Welcome to BSO

“Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs
for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's
what's insane about it.”
- John Lennon

Just when it seemed unlikely that domestic and international events would unfold to test an
already incompetent US government, along comes the acceleration of the movement to
destroy Iran. That effort has been well documented over the past few years in scores of
articles and position papers from the usual suspects in the media, think-tanks, and the Net.
What’s missing in that coverage, though, is an understanding of the consequences of such an
action, or consequence management in Pentagon parlance. More’s the pity in this discussion,
comes the knowledge that the majority of Americans who are calling for military action—from
all strata of society--do so as if they were casually ordering a pizza from Dominoes. Just pick-
up the cellphone and, while salivating, order the Iranian War Special. Sit back and enjoy the
pizza while watching the war coverage on television and gruesome videos on the Net. Oooo..
Ahhh, look at that Specter Gunship at work! Whoa! Look at those body parts flying around.
Pass me another piece of pizza!

That attitude is indicative of an intellectually bankrupt society. Does anyone in the USA think
anymore? An attack on Iran would result in thousands of casualties for both US and Iranian
military personnel, most of whom are youngsters. Civilian casualties would be in the many
thousands. The ripple effect from such an action would cause a chain reaction of events that
would spiral out of control. With no country, or group of countries, capable of de-escalating
such a conflict--save for Russia and China--a world war could ensue. Certainly, the US
government is no position to cope with the fallout, particularly if it deploys and uses tactical
nuclear weapons. For some sane commentary on the matter, one has to rely on the lucid
commentary of Martin Van Crevald over in Israel. His piece in Forward titled, Knowing Why Not
to Bomb Iran is Half the Battle (www.forward.com) should be force-fed to supporters of an
Iranian invasion.

Hello United Free Kurdistan
According to a Reuters bulletin dated April 20th, Turkey has increased its troop presence in
Kurdish dominated Southeastern Turkey by 40,000—bringing the total to 290,000. The
Turkish government made that move because the American-backed Kurdish government in
Northern Iraq/Kurdistan is likely to supply the Kurdistan Workers Party (PPK) with arms and
intelligence on Turkish military movements in Hakkari, Van, Sirnak and other major cities in the
country. It is likely that insurgents in Iraq have been training the PPK in the tactics that have
been wildly successful against US forces in Iraq. Turkey has been ruthless in its oppression of
the Kurds, as Saddam Hussein was, and that practice, according to the Kurdish National
Congress (kncna.org), continues to this day with the Turkish Army’s secret police, Jitem,
terrorizing the Kurdish population. Reliefweb.net, reports that the Kurdish language was not
legalized until 1991 and the Turkish government had engaged in forced displacements as late
as 2002 to break-up concentrations of the 20 million Kurds who reside in Turkey. Separatist
statements by Kurds or talk of recognizing the Armenian Genocide results in doing some hard
time in a Turkish jail.

The Turkish government has frequently complained about the duplicity of the US government
as it plays its Kurdish cards. The US has largely stayed away from Turkey’s battle with its
Kurds while actively supporting Kurdish groups in Iran and Syria with funds and arms. The
creation of Kurdistan in Northern Iraq has infuriated Turkish leaders. When Condolezza Rice
visits with Turkish officials in late April, these matters are sure to be topics of discussion.

Meanwhile in Iran, there are approximately four million Kurds who have suffered a similar fate
as their Turkish compatriots. The Kurds in Iran are split on the type of revolt they want to run.
One group formed in January 2006, the Kurdish United Front, wants to work within the Iranian
system to gain equal rights. They likely receive funds from the US government via the KNC
and other outlets. A Kurdish insurgent group known as Pejak--supported by the US
government and working with US Special Forces and intelligence agencies on the ground--
advocates the violent overthrow of the Islamic government in Iran.

