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THE U.S. v. Iran

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Mike Rozeff
Published : February 15th, 2012
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( 9 votes, 4/5 ) , 7 commentaries
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Category : Editorials

 

 

 

 

No matter what anyone says, Iran is not a threat to the U.S. and not even close to being a threat to the U.S. The forces of the U.S. are so extensive and so overwhelming on so many dimensions that for Iran to attack the U.S. would be sheer madness. The Iranians know this. The U.S. knows this. Israel knows this.


We know for a fact that Iran was unable to defeat Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).


Anyone with access to the internet can easily determine that Iran doesn’t stand a chance in a war with the U.S. Anyone who says or thinks that Iran is a threat to the U.S. that should be taken seriously is talking nonsense.


The Iranians cannot want war and do not want war with the U.S. There are absolutely no signs that the Iranians want or intend a war against the U.S. In fact, they have already absorbed a number of aggressive acts from Israel and the U.S. without any kind of retaliation.


If war breaks out, it won’t be Iran that has brought it on. It will be the U.S. The firing of the first shots or the triggering incident in such hostilities is beside the point.


The Iranians do not threaten any aggression against the U.S. They are not building up forces to attack the U.S. This is impossible for them. The distance between Tehran and New York is 6,121 miles. Tehran has no missiles that can traverse this distance. Its air force is outmoded. It has no bombers worthy of the name. It has some F-5 fighter aircraft. Their range is 870 miles. Iran has no fleet of ships that can cross oceans.


Iran has no reason for attacking the U.S. It has nothing to gain and everything to lose. It has no national interest at stake.


By the same token, the U.S. has no justifiable reason for attacking Iran because Iran is not doing anything that can remotely be construed as aggression against the U.S. Of course, the U.S. can always create an incident to convince gullible Americans that the U.S. must attack Iran.


If war breaks out between Iran and the U.S., the blame will lie squarely on one side, and that side is the U.S. The U.S. is pressuring and threatening Iran.


The public statements by the U.S. on Israel do not unambiguously suggest that the U.S. is reining in Israel as it should. For Obama to say that he wants a diplomatic solution is all well and good, but the fact is that he is not acting diplomatically by serving up one threat after another and tightening the screws on Iran. For Obama to say that he is moving in lockstep with Israel can be taken to mean that he is in control or that Israel is in control or that whatever Israel does meets with U.S. approval. Obama’s language is too ambiguous to be reassuring.


It is not even clear from Obama’s public statements that he even knows what he wants from Iran. He has said that he wants their assurance that they will not build a nuclear weapon. They’ve already said this many times, and the IAEA inspectors have access to Iran internally in order to verify it. According to a Wikipedia article, the Supreme Leader of Iran issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons: "Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued a fatwa saying the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons was forbidden under Islam. The fatwa was cited in an official statement by the Iranian government at an August 2005 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna."


The U.S. has a trumped up reason to attack Iran, which is that Iran might develop and produce a nuclear weapon at some point in the future. Even if it did, it still would not be a threat to the U.S. because the U.S. can retaliate with such overwhelming force. The U.S. has 10,600 nuclear warheads and bombs, with 7,982 deployed and 2,700 stockpiled. See here.


The U.S. Air Force operates 5,573 aircraft. A list of active U.S. Navy vessels takes up many pages. There are 285 ship battle forces. Further details are available here. The annual military budget of the U.S. is 100 times that of Iran. I have not taken the time to get the most accurate and up to date numbers that I could.


Any realistic comparison between Iran and the U.S. forces is going to reveal that Iran’s conventional armed forces would be utterly destroyed by the U.S. forces in a matter of days, weeks, or a few months. The notion of a fair fight would have to be extinguished from our vocabulary in such a match up. If the U.S. attacks Iran for any reason whatever, including the pretense that Iran has started a war against the U.S., it will be murder, pure and simple. The power of the U.S. is so overwhelming compared to Iran that Iran can be reduced to rubble without Iran doing any significant damage to the U.S. forces who might attack her.


