By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always.

                                                                    Mahatma Gandhi

Acknowledging their failure in Iraq, the Bush-Blair team announced their readiness to have a dialogue with both Syria and Iran in order to seek their help in securing a broader Middle East peace settlement [i].  The tragic reality of their quagmire in Iraq was so acutely felt that it drove Blair to confession.  In an interview with al-Jazeera, he acknowledged that Iraq was a disaster.  In his bout of confession, he also made it clear that al-Qaeda and the Sunni insurgents were on the opposite camp from the Shiite militias.[ii]  What a wonderful ritual confession is.  

But barely had these two leaders announced their intentions of having a dialogue with Iran and Syria when the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert charged to Washington to remind Bush, the leader of the free world, that he, Olmert, was fiercely against a dialogue – a rapprochement was out of the question.    

The White House cowered, as did 10 Downing Street.  On the same day, talk of dialogue gave way to harsh rhetoric and more accusations; the most outrageous being that according to the government mouthpiece, Fox News, Iran was harboring al-Qaeda’s number 3 man.   Not only was this accusation in contradiction with Blair’s heartfelt confession, but the absurdity of making such claim leaves one wondering to what lengths the Murdoch empire is willing to go in order to start another war on behalf of the neo-cons. 

Iran and the Taliban have been enemies for decades; al-Qaeda is as much a threat to Iran as it is to the West.  While one cannot forget the ungrateful and ungracious American response to Iran’s role in assisting with the overthrow of the Taliban –that of being called “Axis of evil”, one cannot deny Iran’s help.  Nor can one deny the reality of the fact that it is the US who is harboring the MEK terrorists in Iraq and their administrative branches on US soil –  But this is negligible since the MEK are under the protection of US Congressional members who receive AIPAC support (Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Sam Brownback, Rick Santorum, etc.)[iii]

Since Olmert’s visit, neo-cons from various think tanks which claim to be independent, but have Israel’s interest at heart, such as the AEI, have been spewing articles about the merits of ‘bombing Iran’.  The White House no longer talks of dialogue, but of isolation.  Olmert had his wish.  Bush and he now have an ‘understanding’.[iv] 

Further, the IAEA, playing a political card, in clear violation of Article IV.2 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has  rejected an Iranian request for help in building a heavy-water nuclear reactor at Arak. Iran’s request was to make  radio isotopes for medical purposes.  Earlier, sanctions had been proposed to deny students the possibility of entering fields of science abroad which could enhance the lives of their fellow countrymen; it was decided that they should be deprived of acquiring such knowledge at home. 

Contrary to the spirit of 'Atoms for Peace' , aside from the medicinal advantages of  nuclear science, Iranians will be denied the knowledge to harness the use of  nuclear methods for land mine detection.  The Iran-Iraq war witnessed untold landmines used by Iraq which took hundreds of thousands of Iranian lives.  These landmines are a threat to this day, some 20-25 years later. 

In addition, the Isotope techniques of water resource management, a scarcity world-over and more keenly felt in the Middle East, is being denied to the Iranians.  Use of isotope and radiation methods in soil and water and management and crop nutrition in Asia has enabled countries such as Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and other countries in the region to enhance their crop production, specifically rice; also Iran's staple food.

To deny Iran its inalienable right under Article IV-2, in order to appease the United States/Israel, would bear consequences that are indeed criminal.  

It is worthwhile noting that on the same day that Olmert was making his demands of the  White House, Leslie Susser of JTA wrote an analytical commentary in which Israeli military intelligence had warned the government to be ready for a new outbreak of fighting with the Lebanese Shi’ite militia as early as next spring.  Military intelligence had also warned of the possibility of war with Syria next summer[v].   The conclusion of this report was whether Israel would be able to fight Syria, Hezbollah and Iran at the same time.  It would seem that she would not have to.

For it did not come as a surprise that  on the heels of this article, an assassination in Lebanon took place and Syria was blamed, with Iran as a destabilizing force.  One has to wonder who stands to gain from this butchery?  Previously, the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri caused the expulsion of the Syrian army from Lebanon.  To ensure that a dialogue between the US and Syria does not take place, a proceed that would be truly detrimental to Israel, a cabinet minister is killed in cold blood.

While the US would want Syria to help stop cross border activities into Iraq, minimizing the number of insurgencies and bring some calm into this warn-torn nation, Syria would make its own demands in exchange for cooperating.  Foremost, Syria would demand its land back –the Golan Heights currently under occupation by the Israel.  This would have serious repercussions for Israel as it uses the Golan Heights to gain access to the Sea of Galilee (through the National Water Carrier), where much of its water needs are met.

It is not unusual for Israel’s infamous Mossad to infiltrate and assassinate dignitaries.   According to the New Zealand Herald (September 21, 2004)[vi] Mossad agents tried to steal New Zealand passports, causing much friction between New Zealand and Israel.  It is not the first time this has come to light, according to the same source.  Mossad agents had stolen Canadian passports to assassinate a Jordanian leader.  Which begs the question, who benefits from the death of Gemayel. Certainly with the White House condemnation of his murder, and the blame being put squarely on Syria, there may not be a dialogue and Israel will continue to occupy Golan Heights.  One has to wonder, if Hariri had not been assassinated, would Israel have attacked Lebanon so swiftly in June under the pretext of ‘rescuing’ two kidnapped soldiers?

Israel’s expansionist ambitions are keeping peace at bay.  As Gandi said, victory attained by violence is tantamount to defeat – for it is but momentary.  America needs to decide whether it truly wants to be a peace broker or whether it wants to be a defeated nation by supporting violence and putting its own national interest on line.  Should it be the latter, it would be the US which will be isolated for tyrants and murderers will eventually fall.