Sherif Hetata

June 2006

At the beginning of January 2005 Vice President Dick Cheney hinted clearly that Iran “heads the list” of America’s enemies and that Israel would “do the bombing for her”. He expressed these thoughts in a public broadcasting radio with interview MSN BG.

Shortly after former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski commented “Cheney wants ‘Ariel Sharon’ to attack Iran for us”. However, this is not the true situation. What was being planned is a joint United States military operation to bomb Iran. The defense department had been identifying the bombing targets together with Israeli military and intelligence experts during the past year : Israel will only attack with the active, though partly concealed participation of the United States.

For the past two years American and British intelligence and special forces have cooperated with Israeli counterparts to decide on the tactics which can be used. The American neo-conservative “Evening Standard” a part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire which includes Fox TV said that it would not be a ground war like in Iraq (June 27, 2003).

The withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon has opened up a new space for the deployment of Israeli forces. The participation of Turkey is also envisaged following agreements reached between Ankara and Tel-Aviv.

Israel is reinforcing its arsenal of deadly military weapons

It is now a well known fact that Israel possesses between 200 and 500 thermonuclear weapons with a sophisticated system of rocket ‘delivery’. It has replaced Great Britain as the World’s fifth largest nuclear power. Israel’s nuclear bombs are largely designed for war fighting in the Middle East. An essential component of its arsenal are neutron bombs, miniaturized thermo nuclear bombs designed for long term radiation which in essence leaves property intact. Weapons include ballistic missiles and bombers from the United States and Russia.

Recently Israel has received 5000 ‘smart’ air launched of weapons from the United States. These include 500 BLV 109 bunker-buster bombs. The ‘uranium-coated’ munitions the Israelis now possess are said to be enough to deal with the full range of Iranian targets.

The Bush administration has officially designated Syria and Iran as the next stage in the road map for war.

To attack Iran serves the interests of the Americano / English oil multinationals, the Wall Street financial establishment and of course the military industrial complex. The “Middle East Central Asian Region” encompasses more than 70% of the world’s oil and gas reserves. Whereas the United States possesses less than 2.8% of global oil reserves.

Key Mediterranean Military Preparations for the Projected Attack on Iran

As a part of the NATO Israel Protocol formulated in November 2004 in Brussels, Israel’s military delegation to the NATO conference met with top military staff of six Mediterranean basin nations including Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and Mauritania. NATO is sponsoring a framework known as the Mediterranean Dialogue Program which would include Israel. The Israel delegation agreed to participate in military exercises and “anti-terror maneuvers” together with several Arab countries.

During the month of January 2005 Israel and Turkey carried out joint military exercises off the coast of Syria described as routine since they have been carried out several times before, and in February 2005 Israel was involved in military exercises with NATO which also included several Arab countries.
In the same month the assassination of the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafeek Al Hariri was used to demand the withdrawal of Syrian troops form Lebanon, and “Sharon” fired his Chief of Staff “Moshe Ya’alon” and appointed Air Force General “Dan Halutz”. Major General “Dan Halutz” is the man who can best coordinate aerial bombing on Iran, and prepare the Israeli military for what is being planned.

NATO’s Secretary General visited Jerusalem for talks with “Ariel Sharon” and Israeli high level military staff. Military ties with NATO are seen by the Israeli military as a means “to reinforce Israel’s deterrence capability against potential enemies threatening it, mainly Iran and Syria.

Other developments include news leaks of an initial authorization by “Ariel Sharon” to attack Iran’s “Natanz” Iranian enrichment plant, joint United States Israeli military exercises in March and April 2005 pertaining to the launching of Patriot missiles, and “Donald Rumsfeld’s” official visits to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan. His diplomatic efforts in these countries during the month of April, 2005 were described by the Russian media as encircling Iran in order to find the best bridgehead for a military operation against Iran.

In Baku Rumsfeld concentrated on fixing a date for the deployment of United States troops in Azerbaijan on the North Western border of Iran. Military bases in Azerbaijan are being prepared for a military operation against Iran.

In addition to what has been detailed above Iran is virtually surrounded by military bases in Turkey, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and Iraq. These countries are as is the case Turkmenistan members of NATO’s partnership for peace program !!!, and have military cooperation agreements with NATO.

Peoples Resistance Against War

The anti-war movement must try to prevent this war, and be aware that it might come at any moment. This will not be easy. The holding of large anti-war rallies and demonstrations has proved incapable of reversing the tide of war.

What is required is a grass roots peoples network, a mass movement at local, national, regional and international levels, a network linked to other social, economic and cultural networks which should aim at challenging the legitimacy of the potential military leaders. This can pave the way to unseating those who rule. War criminals are in positions of authority and must be removed. They use fear, media misinformation and humanitarian slogans to win support, justify their crimes, and legitimize war.

To reverse the tide of war, civil disobedience must be built up in stages, military bases encircled and closed down, production of war weapons stopped, the police state paralyzed and dismantled by the force of protesting numbers.

Corporate backers, sponsors of war, oil companies, defense companies and contractors, financial institutions corporate media must be exposed and targeted. The war criminals in the United States, in Britain, in Israel, in the Mediterranean region, in all countries must be removed from office. The “war on terrorism” in the name of security and peace must be exposed. Ways of dealing with the millions won over to fundamentalism must be discovered so that they gradually become a part of the popular anti-war movement, of the march to real democracy.

As an integral part of this movement the issue of Israeli weapons of mass destruction must become a part of the action agenda. This can contribute to destabilizing the dynamics driving the Middle East arms race and the ongoing preparations for war. It can also contribute as a first step to a comprehensive and just peace agreement which respects the rights of the Palestinian people by raising an issue which will confront Israel with widespread international disapproval.