Signs of the Times – part 8
Quote of the Day:
“So I’ve told people that, if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them [Iranians] from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.” President, George W. Bush, Press Conference, Oct. 17, 2007.
On December 7, 2007, Reuters New Agency, reported that Iran had stopped selling its oil exports for US dollars. In other words, Iran had decided to attack the “Achilles heel” of America, just as Saddam Hussein had done. Shortly thereafter, Iran went one step further, on Feb. 17, 2008, the Kish Bourse (oil trading market, named after an island in the Persian Gulf) was officially opened using an internet video conference. [During the launch the whole Persian Gulf region experienced abnormal internet problems]. This was a further challenge to the Western Alliances control over the trade in oil. However, there was also an element of caution in Iran’s challenge. The Iranian oil minister Gholamhossein Nozari explained that the Bourse would only trade in oil derived products (i.e. not crude oil). Nevertheless, the oil minister went on to say, that a second phase would be rolled out in the future, which would include trading in crude oil, depending on whether the recently established Bourse experienced “no trouble in its starting up phase.” Translation: “depending on what America and its allies do in response to our provocative actions.”
Since then the oil minister has gotten his answer. There is a short road to Tehran and a long road. First the short road was tried. You may remember the “green revolution” in 2009 that looked as though it might topple the Iranian regime, but it failed. So now the long road to Tehran is being trodden. This road goes through the Sudan, through Libya, and through Syria, (and possibly a small diversion into Yemen), before the final destination, Iran itself.
The policy the Western Alliance is implementing, on this road to Tehran is the usual “containing and restraining” policy that they used in the cold war. The goal is to isolate the enemy. So, in order to achieve this goal, the Western Alliance is removing all of Iran’s allies, one by one. They have started with the weakest and moving towards the strongest (in this case Syria). Syria is the most important ally that Iran has. Syria and Iran share common goals, namely the destruction of Israel. To this end, they both support the most radical, the most aggressive, and at the same time the most effective Arab anti-Israeli organisation called Hezbollah – which is entrenched in Lebanon. [Israel had a mini-war with Hezbollah in 2006 – which Israel did not win – (which is considered a victory for the Arabs) – since then Hezbollah has been supplied with thousands of rockets by Iran and Syria, which they threaten to “rain down” upon Israel, in any future conflict]. Thus intervention In Syria (in the name of democracy) will not only remove another ally of Iran but it will also cut off support to Hezbollah leading to their ultimate demise as well. And intervention in Syria is already under way. The same “noises” that were made against Gadhafi and his regime are being made against Assad and his regime.
All new wars enable the testing of newly created weapons, and the war in Libya has revealed the latest weapon in the arsenal. It is called, “Responsibility to Protect”- or – “Responsibility to Act.” In yesteryear, a nation’s sovereignty was considered sacrosanct. It used to be a fundamental pillar of international law that each nation would respect the others sovereignty and would not interfere in each other’s internal affairs. That understanding is now gone. In his address to the nation in April (to explain why the Western Alliance was intervening in Libya), President Obama cited “Responsibility to Protect” as the justification for bombing Libya. He reasoned that sovereignty is not a privilege but a responsibility that can be revoked if a country is accused of ‘war crimes’ – ‘genocide’ – ‘crimes against humanity’ – or – ‘ethnic cleansing.’ And this is what Assad, in Syria is/will be accused of – therefore the good and decent folk in the Western Alliance will have a moral duty to go into Syria and remove him. [This is the same scenario that has just played out in Libya]. This is a major departure, from the normal relations that governed the affairs of nations, for hundreds of years in the past. It is akin to your neighbours, taking offence to your behaviour in your own home. Therefore, they invade your home, and beat you senseless, until you behave yourself (according to a standard of conduct and behaviour that they determine, not you). Of course no one really cares, until it happens to them. And it will.
Iran has clear ambitions to be the regional super power in the Gulf area. Mr. Gholamhossein Nozari, the Iranian oil minister, revealed some of the Iranian agenda when he said that if the Iranian Bourse was a success it might eventually establish a “Caspian Sea – Oil Benchmark.” To understand what this means, it is necessary to understand, that what passes for communication in political and diplomatic arenas, is often done obliquely. That is to say, it is done in a form of code, so that basically, only those who are supposed to get the message actually “get it.” These words, from the oil minister, are even more of a challenge to the American led Western Alliance, than the selling of oil for other currencies and the establishment of the oil trading bourse. What the oil minister is saying here is this: “we know you have your eyes on the Caspian Sea oil – we know you are trying to get control of it – but we are going to beat you to it – we are going to control it – it is going to become a new benchmark in international oil trading and we will set the price of oil, not you.” This is not just attacking the Achilles heel of America – this risky venture on the part of Iran is much more ambitious – it is more like a blow designed to “cut off at the knees.” Please remember, he who seizes control of the ever increasingly scarce resources of the world, especially oil, is king of the world.
Of course Iran sees the development of nuclear weapons as essential to its strategy of keeping the Western Alliance at bay, and out of its back yard. And in spite of constant denials it is obvious they are trying to develop such weapons. If the Iranians manage to develop nuclear weapons – they win – the Western Alliance loses. This is why Iranian nuclear scientists are being assassinated in Iran, and there have been crippling cyber-attacks launched against computer systems running the Iranian nuclear programme.
So something has to be done before Iran achieves nuclear capability – whatever that something proves to be, it will prove to be the trigger of WWIII. In the meantime the preparations continue. Listen! – can you hear the war drums beating for intervention in Syria.
To be continued…
God bless, Bruce Telfer
