Forget Iran, real men go to Khuzestan

[tocqueville]

Real men go to Khuzestan
By Pepe Escobar

TEHRAN - When it comes to Iran, the widespread belief is that the United States cannot possibly occupy the country - it's the size of France, Britain, Italy and Spain combined - and thus exercise the avowed White House goal of regime change.

The next best thing - from the point of view of armchair warriors - would be subversion from within. Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld, in a widely distributed opinion piece a few months ago, stated that should the US attack Iran, ethnic minorities "might welcome the humiliation of their oppressors", that is, the Persians. Nonsense replays itself, as in the US supposedly being greeted as the "liberator" of Iraq.

In the overdrive run-up to the attack on Iraq in 2003, the ultimate neo-conservative mantra was "Real men go to Khuzestan." Indeed, some of of these "real men" may already have been there. The Iranian government is convinced US, British and/or Israeli special ops have been conducted on Iran's western and southeastern borders, at least since early 2005.

Significantly, the new US budget calls for additional funds to special operations and psy-ops (psychological operations) in Iran, in addition to the US$75 million the administration of President George W Bush wants to spend to advance "regime change". For their part, the US marines have commissioned Hicks and Associates, a subsidiary of Science Applications International Corp, one of the biggest US defense contractors and heavily involved in the Iraq invasion, to carry out in-depth research into Iranian ethnic groups.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HD06Ak01.html

[rpannier]

1. Let's see which scenario will play out here

Scenario 1:
We'll have flowers thrown at our soldiers feet.
Everyone in Iran will have electricity, running water and a good paying job within 3 months.
We'll find tonnes of WMD
People will stand out on the street nightly holding hands and singing songs of brotherhood and love
Every newborn Iranian boy is being named George, as are some of the girls
The flowing of oil will bring an abundance of wealth to the country unseen in its history
Tourism will be a thriving industry.
All those terrorists that are there will either be caught or killed. Hey we'll even fing Osama
The literacy rate will sky rocket -- They'll employed bushes No Child Left Behind Act
Medical Care will be the best it's been in a millennium
It will be the end of an Islamic Republic

or

It will look like Iraq.
An inept Democracy that is constantly being undermined by US, UK and other foreign influence.
The return of an Islamic state
A new terrorist breeding ground. Hell, it's bigger than France, Spain and Portugal. Lotta territory to set camps up in.
The kidnapping and murder of teachers, doctors, etc.
The flight of most of it's academia.

Iran is by no means a wonderful state. I certainly would not want to live there. Nor, is it a great place for women to live. But, I have a question that seems to be irrelevant to the bushco and their supporters:
"What about Afghanistan?" We have come up woefully short in the money we promised them. The Taliban are creeping back into Afghanistan. We could conceiveably have a Civil War in Afghanistan. The region is teetering on total instability on it's eastern side. If we invade Iran and the situation becomes totally uncontrollable, do we believe China, which borders Afghanistan, and other nations in the region will not get involved?

But that's okay. After all, conservatives are happier. And the American Taliban is waiting for the rapture to come. They may get their wish.

[leveymg]

2. Iraq invaded Khuzestan. The Iranians pushed them out after 2 years

and 400,000 casualties on both sides. They lobbed blistering agents and Sarin gas at each other. Finally, Iran retook its oil region.

Are we REALLY willing to take such casualties to make propaganda points for Bush and Blair? Do we REALLY thing the rest of the world will put up the economic costs?

I don't think so.