Re: [Marxism] Why Bush can get away with attacking Iran

[Marvin Gandall <marvgandall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Andrew Chitty wrote:
>
> Another reason not to expect the US to bomb Iran is that they need
> active Iranian cooperation (via its local proxies like the Badr Brigade)
> in order to keep the lid on the situation in Iraq. This is even more the
> case now the British have pulled out of Basr.
>
> This whole discussion presupposes that the US administration functions
> as a unified entity acting in its foreign policy to advance the
> geopolitical interests of the US and of its ruling class. If instead the
> administration's decisions are the result of specific cliques or lobbies
> pursuing their particular aims, then all bets would be off. That is why
> Bricmont's arguments depend quite heavily on his assumption that the
> Israel lobby dictates US Middle East policy.
=============================
Yup. I also neglected to add that another good indicator to watch is the oil
price. It's pretty much stayed range-bound around the $75 and has not moved
in tandem with the war rumours leaked by Washington. If anything, it has
slid slightly during the past period in response to concerns about a US
recession which would slow demand. When it's bounced back, it's been on
fears that hurricanes could squeeze supply. The oil traders, who are
very sensitive to these things, seem largely unperturbed by the heightened 
talk
of air strikes on Iran and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz.


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