Iran: A Manufactured Threat

Unrelated images of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with Venezuela's Chavez and Fidel Castro in Cuba were featured, saying these leaders "have little love for the US." Neither do growing millions worldwide, especially throughout the Middle East and Afghanistan where US policies and officials are reviled with good reason. Notably, since Iran's 1979 revolution and US hostage crisis, Washington's been spoiling for a fight. The Carter administration considered invading and seizing its oil fields. Reagan escalated Carter's policies short of committing US forces in combat. Saddam then got US backing. A decade of war followed. America pretended support for both sides, but mostly gave it to Iraq. US/Iranian relations remain tense. Washington's sought regime change for years. Various confrontational tactics include on and off saber rattling, sanctions, direct and covert meddling in Iran's internal affairs, cyberwar, subversion, targeted assassinations, other destabilization tactics, and vicious propaganda to incite fear and justice war. Yet major media scoundrels regurgitate it like fact instead of offering readers and viewers truth and full disclosure.


On January 31, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams lied to viewers saying:

"Iran's threat. Not just the nuclear program. Tonight, US intelligence warns Iran may be prepared to strike on American soil." Referring to Clapper's testimony, he called it a "chilling new assessment about the scope of the threat from Iran." NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell added:
"Experts warn that the US is even more vulnerable than Israel if Iran retaliates or launches a preemptive bomb plot....Soft US targets like embassies throughout the Persian Gulf and 90,000 American troops in Afghanistan, next door to Iran" are vulnerable.
"Still, intelligence officials told the Senate today they don't think Iran has taken the final step, deciding to build a bomb. But Israel does think Iran has crossed that red line, and US officials say if attacked, Iran would not hesitate to retaliate against both Israel and the US."

In fact, international law permits responding to belligerent attacks in self-defense. It's not only justified, it obligates nations to protect their people against enemies. US media reports exclude those facts. Instead they generate fear and hostility against nonexistent threats.
Is America headed for war on Iran? Only the fullness of time will tell. Yet heightened tensions make anything ahead possible, especially given Washington's intolerance for independent regimes. Stay tuned. Updates will follow.