The US assault on Iran is blatant Imperialism and it is what the US has been doing with Iran since the CIA coup of 1953

We are 1 week into the US assault on Iran as of this writing. I just finished an 8 week class on the history of US foreign policy since WWII. In that class I created a framework to analyze US foreign policy, which you can find here.

Before I use this foreign policy analysis framework for what the US is doing to Iran I want to speak briefly about what the Democratic Party and specifically Rep. Scholten’s position is on the current US assault on Iran.

In her weekly Email messages Rep. Scholten said this on Monday, March 2nd:

At the time of this writing, six United States service members have lost their lives in this operation. We must be clear-eyed about what is happening here–Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the ENTIRE world. It’s beyond time that the United States held them to account.

Now, it is true that Rep. Scholten did recently vote to not give the Trump Administration War Powers but this has done nothing to prevent the US military from continuing to bomb and murder Iranian civilians. The more important vote coming up will be whether or not the Democrats oppose the Trump Administration’s request for $50 billion supplemental military funding bill to further punish Iran.

1. A Brief History of the US and Iran is a history of US Imperialism

The Iranian people and the Iranian government as early as 1951 wanted to nationalize the oil that was being pumped from the earth on Iranian land. Such an action was a major no no, since the oil interests (both British and US) were not in favor of allowing Iranians to benefit from domestic oil production.

The British initiated an economic blockade on Iran once they announced that Iranian oil was for Iranians. However, the Iranian government under the leadership of the democratically elected government of Mohammad Mosaddegh was able to weather the economic blockade and continued to use oil production to benefit Iranian society. US strategists working with the CIA began developing a plan to oust the Mosaddegh government and put in his place the Shah, who would dismantle the law that said Iranian oil for Iranians.

In the summer of 1953, the CIA initiated a coup and then installed The Shah of Iran who became an important ally of the US in the Middle East until 1979. During the Shah’s reign he suppressed dissent, was very anti-Islam and created his own secret police known as SAVAK. According to Blum:

“The notorious Iranian secret police, SAVAK, created under the guidance of the CIA and Israel, spread its tentacles all over the world to punish Iranian dissidents. According to a former CIA analyst on Iran, SAVAK was instructed in torture techniques by the Agency. Amnesty International summed up the situation in 1976 by noting that Iran had the “highest rate of death penalties in the world, no valid system of civilian courts and a history of torture which is beyond belief. No country in the world has a worse record in human rights than Iran.”

The brutality of the Shah of Iran is what eventually led to the Iranian revolution in 1979, which was led by Islamic clerics who had nothing but contempt for the US, primarily because of the decades long US support of the Shah.

In an attempt to destabilize Iran the US was providing weapons to Iraq throughout the 1980s to go to war against Iran, resulting in 1 million dead. When the US attacked Iraq in 1991 with the so-called Gulf War, it provided the US another opportunity to monitor Iran. In 2003 the US invaded Iraq and began to establish military bases which was one of the goals, in order to have more permanent military presence that was closer to Iran. (reflected in the map above) Every US administration since 1979 has treated Iran as a terrorist state, even though Iran has not invaded another sovereign nation.

For more insights into the history of US/Iranian relations check out the US government declassified documents put together by the National Security Archives.

2. Geopolitics in the US assault on Iran

The map above should tell you all you need to know about the geopolitics of the US and Iran. The US has militarily occupied Afghanistan and Iraq, has provided billions of military aid to Israel, Pakistan, Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The US military has also assaulted Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. The US has imposed the most brutal economic sanctions in history on Iraq from 1991 – 2003. The Middle East is a major hub of oil production and narcotics trafficking. Lastly, because of the proximity of Russia and China to this region, the US has always included this dynamic into what the short-term and long-term policies have always been.

3. US Economic interests regarding Iran and the region

I already addressed this in the geopolitics section, but the role of oil is a major factor and has been since Iran nationalized its oil in the early 1950s. There is also the economic function of US militarism and the military industrial complex, which I address in point 6 below.

4. US Military role in Iran

You can see from the map above how many US military bases are in that part of the world, essentially surrounding Iran. For a detailed account the role that US military bases play in US foreign police see David Vine’s excellent book, Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World. US military presence in proximity to Iran has been a reality for decades, thus allowing the US to engage in assaults whenever they want, gather intelligence and and provide support to US allies in the region, specifically Israel, which is currently a partner in the current US assault on Iran.

5. Human Rights/Human Cost in the US assault on Iran

According to one source, “The death toll in Iran has reached at least 1,332, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society. Children account for about 30% of those killed in the U.S. and Israeli attacks, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani. Dropsite News goes on to say, “The U.S.-Israeli attacks have damaged 3,643 civilian sites, including 3,090 homes, according to the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Kolivand. In addition, 528 commercial and service centers, 14 medical or pharmaceutical facilities and nine Red Crescent facilities, have also been damaged.”

6. US Military Industrial Complex and the US assault on Iran

The US military use of weapons like Patriot missiles and Tomahawk missiles, along with all of the other weaponry and US military vehicles, drones, telecom resources, etc. is a massive benefit to US military contractors. This is exactly why US military companies spend millions to fund candidates, along with spending millions on lobbyists to make sure that their profits continue to increase. The profit motive is particularly important when the US used the weapons that we all as taxpayers pay for.

7. US University role in weapons research

Universities across the US have played a vital role in supporting US militarism for decades. Numerous US universities engage in Research and Development (R&D) of weapons systems, whether it is through the federal government sponsorship of schools or corporations that contribute money to departments in exchange for R&D. Check out this link for concrete examples of Federally Funded Research and Development Centers and University Affiliated Research Centers.

8. US Media Coverage and Public Opinion regarding the US assault on Iran

If you looked at how the major commercial news media outlets have reported on the US assault on Iran over the past week and then think about the first seven of the US foreign policy analysis framework I have included, it would be safe to say that the news media has miserably failed the public when it comes to providing robust analysis and coverage.

There is an excellent interview on the media watchdog site Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting with Gregory Shupak who provides solid analysis of US media coverage.  In addition, there is an important article entitled, Corporate Media Buries Story of US and Israel Killing 168 in Girls School Attack, which demonstrates how the large US media outlets have minimized or ignored the US killing of 168 people.

9. US Domestic response to the US assault on Iran

There have been protests and marches over the past week throughout the US, but no significant actions that have targeted policy makers, weapons manufacturers or any other sector of society that ultimately benefits from US Imperialism abroad. This may change in the coming weeks and months, especially of the US military continue to assault Iran and cause more death and destruction. It is also important to think about the importance of developing robust strategies and tactics moving forward, since marches and traditional protest with sign holding will not effecting disrupt the US military assault on Iran or anywhere else in the world.