Preparing for World War III, Targeting Iran
Preparing for World War III, Targeting Iran
Part I: Global Warfare
by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, August 1, 2010
Humanity is at a dangerous crossroads. War preparations to attack Iran are
in "an advanced state of readiness". Hi tech weapons systems including
nuclear warheads are fully deployed.
This military adventure has been on the Pentagon's drawing board since the
mid-1990s. First Iraq, then Iran according to a declassified 1995 US Central
Command document.
Escalation is part of the military agenda. While Iran, is the next target
together with Syria and Lebanon, this strategic military deployment also
threatens North Korea, China and Russia.
Since 2005, the US and its allies, including America's NATO partners and
Israel, have been involved in the extensive deployment and stockpiling of
advanced weapons systems. The air defense systems of the US, NATO member
countries and Israel are fully integrated.
This is a coordinated endeavor of the Pentagon, NATO, Israel's Defense Force
(IDF), with the active military involvement of several non-NATO partner
countries including the frontline Arab states (members of NATO's
Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative), Saudi
Arabia, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, among
others. (NATO consists of 28 NATO member states Another 21 countries are
members of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), The Mediterranean
Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative include ten Arab countries
plus Israel.)
The roles of Egypt, the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia (within the extended
military alliance) is of particular relevance. Egypt controls the transit of
war ships and oil tankers through the Suez Canal. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf
States occupy the South Western coastlines of the Persian Gulf, the Straits
of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. In early June, "Egypt reportedly allowed one
Israeli and eleven U.S. ships to pass through the Suez Canal in ....an
apparent signal to Iran. ... On June 12, regional press outlets reported
that the Saudis had granted Israel the right to fly over its airspace..."
(Muriel Mirak Weissbach, Israels Insane War on Iran Must Be Prevented.,
Global Research, July 31, 2010)
In post 9/11 military doctrine, this massive deployment of military hardware
has been defined as part of the so-called "Global War on Terrorism",
targeting "non-State" terrorist organizations including al Qaeda and
so-called "State sponsors of terrorism",. including Iran, Syria, Lebanon,
Sudan.
The setting up of new US military bases, the stockpiling of advanced weapons
systems including tactical nuclear weapons, etc. were implemented as part of
the pre-emptive defensive military doctrine under the umbrella of the
"Global War on Terrorism".
War and the Economic Crisis
The broader implications of a US-NATO Israel attack on Iran are
far-reaching. The war and the economic crisis are intimately related. The
war economy is financed by Wall Street, which stands as the creditor of the
US administration. The US weapons producers are the recipients of the US
Department of Defense multibillion dollar procurement contracts for advanced
weapons systems. In turn, "the battle for oil" in the Middle East and
Central Asia directly serves the interests of the Anglo-American oil giants.
The US and its allies are "beating the drums of war" at the height of a
Worldwide economic depression, not to mention the most serious environmental
catastrophe in World history. In a bitter twist, one of the major players
(BP) on the Middle East Central Asia geopolitical chessboard, formerly known
as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, is the instigator of the ecological
disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Media Disinformation
Public opinion, swayed by media hype is tacitly supportive, indifferent or
ignorant as to the likely impacts of what is upheld as an ad hoc "punitive"
operation directed against Iran's nuclear facilities rather than an all out
war. War preparations include the deployment of of US and Israeli produced
nuclear weapons. In this context, the devastating consequences of a nuclear
war are either trivialised or simply not mentioned. The "real crisis"
threatening humanity, according to the media and the governments, is not war
but global warming.
The war on Iran is presented to public opinion as an issue among others. It
is not viewed as a threat to "Mother Earth" as in the case of global
warming. It is not front-page news. The fact that an attack on Iran could
lead to escalation and potentially unleash a "global war" is not a matter of
concern.
The Cult of Killing and Destruction
The global killing machine is also sustained by an imbedded cult of killing
and destruction which pervades Hollywood movies, not to mention the prime
time war and crime TV series on network television. This cult of killing is
endorsed by the CIA and the Pentagon which also support (finance) Hollywood
productions as an instrument of war propaganda:
"Ex-CIA agent Bob Baer told us, "Theres a symbiosis between the CIA and
Hollywood" and revealed that former CIA director George Tenet is currently,
"out in Hollywood, talking to studios." (Matthew Alford and Robbie Graham,
Lights, Camera
Covert Action: The Deep Politics of Hollywood, Global
Research, January 31, 2009).
