09th April 2007
Chomsky calls for regime change in Iran
Here under the pretence of calling for a movement to stop a possible war against Iran, Chomsky, in all but name, calls for regime change in Iran and shows that he is gravitating towards the position of the likes of HOPOI and Iran Workers Bulletin,whose position is in turn barely distinguishable form that of the likes of Michael Ledeen. I post Chomsky’s article below with my own commentaries.
Preventing War with Iran(Alternet)
Naom Chomsky
Unsurprisingly, George W. Bush's announcement of a "surge" in Iraq came despite the firm opposition to any such move of Americans and the even stronger opposition of the (thoroughly irrelevant) Iraqis. It was accompanied by ominous official leaks and statements -- from Washington and Baghdad -- about how Iranian intervention in Iraq was aimed at disrupting our mission to gain victory, an aim which is (by definition) noble.
What then followed was a solemn debate about whether serial numbers on advanced roadside bombs (IEDs) were really traceable to Iran; and, if so, to that country's Revolutionary Guards or to some even higher authority.
This "debate" is a typical illustration of a primary principle of sophisticated propaganda. In crude and brutal societies, the Party Line is publicly proclaimed and must be obeyed -- or else. What you actually believe is your own business and of far less concern. In societies where the state has lost the capacity to control by force, the Party Line is simply presupposed; then, vigorous debate is encouraged within the limits imposed by unstated doctrinal orthodoxy. The cruder of the two systems leads, naturally enough, to disbelief; the sophisticated variant gives an impression of openness and freedom, and so far more effectively serves to instill the Party Line. It becomes beyond question, beyond thought itself, like the air we breathe.
[But how is this unstated doctrinal orthodoxy imposed? In the Anglo-Saxon world there have always been a behind- the –scenes oligarchical networks. These permeate all the organizations and institutions of society: academia, political parties of right and left(including the far left, by the look of it), media, think-tanks, quangos, NGOs etc..
One of the distinctive features of contemporary oligarchy is the crystalisation of their power in alternative state organizations such as Homeland Security, Northern Command, COBRA, John Reid’s new Home Office etc.]
The debate over Iranian interference in Iraq proceeds without ridicule on the assumption that the United States owns the world. We did not, for example, engage in a similar debate in the 1980s about whether the U.S. was interfering in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan, and I doubt that Pravda, probably recognizing the absurdity of the situation, sank to outrage about that fact (which American officials and our media, in any case, made no effort to conceal). Perhaps the official Nazi press also featured solemn debates about whether the Allies were interfering in sovereign Vichy France, though if so, sane people would then have collapsed in ridicule.
In this case, however, even ridicule -- notably absent -- would not suffice, because the charges against Iran are part of a drumbeat of pronouncements meant to mobilize support for escalation in Iraq and for an attack on Iran, the "source of the problem." The world is aghast at the possibility. Even in neighboring Sunni states, no friends of Iran, majorities, when asked, favor a nuclear-armed Iran over any military action against that country. From what limited information we have, it appears that significant parts of the U.S. military and intelligence communities are opposed to such an attack, along with almost the entire world, even more so than when the Bush administration and Tony Blair's Britain invaded Iraq, defying enormous popular opposition worldwide.
[A gentle insinuation a la Robert Fisk that the alternative is between war and a nuclear-armed Iran.]
"The Iran effect"
The results of an attack on Iran could be horrendous. After all, according to a recent study of "the Iraq effect" by terrorism specialists Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank, using government and Rand Corporation data, the Iraq invasion has already led to a seven-fold increase in terror. The "Iran effect" would probably be far more severe and long-lasting. British military historian Corelli Barnett speaks for many when he warns that "an attack on Iran would effectively launch World War III."
[Corelli Barnet is right but Chomsky contends that that WWIII means an escalation of terror, presumably “Islamic terror” as a response to a US attack. No, WWIII would not mean that, it would mean a war between states like the US, Russia and China. Chomsky tries to reinforce the idea that terrorism is an Islamic response to imperialism ignoring the possibility, backed by considerable evidence, that the US/UK is behind “Islamic terror” both in the US and in Iraq.]
