Michael Meacher MP: US Threats Against Iran..Silence by Lab/Tory/Liberals
It says a lot about the narrowness and parochialism of the British political system that in the Leaders’ international debate the day before yesterday the most dangerous issue facing the world today wasn’t even mentioned. The significantly heightened risk of an attack on Iran to take out its nuclear installations has lately become apparent from a flurry of memos in Washington despairing of Obama’s diplomacy and advocating a much more confrontational approach.
Ominously a Pentagon report sent to Congress this week reveals that the US is exploring extensive detail about the logistics and consequences of taking military action against Iran. It even predicts that Iran may construct a missile by 2015 which is capable of striking the US. Robert Gates, the Defence Secretary, is letting it be known that he fears Iran may be stealthily manufacturing/importing all the components for a nuclear bomb and then suddenly ‘break out’ as North Korea did and present the world with a fait accompli.
So what did the leaders of the three political parties say about this doomsday scenario? Nothing. They argued vigorously about Trident, immigration, and Europe in order to score political points against each other, but they ignored Iran because they all agree: they would follow the American line.
Of course the Pentagon report may be mere sabre-rattling. But that’s what many thought about similar US threats in the early stages before the Iraq war. The lesson we should draw from that dreadful precedent is that Britain should take a strong and clear line from the beginning – that in no circumstances is a preemptive military attack or invasion of Iran justified. Why do we not have a political party making that position loud and clear right now when we could still exercise real influence?
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