On Iran: The False Iraq Analogy

-





Here we go again. This is Iraq all over again.

Not even close.

The US was on a path for war with Iraq before George W. Bush. And there was a strong American constituency on board and pushing for the war.

The Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 basically set America’s policy on Iraq as regime change. The summary, without quotes:

Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 - Declares that it should be the policy of the United States to seek to remove the Saddam Hussein regime from power in Iraq and to replace it with a democratic government.

Authorizes the President, after notifying specified congressional committees, to provide to the Iraqi democratic opposition organizations: (1) grant assistance for radio and television broadcasting to Iraq; (2) Department of Defense (DOD) defense articles and services and military education and training (IMET); and (3) humanitarian assistance, with emphasis on addressing the needs of individuals who have fled from areas under the control of the Hussein regime. Prohibits assistance to any group or organization that is engaged in military cooperation with the Hussein regime. Authorizes appropriations.

Directs the President to designate: (1) one or more Iraqi democratic opposition organizations that meet specified criteria as eligible to receive assistance under this Act; and (2) additional such organizations which satisfy the President's criteria.

Urges the President to call upon the United Nations to establish an international criminal tribunal for the purpose of indicting, prosecuting, and imprisoning Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi officials who are responsible for crimes against humanity, genocide, and other criminal violations of international law.

Expresses the sense of the Congress that once the Saddam Hussein regime is removed from power in Iraq, the United States should support Iraq's transition to democracy by providing humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people and democracy transition assistance to Iraqi parties and movements with democratic goals, including convening Iraq's foreign creditors to develop a multilateral response to the foreign debt incurred by the Hussein regime.

Source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/house-bill/4655

The Iraq Liberation Act passed 360-38 in the House and unanimously in the Senate.

In the US, Iran is not Iraq.

There is no support for regime change in Iran.

And the Iranian opposition can only dream of having the supporters that the Iraqi opposition had. And the American media, if not against the war, is outright defending Iran. 

The New York Times, for example, an outlet that promoted the Iraq war with false reporting, is actively promoting good relations with Iran, while its writers, as someone noted, are busy accusing President Trump of treason.

On Iran, Iraq is a patently false analogy.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Response to Amer Zahr’s Sexual Harassment Column

-
Image
Rana Abbas, former ACRL executive director Amer Zahr, Rana Abbas's BFF Response to Amer Zahr’s Sexual Harassment Column The Imad Hamad saga has attracted a motley crew of individuals who joined in for two reasons: 1. To say, without any legal basis for personal knowledge, that the allegations are “true” for a variety of reasons.  2. To say that we basically need no investigation and that Imad should be fired because these two women have made these allegations. Allegation is the key word. Let’s look at the bright side of this sordid affair. Who knew that everyone in our community is a solid supporter of women’s rights? This is great! It really is. However, by God, people will prove it by piling on Imad Hamad before receiving all the facts. Let me make one thing clear. I am not stating these women were not harassed; nor am I stating they were. No one, other than Imad and the women, was in the room when the alleged harassment occurred.  No third party could
Read more

The Lessons of the Wissam Allouche case: About lies, not terrorism

-
Image
Wissam Allouche arrested by the JTTF Flag of the Lebanese Shia Amal Movement The Lessons of the Wissam Allouche case: An American Lebanese Shiite Muslim caught in the government and media dog- and- pony show Wissam Allouche, a Lebanese Shia immigrant from Lebanon was sentenced to five years in prison for lying on his citizenship application and for lying to get a security clearance from the Department of Defense. The US government had asked for a ten- year sentence. Allouche’s criminal case began in 2013 and he was tried and convicted in 2015 in the Western District of Texas district court.  After conviction, the US Attorney for the Western district of Texas issued a press release that read in part: “Jurors found that defendant lied about his previous association with the Amal militia This afternoon in San Antonio, a federal jury convicted 45–year-old Lebanese–born Wissam “Sam” Allouche of knowingly lying to federal authorities on his U.S. citizenship petit
Read more

In Defense of the Dream During the Night of the Long Zionist Nightmare:

-
Image
    “When you were still swinging from trees, we had a state here.”   Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet, speaking to an Arab member of Knesset.     Zionism is Jewish nationalism. Whether the Jews are a people or not, a nation or not, is for the Jews themselves to decide. For Arabs and Muslims, the issue of Zionism is not a theoretical issue. It is how the Zionist project has been carried out in Palestine. It is a settler colonial project that has been inflicting catastrophes on the indigenous people of Palestine. The indigenous people of Palestine include Muslims, Christians and Jews. The Zionist violence in the West Bank and Gaza is the most recent chapter in the settler colonial  book of horrors.    Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib got in trouble with some in the Jewish community for using the common, perfectly moral and just slogan "From the River to the Sea Palestine will be Free." This slogan captures a vision for Mandate Palestine and is a common slogan among the
Read more