Brinkmanship in action

By Mohamed El-Said Idris

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According to the UK weekly the Sunday Telegraph of London the Pentagon is preparing a missile attack against Iran's nuclear sites. Should current diplomatic efforts fail, Pentagon officials say aerial attacks against Iranian nuclear facilities are not to be ruled out. It is a familiar pattern. First Washington issues threats, tries to get the UN Security Council on its side and then attacks, no matter what. The Iranians believe the crisis is purely political and Tehran claims the US is targeting it because of its support for the Palestinians and Hizbullah.

The Iranians have a point. Condoleezza Rice has admitted that the reason for US hostility to Iran is that the latter refuses to recognise Israel and continues to support "terrorist" organisations and oppose a settlement in the Middle East. But that's not the whole story. The US is trying to make things hard for anyone who opposes its imperial ambitions. "You're either with us or against us" is the new US motto. The US designated Iraq , Iran and South Korea as members of its axis of evil. It has already attacked Iraq on the basis of false claims and now wants to do the same to Iran. There is no proof so far that Iran is building nuclear bombs but for the Americans there is no such thing as the benefit of the doubt.

The Iranians are standing their ground. President Ahmadinejad has ordered the resumption of uranium enriching activities and is threatening to withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran's brinkmanship mirrors that of the US. Both Washington and Tehran are hoping to get the Russians and Chinese on their side. For the rest of the world, and especially Arab countries, the news is discouraging. Something has to be done right away. Time must be given to diplomatic action.

This week's Soapbox speaker is an expert at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.