THE US-Israel joint attacks on Iran have been devastating. Like most wars, this one is brutal to the core. The pretext of the war has been that Ayatollah Khamenei’s regime has been very brutal against women’s rights and is earnestly pursuing nuclear weapons. Iran, in turn, was willing to be on the negotiating table and concede some of the points emerging from the talks. In the middle of the talks, the Israel-America axis decided to launch the war and it initially inflicted severe damage on Iran. The damage included the assassination of Khamanei and some of his family members and the bombing of a school in which 165 young girls lost their lives. Many civilians have also been targeted by the US-Israel axis. Also, an Iranian naval ship, which was in India on New Delhi’s invitation for naval exercise, was torpedoed by a US submarine, killing a large number of sailors on the ship. Iran bravely retaliated and caused huge damage to the US-Israeli axis.
During this sordid episode, India’s role has proved a great eye-opener on its evolving foreign policy. India has been non-aligned to begin with, having very amicable relations with Iran. The cultural and economic exchanges between the two countries were excellent. Now we see that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Israel just before the war, with the visit’s aim unknown. Modi received the highest honour of Israel and pledged that India will be with Israel in thick and thin. The next day, the attacks on Iran were initiated.
Prime Minister Modi did not tweet on the demise of Iran’s Supreme Leader and also issued a blank statement equating the aggressor and the aggrieved party. The transition of India from being neutral to embracing the American-Israel axis came out louder with the acts of commission and omission of the Indian prime minster.
Back to the American story. We have been watching the role of the US, particularly since the 1950s. The role has been that of interfering in other countries’ affairs for its own political and economic benefits. Earlier, ‘saving the world from Communism’ has been its major plank for unleashing wars, starting with the Vietnam fiasco. As the French had colonised Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh’s communist army overthrew them, a long and complicated political process led to the division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel into Communist North Vietnam and Capitalist South Vietnam. The US launched a horrific war against Vietnam, spending millions of dollars. The Americans used chemical weapons Napam (jellied petrol) and Agent Orange (superior strength weed killer). This was used to clear foliage in the jungles, the natural hiding place for the Vietcong (army raised by the Vietnamese). Napam did clear much of the undergrowth, but it also stuck to humans and caused horrific injuries. Agent Orange also destroyed the crops in the farms of many innocent civilians.
The Vietnamese people were more for Ho Chi Minh. Viet Cong, through gorilla tactics, came victorious and America had to face the defeat; its over five lakh-strong army had to retreat with its morale crushed by the defeat at the hands of a new and young nation. The Vietnam War showed abundantly that America is not going to spare any effort to defeat those who are against its interests, presented as a ‘Free World’ ideology.
This became clear in due course as America attacked country after country on one or the other pretexts. The second major case was that of Iran. With its strategic location and vast oil reserves, Iran was of special interest to the Western powers, the United States and the United Kingdom in particular. Britain was a major power with its presence in Iran during World War II. After the war, England continued to retain its control over Iran’s oil through the establishment of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. It was exploiting Iran’s oil for its own interests. This arrangement changed abruptly in 1951 when the Iranian parliament, led by Mosaddegh’s nationalist and democratically elected government, voted to nationalise the country’s oil industry. From then on, Britain started opposing the Mossadegh regime and tried to foment opposition to him. Britain took along America and a coup was staged in Iran, uprooting the democratically elected government and installing Raza Shah Pehlavi, a stooge of America. Oil interests in the hands of Western powers remained safe for them.
The story of Salvador Allende’s elimination and the overthrow of a democratic government in Chile are fairly similar. Allende was a Marxist, a member of the Socialist Party. Allende was sworn in on Nov. 3, 1970, as President of Chile. He decided to nationalise copper companies controlled by America in particular. The US spent $8 million on covert actions between 1970 and the 1973 coup. According to a 1975 Senate report, US officials also backed economic measures to squeeze Allende’s government. In a CIA-supported coup, military dictator Pinochet was installed at the helm of affairs. He was very ruthless and wrought havoc on democracy, its institutions and the potential prosperity of the country.
The harm inflicted on West Asia was much more dangerous. After the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, America supported some madrasas in Pakistan and helped train mujahedin. From this Taliban and Al Qaeda were propped up. America funded them to the extent of 8,000 million dollars and supplied them with 7,000 tonnes of armaments (Mahmood Mamdani’s book: Good Muslim-Bad Muslim). After 9/11, America got the pretext to attack Afghanistan in which 60,000 people were killed. To dominate the whole region, it came up with the pretext of ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ to attack Iraq. The soldiers were told that Iraq’s people are being oppressed by Saddam Hussian, so this war is needed. They were also told that the people will see them as the liberators and they will be welcomed with bouquets and chocolates. Something else happened and Iraq was dismantled with the rise of the Islamic State. Neither the weapons of mass destruction could be found, nor were American soldiers welcomed as promised.
Colonialism and imperialism leave dangerous marks on the victim countries and the world as a whole. In India, the British policy of ‘divide and rule’ led to the strengthening of communal forces, the ills of which we are suffering till date. The American media’s coining and popularising of the phrase ‘Islamic terrorism’ has led to a global demonisation of Muslims. Both these phenomena, colonialism and imperialism, have been the forces at the roots of major problems that the world is facing today.
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Ram Puniyani is an eminent author, activist and former professor of IIT Mumbai. The views expressed here are personal and Clarion India does not necessarily share or subscribe to them.
