THE Guardian newspaper reported yesterday that, ‘Britain has rebuffed US pleas to use military bases in the UK to support the build-up of forces in the Gulf, citing secret legal advice which states that any pre-emptive strike on Iran could be in breach of international law.’
The US wanted permission to use British bases in Cyprus, Ascension Island and the US base on the ‘British territory’ of Diego Garcia to bomb Iran.
Even the Guardian reports that British ministers have reacted ‘so far’ coolly, and pointed to legal advice that a ‘pre-emptive strike’ would be illegal under international law, adding that Iran ‘does not currently represent “a clear and present threat”.’
The newspaper however, further reveals that, ‘Sources said that the US had yet to make a formal request to the British government …’
No doubt that will come after the result of the US presidential election in a few days time, when either President Romney or President Obama will ready the US forces and their allies to blitz Iran.
In fact, the British navy already has ten ships in the region, including a nuclear submarine.
The Guardian further reported that the UK ‘assumed that it would only become involved once a conflict had already begun, and has been reluctant to commit overt support to Washington in the build-up to any military action’.
With this story planted in the Guardian to fool the stupid, the silly pacifists of the CND could not stop themselves rushing in to gushingly congratulate the Tory-led coalition, which has been pre-emptively striking the British working class and breaking all of its pledges since it was formed.
The CND gushed: ‘It is good news that the UK government has both sought legal advice on the status of a pre-emptive military intervention in Iran, and is actually following it through. The government has recognised that international law prohibits not only direct participation in such a strike, but also support or assistance to any state engaging in such unlawful actions. This is an important and laudable step. Indeed, the government appears to have learned from the disaster of Iraq.’
In fact, as most people can see, the war against Iran has already started, with the imperialist attempt to overthrow Iran’s major ally in the Middle East, the Assad regime in Syria, in a scenario that sees the Israelis, following Assad’s fall, attacking and butchering Hezbollah in the Lebanon while the US and its allies bomb Iran.
This plan is now well behind schedule, since the Syrian people have refused to allow Assad to be overthrown by the gangs of mercenaries that have been organised by the US, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, while the US elections have momentarily got in the way of an even deeper intervention.
The next imperialist push in the region will take place once the election is over and the new President, Obama or Romney, is in place.
The idea that the Tory government is going to do what Blair refused to do and say ‘no’ to US imperialism is a joke.
They will do as Blair did. To curry favour he went even further than Bush was asking him.
Of course the Tories would like to join in after the attack started, but they will find that the US will want its UK cannon fodder in the first ranks of the onslaught, and will make it an offer that it cannot refuse.
The only policy for this critical situation is to warn the working class and the trade unions that the moment for the launching of the imperialist assault on Iran is fast approaching, and that the trade unions must meet this crisis by calling a general strike to bring down the coalition and bring in a workers government that will expropriate the bosses and bankers, and recall all British forces from the Gulf, the Middle East and North Africa. This is the only way to stop the war.
