Letters

LETTERS FROM OUR READERS – Re: “Iran in the Crosshairs: Tracing Overt and Covert Action,” by Eric Walberg

December 12, 2020

[Given the noteworthy responses from our readers, we will here post those letters—as many as possible, both positive and critical—as we did in the past for CovertAction Quarterly. Feel free to write your letters as responses to articles we publish, or on other matters you see pertinent. Our goal is to provide a space for lively debate. Please send your letters to info@CovertActionMagazine.com.—Editors]

RE: Iran in the Crosshairs: Tracing Overt and Covert Action, by Eric Walberg – November 28, 2020

Terrific piece in CA magazine. As you are well aware, the US emerged from WWII as the world’s leading military and economic power. Since that time US hegemony has been predicated on: 1) unrivaled military power, 2) control of world’s energy reserves (primarily in the ME), and 3) maintaining the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. All of the pillars supporting US power are now threatened by decades of neoliberal economic policies and spending large sums of taxpayer money on the military.

The US/UK have not recovered from the 1979 Islamic revolution. Iran has two things the US covets: 1) the world’s fourth largest oil reserves and largest natural gas reserves, 2) geostrategic position in the Middle East—between Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia and abuts the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic “choke point” through which circa 25% of the world’s energy transits. In a prescient piece published several years ago, Dan Glazebrook pointed out—“The reason for this obsession with destroying Iran—shared by all factions of the Western ruling class, despite their differences over means—is obvious: Iran’s very existence as an independent state threatens imperial control of the region—which in turns underpins both US military power and the global role of the dollar.” (See: Trump’s delusional Iran oil gambit is decades too late by Dan Glazebrook RT July 9, 2018; Link: www.rt.com/op-ed/432418-iran-trump-china-tariffs)

Despite facing continuous military threats and economic sanctions from the US, UK and other western Imperialist powers since 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has developed a formidable defensive military capability which has no doubt deterred direct military attacks from the US/Israel and positioned Iran as a major power broker in the region. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has concluded that- ‘Iran possesses the largest and most diverse missile arsenal in the Middle East, with thousands of ballistic and cruise missiles, some capable of striking as far as Israel and southeast Europe.’ (See: Missile Defense Project, “Missiles of Iran,” Missile Threat, Center for Strategic and International Studies, June 14, 2018, last modified July 16, 2020, https://missilethreat.csis.org/country/iran). The comprehensive energy and security agreement recently negotiated with China will provide Iran with much needed investment to further develop their energy and technical sectors and allow Iran to bypass US economic sanctions and further decrease their reliance on the US dollar for international trade. In addition, this agreement will increase Iran’s national security by backstopping them with Chinese, Russian and potentially Pakistani nuclear weapons.

The ‘changing of the guard’ at the White House replaces Trump with Joe Biden (aka ‘Credit Card’ Joe), who throughout his 5 decades of ‘public service’ has been a dependable representative of the State, carrying water for the Pentagon, Military contractors, large banks, insurance companies and Wall St. Biden was the clear choice of the financial elite running the country, as The Biden/Harris campaign received the majority of Wall St. donations, including Michael Bloomberg’s $100 million pledge.

Biden heads an American state in economic decline, accelerated by the Coronavirus pandemic. Unemployment has soared to levels not seen since the Great Depression, with millions of American families facing financial ruin, eviction from their homes, food insecurity and loss of medical insurance. As a result, the CBO estimates 2020 Fiscal deficit of $3.1 Trillion, obviously unsustainable. At the same time, the continued functioning (and very survival) of the American Empire requires a constant infusion of taxpayer-backed funds to- keep equities on Wall St inflated (circa $7 trillion from FED in 2020), support the Pentagon and looming strategic debacles in Afghanistan (longest war in US history), Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen, from which they have derived little imperial rent. To put this in perspective, post-911 conflicts have cost US taxpayers circa $6.4 trillion, while displacing/killing 37 million people (likely low estimates; See: https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar).

No amount of jingoistic and bellicose rhetoric from politicians in Washington changes this reality. The Pentagon is incapable of extricating itself from these conflicts, as doing so is an admission of failure and by extension military weakness. Given these financial and geopolitical realities, one would hope that the Biden administration will think twice about escalating tension with Iran. Unfortunately, Empires in decline do not always behave rationally.

Best,
Paul B.
Swarthmore, PA

CovertAction Magazine is made possible by subscriptions, orders and donations from readers like you.

Blow the Whistle on U.S. Imperialism

Click the whistle and donate

When you donate to CovertAction Magazine, you are supporting investigative journalism. Your contributions go directly to supporting the development, production, editing, and dissemination of the Magazine.

CovertAction Magazine does not receive corporate or government sponsorship. Yet, we hold a steadfast commitment to providing compensation for writers, editorial and technical support. Your support helps facilitate this compensation as well as increase the caliber of this work.

Please make a donation by clicking on the donate logo above and enter the amount and your credit or debit card information.

CovertAction Institute, Inc. (CAI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and your gift is tax-deductible for federal income purposes. CAI’s tax-exempt ID number is 87-2461683.

We sincerely thank you for your support.

Disclaimer: The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the author(s). CovertAction Institute, Inc. (CAI), including its Board of Directors (BD), Editorial Board (EB), Advisory Board (AB), staff, volunteers and its projects (including CovertAction Magazine) are not responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. This article also does not necessarily represent the views the BD, the EB, the AB, staff, volunteers, or any members of its projects.

Differing viewpoints: CAM publishes articles with differing viewpoints in an effort to nurture vibrant debate and thoughtful critical analysis. Feel free to comment on the articles in the comment section and/or send your letters to the Editors, which we will publish in the Letters column.

Copyrighted Material: This web site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. As a not-for-profit charitable organization incorporated in the State of New York, we are making such material available in an effort to advance the understanding of humanity’s problems and hopefully to help find solutions for those problems. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. You can read more about ‘fair use’ and US Copyright Law at the Legal Information Institute of Cornell Law School.

Republishing: CovertAction Magazine (CAM) grants permission to cross-post CAM articles on not-for-profit community internet sites as long as the source is acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original CovertAction Magazine article. Also, kindly let us know at info@CovertActionMagazine.com. For publication of CAM articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: info@CovertActionMagazine.com.

By using this site, you agree to these terms above.