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February 02, 2005
living in a neocon world
This is a world in which the US cop on the international beat creates conflict:
Heng Kim Song, Editorial Cartoons, Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore.
This is a world order imposed by US power that aims to remake the world in the image of the free society in the US: a combination of law, liberal freedoms, competitive private enterprise and regular, contested elections with universal suffrage.
It is a world order in which Saddam Hussein's Iraq did not represent a substantive existent threat, but the US deposed Saddam and occupied the country anyway.
Iran and North Korea are now marked for regime change. Iran is seen as a regional threat that needs to be contained, destabilized, and rolled back as part of the strategy to permanently transform the regional balance of power in favour of Israel. So is Syria. Is the US exit strategy from Baghdad through Damascus?
Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at February 2, 2005 05:20 PM
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Comments
I don't think the U.S. will be brave enough (or perhaps stupid enough) to militarily force a regime change in North Korea in the near future, partially because of North Korea's mooted nuclear capabilities.
Iran is a much more likely target, although while Iraq continues to froth and bubble I'm not sure that the U.S. would really want to get seriously involved in Iran either.
Posted by: Guy at February 3, 2005 08:40 AM
israel continues to foment conflict with its neighbours on the false assumption that it can bring peace .the west [minus the us ]is moving on yet so many hard liners in israel can not see it . if they want support from the rest of the world they must stop harrassing the palestinian people . this is the start of an enduring peace for all of us .
Posted by: kartiya at February 3, 2005 01:24 PM
I wonder if taking out Iran may not actually be seen as a way to smooth the waters of the Iraq occupation. The US may see synergies in that any Iranian influence running counter to US aspirations in Iraq can be neutralised. I believe the US administration may actually be mad/bad enough to think this. And of course the big picture game plan is regional domination anyway and you can't achieve that without going all the way. Iran is all the way.
Posted by: wbb at February 5, 2005 12:59 AM
Wbb,
yeah, I agree. Regional dominance is the name of the game being played by the US as international cop in the Middle East. That means regime change in Iran.
Though the war rhetoric of Bush's recent SOU speech was toned down:
"Today, Iran remains the world's primary state sponsor of terror -- pursuing nuclear weapons while depriving its people of the freedom they seek and deserve. We are working with European allies to make clear to the Iranian regime that it must give up its uranium enrichment program and any plutonium reprocessing, and end its support for terror. And to the Iranian people, I say tonight: As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you. (Applause.)"
They are talking diplomacy at the moment.
In the background Cheney is out there supporting the push for Israel to bomb Iran's nuclear power facilities. Cheney's Washington has a preferred tactic of confrontation, isolation, containment, and regime change.
Posted by: Gary Sauer-Thompson at February 5, 2005 09:26 AM