Back in Turkey, the Kurds are not the only problem. There are accusations by opponents of
Turkish President Recep Ergodan that Turkey is becoming a theocracy. Facing an election in
2007, the last thing Ergodan needs is to be perceived as an Islamic radical and incur the
wrath of opponents supported by the Turkish military, which is to say the US military. The
World Peace Herald, wpherald.com, carried a story titled, Turkish PM Tied to Islamic Forces.
“In increasingly bitter verbal exchanges with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Mr. Erdogan
rejected charges that he is leading Turkey away from its secular system toward Islamic
fundamentalism. Mr. Sezer's latest broadside was a statement to the War Academy that
'religious fundamentalism has reached dramatic proportions. Islamic fundamentalism is trying
to infiltrate politics, education and the state, it is systematically eroding values…'”
So, as the bombs fly over Iran, the Kurds would be likely to seize the day and fight for the
recognition of a Kurdish state that deletes portions of present-day Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq
(http://www.kncna.org/docs/map.asp ) from the map. This is no idle dream. The American
based KNC openly advocates a United Free Kurdistan. One day, there will be a Kurdish state.
That could be done in a non-violent fashion rather than as a consequence of a misguided
military adventure against Iran. Finally, an invasion of that country would likely involve Turkish
assets of some kind. As a member of NATO, Turkey houses tactical nuclear weapons and, as
reported by Ramin Jahanbegloo in the Daily Star, “Participation by Turkey in a US/Israeli
military operation is also a factor [concerning Iran], following an agreement reached between
the Turks and Israelis.” Central Asia and the Middle East would become a bloodbath one
minute after an attack on Iran.

Bye Bye Pakistan
In Pakistan, the US is having its cake and eating too. US weapons and technology are being
used by the Pakistani dictatorship of President Musharraf to suppress a revolt for
independence by the people of Balochistan (http://www.bdd.sdnpk.org ), also home to
Pakistan nuclear tests in 1998 and a energy- rich province. The USA is also funding anti-
Pakistani insurgent groups in Bolochistan in order to infiltrate drug operations, the black
market for nuclear weaponry, Taliban remnants, and assorted Islamic resistance groups like
Al Qa’da that have taken up residence in the hinterlands of Balochistan. The US State
Department’s 2004 country report on Pakistan was effusive in its praise for Pakistan indicating
that it was the key ally in the Long War on Terror and that Pakistan has its internal affairs
under control. Yet the situation on the ground is quite different.

A February 2006 piece carried by sindhtoday.net/bs.htm has the following headline: Chemical
Gas, Gunship Copters Used Against Baloch People. “Balochistan, the area’s largest and
resource-rich province of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, has recently taken another blood bath
where many innocent people have been killed in an [Pakistani] army action. [Pakistani] Interior
Minister Aftab Sherpao has claimed that no children or woman have been killed in the recent
operation but photographs released show that many innocent children were brutally killed in
bombardment, as they can not be termed as terrorists.”

Pakistan is suppressing news on the seriousness of its fight against the Baloch. The number
of killed-in action (KIA) its Army has incurred combating the Boloch revolt is well over 100 with
thousands wounded. These troopers are portrayed by Musharraf as casualties in the fight
against foreign terror when, in fact, its akin to a civil war: the Baloch are fighting for
independence.

India Monitor reported in January 2006 that “Senator Sanaullah Baloch, a vocal and influential
member of the Balochistan National Party…said that if conditions continued to be as
oppressive for the people of his home province, we will have no option but to exercise our
national right for self-determination for a separate state...Today every Baloch knows that
Pakistan is a viable state only because of Balochistan...Pointing to the natural resources and
the strategic importance of the province in the region, he said that the information revolution
had made the world very small and today the Baloch people could not be fooled, and wanted
their rights.” (The dynamics of Kashmir, which threaten Pakistan’s stability, are beyond the
scope of this piece).
As Iran is pummeled by US air strikes, and the Kurds make their move, What will the Baloch
do? How will rebel groups like Al Qa’da respond? Will they rally to their Iranian comrades?
Would the Pakistani military use a tactical nuke to wipe out all its problems in Balochistan?
What about India's reaction? What will Turkmenistan and the rest of the Stans do? Would
Armenia side with the Turkish Kurds? How will the US troops in Iraq handle the fallout?
In another stellar example of incompetence, the USA-Indo nuclear deal struck by President
Bush with Prime Minister Singh this past March was suppose to be a signal to Russia and
China that the US is almighty. The USA seemingly gave no thought to what the deal with a
country that refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty might create. Pakistan has
vowed to increase its nuclear weapons capability. China has offered to build reactors for
Pakistan and can tinker with America's prosperity via currency manipulation. Russian nuclear
forces are being upgraded. Saudi Arabia is alleged to have purchased tactical nukes and is
starting its own commercial and military nuclear capability. In South America, Brazil has
ramped up production of its nuclear capabilities and will not allow inspectors into certain nuke
facilities. And there can be no question that Venezuela will develop a nuke program or, like
Saudi Arabia, just buy the weapons outright on the black market.