The killing machine is deployed at a global level, within the framework of
the unified combat command structure. It is routinely upheld by the
institutions of government, the corporate media and the mandarins and
intellectuals of the New World Order in Washington's think tanks and
strategic studies research institutes, as an unquestioned instrument of
peace and global prosperity.
A culture of killing and violence has become imbedded in human
consciousness.
War is broadly accepted as part of a societal process: The Homeland needs to
be "defended" and protected.
"Legitimized violence" and extrajudicial killings directed against
"terrorists" are upheld in western democracies, as necessary instruments of
national security.
A "humanitarian war" is upheld by the so-called international community. It
is not condemned as a criminal act. Its main architects are rewarded for
their contributions to world peace.
With regard to Iran, what is unfolding is the outright legitimization of war
in the name of an illusive notion of global security.
A "Pre-emptive" Aerial attack directed against Iran would lead to Escalation
At present there are three separate Middle East Central Asia war theaters:
Iraq, Af-Pak, and Palestine.
Were Iran to be the object of a "pre-emptive" aerial attack by allied
forces, the entire region, from the Eastern Mediterranean to China's Western
frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan, would flare up, leading us
potentially into a World War III scenario.
The war would also extend into Lebanon and Syria.
It is highly unlikely that the bombings, if they were to be implemented,
would be circumscribed to Iran's nuclear facilities as claimed by US-NATO
official statements. What is more probable is an all out air attack on both
military and civilian infrastructure, transport systems, factories, public
buildings.
Iran, with an an estimated ten percent of global oil and gas reserves, ranks
third after Saudi Arabia (25 %) and Iraq (11 %) in the size of its reserves.
In comparison, the US possesses less than 2.8 % of global oil reserves. (See
Eric Waddell, The Battle for Oil, Global Research, December 2004).
Of significance is the recent discovery in Iran of the second largest known
reserves of natural gas at Soumar and Halgan estimated at 12.4 trillion
cubic feet.
Targeting Iran consists not only in reclaiming Anglo-American control over
Iran's oil and gas economy, including pipeline routes, it also challenges
the presence and influence of China and Russia in the region.
The planned attack on Iran is part of a coordinated global military road
map. It is part of the Pentagon's "long war", a profit driven war without
borders, a project of World domination, a sequence of military operations.
US-NATO military planners have envisaged various scenarios of military
escalation. They are also acutely aware of the geopolitical implications,
namely that the war could extend beyond the Middle East Central Asia region.
The economic impacts on the oil markets, etc. have also been analyzed.
While Iran, Syria and Lebanon are the immediate targets, China, Russia,
North Korea, not to mention Venezuela and Cuba are also the object of US
threats.
At stake is the structure of military alliances. US-NATO-Israel military
deployments including military exercises and drills conducted on Russia and
China's immediate borders bear a direct relationship to the proposed war on
Iran. These veiled threats, including their timing, constitute an obvious
hint to the former powers of the Cold War era not to intervene in any way
which could encroach upon a US-led attack on Iran.
Global Warfare
The medium term strategic objective is to target Iran and neutralize Iran's
allies, through gunboat diplomacy. The longer term military objective is to
directly target China and Russia.
While Iran is the immediate target, military deployment is by no means
limited to the Middle East and Central Asia. A global military agenda has
been formulated.
The deployment of coalition troops and advanced weapons systems by the US,
NATO and its partners is occurring simultaneously in all major regions of
the World.
The recent actions of the US military off the coast of North Korea including
the conduct of war games are part of a global design.
Directed primarily against Russia and China, US, NATO and allied military
exercises, war drills, weapons deployments, etc. are being conducted
simultaneously in major geopolitical hotspots.
-The Korean Peninsula, the Sea of Japan, the Taiwan Straits, the South China
Sea threatening China,
-The deployment of Patriot missiles in Poland, the early warning center in
the Czech republic threatening Russia,
-Naval deployments in Bulgaria, Romania on the Black sea, threatening Russia
- US and NATO troops deployments in Georgia,
- A formidable naval deployment in the Persian Gulf including Israeli
Concurrently the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Caribbean,
Central America and the Andean region of South America are areas of ongoing
militarization. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the threats are directed
against Venezuela and Cuba.
