THE POLITICS OF "APPEEVEMENT": IS THERE A METHOD TO BUSH’S MIDDLE EAST MADNESS?
By Rannie Amiri

CounterPunch, CA
Oct 22 2007

Over the past several weeks, the United States has gone out of its
way to offend, irk and otherwise provoke a select group of leaders
and nations. Through a series of deliberate and calculated actions
intended to purposefully estrange those most likely to succeed at
diplomacy with Iran, its failure has been ordained and the stage for
military action set. For those who think the upcoming war will be
another Bush-Cheney folly (as they believe Iraq to be), the collusion
of the Democrats in the process again belies that assumption.

The groundwork was laid in September, when the Senate overwhelmingly
approved a resolution urging the State Department to designate
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a "foreign terrorist organization"–the
prerequisite term needed to justify the use of force and the first
ever such characterization of a governmental entity.

The Iranian parliament responded similarly, labeling the CIA and US
Army in kind for everything from use of atomic weapons in WWII to the
killing of civilians in Iraq [Surprisingly omitted was mention of the
CIA’s role in orchestrating the 1953 coup of the democratically elected
Iranian president, Mohammad Mosaddeq. This led to the installation of
the Shah, whose rule was ruthlessly enforced by the Israeli-trained
mercenaries of SAVAK, until the Iranian Revolution of 1979].

Defying all rational thought, Bush then had the audacity to certify
the opposite of Saudi Arabia last week; calling it an "anti-terrorism
allycooperating with efforts to combat international terrorism" it
allows the United States to allocate additional monies to the Kingdom.

Although purported Iranian support for Shia militant groups in Iraq
may be nominally true, there can be no doubt of their desire to see a
stable government run by fellow Shia Muslims succeed. Saudi Arabia,
on the other hand, has done its utmost to see it fail. The early
stages of the post-Iraq conflict witnessed the influx of thousands
of militants bent on exporting the radical Sunni version of Islam,
inspired and funded by Saudi Arabia, into the country. Suicide
bombings, mass marketplace carnage and destruction of religious
shrines have been hallmarks of these religious extremists and Sunni
Iraqi nationalist groups which Saudi Arabia likewise supports. As
if to officially sanction such violence, Saudi clerics even issued
a fatwa calling for the demolition of all the Shia holy shrines in
Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala. This makes the above Senate resolution
and presidential "certification" all the more extraordinary.

Quite artfully, the United States has also made sure a peaceful and
reasoned solution to the Iranian nuclear question never takes place,
primarily by alienating both Russia and China. For should they become
so disillusioned with the United States that they veto further punitive
measures leveled against Iran at the UN, they will have conveniently
left Bush and the Democrats "no other alternative but…" the use
of force.

And indeed this has been the case. Russian President Vladimir Putin,
recently completing a trip to Iran as part of the Caspian Sea Summit,
is still seething at United States plans to install a missile defense
system in Russia’s backyard through placement of interceptor missiles
in Poland and radar in the Czech Republic. This comes atop another
American initiative to build an oil and gas pipeline through Caspian
Sea countries yet bypass Russia.

To raise China’s ire, Bush decided to hold a public meeting with
the Dalai Lama–the first ever by a sitting US president–and award
him the Congressional Gold Medal. This prompted the enraged Chinese
to summon the US ambassador in Beijing for an explanation, further
escalating tensions. But was this a genuine show support for the
Dalai Lama or just a good opportunity to poke a finger in China’s eye?

In the midst of worsening Russian and Sino-American relations,
Congress decided to get into the act and rile the Turks by proposing
a resolution calling the killing of 1.5 million Armenians during WWI
under the Ottoman Empire an act of genocide. At the hint of it being
brought up for a vote, Turkey recalled its ambassador to Washington
and passed a parliamentary resolution the same day authorizing the
incursion of Turkish forces into Iraq to combat the PKK. If it was
possible to inflame the sensitivities of yet another country which
might provide needed diplomatic leverage with Iran, the United States
did well to take advantage of it.

So there you have it. The friend of a friend has been declared the
enemy and the enemy of a friend a great ally. In a matter of weeks,
the United States quite intentionally miffed the Russians, Chinese
and Turks under the guise of defending Europe, upholding human rights
and suddenly decrying an historical tragedy. This assures their
cooperation on Iran will be made all the more difficult and gives the
United States the pretext it needs to act unilaterally and likely,
militarily. An ingenious, yet diabolical, plan.

Rannie Amiri is an independent commentator on the Arab and Islamic
worlds. He may be reached at: rbamiri@yahoo.com.