War with Iran would be madness

With 6,300 American troops killed and 50,000 wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, at a price tag of more than 3 trillion taxpayer greenbacks, plus immeasurable human costs, sane minds should focus on human welfare rather than humiliating warfare; on dialogue not diatribe; on mediation not manipulation – understanding that honest bargaining is not tantamount to appeasement. Compromise not confrontation must replace the tit-for-tat threatening climate dominated by revenge, retaliation and retribution.

Aggressive anti-Iran propaganda has featured a calculated attempt by Israel’s Mossad, in alliance with the cult-like Iranian opposition MEK, to undermine nationalist credibility, to carry out bombings and covert sabotage operations inside Iran, and to slay five prominent atomic energy scientists in order to pressure President Obama on foreign policy. 

US intelligence agencies remain convinced that Iran has activated nuclear ambitions to convert enrichment into a bomb. In order to redress the unjust balance of power-monger tipped scales in the Middle East, US-Iran cooperation regarding conflict resolution is vital in addressing security concerns as well as legitimate rights to enrich uranium and build an infrastructure and to reassess the fair-mindedness of arbitrary sanctions.

In the frightening event bullyrag rhetoric triggers battlefield tragedy, we all face the unpredictable military, political and economic consequences. Iran would most likely retaliate by mining the Strait of Hormuz and disrupt oil supplies. While Iran may not possess conventional military superiority, it is located in a strategic position to boast asymmetric warfare capabilities that can adversely lay siege to the already recessed global economy and cause oil prices to rise.

It’s time to rein in the emboldened chutzpah showdown of the American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC), neo-conservative commentators and right-wing politicians playing high-stakes Russian roulette to influence the 2012 election and to tell the wealthy 1 per cent fat-cat pampered lobbyists… Chill Out!

Charles Frederickson

Bangkok