US "Military Aid"
In turn, large scale weapons transfers have been undertaken under the banner
of US "military aid" to selected countries, including a 5 billion dollar
arms deal with India which is intended to build India's capabilities
directed against China. (Huge U.S.-India Arms Deal To Contain China, Global
Times, July 13, 2010).
"[The] arms sales will improve ties between Washington and New Delhi, and,
intentionally or not, will have the effect of containing Chinas influence
in the region. quoted in Rick Rozoff, Confronting both China and Russia:
U.S. Risks Military Clash With China In Yellow Sea, Global Research, July
16, 2010)
The US has military cooperation agreements with a number of South East Asian
countries including Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia, involving "military
aid" as well as the participation in U.S.-led war games in the Pacific Rim
(July -August 2010). These agreements are supportive of weapons deployments
directed against The People's Republic of China. (See Rick Rozoff,
Confronting both China and Russia: U.S. Risks Military Clash With China In
Yellow Sea, Global Research, July 16, 2010).
Similarly and more directly related to the planned attack on Iran, the US is
arming the Gulf States (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates)
with land-based interceptor missiles, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 and
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) as well as sea-based Standard
Missile-3 interceptors installed on Aegis class warships in the Persian
Gulf. (See Rick Rozoff, NATOs Role In The Military Encirclement Of Iran,
Global Research, February 10, 2010).
The Timetable of Military Stockpiling and Deployment
What is crucial in regards to US weapons transfers to partner countries and
allies is the actual timing of delivery and deployment. The launch of a US
sponsored military operation would normally occur once these weapons systems
are in place, effectively deployed with the implementation of personnel
training. (e.g India).
What we are dealing with is a carefully coordinated global military design
controlled by the Pentagon, involving the combined armed forces of more than
forty countries. This global multinational military deployment is by far the
largest display of advanced weapons systems in World history.
In turn, the US and its allies have established new military bases in
different parts of the world. "The Surface of the Earth is Structured as a
Wide Battlefield". (See Jules Dufour, The Worldwide Network of US Military
Bases , Global Research, July 1, 2007).
The Unified Command structure divided up into geographic Combatant Commands
is predicated on a strategy of militarization at the global level. "The US
Military has bases in 63 countries. Brand new military bases have been built
since September 11, 2001 in seven countries. In total, there are 255,065 US
military personnel deployed Worldwide." (See Jules Dufour, The Worldwide
Network of US Military Bases , Global Research, July 1, 2007
Source: DefenseLINK-Unified Command Plan
World War III Scenario
This military deployment is occurring in several regions simultaneously
under the coordination of the regional US Commands, involving the
stockpiling of US made weapons systems by America's allies, some of which
are former enemies, including Vietnam and Japan.
The present context is characterised by a global military build-up
controlled by one World superpower, which is using its numerous allies to
trigger regional wars.
In contrast to the Second World War was a conjunction of separate regional
war theaters. Given the communications technologies and weapons systems of
the 1940s, there was no strategic "real time" coordination in military
actions between broad geographic regions
Global warfare is based on the coordinated deployment of a single dominant
military power, which oversees the actions of its allies and partners.
With the exception of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Second World War was
characterized by the use of conventional weapons. The planning of a global
war relies on the militarization of outer space. Were a war directed against
iran to be launched, It would not only use nuclear weapons, the entire gamut
of new advanced weapons systems, including electrometric weapons and
environmental modification techniques (ENMOD) would be used.
The United Nations Security Council
The UN Security Council adopted in early June a fourth round of sweeping
sanctions against The Islamic Republic of Iran, which included an expanded
arms embargo as well "tougher financial controls". In a bitter irony, this
resolution was passed within days of the United Nations Secrity Council's
outright refusal to adopt a motion condemning Israel for its attack on the
Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters.
Both China and Russia, pressured by the US, have endorsed the UNSC
sanctions' regime, to their own detriment. Their decision within the UNSC
contributes to weakening their own military alliance, the Shanghai
Cooperation organization (SCO), in which Iran has observer status. The
Security Council resolution freezes China and Russia's respective bilateral
military cooperation and trade agreements with Iran. It has serious
repercussions on Iran's air defense system which in part depends on Russian
technology and expertise.
The Security Council resolution grants a de facto "green light" to wage a
pre-emptive war against Iran.
