Hypocrisy

February 26 2007

When it comes to Hypocrisy, the United States takes the cake.  It takes the soup, the salad and the main course too for that matter.  Consider this.  A few weeks ago Saddam Hussein was hanged for killing 148 Iraqis who had plotted to kill him back in July 1983.  A heinous crime for sure but what was the US response when the crime actually took place?   A few months after the slaughter, Donald Rumsfeld was in Bagdad, presenting Saddam with a set of golden spurs from Ronald Reagan. After that the US established diplomatic relations with Iraq and started selling it helicopters, toxic chemicals and pathogens. These are the same helicopters Saddam used to gas the Kurds in his own country and the Iranians, with the aid of satellite photos supplied by the United States.

Now the US is getting ready to invade Iran. The motive?  You guessed it, weapons of mass destruction. The US says Iran is developing an atomic bomb. But thirty years ago the US was working on a plan to build a nuclear industry in Iran including giving them control over large quantities of plutonium and enriched uranium —the means to develop a nuclear bomb.

That was of course back when the Shah was in control in Iran. He was another human rights violator who came to power when the US backed a coup to overthrow the democratic Mossadegh government.

The hypocrisy goes on. Back in 2003 Iran made a proposal intended to resolve the differences between the US and Iran. In it Iran agreed to abide by United Nations nuclear safeguards.  The Bush administration refused it.

A year later the European Union and Iran reached an agreement. Iran agreed to suspend uranium enrichment in exchange for assurances that the US and Israel would not attack Iran. Under US pressure the Europe backed down and Iran renewed uranium enrichment.

Again in 2003, Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Agency, proposed that all production and processing of weapons-usable material be under international control. To date only one country has agreed.  You guessed it, Iran.

Now we are on the brink of World War 111 and it doesn’t seem to be an issue with any of the political parties in Ottawa or with the Canadian public for that matter.

One thing for sure if we have another world war it will be our last.