What are the plans of the increasingly desperate clique that narrowly holds political power in the U.S.? We cannot know. Such state planning is, of course, kept secret in the interests of "security." Review of the declassified record reveals that there is considerable merit in that claim -- though only if we understand "security" to mean the security of the Bush administration against their domestic enemy, the population in whose name they act.
[ There has been a whole series of leaks about US intentions to attack Iran from prominent figures like Giraldi, Hersch and Brzezinski but since the left has kept things hush-hush Chomsky discreetly suggests “we cannot know” about this open secret.]
Even if the White House clique is not planning war, naval deployments, support for secessionist movements and acts of terror within Iran, and other provocations could easily lead to an accidental war. Congressional resolutions would not provide much of a barrier. They invariably permit "national security" exemptions, opening holes wide enough for the several aircraft-carrier battle groups soon to be in the Persian Gulf to pass through -- as long as an unscrupulous leadership issues proclamations of doom (as Condoleezza Rice did with those "mushroom clouds" over American cities back in 2002). And the concocting of the sorts of incidents that "justify" such attacks is a familiar practice. Even the worst monsters feel the need for such justification and adopt the device: Hitler's defense of innocent Germany from the "wild terror" of the Poles in 1939, after they had rejected his wise and generous proposals for peace, is but one example.
[“And the concocting of the sorts of incidents that "justify" such attacks is a familiar practice.” However, it would probably require the concocting of an “incident” on the scale of 9/11 to set this war going, a possibility that Chomsky and most of the left dismiss as a “conspiracy theory”]
The most effective barrier to a White House decision to launch a war is the kind of organized popular opposition that frightened the political-military leadership enough in 1968 that they were reluctant to send more troops to Vietnam -- fearing, we learned from the Pentagon Papers, that they might need them for civil-disorder control.
[ This little flurry of revolutionary élan costs Chomsky nothing, since there is no such movement, the existing “antiwar movement” having carefully avoided highlighting the dangers, or mobilizing against, an Iran war.]
Doubtless Iran's government merits harsh condemnation, including for its recent actions that have inflamed the crisis. It is, however, useful to ask how we would act if Iran had invaded and occupied Canada and Mexico and was arresting U.S. government representatives there on the grounds that they were resisting the Iranian occupation (called "liberation," of course). Imagine as well that Iran was deploying massive naval forces in the Caribbean and issuing credible threats to launch a wave of attacks against a vast range of sites -- nuclear and otherwise -- in the United States, if the U.S. government did not immediately terminate all its nuclear energy programs (and, naturally, dismantle all its nuclear weapons). Suppose that all of this happened after Iran had overthrown the government of the U.S. and installed a vicious tyrant (as the US did to Iran in 1953), then later supported a Russian invasion of the U.S. that killed millions of people (just as the U.S. supported Saddam Hussein's invasion of Iran in 1980, killing hundreds of thousands of Iranians, a figure comparable to millions of Americans). Would we watch quietly?
[If I was living in the anglosphere, I wouldn’t be focusing on condemnation of other people’s governments- all the regimes in the world are as nothing, in terms of criminality, compared to our own]
It is easy to understand an observation by one of Israel's leading military historians, Martin van Creveld. After the U.S. invaded Iraq, knowing it to be defenseless, he noted, "Had the Iranians not tried to build nuclear weapons, they would be crazy."
[He can’t resist it- the Fiskian insinuation, worthy of the master himself!]
Surely no sane person wants Iran (or any nation) to develop nuclear weapons. A reasonable resolution of the present crisis would permit Iran to develop nuclear energy, in accord with its rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, but not nuclear weapons. Is that outcome feasible? It would be, given one condition: that the U.S. and Iran were functioning democratic societies in which public opinion had a significant impact on public policy.
[Surely no sane anti-war activist would insinuate, without evidence, that Iran is intent on getting nuclear weapons, knowing that that could be the pretext for an attack.
“A reasonable resolution of the present crisis would permit Iran to develop nuclear energy, in accord with its rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, but not nuclear weapons”
This is precisely what Iran argues- did you not know, Oh great professor? Is it that, whereas we inevitably must remain ignorant of the machinations of our own government, we have secret knowledge that the Iranians are really intent on getting nuclear weapons. After all, isn’t that just what these mad mullahs would do in disobedience to the fatwa of the great Ayatollah himself.]
