As Iran and U.S. March Towards War and Accuse Each Other of Terrorism, Who’s Telling the Truth?

Within the context of a more heightened state-of-affairs between the U.S. and Iran, including a possible war, American diplomats have just warned that commercial airliners flying over the wider Persian Gulf face a risk of being “misidentified.” Iran, however, reminded the U.S. that it should know all about terrorism, especially after shooting down one of its commercial airliners filled with Iranian passengers in 1988. Having already labeled the U.S a “terrorist nation,” Iran has also prepared legislation that will label parts of the U.S. military as a terrorist group.

This latest move comes on the heels of President Donald Trump doing the same with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). (For decades, the U.S. has labeled Iran a “State Sponsor of Terrorism.”) Calling the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization, it’s part of a larger plan to isolate Iran and it’s “state sponsored terror” from the rest of the region, including Iraq. Indeed, Iraq hasn’t remained in America’s orbit as Saudi Arabia and Israel has. Defined by U.S. hostility towards pro-Iranian factions in the south, Iraq plans to expel all foreign troops, even U.S. troops.

But when it comes to which nation commits state sponsored acts of terror, or which country uses their military forces to spread terrorism, it’s hard to know exactly who’s telling the truth. This goes for war in general. In and of itself, some see war as just another form of violence to achieve political aims, the only cure for citizens to stop participating in it. Together, they not only kill innocent civilians but bolster primitive emotions and ancient rituals of tribalism. It entails dehumanizing and demonizing the “Other” as another fellow human being.

Death from The Sky, and Land
For Iran, the shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655 in an ascending flight path over civilian airspace by the USS Vincennes was clear case of terrorism. Known as “Terror and Death from the Skies,” it remains the deadliest airbus disaster to date. It also took place during the U.S.-Iran Tanker War in the Persian Gulf. Whether the incident was caused by hazy weather, heightened tensions, miscommunication, or revenge on the part of the Vincennes crew, America has never admitted legal liability or formally apologized to Iran for the killing of 295 civilians, including 66 children.

What’s more, the official line in the U.S was: “the Iranians brought it on themselves.” (1) It’s the same line which drove the Eisenhower administration and corporate interests to overthrow Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953. Known to Iranians as another form of state sponsored terrorism, Operation Ajax was the first covert action that overthrew a foreign peaceful government during peacetime. (2) After installing dynastic rule, the U.S. assisted Iran’s SAVAK in arresting, torturing, and killing some 20,000 political opponents. (3)

Another kind of terrorism which Iran accuses the U.S. of committing is state sponsored terrorism through proxy wars. Indeed, they maintain that such wars are a tool used by empires to spread terrorism. Along with encouraging Iraq to invade Iran in 1980, the U.S. proceeded to equip Iraq’s military with billions of dollars of military aid. One million Iranians were subsequently killed. They accuse the U.S. of doing the same in Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, and the Gaza Strip, where there’s more self-evident truths of civilians being killed by blockades, aerial bombing, or starvation.

Terrorism by Association
President Trump’s unprecedented step to recognize Iran as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, and accuse the IRGC of promoting terrorism, is sure to raise the ire of Iran. So will allegations that the IRG is the Iranian government’s primary means of directing and implementing its globalist terrorist campaign. A campaign which has Iranian-led militias operating in southern Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and the Gaza Strip. Consequently, these are the same areas that the U.S. has a military footprint in, a footprint which Iran is wanting to erase. And there’s been casualties on both sides.

There’s also bound to be more casualties over another element in designating the IRGC a terrorist organization. To be sure, President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claim that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has joined ISIS, Boko Haram, other groups on the U.S. list of terrorist groups. Although yet proven, the list includes groups in Cuba Venezuela, all accused of attacking U.S. troops, planning violent plots, and wanting to sabotage America’s corporate interests. Trump pointed to the the recent oil tankers in Saudi Arabia which were damaged as evidence.

Other incidents were the 1996 Khobar Towers apartment complex bombing in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 American service member; the USS Cole Explosion, and a 2011 case in which the Obama administration said it had foiled a Quds force plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. in a bombing in Washington, DC. Iran denied the charges, saying they have no links to such terrorist organizations. They also say thy were military targets, and that bin Laden was merely trying to expel foreign troops and corporate imperialism from his country of origin.

Terrorism’s Self-Evident Truth
As Iran and the U.S. accuse each other of terrorism, the truth will probably remain elusive. So will the term “terrorism.” Indeed, and though most agree that it’s the unlawful use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims, especially against civilians, there’s as many definitions of terrorism as there are nations in the world. There’s also been a greater number of total people killed by poverty or sanctions than of all wars combined. The same goes for environmental degradation, or the world’s total expenditures on war versus programs like healthcare.

But terrorism is still self-evident, especially to those on the receiving end. Crime against peace and the murdering of innocent civilian needs no explanation. Another thing quite clear is when a country instigates a coup during peacetime and then assists in the arrests, torture, and deaths of some 20,000 political opponents. Given that terrorism is demanding the impossible, and demanding it at gunpoint, or a destroyer or drone, or even some kind of a corporate-imposed and imperialistic misadventure, it’s not going away. This goes for the U.S. and Iran.

Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John’s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.WN.com. You can read more of Dallas’ writings at www.beverlydarling.com and www.WN.com/dallasdarling.

(1) Smith, Michael K. Portraits Of Empire: Unmasking Imperial Illusions from the “American Century” to the “War on Terror.” Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 2003., p. 264.

(2) www.wikipedia.com. 1953 Iranian Coup D’etat.

(3) www.wikipedia.com. SAVAK.