Although to be honest, it isn’t really very funny:
The Game Plan on Iran is becoming clearer
The US wants a Security Council resolution allowing for the use of forceby Siddharth Varadarajan
March 25, 2006
The HinduThe Anglo-Americans want a Security Council resolution allowing for the eventual use of force. Iran must play its cards very carefully from now onwards.
THIS WEEK, the fog of Anglo-American diplomacy on the Iranian nuclear question parted momentarily to give the world a rare glimpse of the drive to war that lies behind. On Wednesday, the Times of London reproduced a letter written last week by John Sawers, the British Foreign Office pointman on Iran, to his counterparts in the United States, France, and Germany outlining the line of action the four allies should follow in the United Nations Security Council.
Stripped of the verbiage and the too-clever strategising on how to choreograph Russian and Chinese consent for sanctions and war, the main point in Mr. Sawers’ letter is that the Iranians need to know that “more serious measures” are likely from the Security Council than just a Presidential Statement.
Mr Sawers elaborates on what the E3+US has in mind:
“This means putting the Iran dossier onto a Chapter VII basis. We may also need to remove one of the Iranian arguments that the suspension called for is ‘voluntary’. We could do both by making the voluntary suspension a mandatory requirement to the Security Council, in a Resolution we would aim to adopt in, say, early May”.
Chapter VII is that part of the UN Charter dealing with threats to international peace and security. Putting the Iranian dossier on to a Chapter VII basis would allow the Anglo-Americans to do two things. First, circumvent Iran’s legal right to uranium enrichment, as enshrined in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), its safeguards agreement, its Additional Protocol, and in every single resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors on the Iranian issue. Secondly, generate a minimally plausible but absolutely essential legal fig leaf for military action against Iran in the likely event that the Iranians do not comply with such a Chapter VII resolution.
Yes, it’s deja vu all over again.
More, including a call to action, below the fold . . .
Chapter 7 in US Bankruptcy Law is the chapter which requires liquidation of all the bankrupt’s assets. It’s only appropriate then, that making Iran subject to “Chapter VII” resolution is the preferred diplomatic tactic for the Bush administration, since it highlights the moral bankruptcy of US foreign policy when it comes to the Middle East.
Not to mention that Bush’s pre-emptive military strike policy in Iraq is already bleeding our economy into literal bankruptcy. What happens when we attack Iran in violation of the express desires of China and Russia? Will China finally pull the plug on funding our Government’s ever expanding debt? Will Islamic governments around the world switch even more of their reserves out of dollars? Will Iran go through with its threats to shut down the straits of Hormuz, sending crude oil prices soaring through the $100 a barrel barrier and into the inflationary stratosphere?
Can all the military might we possess succeed in the face of such catastrophes? Not the mention the cost of increased terrorism, political instability in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and the real possibility of triggering a global conflict that any attack on Iran might engender. Yet, this is the path down which Bush is taking us, one that will have far reaching consequences for our lives and the lives of our children for decades to come.
We can’t wait any longer. We can’t hope and pray that our Democratic leaders in Congress (other than Conyers, perhaps) will finally grow a spine and begin speaking out against this wayward and feckless policy of war 24/7. In a very real sense it is up to each of us. We need to bring this issue to the forefront by writing letters to the editor, by harassing our Senators and Congressional representatives, and by organizing local and national protests, whether marches, or more serious examples of peaceful civil disobedience.
And we need to start a drumbeat for impeachment. Here’s a couple of ideas, one that you can do by your lonesome, and one that will require community action.
First, emulate the Freeway Blogger and place placards where they can be seen on the highways saying Impeach Now!, No War in Iran!, or just No More Lies for Oil!. I’m sure you can come up with even better ideas than the ones I suggest for such signs.
Secondly, we could organize an internet campaign to target our political donations to politicians who will take a pledge to seek the impeachment of Bush and Cheney, and to oppose any further wars in the Middle East.
Hey, I confess I don’t have a all the answers. But I’m willing to bet that we, here and across the liberal/progressive blogotopia, could start to come up with some creative strategies to stick a monkey wrench into the plans of these criminally insane warmongerers in the White House. From Bush on down these are individuals who wield power without accountability to, or opposition from, Congress. They literally assert the right to decide which laws they will obey. This is something we cannot allow to stand.
So let’s start in this thread and brainstorm some ideas. Because the clock is ticking, my friends. If we want any chance to prevent a wider war in the Middle east, we have no more time to waste.
