World War III imminent?

My fears over the U.S. pushing for increased pressure on Iran to suspend nuclear activities taking us one step closer to World War III, were confirmed yesterday when Iran warned the UN against approving the proposed resolution.The Iranian foreign ministry threatened that Tehran would abandon the latest incentives package offered by the six-nation coalition if the UN Security Council approved a resolution against it. Hamid Reza Asefi said “If any resolution is issued against Iran tomorrow (Monday), the package would be left off the agenda by Iran, we will definitely revise our nuclear policy.”

The stage is set for my fears to be realised, as again the UN called for an immediate ceasefire, after at least 60 Lebanese civilians, including women and children, were killed in an Israeli air-raid on Qana, again both the American President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair came out calling for a rapid end to the hostilities, but still only as rapidly as Hezbollah can be removed from the border, either by giving Israel time to destroy it and throw most of Lebanon into the bargain, or the deployment of an external force and agreed ceasefire from both sides, a ceasefire we all know Hezbollah will never agree to.

The Lebanon conflict is showing better than ever before the determined strategy of the U.S./Israeli/UK governments to discredit the UN and render it obsolete. They want to control the world between themselves, in-case you wonder why Blair has sacrificed his political career to supporting Bush. The stage is then set for the catastrophic conflict that would come from a U.S or Israeli attack on Iran, if this UN resolution is passed today, there is every possibility, judging by today’s remarks that Iran will do the opposite of comply, but I don’t think we will see UN sanctions. The U.S. obviously plans that the UN will be sufficiently discredited by August 31st to allow them to overrule it and attack Iran, using the nuclear armed Iran rhetoric in a re-spun Iraq war campaign. It is laughable that John Bolton and the Bush administration should now be pushing for two UN resolutions when everyday they undermine the UN by rejecting pressure on Israel to end the conflict.

John Bolton, the man behind the resolutions on Iran and Hezbollah, vetoed the first UN resolution, mainly on Israel, because of its strong criticism of its disproportionate use of force. Bush stated Iran and Iraq as part of an “axis of evil” shortly before invading Iraq, prompting Iran into announcing its developing nuclear capacity as a deterrent against U.S. attack. Iraq War was also evidence of the U.S. determined efforts to undermine the UN authority. So now with the U.S. ambassador to the UN putting the date of August 31st on the proposed resolution, I believe we will see attempts stepped up to further undermine the UN. What we are certain to see is mounting civilian death tolls in Lebanon, and further; more determined calls for ceasefire from the UN, and further rejection of these calls from the Blair, Olmert and Bush administrations each time, undermining the UN more. We might also see further Israeli “accidents” on UN outposts, although I doubt it; the observers in the areas of the heaviest Israeli bombardment have withdrawn so the Israeli military and air force can get on with their government sanctioned slaughter of civilians unimpeded and unobserved.

Whether the attack was deliberate or not, it was effective in undermining the UN, the coverage of the 4 peace-keepers' death in the mass-media emphasised their helplessness. One headline was: “unarmed and in the cross-fire”. Really, in a conflict such as this, the UN's helplessness to stop the bloodbath, or even Israeli bombardment on their outposts is construed as ineffectiveness. As I said in my July 28th post, Hezbollah will never surrender or disarm until it is defeated in the battlefield, a UN resolution, undermined as the UN, won’t change that. The same goes for Iran- after August 31st Iran will still be enriching uranium, in open defiance of the world. The UN resolution is what I have said of the whole "diplomatic effort" by the U.S. and European powers against Iran, being seen to be doing all they can to find a peaceful solution, so they are supported in any future war, their efforts in Lebanon confirm this.

For the Bush administration, diplomacy is diversionary and democracy is transmittable. Watch the UN’s demise be completed by the U.S./UK/Israel alliance in the run up to the deadline date, and watch Iran get devastated from the skies; maybe even nuked by America and/or Israel. Also watch the Israeli campaign intensify throughout August as it attempts to achieve shared aims of discrediting the UN and destroying Hezbollah in preparation for attacks on Iran.

Watch the beginning of World War III.

By: Liam Bailey