You Say You Want a Revolution
Domestic factors in the USA have to be added to this already volatile brew. The Red, White
and Blue Revolt of retired US military generals such as Gregory Newbold and Anthony Zinni
carried out in the US mainstream media is fascinating. Their call for Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation is unprecedented in American wartime history and indicates
that the only credible opposition to a civilian leadership gone mad is the military and big
corporations. That other party called the Democrats are part of the problem and not the
solution. As for President Bush; he dutifully does what he's told by Cheney and Rumsfeld.

Take note that the generals are key players in investment companies like Globesecnine
(Newbold is co-founder of globesecnine.com) and Anthony Zinni is a board member of Veritas
Capital (along with a who's who of former US military leaders). Wall Street helps fund these
groups and they may have figured, finally, that Rumsfeld is bad for the military and business
(read Jeffrey St. Clair of counterpunch.org for more on that relationship). US intelligence
agencies like the CIA are always involved overtly or covertly in the investment/stock trading
business, and likely have involvement in these investment firms. They are saying something
too: revenge is sweet.

With rebellion in the military and corporate ranks, and the potential for more indictments of
Bush Administration's insiders (Karl Rove?) in the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson CIA case, one
has to wonder how this group of people could possibly manage the day-after realities of an
Iranian assault.

The USA is operating as if it really is an unchallenged superpower. What kind of superpower
has increasing poverty, homelessness, unemployment and can't even rebuild one of its
premier cities—New Orleans—after a hurricane? What kind of superpower refuses to make
concessions, to negotiate and treats other nations like China and Russia as inferior entities?
What nation is the Paper Tiger now? It never had to be this way.

So what about Iran? The simple answer, in two parts, to all this madness is to turn the Iranian
matter over the the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a NATO-like security coalition
led by China and Russia. Iran is soon to become a member of that group anyway. Let the
SCO monitor Iran as it builds its nuclear commercial and military capability. Iran wants to be a
key energy player in a region it knows is dominated by Russia and China. The USA wants that
black gold to come West and have geopolitical control over Central Asia. It's never going to
happen. It is inevitable that the Kurds and Baloch will have their independent states, the
Iranians and Brazilians will have their nuclear power/weapons, the Chinese will have their
ascendancy, the Russians will return to the world stage, and the Palestinians will get a fair
shake one day.

Secondly, negotiate. More than ever, the USA needs to get back to the negotiating table.
Maybe some grand brain out there should read NSC-68, Sec IX, authored in 1950 and
designed to deal with the former Soviet Union. “The free countries must always, therefore, be
prepared to negotiate and must be ready to take the initiative at times in seeking negotiation.
They must develop a negotiating position which defines the issues and the terms on which
they would be prepared--and at what stages--to accept agreements... The terms must be fair
in the view of popular opinion... This means that they must be consistent with a positive
program for peace--in harmony with the United Nations' Charter and providing, at a minimum,
for the effective control of all armaments by the United Nations or a successor organization.”
Talking? Negotiating? Why not the SCO?
What an insane thought.
*************
John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in national security and political matters.
He is the author of A Power But Not Super and co-author of America's Nightmare. Reach him
at

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00364.htm

Related Link:

Liberate Balochistan: US Should Target Pakistan, Talk to Iran