MAWO Statement on the Situation in Iran
Hands Off Iran!
June 23rd, 2009
Since the June 12th 2009 Iranian election results, there has been constant coverage of opposition protests in Iran on every major Western news source, with all sorts of “experts” on the situation in Iran and statements from the leaders of imperialist countries, as well as countless cell phone videos replayed despite their origin and authenticity being unconfirmed. As the internal issues of the Iranian people are suddenly the prime concern of media outlets and imperialist governments, this begs the question, where is the coverage of the US atrocities in Iraq, or the Canada/US/NATO crimes in Afghanistan? Why do protests of civil dispute warrant a media frenzy, but there is barely any reporting on the US drone attack on Northwest Pakistan which on Tuesday June 22nd killed at least 80 Pakistani people? As was done with the May 4th US air strikes in Afghanistan which killed over 140 Afghan people, will this be excused by the US government with another claim of “mistakes?”
One only needs to look at the progression (or regression) of US, EU and UN policy towards Iran in the last few years. While crocodile tears are being wept for the Iranian opposition protesters now, the US government and their EU allies and UN lackey have no problem imposing four sets of crippling sanctions against the people of Iran. Remember the impact of the US/UK/UN sanctions on Iraq, and the over 1.5 Million Iraqis, mainly women and children, who suffered and died under these sanctions? This does not sound like they really have the interests of the Iranian people at heart. Furthermore, the bloody occupation of surrounding countries of Iran’s neighbours Iraq and Afghanistan, military bases in every surrounding country and a massive build up of military in the Persian gulf, show more and more that the US is acting upon their agenda of having complete hegemony in the Middle East, a goal that is only possible with the control of Iran.
