Original article, by Patrick Martin, via World Socialist Web Site:
Front-page reports in two leading US newspapers Sunday signal a ratcheting up of US pressure on Iran and the preparation of American public opinion for a new round of US military aggression.
Just when the price of oil had dropped precipitously! The problem, of course, is that Obama wants to cool things down in Iraq to the point where he cans shift troops to Afghanistan. A hot war vs. Iran would preclude that, I think.
The New York Times published a lengthy article by its chief diplomatic correspondent, David Sanger, a long-time conduit for the concerns of the Pentagon and State Department, purporting to detail discussions between the Bush administration and Israel over the past year about possible air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Martin writes later about how this article discusses US attempts to sabotage the Iranian nuclear efforts, whether peaceful or not, by selling "faulty equipment through third parties" and through "cyber-warfare" against the Iranians. This is interesting in and of itself, if only that it would show the Iranians to be stupid for trusting anything to come from the US (which leads me to believe it's a set-up, for I don't think the Iranians would be so stupid).
The Washington Post carried a shorter but equally prominent article, written by correspondent Joby Warrick, recounting efforts by Iran to obtain electrical components from US and European suppliers, allegedly for Improvised Explosive Devices to be used against American forces in Iraq.
Once again, it would be stupid for Iran to try to obtain these though the US, if it were actually so. Both articles seem to point toward a belligerent Iran, while it would seem to be in their best interests not to have a war with the US. A war with the US would seem to be the last thing the Iranians would want.
Read the rest of the article for it's a good read. The question is, to my mind, if the incoming Obama administration will be willing to engage Iran, or to treat it like a pariah and act unilaterally? Also, pressure against Iran will probably boost oil prices again. It looks like Iran may be the first issue presented on Obama's foreign policy plate, whether he wants it to be or not.