The American Inquisition: Building a Political Consensus for War
In chorus, the Western media has branded Iran as a threat to global security
in view of its alleged (non-existent) nuclear weapons program. Echoing
official statements, the media is now demanding the implementation of
punitive bombings directed against Iran so as to safeguard Israel's
security.
The Western media is beating the drums of war. The purpose is to tacitly
instil, through repeated media reports, ad nauseam, within people's inner
consciousness, the notion that the Iranian threat is real and that the
Islamic Republic should be "taken out".
A consensus building process to wage war is similar to the Spanish
inquisition. It requires and demands submission to the notion that war is a
humanitarian endeavor.
Known and documented, the real threat to global security emanates from the
US-NATO-Israel alliance, yet realities in an inquisitorial environment are
turned upside down: the warmongers are committed to peace, the victims of
war are presented as the protagonists of war. Whereas in 2006, almost two
thirds of Americans were opposed to military action against Iran, a recent
Reuter-Zogby February 2010 poll suggests that 56 % of Americans favor a
US-NATO military action against Iran.
Building a political consensus which is based on an outright lie cannot,
however, rely solely on the official position of those who are the source of
the lie.
The antiwar movement in the US, which has in part been infiltrated and
co-opted, has taken on a weak stance with regard to Iran. The antiwar
movement is divided. The emphasis has been on wars which have already
occurred (Afghanistan, Iraq) rather than forcefully opposing wars which are
being prepared and which are currently on the Pentagon's drawing board.
Since the inauguration of the Obama administration, the antiwar movement has
lost some of its impetus.
Moreover, those who actively oppose the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq, do
not necessarily oppose the conduct of "punitive bombings" directed Iran, nor
do they categorize these bombings as an act of war, which could potentially
be a prelude to World War III.
The scale of antiwar protest in relation to Iran has been minimal in
comparison to the mass demonstrations which preceded the 2003 bombing and
invasion of Iraq.
The real threat to global security emanates from the US-NATO-Israel
alliance.
The Iran operation is not being opposed in the diplomatic arena by China and
Russia; it has the support of the governments of the frontline Arab states
which are integrated into the NATO sponsored Mediterranean dialogue. It also
has the tacit support of Western public opinion.
We call upon people across the land, in America, Western Europe, Israel,
Turkey and around the world to rise up against this military project,
against their governments which are supportive of military action against
Iran, against the media which serves to camouflage the devastating
implications of a war against Iran.
The military agenda support a profit driven destructive global economic
system which impoverishes large sectors of the world population.
This war is sheer madness.
World War III is terminal. Albert Einstein understood the perils of nuclear
war and the extinction of life on earth, which has already started with the
radioactive contamination resulting from depleted uranium. I know not with
what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought
with sticks and stones.
The media, the intellectuals, the scientists and the politicians, in chorus,
obfuscate the untold truth, namely that war using nuclear warheads destroys
humanity, and that this complex process of gradual destruction has already
commenced.
When the lie becomes the truth there is no turning backwards.
When war is upheld as a humanitarian endeavor, Justice and the entire
international legal system are turned upside down: pacifism and the antiwar
movement are criminalized. Opposing the war becomes a criminal act.
The Lie must be exposed for what it is and what it does.
It sanctions the indiscriminate killing of men, women and children.
It destroys families and people. It destroys the commitment of people
towards their fellow human beings.
It prevents people from expressing their solidarity for those who suffer. It
upholds war and the police state as the sole avenue.
It destroys internationalism.
Breaking the lie means breaking a criminal project of global destruction, in
which the quest for profit is the overriding force.
This profit driven military agenda destroys human values and transforms
people into unconscious zombies.
Let us reverse the tide.
Challenge the war criminals in high office.
Break the American inquisition.
Undermine the US-NATO-Israel military crusade.
Close down the weapons factories and the military bases.
Bring home the troops.
Members of the armed forces should disobey orders and refuse to participate
in a criminal war.
Part II of this essay will be published shortly.
Preparing for World War III. Nature and History of the Planned Military
Operation against Iran
Includes analysis of the role if Israel
Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics
(Emeritus) at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Centre for
Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal. He is the author of The
Globalization of Poverty and The New World Order (2003) and Americas War
on Terrorism (2005). He is also a contributor to the Encyclopaedia
Britannica. His writings have been published in more than twenty languages.
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