillman was used, and he should have known he would be used by the right-wing extremists to justify their illegal invasions. That’s the beauty of a volunteer army: it’s voluntary. And these days, NO ONE SHOULD VOLUNTEER. That’s the point of my work about Tillman.

You ran a ‘toon last summer about running dead American soldiers through garden mulchers.

Well, not quite. What I was showing was the Bushies’ attitude toward veterans. But whatever. And now on to that staple of right-wing letter writing, the violent threat (why are they all like this?):

Keep your eyes peeled out for one of those Iraq War veterans. Just in case you didn’t know, I made sure that several thousand of those guys got to see that shitty little cartoon of yours on the same day. A lot of them are going to be coming back to the states here in the next few weeks. Maybe the papers will be carrying a story about your encounter with one of those Proud, Honorable, Brave & now Battle Hardened Veterans. I surely figure the odds are that you are going to get some kind feedback from the people that you have insulted.

Either that or they’ll be writing me, as they do every day, to say that Iraq is bullshit and that the people don’t want us there and that I was absolutely right. Either way. But it’s nice of you to show a cartoon that you’re sure would offend the soldiers to “thousands” of them. Because, unlike me, Mark really cares about the troops.

Now you want to call President Bush a racist today. Don’t you know that the Democrats are the real racists in this country? I figured you didn’t. You and that piece of shit Howard Dean can go to hell with your liberal politics and anti-American attitudes.

Bush belongs to an all-white club in Texas. Ergo, by definition, he’s a racist. Q.E.D.

You can count on the fact that I’ll never look at you in a positive way again. No money out of me for any of your shit.

Yeah, I’m sure Mark used to buy my books and read me every day.