Iran: Route to save Republican support?

[DaSangarTalib]

It has become clearer than ever that the blueprint for Iraq from the very beginning was to bring the country into chaos and encourage Iraqis from different sects kill each other.

There are numerous examples throughout history on how the tactic of divide and conquer has been used to enslave populations and swallow formerly sovereign countries. We all remembers how British conspired to instigate tension between different Indian tribes so as to foment division.

But analysts have lately started to suggest that Tehran could be seen as holding the electoral fortunes of the U.S. Republican Party as well as the fate and future of the war-devastated Iraq in its hands.

According to an editorial published earlier on Lebanon’s leading Arab-Language newspaper Annahar, Iran, which America considers its biggest challenge in the Middle East, could help the Bush administration pull its coals out of the Iraqi fire … for a price.

Iran is a source of concern for the White House for two key reasons, first: its nuclear program, second: its influence in the region.

Why does the Iranian nuclear program worry the U.S. that much?

Because, as has always been mentioned, to calm Israeli fears. Israel feels threatened that Iran might produce a nuclear bomb which would create a new balance of power in the region.

The U.S. needs Iran's influence in the region to solve the dire situation it created in Iraq. Iran and the U.S. once had a common enemy; Saddam Hussein. Now that Saddam doesn’t exist in the political arena anymore, Tehran and Washington are facing a struggle of interests in Iraq. The U.S., now struggling to end what it started in Iraq, has failed and will continue to fail to bring security and stability in the war-torn country without the help of neighboring countries.

Currently there’s a serious conflict between the U.S. and Iraq’s neighbouring countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, Turkey and Jordan each of which feels threatened by America’s policy in the country.

Most of these countries fear that the chaos, bloodshed and ethnic conflict that had swept through Iraq as a result of the power vacuum the occupation created in the country, those states fear that this chaos could spread and result in a region-wide ethnic struggle.

"Listen, we all recognize that there is violence, that there is sectarian violence," Bush said during his speech yesterday at the White House as the war entered its fourth year with no end in sight. "But the way I look at the situation is that the Iraqis took a look and decided not to go to civil war."

Americans and global support for Iraq war is at its lowest level since the invasion, due to the mounting casualties on both sides; the U.S. military and Iraqi civilians.

Also contributed to this decline in support is the numerous scandals that had broke out during the past months.

Also the U.S. list of reasons it presented to the public and the world to justify going for war turned out to be merely "inventions", the editorial adds.

The Bush administration, now facing deadlock in Iraq, is trying to get help from regional powers, on top of which is Iran. Washington needs those countries' support which could help it stabilize Iraq and prevent a civil war that would spread and devastate neighboring countries as well.

And that’s why Washington is reaching out to Iran for talks regarding the situation in Iraq. But what the Bush administration doesn't know is that Iran will compromise with it if, and only if, it is beneficial to Iran.

What the U.S. fails to recognise is that more challenges in the region are awaiting it as a result of its failure in Iraq.

There’s a tremendous amount of pressures descending on the American President to take some measure that would improves the situation in Iraq, currently facing an unprecedented level of violence and unrest, before the midterm elections in November.

Failing to contain the current turmoil in Iraq, or if the situation aggravates, could mean an end to the Republican majority.

A truce with Iran is now more urgent than ever.

Al-Jazeera