Every statement that Iran makes about the use of force is a statement about retaliation against aggression from the U.S. Their threats are statements about how they might defend themselves. If one compares the strength and military experience of the two sides, it is crystal clear that Iran’s threats lack credibility. Whatever harms she might impose are minuscule compared to what the U.S. will do to Iran in a military campaign.


All the talk from those who keep harping on the "military option" or keeping all "options" on the table, which includes making war against Iran, is cruel and heartless talk. It is cold and hateful talk. It disguises the brutality of a U.S. attack. It makes it sound as if the U.S. is being reasonable and that it is being forced into exercising an option against its will. The reality is that the U.S. is applying all the force to Iran and already punishing her.


The "military option" is aggression against a people that has done nothing to America and shown no intention to begin aggressing against America. It is the same as the aggression against Iraq in 2003. It is the same as Germany’s aggression against Poland in 1939.


Whoever in the U.S. government may decide to exercise the "military option" against Iran will be a war criminal, just as surely as George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld are war criminals. (This, by the way, does not mean that I wish to see them executed or even imprisoned. But I would like to see them tried and convicted. I’d like to see them disgraced. I’d like to see them lose their pensions and perquisites. I’d like to see what they did aired in public.) As for Obama, his impeachment should be on the table because of a number of his actions, including the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki and the bombing of Libya. Should Obama bomb Iran, then he will have cemented his disgrace in U.S. history.


What is this country that is being talked about when the "military option" is being mentioned as a serious option? It is easy to find photos of Iran and its people, such as here. Here are some other views of Iran: They might help to counteract the abstract nature of the "military option" and the murder that it contemplates.


24hGold - THE U.S. v. Iran

24hGold - THE U.S. v. Iran

 

 

24hGold - THE U.S. v. Iran

24hGold - THE U.S. v. Iran


Michael S. Rozeff

 

 



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Michael S. Rozeff is a retired Professor of Finance living in East Amherst, New York. He is the author of the free e-book Essays on American Empire. He publishes regularly his ideas and analysis on www.LewRockwell.com . Copyright © 2009 by LewRockwell.com.
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Mr. Rozeff should be working for the U.S. State Dept. His assessment displays a humanity, compassion and practicality which has been conspicuously absent from not only US Gov't sources, but from the US big media as well. The fix is in and we are still be hammered with the "hate Iran' message so that the US and Israel can fulfill their agenda concerning Iran. People who pay attention to details regarding the Iranian situation usually wind up with the obvious question, "Why are we engaged in a terror war with Iran and seemingly preparing ourselves for a more serious and destructive conflict?" Professor Rozeff is correct: Iran has done nothing to deserve an embargo and a terrorist campaign which will ultimately wind up killing women and children exactly the way it did in Iraq. I couldn't agree more. At this point the only answer conceivable is that the fanatics and sociopaths in government want to have full control of not only Iran's natural resources, but of the entire region as well. Bush and Cheney and their crew of thugs should all be prosecuted for murder and secondly for their arrogance and hubris. Obama's policy, like Bush's, is shameful and cowardly. We have unquestioningly turned into the planet's bullies and are currently sowing a crop of death, destruction and despair amongst an innocent population who deserve none of it. Those who scream for the blood of innocents are usually those who are safely tucked away miles from the slaughter and destruction they so wantonly crave. This entire scenario reeks of a sociopathy which is terrifying in itself. These men who are propelling events should be locked away before any more people are hurt, homes destroyed and economies ruined and like all monstrous behavior, there comes the time when it unavoidably reaps what it has sown and what we are sowing for Iran could unleash a comeuppance for us even more devastating than the death and destruction we have been dealing out.
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This is not about a power struggle it is all about the USD and it's status as the world currency
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It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what is happening in this region of the world. In fact, a quick glance at a google map of this region completely tells the story. As the US continues it's Hitlerian-like empire building agenda which was pretty much spelled out by the Neo cons in the Project For the New American Century (Rebuilding America's Defenses)(BEFORE 911), one can plainly see that practically every country that borders Iran has had some form of American occupation build up, whether by force or so-called diplomacy. In a nutshell, Iran is surrounded. They are surrounded by a war mongering, civilian killing, power hungry nation of immature bullies that insist on colonialism under the false pretenses of WMD's, terrorism, tyrannical dictatorships, or whatever. With the clever use of what I call a bottom feeding 'sewer rat', Goebels-like propaganda network, the people of the US are being systematically persuaded to approve of such non-sense and at a very high price to boot. Anyone that can't see the threat that the Iranian population and their so-called tyrannical leader sees, is just not paying attention....or being seduced by international murderers and thieves minus the swastikas and heel clicking. Snap out of it Amerika. You are in a state of DEEP hypnosis.
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Iran isnt the protaganist here its the US, Israel and Im ashamed to say the UK. Theres a lot going on behind the scenes at present and as usual the sheep are being played hence the previous two comments!
I am surprised by Mr Rozeffs article as although I find it totally accurate I wouldnt have written it whilst still residing in the US. I think he deserves great credit for having the courage to write what im sure the majority of libertarians the world over are currently thinking.
War with Iran will only suit the 0.01% who profit from it and instilling fear in the people is their most effective tool to bring about their goals.
For those who wish to strike Iran first, be very careful what you wish for!
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Denying a threat won't make it go away - as Mr. Rozeff desires it.

