"The nuclear summit that concluded last week between Iran and six world powers was a ridiculous charade," Gary Kamiya of Salon.com concluded. "The Obama administration never intended it to succeed. At bottom, it is an approach predicated not on achieving real progress in dealing with the Tehran regime but on overthrowing it." ("Obama's Iran Charade," May 30)
Negotiations & U.S. Diplomacy:
NOT An Alternative to Imperialism, A Tool of Imperialism
In today's world, negotiations between rival powers are not driven by some universal desire for peace and understanding, to "understand the other's viewpoint," or to "see reason and avoid war." They aren't a venue for "bringing out the best" in this horrible world. Such hopes are impossible and illusory in a world dominated by capitalism-imperialism and marked by oppressive relations--in particular the strangulation and domination of oppressed countries (like Iran) by a handful of imperialist powers represented by the P5+1. In today's world, these imperial powers pursue their interests according to the compulsions of the economic-political system they represent--not the personalities of their leaders (no matter who is in office!), much less "universal principles of human rights," peace, reason, and ending suffering.
What compulsions drive the U.S. empire? The global exploitation of labor, control and access to key resources and markets, and the military-political control of vast swaths of the globe. Why the Middle East? Because together with Central Asia it contains roughly 80 percent of the world's proven energy reserves. Whoever controls this energy spigot controls a key lever on the entire global economy--and on all powers that depend on oil and natural gas--from allies in Europe and Japan to rivals Russia and China. And this region is a crossroads for global trade and a critical military-strategic pivot.
So negotiations and diplomacy are not "substitutes" for war--they're simply other means of advancing imperialist interests and objectives. They can--and often have been--an essential part of preparing for war by weakening, isolating and attempting to demonize an opponent--while portraying the U.S. imperialists as the reasonable party, walking "the last mile" for peace.
"A State of Low-Grade, Daily Conflict"
While mouthing hopes for a negotiated resolution of tensions, the U.S. and its allies are continuing their all-around, unrelenting assault on Iran. On April 24, the White House announced new sanctions on Iran and Syria. On the eve of the May 24-25 negotiations, both the U.S. House and Senate passed new packages of sanctions. And in Baghdad, the U.S. refused any delay in the July 1 imposition of extremely harsh sanctions on Iran's oil exports and financial dealings, including an embargo on all sales of its oil to Europe--a major Iranian market.
The week after the Baghdad talks, it was revealed that the U.S. had been waging an unprecedented secret cyberwar against Iran. "From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran's main nuclear enrichment facilities," The New York Times reported, "significantly expanding America's first sustained use of cyberweapons." One Obama adviser said the U.S. and Iran were in a "state of low-grade, daily conflict." (David Sanger, "Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran," June 1; Thomas Ricks, "Covert Wars, Waged Virally," June 5)
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