Unindicted US War Criminals v. Iran

Two unindicted war criminals meeting With Barack Obama, 2009 image source

Stephen Lendman
Activist Post

Former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz are two of America’s worst.

Kissinger was an early architect of new world order harshness. He’s guilty of multiple crimes of war, against humanity and genocide. Just societies would have imprisoned him long ago.

His rap sheet includes millions of deaths, mass destruction, and unspeakable human misery. He deplores peace. He endorses state-sponsored terror. He was a leading practitioner in government.

He symbolizes imperial lawlessness. So does Shultz. He was Nixon’s Treasury Secretary. He represented Wall Street.

From 1974 – 1982, he served as Bechtel Group’s president. It’s a predatory privately owned company. It has close Republican ties. It profits hugely from US imperial wars. Often it’s by secret no-bid contracts.

From 1982 – 1989, Shultz was Reagan’s Secretary of State. He succeeded General Alexander Haig. He helped orchestrate “Salvador Option” ruthlessness.

Death squad diplomacy best describes it. Rules of engagement proliferated massacres, torture, and gruesome atrocities.

They terrorized El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. At issue was making the region safe for predatory capital’s divine right. It remains so globally.

State-terrorism best describes US foreign policy. It’s longstanding. It dates from the beginning of the republic. It’s far worse today than ever.

Kissinger and Shultz did their part earlier. They bear direct responsibility for numerous direct and proxy wars during their time in government.

On December 2, Wall Street Journal editors gave them feature op-space. They took full advantage. They headlined“What a Final Iran Deal Must Do.”

They endorse fabricated notions of an Iranian nuclear weapons threat. They know there is none. They claim otherwise.

They support tough policies going forward. They do so disgracefully. They called Geneva “the first step toward the elimination of Iran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon.”

That hope resides, if at all, in the prospects of the next round of negotiations envisaged to produce a final outcome within six months.

They lied saying interim agreement terms leave Iran “in the position of a nuclear threshold power.”

They claimed it “can achieve a military nuclear capability within months of its choosing to do so.” They know Iran’s program is peaceful.

It has no military component. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rohani, and other Iranian officials deplore nuclear weapons.

They want the entire region denuclearized. They support global elimination. According to Kissinger and Shultz:

A final agreement leaving (Tehran’s) threshold capacity unimpaired would institutionalize the Iranian nuclear threat, with profound consequences for global nonproliferation policy and the stability of the Middle East.

Washington and Israel pose the region’s only nuclear threat. Kissinger and Shultz ignored it.

They fabricated an Iranian one. It’s longstanding US policy. Thirty-four years of anti-Iranian sentiment persists. So do false charges.

Kissinger and Shultz lied saying Iran “wag(es) proxy wars against America and its allies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and beyond.”

It’s “arming and training sectarian extremists throughout the Muslim world,” they claimed.

It “defied unambiguous UN and IAEA demands and proceeded with a major nuclear effort.”

It’s “incompatible with any exclusively civilian purpose, and in violation of its (NPT) obligations.”

False on all counts. Iran threatens no one. It seeks rapprochement with all its neighbors. It wants it with Washington and other Western nations.

It seeks normalized relations. It wants all lawless sanctions removed. They target its economy and ordinary people. It wants its sovereignty and other legitimate rights respected.

It complies fully with NPT provisions. No evidence suggests otherwise.

Dozens of other countries operate nuclear reactors. Iran does the same way. It’s the most heavily monitored one. It’s the only one maliciously targeted.

Doing so has nothing to do with its legitimate program. It’s about destroying its sovereignty. It’s about replacing it with subservient pro-Western governance.

Kissinger and Shultz represent imperial lawlessness. Ruthlessness defines their agenda.

They oppose Iran’s legitimate right to enrich uranium. They’re against what they call its “massive nuclear infrastructure.”

It pales compared to America’s, Britain’s and France’s. It ignores Israel’s formidable nuclear arsenal.

Coverup and denial look the wrong way. Belligerents are called peacemakers. Pacifist nations are wrongfully accused of fomenting violence.

Kissinger and Shultz are leading warmaking proponents. Peace is verboten. Global dominance is policy. Conquest is top option to achieve it.

Iran’s conciliatory efforts are rejected. Both men claim otherwise. They lied saying so. A litany of lies infested their op-ed.

It’s longstanding imperial policy. Managed news misinformation and opinion substitute for truth and full disclosure.

Kissinger and Shultz have no credibility. Unindicted war criminals deserve prosecution, not bylines. They interpreted Geneva their way. They distorted provisions in it. So did the White House.

It bodes ill going forward. Iran complies fully with its obligations. Claiming otherwise without proof doesn’t wash.

Kissinger and Shultz want stiff sanctions maintained. They want further US concessions denied. They urged unreasonable demands.

They want “a strategically significant reduction in the number of (Iran’s) centrifuges.” They want restrictions imposed on installing advanced ones.

Geneva lets Arak heavy water facility construction continue. They want “its route toward a plutonium-production capability ” halted.

They want Iran’s legitimate nuclear program severely hampered. They want it drastically reduced. They want what no sovereign state would accept.

They lied claiming Iran is heading “toward a nuclear breakout.” Measures must be taken to stop it, they insist.

Preserving “global nuclear nonproliferation” and avoiding “a Middle East nuclear arms race” depend on it, they claim.

They ignored obvious regional threats saying so. America and Israel represent them.

It bears repeating. Iran threatens no one. Its nuclear program is entirely peaceful. It has every right to pursue it without interference.

Kissinger and Shultz called the next six months “decisive in determining whether the Geneva agreement opens the door to a potential diplomatic breakthrough or to ratifying a major strategic setback.”

Avoiding it, they claim, depends on “dismantling or mothbolling a strategically significant portion of (Iran’s) nuclear infrastructure.”

They want Washington and Israel able to subvert Iranian sovereignty. Its nuclear program is a convenient pretext. At issue is eliminating an independent Iran. It’s restoring Shah era harshness.

It’s controlling valued Iranian oil, gas and other resources. It’s dominating regional policy. It’s eliminating all potential rivals. It’s achieving unchallenged global dominance.

Kissinger and Shultz devoted public careers to it. They urge others to follow in their footsteps.

They want military force used if other options fail. Their strategy risks war on humanity. Their extremism risks its survival. So do current administration and congressional policymakers.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at [email protected]. His new book is titled How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/