Tuesday, January 30, 2007

The Saban Center weighs in on Iran

Haim Saban (right)

David Seaton's News Links
Since involving the United States in an open war with Iran is a primary objective of the Israeli Likud party and the Israel Lobby in the United States, this report from the Saban Center of the Brookings Institute should be read with extra care.

If the objective were really to stabilize Iraq than it seems obvious that the cooperation of Iran, would be essential. That, in fact was exactly the conclusion of the Baker/Hamilton report.

It is only fair to remember that Iran did not invade Iraq or seek to have Iraq invaded and if it is deriving any advantage from the situation, that is simply due to the criminal idiocy of American policies in the Middle East. DS

US must abandon Iraqi cities or face nightmare scenario- Independent
Abstract: The US must draw up plans to deal with an all-out Iraqi civil war that would kill hundreds of thousands, create millions of refugees, and could spill over into a regional catastrophe, disrupting oil supplies and setting up a direct confrontation between Washington and Iran.(...) The unremittingly bleak document, drawing on the experience of civil wars in Lebanon, the former Yugoslavia, Congo and Afghanistan, also offers a remarkably stark assessment of Iraq's "spill-over" potential across the Persian Gulf region. It warns of radicalisation and possible secession movements in adjacent countries, an upsurge in terrorism, and of intervention by Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Ending an all-out civil war, the report says, would require a force of 450,000 - three times the present US deployment even after the 21,500 "surge" ordered by President Bush this month. Everywhere looms the shadow of Iran. In a "war game" testing US options, the Saban Centre for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution found that, as the descent into civil war gathered pace, confrontation between the US and Iran intensified, and Washington's leverage on Tehran diminished. Civil war in Iraq would turn Iran into "the unambiguous adversary" of the US. (emphasis mine. DS) READ IT ALL

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

George Galloway says that Iraq will end up like the film 'Zulu' only without the happy ending.
Though clearly this war started with same kind of sinister planning of agression; it will end with the destruction of the very nation that our Hitlers (and I use that name with intent) claimed to want to save.
Because just as Hitler used a faked terrorist attack to invade Poland (a material breach no doubt), our Hitlers lied, and have committed a worse crime than Saddam. Saddam was what we expect of his type.
I also say that we expect terorism from Koran carrying fanatics. Its more shocking to see such brutal terrorism from those who carry Bill of Rights, it is the height of cyicism and justifies our enemies arguements.