by Scott L.
We are now over 60 days into a conflict with Iran, caused entirely by the regime otherwise known as the United States government, whose leader promised us no new wars and, like all the rest of the promises he’s made, has broken this one as well. It is now clearly understood and reported that pressure from Benjamin Netanyahu and Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia led Trump to believe he could easily effect regime change — as he recently (and illegally) did in Venezuela. Of course, this choice to attack had also been laid before past presidents for decades and, because those leaders got good advice from their intelligence services and military advisers, they were able to avoid the trap that this administration fell into, out of hubris and ignorance.
The trap in many ways goes back to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. This was yet another conflict ginned up by outside forces to effect an agenda driven by overzealous neoconservative Zionist Israel supporters in George W. Bush’s Cabinet and administration. Many of these Cabinet members were part of a think tank that had written a proposal calling for the overthrow of Iraq, Syria and Iran to support Israel’s security. After 9/11 and Afghanistan these elites plotted their next target and picked Iraq. Unlike the recent Iran attack, which was decided by one individual mainly, this was an orchestrated full court press strategy to the media and the UN and our allies to convince the public that Iraq was a danger due to WMDs, possibly nuclear, but chemical and biological as well. This evidence was dubious at best, but exaggerated to be just believable enough. There was substantial resistance from the liberals and progressives in protests and rallies, but the die was cast, and the invasion and regime change happened.
We generally know the rest (successful regime change followed by unrest and quagmire resulting in at least 3500 US military deaths), but what is less well known is that, by dislodging a regional power in the Mideast that was controlled by a dictatorial secular Sunni Islamic regime that was keeping Iran in check, it made Iran, Syria and the more religious Shiite factions increasingly more powerful and influential. This started a cascade of effects, such as new Iraqi government switching to being Shiite. Suffice it to say that the US intervention in Iraq in 2003 was the real Rubicon that was crossed, the one that most changed the power dynamics in the region.
Fast forward to today. There is the very real threat that Iran poses to world oil trade, given that the entire northern shore of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz are the southern coastline of Iran. The result so far is that the price of oil has risen alarmingly high since the war began. Although the US doesn’t receive much oil from the Persian Gulf these days, the fact that oil markets are global and 20% of that market is now largely cut off, prices rise for everyone.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, gasoline prices are through the roof and are the highest in the entire country, currently at between $6-8 a gallon, hitting consumers and local businesses alike. KTVU 2 news reported that businesses involved in shipping have had to raise their prices to deliver to distributors, who in turn are forced to do the same for the stores selling their goods, and ultimately this is passed on to the consumer, who cannot pass it to anyone else and must bear the brunt of it.
Local farmers are also affected, as gas prices have severely strained their transportation costs. Sebastopol farmer Adrian Ortiz fills his delivery van up to three times a week, supplying produce to about 10 farmers markets, including the Marin Civic Center: “I used to fill it up with $60 to $80. Now I’m looking at $130 to $140.” Ortiz noted that higher transportation costs may soon be passed on to customers‚ straining families’ finances all over northern California.
Beyond the economic turmoil, vulnerable Iranian communities — whose ethnicity make them a target for persecution and who are also concerned for the safety of their relatives still living in Iran — are certainly not standing idle. At an April protest in San Francisco, Iranians and their supporters rallied for an end to the war. “The goal is to stand in solidarity with the Iranian people, speak out against war, and let the world know that San Francisco does not stand for illegal war or genocide,” said Andrew Yousef of Democratic Socialists of America.
Community members, such as restaurant owner Mahmoud Khossoussi similarly chimed in: “I’m hoping that Donald Trump keeps the situation of Iranian people separate from the Iranian government. We are all for the destruction of the Iranian government, but we are not for the destruction of the foundation of the Persian civilization.”
Hamid Azimi, a volunteer with the Iranian American Community of Northern California, emphasized that the group is against the war, favoring continued organized resistance to the regime instead. “This war needs to stop so that the resistance units can take over and finish the job and bring about peace and stability to the Middle East. People of Iran are not different from any other people in the world. We get worried when bombs are getting dropped on our country, on our relatives.”
The Bay Area Iranian American Democrats (BAIAD), with the support of Congressman Sam Liccardo and CA State Senator Aisha Wahab, has been putting out strong statements condemning the repressive Iranian regime since long before the conflict started.
In the end, our Bay Area communities are all united in the effort to stop this senseless conflict. Nowhere was this more evident than in the recent May Day Strong action at Oakland International Airport — where hundreds of protestors shut down business as usual, demanding an end not only to the war in Iran but to all of the regime’s authoritarian actions at home and abroad.
