7 February 2010By Shamus
Cooke
The possibility of yet another
U.S. war became more real last week, when the Obama
administration sharply confronted both China and
Iran. The first aggressive act was performed by
Obama’s Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who
“warned” China that it must support serious
economic sanctions against Iran
(an
act of war).
Clinton said: “China will be
under a lot of pressure to recognize the destabilizing
effect that a nuclear-armed Iran would have, from
which they receive a significant percentage of their
oil supply.”
The implication here is that
China will be cut off from a major energy source if
they do not support U.S. foreign policy — this, too,
would equal an act of war.
A more direct military
provocation occurred later when Obama agreed to honor
a Bush-era military pact with
Taiwan,
a small island that lies off the mainland coast of
China, and is claimed by China as its own territory.
Taiwan has been a U.S. client state ever since the
defeated nationalist forces fled there from China in
the aftermath of the 1949 revolution. Taiwan has
remained a bastion of U.S. intrigue and anti-China
agitation for the past six decades. Obama has
recently upped the ante by approving a $6.4 billion
arms sale to Taiwan, including:
“... 60
Black Hawk helicopters, Patriot
interceptor missiles, advanced
Harpoon missiles that can be used
against land or ship targets and two refurbished
minesweepers.” (The
New York Times, January 30,
2010).
The same article quotes a
Chinese government official
who responded, accurately, by calling the arms sale “…
a gross intervention into China’s internal affairs,
[and] seriously endanger[ing] China’s national
security…” In 1962, When
Russia supplied missiles to
Cuba,
near Florida’s coast, the U.S. interpreted this to be
an
act of war.
China responded harshly to the
Taiwan arms deals, imposing “an unusually broad series
of retaliatory measures… including sanctions against
American companies that supply the weapon systems for
the arms sales.” These U.S. arms manufacturers are
giant corporations who have huge political influence
in the Obama administration, and are likely to further
push the U.S. government towards an even more
aggressive response.
Obama’s polices against China
have been far more aggressive than Bush’s, making a
farce out of his campaign promises of a more peaceful
foreign policy. Obama’s same, deceitful approach is
used in South America, where he promised
“non-intervention” and then proceeded to build
military bases in
Colombia on
Venezuela’s border, while giving a green
light to the coup in Honduras.
Hillary Clinton also threatened China
about
internet censorship last week,
while Obama consciously provoked China by agreeing to
talks with the
Dalai Lama,
who advocates the removal of Chinese influence from
Tibet.
Still fresh in the memories of
both the U.S. and China is the recent trade flair up,
when Obama imposed taxes on Chinese imports; and China
responded with protectionist measures against U.S.
companies, which brings us to the heart of the
matter.
The attitude of the U.S.
government towards China has nothing to do with the
Dalai Lama, internet censorship, or human rights.
These excuses are used as diplomatic jabs in the
framework of a larger, geopolitical brawl. Chinese
corporations are expanding rapidly in the wake of the
decline of the U.S. business class, and Obama is using
a variety of measures to counteract this dynamic, with
all roads leading to war.
This grand chessboard of
corporate and military maneuvering reached a dangerous
standoff yesterday, with the
U.S. military
provoking Iran. The New York Times explains:
“The Obama administration is
accelerating the deployment of new defenses against
possible Iranian missile attacks in the
Persian Gulf, placing special
ships [war ships] off the Iranian coast and
antimissile systems in at least four [surrounding]
Arab countries, according to administration and
military officials.” (January 30, 2010).
The same article mentions that
U.S.
General Petraeus admitted that
“… the United States was now keeping Aegis cruisers on
patrol in the Persian Gulf [Iran’s border] at all
times. Those cruisers are equipped with advanced radar
and antimissile systems designed to intercept
medium-range missiles.” Iran knows full well that
“antimissile systems” are perfectly capable of going
on the offensive — their real purpose.
Iran is completely surrounded by
countries occupied by the U.S. military, whether it be
the mass occupation in Iraq and
Afghanistan,
or the U.S. puppet states that house
U.S. military bases
in
Arab nations.
Contrary to the statements of
President Obama,
Iran is already well contained militarily. Iran’s
government — however repressive it may be — has every
right to defend itself in this context.
It is possible that these
aggressive U.S. actions will eventually force Iran’s
government to act out militarily, giving the U.S.
military the “defensive” excuse it’s been waiting for,
so the tempers of the U.S. population can be cooled.
A separate New York Times
editorial outlines the basic agreement on Iran shared
by the Democrats and the Republicans. It says:
“It is time for President Obama
and other leaders to ratchet up the pressure with
tougher sanctions.”
And:
“If the [UN]
Security Council
does not act quickly, then the United States and
Europe must apply more pressure on their own [Bush's
Iraq war strategy].
The Senate on Thursday approved a bill that would
punish companies for exporting gasoline to Iran or
helping Iran expand its own petroleum refining
capability [another
act of war]”
(January 29, 2010).
The U.S. anti-war movement must
organize and mobilize to confront the plans of the
Obama administration. Obama’s policies not only
mirror Bush’s, but have the potential to be far more
devastating, with the real possibility of creating a
wider, regional war. Iran and China are far more
militarily capable than puny Afghanistan or Iraq; the
consequences of a war with either will cause countless
more deaths.
Bring All the Troops Home!
U.S. Military Out of the
Middle East!
Shamus Cooke is a social
service worker,
trade unionist, and writer for
Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org).
He can be reached at
shamuscook@yahoo.com
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