WH Buffoonery: New US Counterterror Strategy Focuses Heavily on Iran

Rasa - The so-called ‘new US counterterrorism strategy’ since 2011 was released this week, penned by National Security Adviser John Bolton. In keeping with Bolton’s favored talking points, the new strategy focuses heavily on justifying US targeting on Iran.

News ID: 440916

Date: 08 October 2018 - 15:12

RNA - Bolton claims sanctions against Iran are a way of cutting off extremist groups like Hezbollah and the Yemeni Houthis from financial support. Bolton also says there must be no waivers for Iran’s oil sanctions, though other officials have since clarified that such waivers are being considered seriously. Several nations, including India and Iraq, have been seeking waivers from the US, while the European Union, China and Russia have indicated they will just defy the illegal sanctions outright.

The new strategy against Iran is not surprising. Then again, everyone knows is really trying to destabilize the Middle East, and whose intrusive and aggressive strategy has led to unprecedented phenomena such as ISIL and Al-Qaeda throughout the region:

- The US Military Industrial Complex is the single biggest threat to the world peace and stability. Both Republican and Democratic parties unquestioningly support it. If you look back in 2001, you will have all the proof you need that the warmongers of America are not a stabilizing force in the world, but a destabilizing one.

- What the Trumpsters released this week is business as usual. When the warmongers touch on foreign and military policy, in every case they tacitly assume that the US has the right to antagonize, sanction, bomb, invade and conquer any country it chooses. The discussion on the Capitol Hill deals with the expediency of such military actions; not whether they are legally or morally justifiable.

- US politicians have no intention to make a wise decision to ratchet back the warmongering, move away from a war-based economy, and try another approach to how they interact with the rest of the world, let alone with Iran, before it all ends in more and more resource wars and chaos.

- The Trumpsters are not willing to connect the dots or to assign responsibility or accountability for what they have done to the region in the past two decades. Per usual, they continue to show themselves as victims, not destabilizers, of the region. Add to this spectacle the fact that the Trump administration seems to be in the grips of a new escalatory fever when it comes to taking on US nemesis Iran. They are in the dark; they don’t have International Law on their side.

- US military involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Syria has turned these countries into breeding grounds for terrorism. Iran had nothing to do with these failed states. Washington's biased stance on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and support for dictatorial rule in some Arab countries have stimulated anti-American sentiments in the region, one of the main motives behind acts of terror.

- The Trumpsters treat terrorism with hypocrisy. They call it terrorism when it hits them, but label it as a revolution, a show of democracy or human rights issues when it hits countries ideologically inconsistent with them. They view the fight against terrorism as a means to realize their strategy and interests in the region.

- The US criticism against Iran’s support for Syria and Hezbollah in the battle against various terrorist groups is yet another case of Washington's application of double standards in dealing with issues of terrorism. Washington’s claim of moral high ground and double standards in its new counterterrorism strategy will greatly hinder international anti-terror efforts and leave negative impacts that will be far more terrible than terrorism itself.

For all its appearance, Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton is desperate to convince the world that Iran is wrong. He claims "Iran is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism.” This talking point is filled with unutterable loathing, as in factual reality Iran is one of the main victims of terrorism and at the forefront of anti-terrorism efforts in the region. Those who disregard this reality have already suffered the painful consequences – being isolated and loathed by the international community.

According to Fars News Agancy, the people of the region know full well who is sending money all over the place and weapons. It is the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel that are pushing for regime change across the region, not Iran. The people of the Middle East (particularly in Iraq and Syria) regard the United States and its allies as enemies, never potential partners in the ongoing fight against terrorism. Much to the chagrin of regime changers, they always see Iran as their partner.

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