As it happens, this solution has overwhelming support among Iranians and Americans, who generally are in agreement on nuclear issues. The Iranian-American consensus includes the complete elimination of nuclear weapons everywhere (82% of Americans); if that cannot yet be achieved because of elite opposition, then at least a "nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East that would include both Islamic countries and Israel" (71% of Americans). Seventy-five percent of Americans prefer building better relations with Iran to threats of force. In brief, if public opinion were to have a significant influence on state policy in the U.S. and Iran, resolution of the crisis might be at hand, along with much more far-reaching solutions to the global nuclear conundrum.
[“If public opinion were to have....”. Yes, but how is that opinion to manifest itself in a country where you can’t move without coming up against the left-gatekeepers.]
Promoting democracy -- at home
These facts suggest a possible way to prevent the current crisis from exploding, perhaps even into some version of World War III. That awesome threat might be averted by pursuing a familiar proposal: democracy promotion -- this time at home, where it is badly needed. Democracy promotion at home is certainly feasible and, although we cannot carry out such a project directly in Iran, we could act to improve the prospects of the courageous reformers and oppositionists who are seeking to achieve just that. Among such figures who are, or should be, well-known, would be Saeed Hajjarian, Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, and Akbar Ganji, as well as those who, as usual, remain nameless, among them labor activists about whom we hear very little; those who publish the Iranian Workers Bulletin may be a case in point.
[Preventing war depends entirely on checking and overthrowing the War Party in US/UK. Their goal is the destruction of Iran not a democratic Iran. It’s not up to Iran to stop itself being attacked- it’s up to us to refrain from attacking it.
Democracy promotion at home is “feasible” but in what, concretely, would such a project consist. Never mind, let’s get on to supporting the Iranian opposition. Do you concern yourself with the question of how many Iranians want to weaken there country with internal revolution just at this moment when they face a mortal foreign threat? You could almost be a closet Leninist were it not that Lenin, at least, had the merit of distinguishing between imperialism and its victims.]
We can best improve the prospects for democracy promotion in Iran by sharply reversing state policy here so that it reflects popular opinion. That would entail ceasing to make the regular threats that are a gift to Iranian hardliners. These are bitterly condemned by Iranians truly concerned with democracy promotion (unlike those "supporters" who flaunt democracy slogans in the West and are lauded as grand "idealists" despite their clear record of visceral hatred for democracy).
[I see, so the democratic revolution here consists merely of changing state policy(albeit “sharply”), whereas, judging by the groups you espouse, in Iran it consists of regime change. Furthermore the main point of changing policy here is to facilitate regime change in Iran. The threats are a problem because they’re “ a gift to hardliners” not because they are wrong in themselves, an act of war, accompanying actions within Iran to undermine Iranian sovereignty. For my part I cannot stress sufficiently the extent that regime change begins at home.]
Democracy promotion in the United States could have far broader consequences. In Iraq, for instance, a firm timetable for withdrawal would be initiated at once, or very soon, in accord with the will of the overwhelming majority of Iraqis and a significant majority of Americans. Federal budget priorities would be virtually reversed. Where spending is rising, as in military supplemental bills to conduct the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it would sharply decline. Where spending is steady or declining (health, education, job training, the promotion of energy conservation and renewable energy sources, veterans benefits, funding for the UN and UN peacekeeping operations, and so on), it would sharply increase. Bush's tax cuts for people with incomes over $200,000 a year would be immediately rescinded.
[“Democracy promotion in the United States” turns out to be a wish list of good things. Never mind the effective overriding of the constitution, the human rights abuses, the surveillance of the entire population, the moves to overthrow posse comitatus and the implied threat of martial law, the domination of neo-con networks etc.]