1) FACT: Iran has, repeatedly, threatened the United States and Israel; the latter with total annihilation. Given the small size of Israel the threat is rational.

2) FACT: Iran is developing nuclear technology -- and boasts about it.

3) FACT: Iran does have a missile system that it is improving at a rapid rate -- and boasts about it. If the United States is not in range now it soon will be. And Israel is NOW in range.

4) FACT: Our WWII naval fleet is obsolete -- much more vulnerable to missiles launch from their patrol boats and submarines than the Navy would care to admit.

Could Iran win. No, but they are fanatics and, faced with a population eager for the benefits of a freer economy and lifestyle, what have they to lose?

History wil resolve the arugment and probably sooner than we thiink.

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Well I have to agree with Jim C. ` Iran are ruled by religious fanatics crying /calling for a holy war against `anybody` that doesn`t go by their rules according to their version of `their book` of the Quran. Its true Iran couldn`t defeat Iraq in 1980-88 it was a stalemate, neither one could defeat the other. But Iraq at this time hasn`t got anybody there to oppose Iran now. Only the weak sister`s we left there to mine the store, so to speak. Its a walk-in now for Iran to just come and walk in and say boo to Iraq, and look the people in Iraq would possibly welcome the attention seeing how they hate us anyway. G.W. Bush in my opinion went to war with the wrong country in the 1st place. GW went to war with Iraq to rake in all the taxpayers money in the US, thus our huge unending debt pile-up here. GW`s dad told his son not to invade Iraq in the 1st place, because Iraq had already had the shit kicked out it from before by the US. Hence, that is why the president`s of both Canada and France refered to G.W. Bush as a moron face to face. Saudi Arabia`s King Abdullah private comments to urge the US to attack Iran and ``cut off the head of the snake.`` Iran is a poison well so to speak. But we can`t afford another war we are broke. So vote for Ron Paul before its too late for us all. Iran is a threat to harmony in the middle-east. Iran`s oil is the life blood to much of the world, and we are indeed in hard times everywhere around the world. Only Christ Jesus can save it. The middle-east is a sand pit if not a money pit to anybody going there. If China wants to be mister big, why not you guys go there, you have the money now, you guys deal with this mess.
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I lived and worked in Iran for two years in the late '70's and I agree with your analysis completely.
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Latest comment posted for this article
Mr. Rozeff should be working for the U.S. State Dept. His assessment displays a humanity, compassion and practicality which has been conspicuously absent from not only US Gov't sources, but from the US big media as well. The fix is in and we are still be  Read more
dennyc - 2/16/2012 at 7:49 PM GMT
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