No Shame - Just War

Addendum to the Lunacy

Preparing the Battlefield
The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran.
by Seymour M. Hersh
June 30, 2008

More lunacy?
Is Israel preparing to bomb Iran?
Read this interview (June 23,2008):
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/6/23/is_israel_preparing_to_bomb_iran

House Resolution Calls for Naval Blockade against Iran
America’s powerful pro-Israel lobby pressures the US Congress
by Andrew W Cheetham
http://www.globalresearch.ca/
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9377

A US House of Representatives Resolution effectively
requiring a naval blockade on Iran seems fast tracked for passage, gaining
co-sponsors at a remarkable speed, but experts say the measures called for
in the resolutions amount to an act of war.

H.CON.RES 362 calls on the president to stop all
shipments of refined petroleum products from reaching Iran. It also
"demands" that the President impose "stringent inspection requirements on
all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains and cargo entering or
departing Iran."

Analysts say that this would require a US naval blockade
in the Strait of Hormuz.

Since its introduction three weeks ago, the resolution
has attracted 146 cosponsors. Forty-three members added their names to the
bill in the past two days.

In the Senate, a sister resolution S.RES 580 has gained
co-sponsors with similar speed. The Senate measure was introduced by
Indiana Democrat Evan Bayh on June 2. In little more than a week’s time, it
has accrued 19 co-sponsors.

AIPAC's Endorsement

Congressional insiders credit America’s powerful pro-Israel lobby for the
rapid endorsement of the bills. The American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC) held its annual policy conference June 2-4, in which it
sent thousands of members to Capitol Hill to push for tougher measures
against Iran. On its website, AIPAC endorses the resolutions as a way to
''Stop Irans Nuclear Proliferation" and tells readers to lobby Congress to
pass the bill.

AIPAC has been ramping up the rhetoric against Iran over
the last 3 years delivering 9 issue memos to Congress in 2006, 17 in 2007
and in the first five months of 2008 has delivered no less than 11 issue
memos to the Congress and Senate predominantly warning of Irans nuclear
weapons involvement and support for terrorism.

The Resolutions put forward in the House and the Senate
bear a resounding similarity to AIPAC analysis and Issue Memos in both its
analysis and proposals even down to its individual components.

Proponents say the resolutions advocate constructive
steps toward reducing the threat posed by Iran. "It is my hope that…this
Congress will urge this and future administrations to lead the world in
economically isolating Iran in real and substantial ways," said Congressman
Mike Pence(R-IN), who is the original cosponsor of the House resolution
along with Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Chairman of the sub committee on Middle
East and South Asia of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Foreign policy analysts worry that such unilateral
sanctions make it harder for the US to win the cooperation of the
international community on a more effective multilateral effort. In his
online blog, Senior Fellow in the Middle East Program at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies Ethan Chorin points out that some US
allies seek the economic ties to Iran that these resolutions ban. "The
Swiss have recently signed an MOU with Iran on gas imports; the Omanis are
close to a firm deal (also) on gas imports from Iran; a limited-services
joint Iranian-European bank just opened a branch on Kish Island," he
writes.

These resolutions could severely escalate US-Iran
tensions, experts say. Recalling the perception of the naval blockade of
Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the international norms
classifying a naval blockade an act of war, critics argue endorsement of
these bills would signal US intentions of war with Iran.

Last week’s sharp rise in the cost of oil following
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz’s threat to attack Iran indicated
the impact that global fear of military action against Iran can have on the
world petroleum market. It remains unclear if extensive congressional
endorsement of these measures could have a similar effect.

In late May, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
reportedly urged the United States to impose a blockade on Iran. During a
meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in Jersusalem, Olmert said
economic sanctions have "exhausted themselves" and called a blockade a
"good possibility."

http://www.globalresearch.ca/
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9377