The US is waging war against the wrong country

Gossip about the possibility of a military strike against Iran are being renewed these days. President Barack Obama, to whom I still wonder why the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded, is confessing that former President George W Bush was right in his belief that Iran poses a serious threat to the international community; that Russia is cowardly retreating from its position, joining the rest of world's tyrannical powers who favour the imposition of new sanctions against Iran; and fueled up by Israel and AIPAC, the American corporate media are laying the groundwork to prepare the general public’s opinion to convince them that Iran is the most dangerous country in the Middle East and should be disarmed as soon as possible, otherwise, it may attack Israel and wipe it off the map.

History is once again being repeated and Iran is now subject to a psychological warfare in addition to the continued economic embargo. The fact that Iran is still standing on its own feet demonstrates the powerful will and strong capability of this nation. But what is really happening behind the scenes? What will happen if the US or its Middle East subordinate, Israel, attack Iran?

Who made Saddam out of Saddam?

Even a child could tell that Saddam Hussein, who was deplorably executed by the US in 2006, was a puppet of the very same United States that waged and imposed the eight-year proxy war on the newborn Iran of post-revolution days, taking the life of more than 350,000 people. Ironically, this is the same United States that perpetually pushes its commitment to "human" rights and brands other countries as being human rights violators. Weren't those 350,000 Iranians human beings?

In his 1991 book The Death Lobby: How the West Armed Iraq, Kenneth R. Timmerman implies that the US should have sought a new puppet in the Middle East once its crony, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was ousted by the Iranian people who could not tolerate their country being a pawn of the foreign powers. He says, the "Islamic revolution in Iran upset the entire strategic equation in the region. America's principle ally in the Gulf, the Shah, was swept aside overnight, and no one else on the horizon could replace him as the guarantor of U.S. interests in the region." So the US sought refuge in Iraq's dictator, Saddam Hussein, and promised to support him unconditionally, provided that he stuck to his pledge to paralyse the Iranian revolution.

In 1982, Iraq was suddenly removed from the US-fabricated list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, demonstrating the falsehood and baselessness of the list in the first place.

President Ronald Reagan dispatched Donald Rumsfeld as his special envoy to Saddam Hussein to restore ties with the former "State Sponsor of Terrorism". Two cordial meetings between Rumsfeld and Saddam took place in 1983 and 1984 in which they reached agreements over the support the US would provide to Iraq in the form of artillery, ballistic missiles, aviation facilities and intelligence services. Iraqi troops received tactical battlefield advice and advanced military training along with unconventional warfare schemes.

The United States even sent chemical weapons to Iraq to be dropped on the roofs of human beings' houses. This was another example of the United States' commitment to human rights. In May 1994, a report by the US Senate Banking Committee disclosed that "pathogenic (disease producing), toxigenic (poisonous), and other biological research materials were exported to Iraq pursuant to application and licensing by the U.S. Department of Commerce."

A British expert of biological weapons and former UN inspector of chemical weapons to Iraq, David Kelly, confirmed that "Iraq purchased eight strains of anthrax from the United States in 1985".

The US did whatever it was capable of to fortify and strengthen a dictator who could never foresee that he would be eradicated by the very people with whom he affectionately shook hands.

A 2003 May report by the LA Weekly published a list of 41 American companies that assisted Saddam in his mission to destroy Iran and bring down the Islamic Revolution which ended in the elimination of a US-backed king. Interestingly, Caterpillar Inc, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Carl Zeiss and Phillips Exports were among the companies listed by the LA Weekly.

NRM Corp, for example, "supplied $3,310,485 worth of tire-manufacturing machines and $950,000 worth of presses and accessories to Iraq’s State Establishment for Heavy Engineering Equipment". One may wonder whether Saddam could have practically employed all of the facilities and goods he received from a total of 150 foreign companies, named by the German newspaper Die Tageszeitung; however, the conclusion might be that the Western world consciously elevated Saddam to the position of an invincible and indomitable tyrant and then decided to being him down all at once.

The story of Iran

Iran is a different country. It endeavours to maintain its difference and distinctiveness. Iranian people don't need a foreign supremacist to rule for them. Even if a devastating civil war happens in Iran and different political groups quarrel, they won't seek refuge in foreign saviours to help them. The history of Iran demonstrates that foreign powers have never come to Iran with goodwill and pure intentions. A relentless enemy, already busy with the bloodshed it has mounted in Palestine, possesses 200 nuclear warheads that are targeted towards Iran while the "human rights" activists continue to remain silent.

Iran is a country of peace. Literature and culture is intertwined in every Iranian citizen's life. Iran is home to one of the world's ancient civilisations.

I am personally opposed to any kind of weaponry, be it chemical, nuclear, or what ever. If all of the countries in the world put their military and armed forces aside, no wars would take place and nobody would lose his life. However, we all know that such statements are those of a naïve child who sees his surrounding word with the eyes of innocence and purity. If Israel's "right of existence" and "right to self-defence" is important then Iran's right to "peace and tranquility" is important as well.

As John Pilger implies in his recent article, go and seek the nuclear stockpiles of Israel, not Iran, because you don't find anything of worth in the nuclear power plants of Iran; nevertheless, if you are adventurous and are highly interested in excitement, Israel has much more to offer to you.