RNA - Votel, who heads the US Central Command (CENTCOM), goes on to accuse Iran of “destabilizing” the region through “lethal aid facilitation,” using “surrogate forces” and cyber operations. In his words, “We need to look at opportunities where we can disrupt Iran through military means or other means their activities. We need to look at opportunities where we can expose and hold them accountable for the things that they are doing.”
Much mainstream scholarship says otherwise. In case of dissension, however, we should never judge till we have heard the other side. So the other side shall be heard as well. As to who is “the greatest long-term threat to stability” in the Middle East and who is destabilizing the region “through lethal aid facilitation,” consider the following new headlines that appeared in just one day this week:
-US Generals: More Civilian Casualties to Come
-Germany Admits Role in Airstrike That Killed 33 Civilians in Syria
-CENTCOM Chief: US Vital Interests at Stake in Yemen
-Tillerson to Waive Rights Conditions on Bahrain Arms Sales
-Under Trump, US Is Killing More Civilians
-US Admits Yemen Raid Killed Civilians
With that in mind, we also need to defend the interests of those whom we've never met and never will. Consider the following news headlines on the same day as well:
-Syrian Gov’t, Rebels Reach Mutual Evacuation Deal
-Iraqi Families Reunite outside War-Wracked Mosul
-Syria: ISIL Terrorists Forced to Retreat from 14 villages
-Terrorists Fail to Prevail over Syrian Army in Hama
-Syrian Army Continues to March on ISIL's Positions in Eastern Aleppo
-Hezbollah, Syrian Army Engage in Fierce Clashes with Terrorists
Notwithstanding the accusations by the US military leaders, in none of the above-mentioned news headlines do we hear that Iran is “destabilizing” the region. Far from it, the international community has constantly hailed Iran’s active role in curbing the terrorism threat plaguing the region. On the other hand, even Pentagon officials admit to carrying out “unintentional” raids against civilian targets in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen. They admit they will continue to kill civilians; they admit they are in Syria and Yemen not to protect civilians or ensure regional stability but to protect their own “vital interests”, and they admit they will continue to “waive rights conditions” on arms sales to Bahrain and arms transfers to “moderate” terrorists in Syria no matter what.
In the prevailing environment, General Votel is better off thinking twice before throwing any accusations at Iran. Despite Washington’s military threats and accusations, Iran is never afraid to raise its voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If the Pentagon regime and White House officials would do the same, it would change Syria.
Nevertheless, it is the United States and company that are making life terrifying for the region’s civilian populations, who have endured years of US bombs and depredations from ISIL, Al-Qaeda and other US proxy forces. This is not far from the truth. AirWars, which tracks civilian casualties in Iraq and Syria, counted over 1,300 reports of civilian deaths from US-led coalition airstrikes in March alone. That’s about triple the count from February. Worse still, President Trump is gradually expanding America’s air wars outside the public eye. He is taking it to another level by putting virtually all key foreign-policy decisions in military hands, while gutting resources for diplomacy and humanitarian aid. The human costs of this will be enormous. The political costs will be, too. Mind you, it has nothing to do with Iran.
The United States has been bombing the Muslim world for decades now, which has consistently created more terrorists than it has killed and more failed nations than it has built. Extremists are flourishing everywhere. US officials and military leaders are not only liars but also serial killers because they deliberately send people to the wars. The same can’t be said about Iran. Iran has been fighting the US-created monsters for years and in the process it has never become a monster itself. It has never given rise to sectarian politics either. It is a direct result of US military-first foreign policy.
It is the United States that wants to police the whole world on the pretext of fighting terror and imposing so-called “democratic institutions” on all of mankind. It is also the United States that insists the 21st century must be to a significant degree an American Century, and in consequence to exert upon the world the full impact of its influence.
Beyond this, the trajectory has been downward. The United States is responsible for contributing to, rather than impeding, militarization, terrorism, and mayhem in the Middle East and North Africa. Continuities in regime change fantasies, interventions and air wars, such as heavy reliance on airpower and other forms of brute force, as well as support for repressive regimes and terrorist groups, goes largely unaddressed in General Votel’s fraudulent arguments fixated on the so-called “Iran’s long-term threat to stability” in the Middle East. The question is just what to make of it these days.
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