This weekend’s deadly drone attack on a US military base near the Syria-Jordan border drew outraged responses from pro-war hardliners.
Anti-Iran hardliners in US Congress are calling for strikes on Tehran. But why do people in the Islamic Republic and throughout the Middle East resent the United States?
We must respond to these repeated attacks, said Roger Wicker (R-MS), who sits on the US Senate’s Armed Services Committee. Take them out, urged Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
Hit Iran now. Hit them hard, demanded conservative Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who previously claimed the USA is locked in a religious war, caused by the Zionist state of Israel.
We will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner [of] our choosing, responded US President Joe Biden in a statement released Sunday.
Zionist backed armed Protesters engage with Riots in the Iranian Port City of Abadan
But to what degree is Iran actually responsible for this weekend’s attack, and why do militants across the region resent the United States?
Dr. Hasan Unal, a political science professor at Bashkent University in Ankara, Turkiye, joined Sputnik’s Fault Lines program Monday to discuss these questions and more.
It is actually escalating, said the international relations expert of the attacks launched against US troops in the Middle East in recent months. There are dangerous dimensions to which it can actually escalate.
However, he added, Iran basically denied that it had any involvement in the attack, and this is officially the Iranian statement by their representative in New York at the United Nations.
When it comes to Iran-backed groups, there’s no question that they are certainly interacting with Iran, and I’m sure Iran is backing them politically, diplomatically, economically, as well as militarily,” said the analyst.
But does that mean that Iran basically tells them to or Iran, basically, presses the button, and then they get into action? I would hardly think so… They may be taking their own initiative.
Unal claims that incidents like the one this weekend would typically spur behind-the-scenes talks to attempt to rein in local freedom seeking groups, but Sunday’s attack comes amidst a particularly fraught moment.
Domestic political pressure is bearing on Biden to project strength during an election year. And Israel’s campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip, which has killed northwards of 26,000 Palestinians, has greatly inflamed tensions across the region.
In normal circumstances, basically there would be quiet diplomacy behind the scenes between the USA and the Iranians about de-escalation one way or the other.
If Iran has any influence over these groups, the USA would basically seek mediation of some sort, but these days, the US military is on its high horse, and Israel is doing everything to bring the USA into a direct clash with Iran.
Unal asserts that much of the opposition to the United States throughout the Middle East is driven by its support for Israel, which has historically been the USA’ largest recipient of foreign aid.
Solidarity with the Palestinian cause was one of the founding principles of Iran’s 1979 revolution.
The Islamic Republic has championed a strong sense of anti-imperialism in its foreign policy, informed by the 1953 US-backed coup that overthrew the country’s government and secured Iranian oil for British interests.
More recently, the United States’ post-9/11 wars throughout the region have resulted in the excess deaths of as many as 4.7 million people, according to recent analysis from Brown University.
The US presence in Iraq and Syria is especially resented, as the countries’ governments have rejected the role of American troops. They certainly say ‘We don’t need you. We don’t want you, leave our country,’ said Unal.
They don’t. And in the case of Syria, the United States has no legal ground to basically station troops on Syrian soil. But they came in 2014, 2015, and then they have stayed on to protect ConocoPhillips and steal Syrian oil and sell it to finance the military invasion.
It is because of the United States military presence there that we have much of this problem.
The analyst claimed that the recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling in South Africa’s genocide case is a very big warning to Israel, speculating that emerging multi-polarity in global power may see the country pay a heavy price for its war crimes.
But, facing substantial corruption charges if forced to step down, many observers have speculated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has an incentive to continue military action to secure his position.
Netanyahu once expressed confidence in his ability to manipulate the United States to serve his interests. I know what America is, said Netanyahu in video footage dating back to 2001.
America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right direction. They won’t get in the way. Money and power is the only thing they care about.
Sputnik / ABC Flash Point WW III News 2024.
Ali Ali : The U.S. is illegally in the region occupying other nations territories and perpetuating violence on behalf of the Jewz.
Invasions we previously glorified by the mainstream propaganda media. The term democracy was used to get rid of so-called dictators, defending the rights of their people and fighting against Zionist controlled corporate occupation.