| by Jonathan Kuttab It should come as no surprise that we at FOSNA are opposed to the current war that was unleashed on Iran by Israel and the US, and which now seems to be engulfing much of the Middle East. Any war, even one appearing to be justified, is bad. War brings nothing but death, destruction, loss, and continued enmity. It disrupts regular civilian life, and it provides an excuse for and an opening to all forms of military excess and authoritarian overreach by governments. It diverts all of society’s resources away from human needs to feed the demands of the war machine as it voraciously sucks up human and financial resources, creativity, and interest. The current war on Iran is particularly outrageous and reprehensible for a variety of reasons. Prime Minister Netanyahu, by his own account, has been trying to bring about such a war for decades. Despite his constant harping about it, Netanyahu had failed (until now) to persuade the United States to undertake such a reckless endeavor. The reason is that it made no sense whatsoever, such that every US administration, despite their eagerness to accommodate Israel, could never justify to themselves, or anyone else, taking such a foolish and drastic step. The excuse that this war was intended to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon is based on lies. Apart from the audacious claims of Israel, the only country in the region to own nuclear weapons, which has refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and that refuses to allow any inspection of its facilities, Iran has consistently denied its desire to acquire a nuclear weapon. Its highest supreme religious authority, who has just been assassinated, issued a religious fatwa that it is a sin to produce such an evil and destructive weapon. Iran has submitted to the most rigorous inspection regime, signed an international treaty (which Trump tore up) further restricting itself from obtaining the enriched uranium needed for such a weapon, and has had its civilian enrichment program “demolished” by the recent 12 day war. Yet Israel and its proxies continued to lie that it was a week away from such enrichment, and, according to Trump two weeks away from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Furthermore, Iran was in the midst of negotiations to further restrict its nuclear program when Israel and the US started the war. The additional “goals” cited for this war: restricting Iran’s missile program and its ability to support proxy movements in the area, were considered by military experts to be unrealizable without a radical regime change and installing a new government that was amenable to the desires of Israel and the US. Ultimately, this is a goal which is likely to embroil the US in a never-ending conflict whose outcome is unclear. In my humble view, the basis for this war was laid directly in Gaza and is a result of Israel’s success in carrying out its actions there with total impunity. In Gaza, Israel undertook an open genocide that flouted all principles of international law and all norms governing international relationships, and they got away with it. Among the violations and atrocities committed were: attacks on hospitals; using starvation as a weapon; carpet bombing of civilian populations, even in refugee camps and tents; withholding food, water, and medical supplies; forcibly moving entire populations, then levelling their homes to the ground; attacking and killing aid workers, journalists, and medical personnel; prohibiting independent journalists, while hunting down and killing over 250 local journalists, sometimes with their family members, and the blurring distinctions between civilians and combatants. Israel not only carried out these atrocities openly, sometimes posting their atrocities on social media, but it used its clout with the US and European countries to obtain impunity and to punish and sanction those who dared to challenge its activities. Even international tribunals such as the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, were threatened, as were the prosecutors, judges, and even those who collected evidence and presented cases to the tribunals (like Francesca Albanese and Al Haq). The head of Mossad actually threatened the former prosecutor of the ICJ, telling her “we know where your family lives.” Not only was there great hypocrisy in applying the standards of international law (compared to Ukraine, for example), but the very structures, institutions, and principles of international law itself were blatantly treated as irrelevant. All this coincided, in the US, with a narcissistic President who believes he should not be bound by the Constitution, by Congress, by public opinion, or any other restraint beyond “his own morality”—such as it is. This arrogance, bordering on thuggery, was on full display in the pronouncements of the US Secretary of Defense (sorry, the “Secretary of War”) who openly gloated over his “victories” on Wednesday. He announced, “We are winning: the enemy is toast, and they know it. We have destroyed their navy and air force; we have full control over their skies, and will rain death and destruction on them. When they look up they only see our planes and Israel’s planes pouring down destruction upon them as we see fit. We will continue to hunt down their weapons, and their leaders as long as we care to.” Israel openly promises to assassinate and Trump demands the right to determine the next supreme religious leader of the Shi’a religion. The fact that no attempt was made to bring the case to Congress or even to the American people before this war began is part of the new paradigm at play. Meanwhile, the failure of Congress this week to restrain the president simply amplifies the problem. It shouts out to the world that “only power counts, and we have it!” There is no reference anymore even to moral principles, values, a rules-based order, or to the good of the Iranian people, those of the Middle East, or of any country for that matter. Countries which fail to allow us to use their airspace or bases to do this, such as Spain, will be punished as well. And, in the US, those who disagree will be ridiculed as weak, if not directly attacked as “unpatriotic traitors.” We can kidnap leaders, attack ships anywhere on the high seas, bomb others at will, and this is the new reality to be celebrated, not excused. I fear that this mentality is also amplified by the media, which is full of analysis about missiles, drones, and interceptors, with the only discussion being who will run out of munitions faster and who can outlast the other in destructive power. Only the arms manufacturers are happy. Only significant human losses of US (and Israeli) soldiers is likely to be considered as a legitimate reason for stopping the war or considering other alternatives. As events unfold in the coming days, weeks, and months, we must stake out our position now and declare that this war is wrong and should stop immediately! Brute force cannot be the only arbiter of international relations. We all desperately need a world governed by law, by principles, by ethics and morality, by justice and fairness, and by universally acknowledged and enforced respect for human rights, human dignity, equality and the rule of law, and not a world ruled by brute force. |
