There have been many frightening developments
over the last few weeks which have signalled that the US – and some of its
closest allies such as the UK – are launching full throttle towards a war with
Iran.
Even if war was not the immediate intention of
the parties involved, it doesn’t take a genius to see that a miscalculated move
committed by either side could heavily escalate into an all-out conflict, and
igniting a powder keg.
However, while these developments have
unfolded, and since no such strike has taken place as yet, it is worth
examining the signs currently overlooked by most mainstream media outlets in
their typical assessments. Specifically, the numerous signs which actually
suggest that perhaps a genuine war between Iran and the United States is
currently unlikely, despite recent escalations.
1. Israel’s security
Any war with Iran – whether commissioned by
Israel or not – would involve multiple unanswered questions about Israel’s
security. Despite some hysterical commentary, the imminent threat posed to
Israel does not come directly from Iran, but from Lebanon. Hezbollah has an
estimated 120,000 missiles in Lebanon, allegedly embedded in approximately 200
Shi’ite villages in the South of Lebanon. Even the infamous Israeli air defense
system, the Iron Dome, would struggle to contain such an overwhelming barrage
of rockets.
This current dynamic was explained brilliantly
in a recent interview with public intellectual Professor Noam Chomsky, who
said:
“If there is a confrontation with Iran, the
first victim will be Lebanon. As soon as there’s any threat of war, Israel will
certainly be unwilling to face the danger of Hezbollah missiles, which are
probably scattered all around Lebanon by now. So it’s very likely that the
first step prior to direct conflict with Iran would be essentially to wipe out
Lebanon or something like it.”
This would partly explain why Israel has been
actively preparing for a war with Hezbollah in Lebanon for years, including
running multiple military drills that have simulated an invasion of Lebanese
territory. Last year, Israel even simulated a multi-front war in which Russia
stepped in to protect Syria from Israeli attacks.
Therefore, unless the issue of Hezbollah in
Lebanon has been addressed first, it seems unlikely that the US will rush to
attack Iran without consolidating blowback against its closest and most prized
ally in the Middle East. If the US failed to protect and aid Israel in a
meaningful way, the entire world would learn some very valuable lessons indeed.
2. Leaked cables and anonymous sources
Recently leaked cables pertaining to the
British ambassador to the United States, Sir Kim Darroch, published by the Mail
on Sunday indicated that Trump’s entire strategy toward Iran was almost
completely non-existent. Referring to Trump’s policy as “incoherent” and
“chaotic” the ambassador stated that it was unlikely that Trump’s Iran strategy
was “going to become more coherent any time soon.”
According to Sir Kim, Trump’s grandiose claim
that he had scaled back a strike plan against Iran following the downing of a
US drone by Tehran due to its potential to cause widespread casualties “doesn’t
stand up.”
“It’s more likely that he was never fully on
board and that he was worried about how this apparent reversal of his 2016
campaign promises would look come 2020,” the diplomat said.
Furthermore, there are anonymously-sourced
indications that Trump was never going to strike Iran anyway as he had not
secured the requisite permission – from Tehran. A farfetched claim for
anonymous sources to make to say the least. But it is hard to see how it is any
less farfetched than the idea that the US military was poised to strike Iran
and the one person who pulled the plug was a reality TV star and real estate
tycoon billionaire – the same man who once asked the CIA “why did you wait?”
before it delivered a drone strike against a terrorist target who was still in
the vicinity of the target’s family.
3. Lack of international and domestic
support
According to TIME, the US wanted to proceed
with its plan to strike Iran without informing its British counterparts first.
Apparently, Washington has become quite frustrated with Britain’s commitment to
the US foreign policy strategy toward Iran, with one senior US official calling
the UK “cowards.”
Iain Duncan Smith, once
leader of the British Conservative Party, recently told the BBC that then-prime
minister Theresa May had turned down a US offer of help in the Persian Gulf,
supposedly due to the risk of the entire situation escalating into armed
conflict. The UK also rejected the opportunity to join the US’ so-called
“Operation Sentinel” which was to organise an allied patrol of the Gulf region.
Will this all change under the recently announced leadership of Boris Johnson?
Perhaps it will, but we can only speculate at this stage.
Approximately a month ago, a senior Russian
diplomat said that Tehran “won’t be alone” if the US decides to strike Iran.
Stating that “it’s not just Russia, many other countries sympathize and
empathise with Iran,” Zamir Kabulov concluded that “Tehran won’t be alone if
the US, God forbid takes wild and irresponsible actions against it.”
Kabulov’s comments ran in tandem with Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement that Moscow will attempt to initiate
dialogue between Washington and Tehran, but this of course “assumes the end to
the policy of ultimatums, sanctions and blackmail.” Some reports also suggested
that Russia warned the US not to attack Iran after the downing of its drone,
further stating that “we aren’t trading in our allies, our interests and our
principles.”
It’s hard enough to go to war when the
international community is allied against you. However, the case of Iraq in
2003 shows that the US is undeterred when faced with strong international
opposition. What may really tip the balance against a war is the domestic mood
at the time leading up to the strike. In its current state, this does not look
good for the US either. According to recent polls, most voters agree with
Trump’s decision (if such a decision even existed) to call off airstrikes
against Iran. 36 percent of those polled supported military action against Iran
with a much more convincing 42 percent opposing military action.
Let’s not forget that Trump ultimately has an
election to win.
4. Iran seeks to avoid a war
Despite what war hawks say, the idea that Iran
is run by ‘apocalyptic religious fanatics’ who have no grounding in the real
world is simply not provable. As Professor Chomsky explains, Iran’s entire
military strategy is one of deterrence. Furthermore, Iran simply does not have
the capacity to threaten the US in the way that has been portrayed by former
and current administrations.
Iran complied with the JCPOA and was
consistently certified as being compliant, even up until recently and even
though the US had already reneged on the deal with the aim of strangling Iran’s
economy through sanctions in contravention of a preliminary ruling from the
International Court of Justice (ICJ). Even in the face of many provocations
from Israel, including the assassinations of Iranian generals and scientists,
Iran’s response has been somewhat measured (and more often than not,
non-existent). As explained by the CATO Institute:
“On a purely logical level,
Iran cannot possibly seek war with the United States. Regardless of how Iran
interprets Trump’s withdrawal from the JCPOA, despite the pain caused by the
reimposition of economic sanctions, and in spite of recent American rhetoric,
the worst possible outcome for Iran is war. A sustained campaign of American
air strikes would be terribly painful; a full-scale invasion would be
catastrophic.”
5. Lack of legal avenues
You don’t need to be a lawyer to understand
that starting wars against sovereign nations require a sovereign basis. While
the US continuously engages its military in nations without any legal basis
(for example, Syria), at the end of the day, the US is still well aware of its
legal obligations. In a recent letter on the very question of a possible
commencement of war with Iran, the US State Department wrote:
“The Department of State has great respect for
Congress’ role in authorizing the use of military force. As Secretary Pompeo
has noted, the Administration’s goal is to find a diplomatic solution to Iran’s
activities, not to engage in conflict with Iran. Moreover, the Administration has
not, to date, interpreted either AUMF as authorizing military force against
Iran, except as may be necessary to defend U.S. or partner forces engaged in
counterterrorism operations or operations to establish a stable, democratic
Iraq.”
That’s why the Trump
administration’s preferred strategy is the so-called “maximum pressure”
campaign, through the use of effective and crippling sanctions, which are
getting the US incredibly close to liquidating Iran’s economy. This is the
ultimate aim of the Trump administration, and it is working like a charm.
Source: RT