The U.S. would have adopted a national health-care system long ago, rejecting the privatized system that sports twice the per-capita costs found in similar societies and some of the worst outcomes in the industrial world. It would have rejected what is widely regarded by those who pay attention as a "fiscal train wreck" in-the-making. The U.S. would have ratified the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions and undertaken still stronger measures to protect the environment. It would allow the UN to take the lead in international crises, including in Iraq. After all, according to opinion polls, since shortly after the 2003 invasion, a large majority of Americans have wanted the UN to take charge of political transformation, economic reconstruction, and civil order in that land.
[It all looks so rosy. Far from being in terminal decline the US has merely strayed a little of late but will soon set all to right. It’s as if nothing was ever really at stake and empire doesn’t bring with it the dilemma of expansion or collapse. The collapse of US/UK power, though necessary and desirable, will undoubtedly be cataclysmic ]
If public opinion mattered, the U.S. would accept UN Charter restrictions on the use of force, contrary to a bipartisan consensus that this country, alone, has the right to resort to violence in response to potential threats, real or imagined, including threats to our access to markets and resources. The U.S. (along with others) would abandon the Security Council veto and accept majority opinion even when in opposition to it. The UN would be allowed to regulate arms sales; while the U.S. would cut back on such sales and urge other countries to do so, which would be a major contribution to reducing large-scale violence in the world. Terror would be dealt with through diplomatic and economic measures, not force, in accord with the judgment of most specialists on the topic but again in diametric opposition to present-day policy.
[“If public opinion mattered, the US...” This passage goes quite well to the theme “If I ruled the world”.But there is a dark note: “terror”. I wonder who could be behind that]
Furthermore, if public opinion influenced policy, the U.S. would have diplomatic relations with Cuba, benefiting the people of both countries (and, incidentally, U.S. agribusiness, energy corporations, and others), instead of standing virtually alone in the world in imposing an embargo (joined only by Israel, the Republic of Palau, and the Marshall Islands). Washington would join the broad international consensus on a two-state settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict, which (with Israel) it has blocked for 30 years -- with scattered and temporary exceptions -- and which it still blocks in word, and more importantly in deed, despite fraudulent claims of its commitment to diplomacy. The U.S. would also equalize aid to Israel and Palestine, cutting off aid to either party that rejected the international consensus.
[And we could work for regime change in Iran and then, why not?,in Russia. That is, if we are really serious about the Soros agenda]
Evidence on these matters is reviewed in my book Failed States as well as in The Foreign Policy Disconnect by Benjamin Page (with Marshall Bouton), which also provides extensive evidence that public opinion on foreign (and probably domestic) policy issues tends to be coherent and consistent over long periods. Studies of public opinion have to be regarded with caution, but they are certainly highly suggestive.
Democracy promotion at home, while no panacea, would be a useful step towards helping our own country become a "responsible stakeholder" in the international order (to adopt the term used for adversaries), instead of being an object of fear and dislike throughout much of the world. Apart from being a value in itself, functioning democracy at home holds real promise for dealing constructively with many current problems, international and domestic, including those that literally threaten the survival of our species.
[The problem with being a bully is that no one likes you. But I’m being unfair Noam- you’re right about the need for the US and the UK to become “responsible stakeholders” in the international order. I prefer to think of it as a community of nations relating to each other on the basis of equality and respect for sovereignty. Rather along the lines of the principles outlined at Bandung(note particularly principle no.4):
The result of the 1955 Asian-African Conference was known as the Ten Principles of Bandung, a political statement containing the basic principles in the efforts to promote peace and cooperation in the world. The following are the Ten Principles of Bandung:
1. Respect for fundamental human rights and for the purposes and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
2. Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.
3. Recognition of the equality of all races and of the equality of all nations large and small.
4. Abstention from intervention or interference in the internal affairs of another country.
5. Respect for the right of each nation to defend itself singly or collectively, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.
6. Abstention from the use of arrangements of collective defense to serve the particular interests of any of the big powers, abstention by any country from exerting pressures on other countries.
7. Refraining from acts or threats of aggression or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any country.
8. Settlement of all international disputes by peaceful means, such as negotiation, conciliation, arbitration or judicial settlement as well as other peaceful means of the parties' own choice, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.
9. Promotion of mutual interests and cooperation.
10. Respect for justice and international obligation. ]
