The question of why the U.S. government began a war with Iran is unsettled. The ostensible reasons, blocking Iran from developing nuclear weapons and

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/46819029

The question of why the U.S. government began a war with Iran is unsettled. The ostensible reasons, blocking Iran from developing nuclear weapons and protecting Iranians’ human rights, are not enough. Iran’s agreement not to build a nuclear arms program was in force…

…a U.S. government that so easily tolerates human rights abuses within the United States and in certain allied nations would seemingly have little zeal to fight Iran on that account, unless there were other inducements.

Strategic considerations as to U.S. economic sustainability and U.S. economic and political power in the world very likely impelled nervous U.S. decision-makers to start a war…

…The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz might not be a strategic “mistake,” but rather a deliberate feature of the conflict…

…The argument is that the blockade of the straits is a deliberate move by Washington to choke off China’s energy “lifeline” and, in doing so, halt its geopolitical rise…

…“Because oil was and is so fundamental to nearly every industry, the ‘petrodollar’ became ubiquitous, and the dollar became the cornerstone of the global economy.” To preserve the petrodollar arrangement and predictability of the dollar’s value becomes a principal objective of this war…

  • Rothe@piefed.socialEnglish
    2·
    7 days ago

    The article assumes way too much intelligence and deliberate agency from the US government to a degree that resembles sanewashing.

    To quote All the President’s Men:

    Forget the myths the media’s created about the White House. The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

  • WatDabney@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    5·
    7 days ago

    And just as denying China access to US-made semiconductors led directly to an unprecedented Chinese investment in semiconductor manufacture, which has now led to them being the world leader, limiting (they couldn’t deny it completely since Iran started only selectively blocking Strait of Hormuz passage for US and US-allied ships, which led to the US blockade of their blockade) Chinese access to oil has led to an increase in their already unprecedented investment in alternative energy, which has further solidified their position as world leader in that too.

    So to paraphrase the well-known analogy, it’s as if it’s the early 1900s and the US has “strategically” chosen to combat China’s growing economic power by trying to lock them out of the world supply of buggy whips.

    (edit to add: and moving to protect the US “buggywhipdollar.”)