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War in
Iran Can be Extremely Dangerous for the West
Sawraj Singh
The French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, tried to get tough
with
Iran when he warned the world to prepare for the worst that means
war in Iran. Many people thought that President Nicolas Sarkozy
could take France to an Atlanticist course and make the French
policies subservient to the American policies. This is proving to
be a big set back for Europe. Europe, particularly France, was a
moderating force on the international arena. While President Busch
and Tony Blair followed unilateralist and western hegemonic
policies, France continued to pursue an independent and more
balanced policy, especially towards the third world countries.
Mr. Sarkozy, an extreme rightist who is the most pro American
president France had in half a century is pro
Israel, anti Muslim and anti third world. He has done tremendous
damage to France and Europe by pitting them against the third world
and the Muslims. Now he is trying to endanger the whole world by
provoking Iran and risking a third world war that the West has very
little chance to win.
It
is quite clear that
France does not fully understand the risks involved in Iran war
talk. The world is very different now than in the 80's when Israel
was able to destroy the nuclear facilities in Iraq. The west is
already having great problems in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tony Blair,
the most Atlanticist British prime minister in recent history, was
kicked out by his own party and President Busch is close to winning
the title of the most unpopular and unsuccessful president America
ever had. Both owe their fate to the
Iraq
and the Afghanistan war.
General Musharraf, the most important western ally against
terrorism, has become weak to the point that he has become more of a
liability than an asset for the west.
Pakistan is heading towards a great turmoil. The Islamists seem
poised to gain a strong foothold in
Pakistan.
This situation will tremendously increase the western difficulties
in the region. Starting war in
Iran
can be very risky. The repercussions of starting such a war can be
extremely dangerous.
Iran
has lined up more than a million volunteers for suicide attacks and
can do tremendous damage to the American troops in Iraq and the NATO
forces in Afghanistan. These troops are practically hostages held
by Iran.
The public opinion in the Western countries is very much against the
Iraq war. Just recently, there were 100,000 anti-war
demonstrations in Washington DC as opposed to about 1,000 pro-war
demonstrators. Starting a war in Iran will further alienate the
people. Even if there may be less opposition in the beginning yet
as the consequences of the war become clearer, the public will turn
against the war in a very big way.
Russia has expressed a great concern over the threat of war in
Iran. The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov expressed his
concern after the talks with the French foreign minister, Bernard
Kouchner. He said, " Military action in
Iran
is a threat to a region where there are already grave problems in
Iraq and Afghanistan." We sincerely hope that France will listen
to this warning from
Russia
and reject Sarkozy's dangerous policies.
Sawraj Singh, MD
F.I.C.S.
Chairman,
Washington
State Network for Human Rights
Chairman, Central Washington
Coalition for Social Justice
(509) 962-3652
3910 Thrall Road
Ellensburg,
WA 98926
USA
20
September, 2007
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